Help Sarpa Salpa fund trip to Texas for South By Southwest festival

Sarpa Salpa are into the remaining week of a crowdfunding campaign to help fund their trip to play at the South By Southwest Festival in Texas next year.

In October, the band were revealed as one of the acts which has been invited to play at the influential annual music and arts festival in America which returns in March.

The Northampton indie quartet is aiming to raise £6,000 towards the cost of flights, accommodation, gear hire and costs while in America.

Speaking about the campaign, which is running on www.crowdfunder.co.uk, bassist Meg Amirghisvand said: “It’s not the cheapest outing for a small band like us, we couldn’t fund it ourselves so that’s why we set up the Crowdfunder.

“SXSW is a huge opportunity for bands at our level. We’re hovering somewhere between the realms of amateur and professional musicians and being in the right place with the right people at the right time can really be the leg up to push you to the next level.

“A good example would be the band Rolo Tomassi, who played SXSW and Diplo caught their set.

“He loved them so much that he went on to produce a record for them which is pretty cool.”

Hundreds of bands from across the world will play gigs at venues in Austin, Texas, as part of South By Southwest (SXSW).

Sarpa Salpa will join other UK acts representing the UK’s music scene including Yard Act, Grandmas House, Hotel Lux, Red Rum Club, Self Esteem, Snapped Ankles, The Lottery Winners, Enjoyable Listens, HMLTD, Penelope Isles, Phobophobes and Wargasm.

Through the Crowdfunder page, people can make a donation of their choosing or pick a specific donation linked to different ‘rewards’ picked by the band.

Meg, who is joined in Sarpa Salpa by Marcus Marooth, George Neath and Charlie Doe, said: “We’ve set up some awesome perks so essentially you’re buying something from us rather than giving us your money for free.

“There’s everything from exclusive merch and rare demo recordings to an opportunity to have us play a gig in your garden or even write a song especially for you.

“We took a lot of time to figure out what we thought was fair for the different amounts people could donate and I’d like to think we’re offering some good deals.”

Once out at SXSW, Sarpa Salpa hope to play a number of shows while also furthering connections across the industry, which as well as musicians, is attended by thousands of people who work within the sector.

Sarpa are set to release new single Somebody on January 14. The track has been part of the band’s set on their recent tour, with Meg describing the single as “the best song we’ve ever created”.

Looking back on 2021, she adds it was a “mixed bag” of a year for the band.

Adding, “The first half was a bit of a slow starter, but finally getting to tour for the second half of the year was amazing.

“We went to some places we’d never been before and all of the shows were really busy which was such a great feeling after being locked away for 18 months.

“We have a tour in February where we’ll be hitting a handful of big cities, SXSW in March and then we’re looking at doing another run of dates around May.”

“Regarding an album, it’s always been on the cards and we’re actively writing and recording all the time, so keep your eyes peeled.”

You can donate towards Sarpa Salpa’s Crowdfunder at https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/sarpasalpamusic