Tag: austin
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Festival Foodie SXSW 2016 | Two Words: Kimchi Fries
We associate many things with Austin’s annual SXSW festival: music, technology, media, education, tacos, BBQ, day parties… While the list of affiliated foods, drinks, and entertainment goes on and on, it’s undeniable that there is one delectable treat that stands out. Over the past six years, SXSW attendees have come to crave Chi’Lantro’s acclaimed Kimchi Fries. This creation from Jae Kim has become a SXSW, as well as an Austin, staple.
This reinvention and fusion of Korean and Mexican cuisines is unlike anything you have ever tasted and no line is ever too long to wait in for Chi’Lantro’s fare. After years of indulging on Chi’Lantro’s menu, we just had to chat with Kim about one of our most favorite eats of SXSW.
Festival Foodie: Chi’Lantro is reinventing traditional Korean and Mexican cuisine, where did the idea/inspiration for your food truck and restaurants originate?
Jae Kim: I started the business with 30k in savings and by maxing out a credit card to 30k. I didn’t have the resources, or an experience to start a restaurant, so, leasing the food truck provided an opportunity to serve Korean BBQ inspired menu. We grew organically and took out a loan to open a restaurant.
FF: It’s easy to associate Austin, and Texas as a whole, with traditional BBQ- Ribs, Brisket, Pulled Pork, the works. Over the years, Chi’Lantro has made its own distinctive mark on Austin’s BBQ and food scene with elements of Korean BBQ. Can you explain what makes Korean BBQ different and how are Chi’Lantro’s rib-eye and pork Bulgogi prepared?
Kim: I heard Aaron Franklin of Franklin’s BBQ talking recently and he said making Franklin’s BBQ is a like a science because timing, temperature, and quality has to be perfect. I think Korean BBQ isn’t as time consuming as Texas BBQ because weather doesn’t play into the factor, but we use over 20 ingredients to mix our thinly sliced meat, marinate them for over 24 hours, and cooked on a hot flat top grill.
FF: As a vegetarian option, Tofu is offered as a protein menu item. Is your tofu prepared in any particular manner?
Kim: It’s very simple, yet very good. It’s cubed and fried lightly to give it a slightly crunchy texture on the outside, then pour in our house made tofu sauce for taste.
FF: Where can attendees find Chi’Lantro at this year’s SXSW? Will you be partnering with any specific brands this year?
Kim: We are at Southbites, Austin Convention Center, Palmer Center, 823 Congress, 1509 South Lamar, and East 6th Street. We’ve partnered with multiple brands to give away food during Interactive and Music portion of SXSW. It will be exciting.
FF: How would you describe those famous Kimchi Fries in one word?
Kim: Winning
FF: How did these fries become such a staple to SXSW?
Kim: Word of mouth. We do our best to give our customers quality and consistent food and service and it’s been recognized by our fans and customers at SXSW. We are humbled and thankful.
FF: In addition to your Kimchi Fries, what other menu items would you suggest to someone who has never had Chi’Lantro?
Kim: Our bowl is 2nd most popular item on our menu and we won’t disappoint you!
SXSW 2014: Black Taxi x Vinyl Video
We ran into our friends from Black Taxi at South by Southwest this year – in total honesty, I heard their music playing while I was outside conducting another interview, and once I wrapped that one up, I quickly ran to follow the sound and catch BT’s show at The Blind Pig.
After their show, we caught up with the guys and decided to do a quick impromptu interview to get the scoop on their new album (“guitar everywhere!”) , their new drummer and to find out if they actually went to that abandoned asylum we talked about after our last interview. Enjoy!
SXSW 2014: Rebecca & Fiona x Vinyl Video
We snuck into the upstairs at the Driskill Hotel in downtown Austin at South by Southwest for our interview Rebecca & Fiona, two kick-ass DJs all the way in from Stockholm, Sweden.
Check out the Vinyl Video below where I nod too much, and we talk about Rebecca & Fiona’s music, their problem with being called “female DJs” and their plans after South by. BTW, they made their jackets. Made them. These ladies are so cool.
Also, be sure to catch Rebecca & Fiona’s newest album, Beauty is Pain, out now!!
May 01 Bassmnt w/ Nause San Diego, CA
May 02 Tenw/ Nause Calgary, Canada
May 03 The Midw/ Nause Chicago, IL
May 08 SUTRAw/ Nause Costa Mesa, CA
May 09 Marqueew/ Nause Las Vegas, NV
May 10 New City Gasw/ Nause Montreal, Canada
May 30 Brännbollsyran Umea, Sweden
Jun 13 Summerburst Stockholm, Sweden
Jul 13 EDC UK Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
Aug 23 Creamfields Liverpool, United Kingdom
SXSW 2014: Misun x Vinyl Mag
LA-based Misun met with us at South by Southwest to talk about their music (self-described as “spaghetti soul-dance”), their South by Southwest experience, leprosy from armadillos and Jon’s caffeine addiction. Check out our interview below, and then be sure to catch these guys on tour — they are truly, uniquely, awesome.
Vinyl Mag: So how have you guys been liking Austin besides the traffic issues? You’ve been here before, haven’t you?
Misun Wojcik [vocals/lyrics/keys]: I have not.
Jon Jester [drums]: Two of us have.
VM: Well welcome to the little blue dot in a big red state!
MW: It’s cool. We like it so far.
VM: It’s a unique place! I just moved here, so I’m getting my bearings on it all as well. Well, to start out, could you maybe tell me a little about yourselves and what roles you play within the group and what you bring to Misun?
William Devon [bass/keys]: I play bass, and that’s my role. I dance onstage [laughing], and style icon.
MW: “Diva” is a word we like to use.
Andrew Wallace [aka Nacey, guitar/production]: I play guitar, and I produce our tracks.
MW: I do vocals, lyrics, keys…
VM: And really cool hairstyles – I wish I could create that. Except the wind outside will destroy it in one second.
MW: Yeah! You should have seen it before! If you think this is nice…
JJ: I play the drums. And that’s what I do. I make sure we get from A to B. I’m addicted to caffeine, but not coffee.
MW: But not coffee.
VM: But you like the Crystal Light type of caffeine?
JJ: Yeah, the weird caffeine. I’m into these caffeine packs now that are essentially what you would have in a sugar-free Monster, but it comes in this little packet, and it’s really cheap.
MW: He makes it really yummy-looking, and it is, but it’s fat.
JJ: It’s poison, really. It is.
WD: Everyday, he picks us up with the same big cupful of his [laughing].
MW: Is this too much, Jon? [Laughing]
Will: All of our interviews are going to be like this [laughing]. Jon is the caffeine crack head.
MW: Jon has a problem.
VM: But he likes his caffeine artificially created, like chemically…
JJ: Exactly. The stronger, the better.
VM: Okay, so your music is super upbeat, but chill. I almost feel like it has a reggae vibe to it. When you’re creating music, creating a track, what is your focus? When you’re approaching it, what is your goal for how the music will turn out? Do you go in with an end goal in mind? Or do you just have it organically develop?
WD: I think it’s pretty organic every time. We don’t even really know what our sound is yet in some ways. We just know that…sometimes, it’s just based off of what we’ve been listening to, influenced by something a little bit, and we’ll just kind of roll with it in that direction.
VM: I read something about how you guys were influenced by Quentin Tarantino? So, how has Tarantino – also, what other art forms like music, film, writing – come into your work and influenced what you create?
MW: Some of the dance-heavy stuff is….what would you say the influence is?
AW: We’ve been DJs for a long time, so we’ve been into dance music for a long time. But it’s not… I feel like every single one of us pretty much like everything, so if we’re listening to rock music, we might start writing rock music.
JJ: Yeah, it’s cool not having…. like if you’re in a rock band, or if you’re in a hip hop band, you kind of stay within those lines. And I don’t think we have those lines. Those lines for us are…
MW: Ever-expanding. We would be bored if we couldn’t do different music all the time.
VM: If you could summarize your genre, what would you say? Sum up what you are in a couple of words.
MW: Well pop’s in there, for sure. Rock, for sure. Rock, pop, soul-dance.
VM: I like that! Soul-dance.
MW: Spaghetti soul-dance [laughing].
JJ: And that’s where the Tarantino can probably be heard. A lot of his guitar lines. Kind of twangy, western-y guitar vibe. Like Pulp Fiction and all of those. And what was the other? Did Kill Bill have a lot of that with the trill-y?
VM: So you secretly want to be in a Western? A Tarantino Western?
MW: Yeah, he is a cowboy, for sure.
VM: That’s awesome. Do you like any of the psychedelic Westerns? Like Dead Man with Johnny Depp? Austin’s a great place if you’re into Westerns, then!
MW: Exactly, what we want to get out of this city – but we won’t have the chance – we want to see Texas Texas. Like, ‘tumbleweed Texas.’ And I bet you there’s a lot of them, based on the wind outside.
VM: I’m pretty sure I saw a tumbleweed when I was driving over here, which kind of freaked me out.
JJ: Have you seen an armadillo yet?
VM: No, I haven’t.
JJ: It just looks like a little armored rat. On the side of the road.
MW: Are they dangerous?
VM: I think they carry leprosy…
All: What?!?
VM: Like if you touch it, you can catch leprosy!
MW: You’re joking.
JJ: Is there a cure for leprosy now?
VM: Yeah, antibiotics or something. I just would prefer not to catch leprosy!!
JJ: Yeah, and that’s how Misun ended up in in a leper colony.
MW: Someone needs to write a song about that [laughing]. Could you imagine if someone got leprosy out here? Like, ‘how was South By?’ ‘It was fun; we all caught leprosy.’
VM: What are your plans for after South By and moving forward throughout the year? Any projects you’re super pumped about working on?
MW: We’ve got a few shows lined up on the West Coast, and –
JJ: It’s really our first tour, too. We’re going to the Pacific Northwest. Middle of May, we’re going to… what is it – Everett, Washington? Something called Fisherman’s Village Music Festival there.
MW: We’re also playing in Oregon.
JJ: Yeah, a couple in Portland, a couple North West states. It’s all between the 12th and 17th of May, sometime in there. And then we’re playing the Echoplex March 22 – that’s an official after-South-by show. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to the Echoplex, but it’s a great venue, I’m super pumped on that.
AW: We’re playing Hard Rock City again, going down to San Diego for that show.
MW: I think the hope is that we make more music this year and keep touring. Build awareness, and have fun. We love writing so much; we want to be able to do that as much as possible…we’re based out of LA, and we all moved from DC.
AW: We made that move about four months ago.
VM: How are you liking LA?
MW: Loooooooove.
JJ: On a day like today, it’s like, ‘wow, I miss LA, nice sunny weather.’
MW: Yeah, I miss LA. But seriously, the vegetables – the prices on fresh produce is just unbelievable. DC will rob you, you know, for a cucumber.
JJ: Although if you buy a 30-pack of beer, you’re paying $1.50 for the CRV tax in California, because they charge you about five cents a can.
MW: But, see, the wine is less, so I win.
VM: How did you guys get together to collaborate and become a group?
WD: We’ve kind of always done music, and we kind of all just started working together, and it just kind of naturally happened. I don’t think we originally had intentions of creating a band, and music just started coming and we thought, ‘let’s go for it.’ And then we met Jon.
MW: Yeah, it was definitely weird. There was a point where we were like, ‘are we a band?’ because before that, we were just kind of playing around.
JJ: Misun opened for a band that I was playing with at the time. It was in DC; I’d been in LA off and on for a while, living there, and when I saw them play, it was just the three of them without a drummer, and it was legit. I mean, I was really floored. I mean, I had heard of the band, but I had never seen them or really listened to them, and you know, saw her, and I grabbed Andrew after the show, and was just like, ‘look man, even if it’s not me, I think you guys really need a drummer, and I’ll throw my hat in the ring.’
VM: So you just went out there and were like, ‘I want to join’?
JJ: I mean, I’ve been doing this for awhile, and maybe a month or so later, Misun reached out to me and was like, ‘how’s this all feeling? In terms of friends, and do you want to do this?’ and I had already decided to move to LA, and we started playing together in March of last year, so it’s been about a year…
MW: And he’s incredible. We had like little tryouts for other drummers, and boy was it tough, but this was just like [clap] bam!
AW: And the band he was playing with was like electronic, so he has this whole system, and he triggers samples with his drum set, and for us, we do so much electronic stuff, he just educated us on how that works.
JJ: And I fought it. I was forced into that world, because I used to have long hair, and I wanted to just rock. I just wanted to hit things as hard as I could and then all of a sudden, then this other band was like giving me these electronics, and I was like, ‘this isn’t what I want to do.’
VM: It becomes scientific, almost.
JJ: It used to be you just show up, and you’ve got your sticks and your wood, and then all of a sudden I’ve got all these wires and things, and I fought it. Now I look back, and I’m like, ‘thank God those guys made me do that switch.’ Because when I met Misun, I was like, ‘I already know how to do this, here it is,’ and it just worked.
MW: Yeah, we didn’t even know something like that existed at all.
JJ: Sometimes, you know, you fight against what you think is not what you want to do, and then all of a sudden it turns out to be the perfect situation. I’ve been reflecting on that a lot over the past year. On how that all just…
VM: How that perfectly worked out!
JJ: Yeah. Like, maybe we’re onto something in this band.
MW: It’s like eating your vegetables. You don’t want to do it, but it’s good for you. But I do like my vegetables.
JJ: We’re very healthy!
VM: Yeah! You have your green juice – I was going to get y’all a drink, but Odwalla is probably a better strategy…
JJ: We’ll come back and meet you after our show and take you up on that.
SXSW 2014: HEARTSREVOLUTION x Vinyl Mag
Leyla ‘Lo’ Safai and Ben Pollock make up New York-based HEARTSREVOLUTION. From embracing the food truck era by turning an ice cream truck into their tricked-out bandwagon, to graffiti “he(art)” via stuffed animals, to the synth-punk-magic-pop music they create, how these two even found the time to speak with us at Vinyl Mag at South by Southwest this year is impressive (to say the least). We shared eggrolls and talked about things like their favorite track to perform and their fabulous ice cream truck creation and the Swarovski crystals that were donated from Michael Jackson’s Neverland estate (totally a real thing). Be sure to also check out their latest album Ride or Die that dropped earlier this month.
Vinyl Mag: What are you most excited to see or do while in Austin?
Ben Pollock: I mean, personally, and I think Lo would agree, because we haven’t been here in so many years due to working on music or the ice cream truck or just not being ready in general, now that we are here, we are really focused on just representing what we came for. The album is coming out, the truck is done and we’ve got this graffiti thing we’re doing now – it’s just a big year for us. It took so much work and so many man-hours to be in the position that we’re in; it just feels like the right time to be back.
Leyla ‘Lo’ Safai: When we were building the truck, we thought it would take about six months, but…it just takes as long as it takes. People don’t seem to understand that, either. The first couple of years that we came to South by Southwest, we got a lot of super early buzz and press; we got really lucky. There’s this magazine out of the UK called NME, and they wrote highly on us and put us on their top 10 acts to check out for South by Southwest, and it really seemed to jump start our career and trigger all of the other magazines to write about us as well. It was great, but the songs were unevolved, there was no album, there was no management, and the ice cream truck we had at the time was a beat up 1960’s pink truck with chipped paint. There was in idea that was there, but it takes time to flush things out. People were really unforgiving to that and chalked it up to us taking too long….because we live in a society of social media and instant gratification, people think that everything is immediate, but that’s just not the case. Think of trying to build something terrific and magnificent like a pyramid or a sphinx and looking in admiration like, ‘Wow! That must have taken 20 years to make,’ and us building this crystal ice cream truck is just like that…of course, funding was a major aspect of it all, and during the process Swarovski gave us crystals, and we ran out, and it just so happened to be the year that Michael Jackson passed away, and they gave us his Neverland crystals in order to complete our truck. I mean, a lot of crazy stuff happened to get here, and that’s one thing that people just always seem to overlook.
VM: How have the fans responded to your latest music video for “Kiss”?
LS: There was a huge issue with the Noisey release of our video, and somehow it got loaded on a back-ended server, and none of the views were actually accounted for. So as far as the numbers go, we will never know how many times it was actually viewed through there before I ultimately uploaded it on my own. But, I do know that Skrillex tweeted the link to the Soundcloud of the song, and that got like 95,000 plays. It was really important to us to make that video, though, because before Lady Gaga and Macklemore and all of that, we had been trying to make a boy/boy love story for like four and a half years. We paid an animator like 5,000 euros to make the world’s first gay animation love story; they took the money, made the characters that are on the front of our truck and then just never replied. And so now it seems to be very ‘in’ to do that, but we’ve been trying to do for years.
VM: What is your favorite track to perform?
LS: Maybe Vertigo…
BP: Really? We’ve only played it two times.
LS: Yeah, actually.
BP: We really like performing the songs off of the new album, but we’ve only played them a few times, so we haven’t had too many chances yet.
VM: Right, so you’re super into playing and performing the new songs right now, yeah?
BP: Right; we’re going to start playing them a lot more. There’s a lot of range of that album, and we’re used to playing short, high energy sets. So we’re pretty excited to start incorporating more range into our shows.
VM: Where were you [last night] when the tragedy at Red River and 9th occurred?
LS: We were in bed, although we were supposed to be out – in the truck – there, essentially. We’ve been out doing graffiti every night while out here in Austin, so we had planned to go back to the Mohawk and take photos and whatnot, but we decided we needed some rest. It’s really crazy – we were literally going to be right there.
VM: A favorite question of mine to ask this year: are you food truck people or barbecue joint people?
LS: See for me, when I made the first ice cream truck in L.A., I was like, ‘This is going to change the way our life is!’, and everybody told me it would never work. It was during the peak of the recession, so people didn’t have money to start businesses, and everybody just hated their life. When we first came to South by Southwest, there were no food trucks- imagine that. I was like, ‘You guys, it’s going to change everything!’. I started tearing up when we got back to L.A. and saw parking lots solely dedicated to food trucks. It’s not about credit, because there is this thing called the Internet, so you can Google who started it. We pioneered this, and now everyone is enjoying the perks of it, which I’m super happy about. That’s how I feel about our music – we’re going to change the world.
VM: How did the two of you meet?
LS: The first time I ever really noticed him was at The Strokes concert, but we worked at the same place in downtown Los Angeles. After the concert I was like, ‘Hey, we should hang out sometime,’ because the strokes were my favorite band, and they were his favorite band, also. Since then we’ve just continued to have the best time of our lives. It’s like the universe pulled us together, because he’s super normal, and I’m super crazy and mental, so we balance each other out.
VM: What is next for you once South by Southwest is over?
LS: When we get home, I get to see the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow – for lack of better words. For the past six months, we’ve been working on all of the tangible products of the release, and I’ve gotten to do everything that I’ve wanted to do with it. I had Crayola sponsor the CD, and the album artwork is a coloring book; it comes with an activity book that has three crayons- neon pink, yellow and green. We also had velvet record sleeves made in China that look like the old 60’s and 70’s covers. The vinyl itself is fluorescent pink and so beautiful. They really just let me make my sh*t, and it’s amazing. I honestly feel like I’ve given everything I had to give with this record, and now it’s about sharing it with the world and hoping they get to hear it.
SXSW 2014: Lime Cordiale x Vinyl Mag
Quintet Aussies Lime Cordiale came quite a long way from their home of the northern beaches of Sydney to play at the massive and chaotic live music scene of SXSW. With a voice and sound that can’t help but bring up comparisons to Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys) and The Kooks from us writers at Vinyl, this group is definitely deserving of your undivided attention with their up-beat indie rock distinctive of the land down under. We caught up with brothers Oli and Louis Leimbach midway through they week at SX to talk about their experience in the USA, working with Daniel Denholm, and their biggest influences.
VM: 2013 was a huge year for you guys, touring all across Australia to promote your second EP, Falling Up the Stairs. How was that experience for you guys?
Louis Leimbach: Amazing! We all felt solid about that EP and the shows went splendidly. We started the year with an amazing festival on the east coast, so that defiantly pushed us a lot, and we also supported some bands that we adored. We were super vibing on all of the shows out of our hometown, which had great turnouts.
VM: How did you come up with the band name Lime Cordiale?
LL: Our last name has ‘Lime’ in it, and we stole the ‘Cordiale’ from a French musical festival ‘Musique Cordiale’ we were attending when we first started playing together.
VM: How has it been performing and making music as brothers in the same band; does that ever cause tension or disagreements within the band?
LL: I can’t really imagine doing this without a sibling. There is never any backstabbing, and we can read each other perfectly. Sure, there is tension, but that makes for something good to write about.
Oli Leimbach: Despite being brothers, we get along really well. We have similar vision.
VM: How was the experience of having the EP produced by Daniel Denholm?
LL: Daniel is a strange guy. One of those wackos that would be naked under his trench-coat playing music all night long in the dark by himself. But a musical genius who totally gets us, and we fully respect him. We worked hard finding a sound that mimicked our personalities and presence for about six months. We put down about 20 tracks and picked out the best five.
VM: Being from Sydney Australia, how has that influenced your sound?
LL: There is definitely a distinct sound coming out of us at the moment – maybe that has something to do with it? We come from a surfy town that like to party and dance so we’ve definitely adapted our sound to its groovers.
VM: Are there any particular musicians or bands that shape your music?
LL: A lot of old soul, deep house, reggae and psychedelic music. Some of our favourites are Bonobo, Citizen Cope, Charles Bradley, Amy Winehouse, Tame Impala and Crowded House.
VM: How has your music evolved since the beginning?
OL: When we first started out we were playing much smaller venues and mainly just acoustically. But as we started playing bigger places, we had to adjust our sound to less of a sit down and listen and more of a stand up and dance type of feel. Its all about playing something that people can dance to.
VM: Anyone who you guys would love to play live with?
LL: Citizen Cope, Charles Bradley, The Growlers, The Strokes…
VM: Do you guys have a favorite song to play live?
LL: ‘Bullsh*t Aside’ is pretty fun the play live. It seems to get everyone grooving pretty hard.
VM: What bands were you most excited to see at SXSW this year?
LL: We had no plans, and that was the best plan. We just hopped from venue to venue, and because of that we now have a list of about 30 great bands we previously had never heard of. We made friends with a couple of them and now have some good U.S. connections and friends.
VM: How many shows did you play at SXSW? What was your favorite?
LL: At one showcase we played, the guitar amp blew up in the first song, so Oli just danced around for most of it. When you stuff up that hard at the start of your set, you just loosen up and stop worrying, because there’s nothing else to loose.
VM: What is next for Lime Cordiale?
LL: We’ve got a bunch of new songs we want to lay down when we return to [Australia]. Then head back over to hit the USA with some fresh new tracks.
Apr 08 ‘Play Us Your Hits’ Showcase @ MUSEXPO Los Angeles, CA
Apr 09 Casa Costa Mesa, CA
Apr 21 Bluesfest Byron Bay Nsw, Australia
Jun 11 The Catalyst Santa Cruz, CA
Jun 17 The Crocodile Seattle, WA
SXSW 2014: Charli XCX x Vinyl Video
Reunited, and it feels so badass! You know it’s going to be a good SXSW when your first interview is a follow-up with pop princess Charli XCX.
You may remember her from our video interview last year. OR you may know her from her awesome collaborations with artists like Icona Pop and Iggy Azalea (no, but seriously…anyone who has been in my office or in the car with me over the last two weeks month can attest to the fact that I can’t. Stop. Listening to “Fancy”). OR you may just be obsessed with her last album, True Romance and counting the days until her next. Either way, every one of you should know and love this girl by now.
We caught up on a balcony at the Hilton in downtown Austin for a quick reunion on the first day of South by Southwest to talk about her new projects and what’s next for her (but not before she viciously attacked me with my own microphone – don’t worry; we hugged it out). Enjoy.