The Belfast hip-hop trio Kneecap, Brighton punks Lambrini Girls and hotly-tipped Dublin garage band Sprints are just three of the bands boycotting this year’s SXSW festival over the Israel-Gaza conflict.
The Austin festival, which runs until March 16, plays an important role in helping emerging bands to gain traction, and is frequently attended by music industry insiders on the look-out for new talent. But as this year’s edition begins, dozens of acts have begun pulling out of their planned slots and refusing to attend altogether.
The rising number of cancellations have been prompted by the festival’s apparent links to both the US Army, and the defence contractor RTX Corporation, which supplies weapons to the Israeli government.
The tech and defence company Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary of RTX, is exhibiting at this year’s festival, while the US army says it is “proud to serve as a SXSW super sponsor this year”. Another defence contractor, L3Harris, is a content sponsor, and held a presentation at the event on March 10.
In a statement, Kneecap explained that they would be pulling out of the festival "in solidarity with the people of Palestine".
We will not be appearing at @sxsw festival. 👇 pic.twitter.com/nt5hEMH2GM
— KNEECAP (@KNEECAPCEOL) March 10, 2024
Lambrini Girls are also boycotting SXSW, explaining that though they will lose approximately £4,000 from cancelling, “we can’t affiliate ourselves whatsoever with SXSW. Without our solidarity becoming totally inauthentic.”
We are boycotting @sxsw pic.twitter.com/mGN7XeXlwr
— Lambrini Girls (@Lambrini_Girls) March 9, 2024
New York band BODEGA, Santa Cruz hardcore group Scowl, Nottingham post-punk band Do Nothing, New Jersey’s Gel, and American musician Squirrel Flower are among the rising number of groups issuing statements to announce that they will no longer be playing at the festival over its links to US defence.
“A music festival should not include war profiteers,” wrote Ella Williams, aka Squirrel Flower, in a statement. “I refuse to be complicit in this and withdraw my art and labor in protest.”
The US Army is providing humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip amid shortages of food, clean water, medical supplies, and sanitation, and have sent a military ship to construct “a temporary pier to deliver vital humanitarian supplies" to Gaza. But the US is also Israel’s biggest military backer, sending billions of dollars in defence aid. A number of weapons being used in the conflict by Israel, including jet planes and bombs, are US-made.
The Standard has approached SXSW for comment
