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The 2025 edition of South By Southwest (SXSW) has unveiled its first wave of artists set to perform in Austin, Texas next March.
Notably, among the list of names include Irish acts Gurriers and Soda Blonde, both of whom were initially booked for SXSW 2024 but pulled out in protest of the festival’s sponsors, the US military and defence contractor RTX Corporation, who are both reportedly tied to Israel as weapons suppliers. The festival has since dropped them as sponsors for its 2025 edition, which will take place from March 10 to 15.
The list sees a heavy load of up-and-coming artists, including Australian indie rock band Delivery – who are set to release their sophomore album ‘Force Majeure’ in January – British singer-songwriter Emmeline, Irish punk quintet M(h)aol, American multi-instrumentalist Yasmin Williams and Indonesian psych-funk band Ali.
It also includes festival favourites Dune Rats, The Ting Tings, Letting Up Despite Great Faults, and Twin Shadow, with the latter set to launch his upcoming sixth album ‘Georgie’ at the festival.
Elsewhere in the line-up, Wire‘s Colin Newman will bring the live debut of his sound and art project Immersion – in which he performs alongside Minimal Contact’s Malka Spiel – and their collaboration with instrumental trio SUSS under the Nanocluster series.
The first wave of artists to perform at SXSW 2025 are:
Ali (Indonesia)
Amiture (US)
Annie-Claude Deschênes (Canada)
Ava Vegas (US)
babas tutsipop (Mexico)
Bakers Eddy (New Zealand)
Bee Blackwell (US)
Big Phony (US)
Bleary Eyed (US)
Boo Seeka (Australia)
Bubba Lucky (US)
Bummer Camp (US)
Caleb De Casper (US)
Cap Carter (Australia)
Cari Cari (Austria)
Carter Vail (US)
CDSM (US)
Chinese American Bear (US)
Cloth (Scotland)
corto.alto (Scotland)
Cotton Mather (US)
Delivery (Australia)
Dr. Pushkin (Ghana)
Dune Rats (Australia)
Edgar Alejandro (Mexico)
Ellur (UK)
Emmeline (UK)
Exotic Fruitica (US)
Fake Dad (US)
fantasy of a broken heart (US)
Frankie Venter (New Zealand)
GEOGRAPHER (US)
Graham Reynolds (US)
Guardian Singles (New Zealand)
Gurriers (Ireland)
Gus Englehorn (US)
Hachiku (Australia)
HIMALAYAS (Wales)
Honeyglaze (UK)
Housewife (Canada)
J.T ajor (Australia)
Jad Fair and the Placebos (US)
John Francis Flynn (Ireland)
Julie Nolen (US)
Justin Morales (Mexico)
Kanaan (Norway)
KAP BAMBINO (France)
Ki! (Denmark)
Kombilesa Mi (Colombia)
La Sécurité (Canada)
Laura Lee & the Jettes (Germany)
Lauren Lakis (US)
Letting Up Despite Great Faults (US)
Levin Goes Lightly (Germany)
Los Eclipses (Mexico)
Lucy Sugerman (Australia)
MADELEINE (UK)
Mall Girl (Norway)
Man/Woman/Chainsaw (UK)
Marry Cherry (US)
Maruja (UK)
mary in the junkyard (UK)
Matching Outfits (Germany)
MELLT (Wales)
Meltheads (Belgium)
M(h)aol (Ireland)
Midnight Navy (US)
Miranda and the Beat (US)
Monobloc (US)
Nanocluster [Immersion | SUSS] (UK)
Nature TV (UK)
Nemegata (US)
Nilipek. (Turkey)
Nive Nielsen (Greenland)
o’summer vacation (Japan)
Parker Woodland (US)
Paula Prieto (Argentina)
Perennial (US)
Personal Trainer (The Netherlands)
Pug Johnson (US)
Quiet Money Dot (US)
Really Good Time (Ireland)
Rowena Wise (Australia)
Sarah Klang (Sweden)
Scarlet House (Australia)
Shao Dow (UK)
Shiho Yabuki (Japan)
Shishi (Lithuania)
Sir Jude (Australia)
Sly5thAve (US)
Soda Blonde (Ireland)
Sofia Grant (UK)
Sultanes del Yonke (US)
Summer Pearl (UK)
Surely Shirley (Australia)
Susobrino (Belgium)
Tesfaye Taye Gebeyehu / Yaho Ethiopian Cultural Band (Ethiopia)
The Philharmonik (US)
The Ting Tings (UK)
The VANNS (Australia)
tiger bae (Japan)
TVOD (US)
Twin Shadow (US)
twst (UK)
Vanessa Zamora (US)
Venus Grrrls (UK)
Volcan (US)
Vv Pete (Australia)
Water Damage (US)
Woomb (Bulgaria)
XAMIYA (Japan)
Xixa (US)
Yasmin Williams (US)
Yndling (Norway)
Yoo Doo Right (Canada)
Yuuf (UK)
After Gurriers pulled out of SXSW 2024, the band’s frontman Pierce Callaghan issued a statement in a speech at a live music venue in Austin, which was previously set to host the Music For Ireland showcase for the festival.
“Sponsorship of the festival from defence contractors and those sending arms to destroy innocent lives is an act we find disgusting and reprehensible,” he said. “We as Irish people have a lot of solidarity with the people of Palestine as we share a history of occupation and oppression by colonialist countries.”
In NME‘s coverage of SXSW 2024, Sophie Williams shared “There has been immense fervour shown towards SXSW in recent years, as post-pandemic, attendance numbers have surpassed 300,000 across its music, film, tech and education sections. Going forward, this goodwill and enthusiasm from both musicians and fans will surely – and righteously – be tested should the military partnership continue. Simply put, without the artists, there’s no festival to be had.”
“Yet, arguably, there is power to be found in how this past week has felt like a key moment for emerging artists to come together and collectively use their power for good. Dotted around downtown Austin’s many basement venues, there were displays of activism and quiet ambition to be found if you looked beyond the big, corporate, branded events; a small glimmer of hope amongst all the noise.”
Back in July, SXSW announced its first London edition scheduled for 2025, which will take place in Shoreditch from June 2 to 7.
“The thing we can do uniquely is pull together reflections of the cutting-edge, grassroots music communities and – if I’m just thinking about the music program – how people can get involved in what is happening at the cutting edge and how they might be able to work with those different international music scenes to develop them and develop ideas with them,” SXSW London’s Holness told Billboard. “That’s what I think SXSW London should be.”