Love Austin Music

12 stories from the people who
make the heart of our city beat

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Presented By:

Aaron Miller

“You better bring some people to this room tonight because we’ve gotta make money, because these people are trying to eat and if you screw this up we won’t let you do it again.”

Betty Soo

"In Austin as long as you’re decently respectful nobody makes you feel like you’ve got to jump through hoops. To me that’s what the music scene here is like, and I think the city around it has changed more than the scene itself."

Danielle Houtkooper

"There’s been times where I’ve seriously contemplated just standing on a corner with a sign trying to get people to come to a show. 'Hey! Come to our show! Try it! Maybe you’ll like it!'"

Dianne Scott

"Nowadays most musicians cannot afford to live in Austin proper. There’s an imbalance because the quality of the music is just as good if not better than it ever was but people don’t want to pay much more."

Gina Chavez

"There's way more camaraderie than there's competition. And when there's competition, it’s healthy in the sense that you’re sitting in the audience like 'Man, they’re incredible! I’ve gotta do some work!'"

Ian Rundell

"Beerland I guess is an incubator club. But we’re a 190 person room so there’s not much more you can do with that. It seemed like Beerland was the punk and garage place to go, but it’s slowing down."

Jim Eno

"’ve worked with some amazing artists who are working day jobs, they’re working maybe three jobs while we’re trying to make their record. That is not how it should be. They should be writing music, not struggling to get the money to make a record."

Khattie Q

"I think people do have to work too much at their day jobs to pay their bills, and then don’t have the opportunity to go out and tour as much as they should to make a name for themselves. It’s hard, but there is also a lot of drive."

Josh Siebert

"The artists that play here, they’re home. I don’t say welcome. When I load a band in I let them know 'This is gonna be the best show of your tour, it’s all downhill from here, so just enjoy today. This is your house.'"

Laurie Gallardo

"I would love for the population to become a little more involved, to invest a little more, to realize, again, we have this in our own backyard but they’re not really taking advantage of it."

Miss Lavelle White

"Most cities I’ve been to have accepted me. They treat me real good. But Austin is different. Every time I play someone is there. And that’s what has made me love them."

Riders Against The Storm

"We need community now more than ever. People feel isolated. They need spaces where they can come and feel a sense of connectivity."

About Heart of the City

Heart of the City is a creative collaboration between photographer Carlos J. Matos in partnership with Ovrld, the SIMS Foundation, and the City of Austin Cultural Arts Division made in tribute to the people who keep Austin's music industry alive and vibrant, and a vehicle for bringing attention to the various challenges affecting their ability to work and make music in our city.

The project takes a multimedia approach to storytelling by combining portraiture, written interviews, and film into an ongoing narrative. The stories center around twelve individuals from the heart of Austin's music ecosystem, from performers to stage managers and everything in between, all set within some of Austin's most iconic and culture-defining venues. They are stories of struggle and triumph from the people who make our city unique, and a reminder of what we stand to lose.

Photography by Carlos J. Matos
Written by Morgan Davis
Filmed by Atomic Moment Creative

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