It was an honor to be asked by one of the NYC music scene’s most respected and beloved artists to tour manage her band at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas. Torture, of Torture and The Desert Spiders, is also one of my dear friends.
The garage art rock trio formed in South London in 2019. The band toured the UK and Europe extensively post-pandemic before relocating to NYC, where T is a leader of the local music community. She has been hosting her weekly residency, Torture Tuesday, at Baker Falls for 63 weeks, booking dozens of local and touring artists, and gathering like-minded fans to discover music and make friends. The band – T (vox/guitar), Aidan Mailley (bass), and Dalton Harts (drums) – has been working on their debut album for over a year, for release later this summer. They’ve played Webster Hall, Bowery Ballroom, and sold-out headline shows in London, Manchester, and Paris, including support for the likes of Frankie and The Witch Fingers and Hamilton Leithauser.
During the band’s official SXSW debut, they played 9 shows, got their song played on UK radio legend Steve Lamacq’s BBC show, and were featured in Rolling Stone. They spent their free time with friends from NYC, did lots of networking via chats and sharing band stickers, and befriended many musicians from California, Austin, the UK, and beyond. Lots of beers, tacos, and pickles were consumed. A bloody good time was had by all.
Dalton Harts, Torture, and Aidan Mailley of Torture and The Desert Spiders on 3/17 in the green room at Mohawk.
March 12
Landed on March 11. Didn’t see The Desert Spiders until March 12. Unfortunately, all flights of every single member of the crew – Torture (vox), Aidan Mailley (bassist), Dalton Harts (drummer), Clara Shaw McIver (UK bassist; OG member), Scott Kunz (Father Spider; Torture’s dad), and me (Tour Manager) – were delayed. Didn’t see Dalton all day. ⅔ Spiders + Clara pulled up to my friend’s apartment with gear. We went to pick up passes after I had spent two hours running around South Austin, only to be denied at three “pass pick-up” locations. Festival workers don’t actually know where anything is at the festival. I know from experience. Passes finally secured. Made it to The White Horse and played some pool and drank some beers with The Dutch Kills and ½ of Boxxer. Laughed at Maxx of Boxxer, who did some mad crackmaxxing. Made a meme of it. Father Spider picked us up, gave us some embroidered TATDS SXSW 2026 hats, and took us to see The All-American Rejects at Stubbs. Torture realized she was wearing the same outfit she wore when she met Tyson last June. We reminisced about Tyson’s Temu slides. Dipped because who listens to post-early-2000s AAR music? Popped into The 13th Floor bar for a sec (shoutout to my fellow late, great Texan Roky). The Spiders got some halal, and I got pizza, and we enjoyed it with The Relics and True Jackson. I popped a raspberry Wyld and went home.
March 13
Load in at noon at Hotel Vegas. Found The Spiders at near by cafe along the highway. Got a quick breakfast taco and coffee. Back to the Volstead stage for setup. Enjoyed shopping the merchandise and brand booths: Clara got leather fringe gloves; Dalton got Shania Twain and Spice Girls shirts; I got a vintage yellow shirt with an American flag peace sign. Torture made a pedal board using a box she found at the hotel. Girls who STEM. ‘Twas a great first SXSW set by The Spiders. The room was instantly in awe of T’s prowess. Father Spider, Clara, and I tested out the Super 8 cameras and passed out stickers to fans. Realized all the venue’s show posters billed the band as The Mind Spiders. Laughed about it a bit and split quickly to very briefly pop into the SPIN showcase, where we stole a pillow and laughed some more. Hopped in Father Spider’s red rental SUV and headed far out Southeast to the Howdy Gals house showcase. Jammed to “I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts” by X and “Safe European Home” by The Clash. T and Aidan exchanged words of encouragement. The band has been feeling a bit ill from travel. They often shared kudos to help lift one another up. If you know T, you know that she’s the first person to tell you that she’s proud of you. It was also during this car ride that I mentioned I was in contact with the BBC about getting the band’s newest single, “Working On Myself,” to play on Steve’s show. I wasn’t sure who Steve was. T and Clara delightedly informed me it was Steve Lamacq, the UK radio legend. Delightedly, as in T was screaming and slapping my arm with excitement. I followed up again as I hadn’t gotten the official confirmation. Unloaded the gear and we hung out for many hours at the house show, embracing the sunshine, indulging in more tacos and glizzys, drinking lots of Just Hard Squeezed hard lemonades, and chatting with the other bands. Rocking out to sets by Grandmas House (friends from England), Secret Family (sick big band with two drummers), Adult Leisure (blistering punk rock), Enfants (swaggy sounds from Japan), Stalefish (six-piece ‘90s indie rock), TATDS (you know), and Balaclava (I’m a huge fan). The Spiders were interviewed by The Aquarian in the “green room” before their set. It was just the front living room. Torture felt her voice was stronger during the day’s earlier set, while Aidan felt more confident about the second set. We packed up the Spider Mobile and scarfed some of Father Spider’s scrumptious bean and lentil chili that had been cooking all day in the crock pot. The Spiders passed out, and I caught Water Gun’s set at Hole in the Wall and danced with TDK.
March 14
The Spiders didn’t have any shows all weekend. Got some much-needed sleep and party time. Met up with T, Father Spider, and Clara around 5 at High Noon off Cesar Chavez. Picked up some Paste mag merch. I began to quickly catch up to the same drunk level as the crew. Trekked to Cheer Up Charlies and found Max, who was with TTSSFU, a Partisan-signed band from England, that he’s managing this weekend, and who’s also friends with T. I chatted with some dads wearing The Thing t-shirts before Victoryland’s set. The band everyone from NYC is talking about right now. My first time seeing them, and they killed it. T and Clara abandoned Father Spider and me, so we had a nice little venture together and found TDK nearby. I lost Father Spider and walked up and down a chaotic 6th St. – swarming with police, robots, SXSW-goers, locals, bachelorette parties, the houseless – trying to find T and Clara via Find My Friends. I should’ve known those Brits would be at British Music Embassy, where the BBC was hosting a showcase. My memory begins to fog here, unsure of when we went to Coyote Ugly, where T danced on the bar, and we took some shots, but it happened nonetheless, proven by various pics and vids on my phone. Back at BME, we saw sets by Steven Bamidele and Whitelands. At some point, before I don’t remember who’s set, T pointed out that the guy onstage introducing the unknown band was Steve Lamacq. Let’s go. I ushered T and Clara to the side of the stage, where a big red curtain divided the backstage area from the crowd. We poked our heads through. Hey, I’m a big fan of your show. We are so excited that you’re playing Torture and The Desert Spiders on your show tomorrow. Here are some stickers. T might call it accosting, I call it networking. Off to the outside stage to see TTSSFU, who was also introduced by Lamacq. They were so damn good. One of the better live sets I’ve seen this year. Tasmin is angelic, and we twirled each other around when she walked into the crowd. The players were in great form. Shoegazey rock. Wrapped up around 12:30. Back to Coyote Ugly for another quick round of shots. Found Gabriel of Water Gun outside of Barbarella. Shared some of my yummy jerk chicken plate and their Jamaican meat patties. Settled in across the street at The Side Bar, where the full crew was hanging – Spiders, TDK, ½ Boxxer, and ½ of Water Gun. Took more crack photos. I forgot to inform my non-Texans that bars close at 2 a.m. and alcohol sales stop at midnight around here. We tried to pick up a case of beer anyway at a gas station, where we enjoyed the chaotic late-night scene of a TX gas station (iykyk) and stumbled into Ubers to Max’s Airbnb apartment. Found the rest of Water Gun. They went to break in and skinny-dip at Barton. The rest of us stayed and drank and chatted and smoked cigs. T and I were the last men standing.
March 15
Chill off day on the Sabbath. Rolled up to Hotel Vegas for the end of the Grillo’s Pickles Presents St. Pickles Day SXSW Pickle Party. I confirmed the full name via Instagram. I got two pickles myself. According to The Dutch Kills Instagram story that day, they had 20+ pickles combined. We got the best crack pic of the week, thanks to JVD, Alec, and Mr. Grillo Pickle himself. And I got a pic of NYC’s favorite blonde frontwomen: T, McKenzie of Trophy Wife, and JVD. I headed back to British Music Embassy (I just really love British people) in hopes of finding the missing, dead-phone Max. I almost gave up until Georgia Jaffe rang me needing the passcode to get into Max’s Airbnb for reasons too long to explain here. So lucky for everyone, I found him, like an abandoned puppy, and we enjoyed Ireland’s own Chalk’s set (shameless COOL KIDS promo) before running around the block to Seven Grand to catch Australia’s own Swapmeet’s midnight set. TDK was already there dancing and getting their photo taken by Rolling Stone. Swapmeet was an SXSW favorite. Young, sweet kids. Swaggy, cool, fuzzy, indie rock.
March 16
Show day. Back at Hotel Vegas, then midnight at Elysium today. I started my day before The Spiders, and headed to the Marshall showcase at Mohawk around noon. Slugged a too-big coffee and met Georgia, McKenzie, and Water Gun. Caught rad sets by Total Wife, Rocket, This is Lorelei, and Water From Your Eyes. Bitchin’ lineup. Shared a glizzy with Whit. Overlooked the long ass line around 2. Got a lot of quotes for my “Are you having fun?” article. Headed over to help The Spiders load in at Heaven or Hotel Vegas around 6. I checked my Instagram on the way, stoked to see T’s story of Steve’s radio show tracklist of the day, with “Working On Myself” alongside TTSSFU and Victoryland songs. Good bands in good company on a great show. Beyond deserved. Big kudos to the band and T. Aidan rehearsed a bassline he hadn’t played in a year. The gals and I enjoyed Shannon Shaw’s stunning, Southern vocals. Caught MX Lonely playing in the inside left stage, then TATDS on the outside stage, and Victoryland in the inside right Volstead stage. Back-to-back NYC reppin’. T got her picture taken by Rolling Stone; I accosted Griffin, the legendary photographer, and handed him some band stickers. It was my second-favorite set by the band all week. T was singing through the amp troubles, like the rock star she is. After the set, the band had their photo taken by SPIN, too. Played with the crack finger monster and TDK for a sec before saying goodbye and munching on mozz sticks with McKenzie and T while watching Girl Tones; Aidan got the meatball sub. Girl Tones is today’s White Stripes; so fucking cool. One of my favorite, loudest sets. The girl can play guitar and get a crowd going. Sometimes duos make the loudest noise (*wink*). Scurried over to Elysium for TATDS’ 50-min set. My favorite set by the band all week. Before they went on, we enjoyed pinball, a lack of drink tickets, and a “techno sleaze gooner pop” moment by 2charm from Australia. I bet Matt Weinberger will book them the next time they’re in NYC. Shirts, no shirts, glasses, pants, no pants, UGG boots. Father Spider, Clara, and I danced the midnight hour away. The band looked like they were having the most fun. But apparently, Dalton almost passed out?
March 17
Big show day. All over Austin. Happy St. Patrick’s Day. First stop, Torture Tuesday at a house in West Campus. I took a quick Uber and found myself at the end of a sunny cul-de-sac. Big houses. This one was particularly giving, as the locals say, Keep Austin weird. I see Mo poke his head around the corner of the estate, who ushered me into the backyard: a vast patio area, and an elevated yard. Father Spider had picked up warm, delicious pastries from an Irish bakery that he adorned with spider sprinkles. Only Father Spider would be able to find spider sprinkles the morning of in a town he doesn’t live in. Groups of New Yorkers slowly found their way to the house over the next couple of hours – The Dutch Kills, Water Gun, True Jackson / The Relics, Jon Coley, Trophy Wife, Mer Marcum, etc. I couldn’t pick my favorite set if I tried. It was the most wholesome morning yet. The PA wasn’t too shabby at all, and every musician sang beautiful acoustic sets, just like at Baker Falls every week back home. We drank coffee and sat on the grass or on chairs. Inside the house, where only the girls were invited to use the restroom, felt like a museum of oddities; a taxidermy emu (or ostrich?), a cardboard cutout of Jar Jar Binks sponsored by Mountain Dew, a penis-shaped water gun, collections of vintage baseball cards and dolls displayed on walls and tables; to name a few. Keep Austin weird. Stop #2: ABGB. The Austin brewery version of CBGB, I guess. The green room was one of the most decent of them all, actually air-conditioned, with a few boxes of pizza for us in the corner, along with N/A beer. I called it lame, and Father Spider drank one anyway. We had time to munch, lie in the sun, rub the brewery dog’s belly, and see the set before TATDS’s, which was fucking weird. There was fake blood, a bass smashed on the ground, and a snare drum smacked and split on a mic stand. The crowd at ABGB consisted of many green-t-shirt-bearing elderly, some kindly-faced couples, and the rockers awaiting their sets. TATDS rocked like they were at CBGB. The crowd very much enjoyed it. We popped into the green room to say hello to Balaclava and bum their cigarettes, and back to downtown we went. Final show of the night, and the final show I was to see by TATDS at SXSW, at the inside Mohawk stage. Mohawk was mutually agreed to be the favorite venue. It’s just cool. Nice space. Inside and outside. Fun balconies. Easy to navigate. Bathrooms are named “sit” and “stand.” I thought to myself, it would be embarrassing to be a guy who needs to take a shit in “sit.” This green room was actually the best one. Big upstairs room with free merch, food, and drinks. Lots of couches. Filled with musicians. Felt like a big living room. Father Spider was making Rocket laugh. The band played to a packed crowd. I was stoked to see it. Aidan was dancing a lot and looked cool. Torture didn’t hold back with her vocals. Dalton was focused and tight. Following the set, we just bopped around Mohawk: up to the balcony, back to the green room with Clara to munch on carrots and hummus and Doritos, chat with Rocket for a sec, down to the outside stage to hang with photographer Griffin and talk NYC bands, admire my second Swapmeet set, see Horsepower for the first time inside, then Rocket for the second time outside, getting a lot of “Are you having fun?” quotes along the way. I said my goodbyes and took a Waymo home.
