The enigmatic and energetic one-man composer Roger Sellers had a big SXSW with The Deli, with not only a cover article in our South By print issue, but also headlining our showcase at the Austin Convention Center. Somehow between doing all of that and his other South By Southwesterly duties, Sellers found the time to chat with The Deli's own Brian Chidester about his career and his approach to music. Check out what Mr. Sellers had to say below, along with a few of his best recent tracks.

Brian Chidester: You were working in a roots direction not long ago. What brought about the new direction and interest in things like Minimalism, electro and "Pet Sounds"?

Roger Sellers: Minimalism is something that I’ve always been inspired by and practiced in my recordings through the years, but it definitely became more prevalent in Primitives. For my last 3 studio records, I would generally start from scratch to record and write simultaneously. Primitives was a much different approach. Most of the songs on the record had already been written and performed for about 5 years. Primitives was a way for me to release the songs publicly on hard media, so that people could enjoy them in their homes or cars, not just at a show or on youtube. While it does have many aspects of electro involved, most of what you hear was recorded acoustically.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE INTERVIEW WITH ROGER SELLERS

Ooh boy y'all, we just picked up boxes containing 10,000 copies of The Deli's SXSW 2015 print issue, featuring the enigmatic and supremely badass Roger Sellers on the cover, and we're about to drop these bitchin' little pieces of literature all over Austin. Chances are you'll find yourself in possession of one or five copies if you're taking part in the festivities, and if not, you can check out the whole thing online here.

As an extra special delicious bonus treat for all you sexy, sexy readers, we've put up an extended version of our article on venues not on 6th Street, which you can read at the link below. Check it on out, and get yourself to some awesome spots that ain't covered in crowds and vomit this SX. Or, at least, a little less crowds and vomit. Have a great fest errbody!

Positively Not 6th Street

By Trevor Talley, photos by Xavier Villalon

If math is a real thing, you’re either on 6th Street in Austin at South By Southwest right now while you’re reading this, or you’re not. That’s just facts, straight to you from your friends at The Deli. We’re glad to be of service to your brain.

If you’re are at South By, and you probably are because we’re handing out 10,000 of these magazines to cool people with haircuts just like you during South By this year, we at The Deli wanted to give you somethin’ useful to use around our fair city through this magazine. Somethin’ that shows you a bit of the town that you might not normally have seen, that gets you wandering the scene and seeing what the whole of our city has to offer. That’s this here article, which is all about venues Not on 6th, because, let’s be honest, those 6th and Red River spots really don’t need much help from anyone to get boots in the door during SXSW.

Austin, though, is a big place these days that stretches far beyond the booze and vomit of 6th Street, and it’s one that’s growing as we speak. Growing, as it were, at the rate of over 100 people every day (an actual fact). Another fact: 100% of the people who move here will not see all of Austin before they leave or, more likely, they die. There’s just too much of it out there for even us locals to see, much less anyone who is only here for a wild week in March.

So to cut down on your researchin’ needs while at SXSW, and to show you a bit about the music scene as it exists in our Hill Country town outside of the primary party areas (which everyone is already pretty damn aware of), here are some excellent venues Not on 6th to give a try. Each and every one is a true representation of the music culture here in Austin, and most certainly worth the trip over. Get to ‘em, and have a great SX y’all.

Trailer Space

Website

1401 RoseWood Ave.

Any location that has blue underwear prominently framed on its wall, good pizza next door and an honest-to-god Area 51 arcade cabinet among its many fine public offerings is a place that automatically makes this list. Trailer Space, though, is more than just a spot with good ass video games and the venerable East Side Pies as a next-door neighbor. Set deep on the north end of the East Side, Trailer Space is a record store and music venue with the spirit of the 90s (in Austin, not that other copycat city) alive. By that I mean that they seriously care about local music and creating an authentic experience, and they also carry VHS tapes. Crossing the threshold of this venue bears immediate gifts: local records, loads more records of all kinds, the aforementioned tapes and DVDs, a bunch of scrawny kids hanging about picking through the crates, and music industry shit all over the walls that lets you know you’re not just dealin’ with a bunch of young hipsters into retro music, you’re in a place run by people who’ve actually been there in Austin’s music scene for a long time, and who’ve brought a bunch of awesome shit back to prove it. The shows here are much the same, curated, played and attended by real-deal Austin music lovers. That there is pizza within 10 feet at all times does not hurt, either.

///CLICK HERE FOR THE REST OF THE ARTICLE\\\

Ladies and Gents,

The SXSW 2015 issue of The Deli can be now read online here. 10k copies of this baby will flood the streets of Austin during SXSW Music Week.

It will be a busy time for us as usual, with the madness of the Stompbox Exhibit in full swing, joined this year by a sister expo called Synth Space!

So yeah... if you are attracted to nerds, come and see us at the SXSW Music Gear Expo inside the Austin Convention Center from March 19 to March 21 (11am-6pm)!

We'll also have a small live showcase, here are the details:

THE DELI'S SXSW 2015 SHOWCASE

FACEBOOK EVENT
WHEN: Friday 03.20, 4pm
WHERE: FLatstock Stage (Austin Convention Center)

4.00 Prinze George (DC Area)
4.45 Lazyeyes (Brooklyn, NY)
5.30 Roger Sellers (Austin)

See y'all in Austin!

The Deli's Staff

Some one-man-bands are a person on the street with a bunch of shit strapped to him screeching weird punk-folk. Some one-man-bands are a person taking all the many instruments they have painstakingly mastered and surrounding themselves with them on a stage with a bunch of layering equipment to create what must be called compositions, keeping all the parts of a complex song straight in their head and performing them perfectly.

Much as the first style of one-manners can be fun, it's a very limiting format that doesn't often result in the kind of deep, multi-layered performances that the second style can achieve. Roger Sellers is one of these second kind of artists. He's more composer than singer-songwriter, but his sound is more Animal Collective than it is Andrew Bird. Standing in a hollow cradled by an array of more instruments than some entire bands can field, Sellers lays one set of sounds on top of another carefully and precisely, but with undeniable energy to create airy avant-garde pop songs. As a true multi-instrumentalist, and not just someone who can strum a little and owns a lot of musical shit, the result is top-notch experimental indie music where guitars and drums are there to add to the whole, not dominate it. Sellers has recently announced that he will be doing his thing during SXSW this year, and it's hard to imagine that Austinites, with their refined musical palettes, would find his shows anything less than exactly the kind of thing that should be making it huge in this city. For a taste, see the KUTX-filmed version of his track "Waves" below, part of his newest album "8 Songs," which you can hear the rest of at his Bandcamp page here.