SXSW Music Coverage: Lime Cordiale from Australia Visit SXSW for the First Time

Is this your first trip to SXSW?

Yes. This is our first trip to the states. This is our first time at South By and it's going great.

The music is crazy, overwhelming, amazing. People are saying that Austin is awesome when South By Southwest isn't here. It's the live music capital of the world people say. It's incredible. I look forward to coming lots of times now.

You guys are brothers and so that's how you got started. But when did you decide to start performing together?

Mom sort of squished us together and started duets, like classical duets. Lots of boring stuff. Not that we liked it though. We were brothers. We were enemies. We started playing together when we could stand each other's company.

How did you come up with the name of your band?

It comes from our last name Leimbach and also a music festival where we first started playing; our auntie's music festival in the south of France called Music Cordiale. We were on a family trip and we had a guitar with us and started a few songs. I don't know how we came up with a name we just kind of popped into our heads when we were at the festival and it went from there.

You have a new EP out. Tell us about that.

It's called "Falling Up the Stairs" and we recorded over a long period of time over six months with a producer in Sydney kind of like a mentor. We went into the studio not wishing to record anything at first. We recorded stuff for our own sake. We did a whole bunch of demos; about 11 demos chosen from a whole bunch of songs that we had written. Over that period of time we knotted out a sound that we liked and chose five of our favorite songs and rerecorded them and put them on an EP. It was a long process. I don't know if people get to work that closely with a producer but it took long. We've been playing all the songs live for a couple of years and it was more of finding those guitar sounds and playing.

What do you like most about travelling and what do you like least?

Driving for 20 hours is pretty hard. And I hate planes as well. At the same time it's so beautiful. Maybe for the first five or six hours then you get a bit sick of it. You've got 20 more to go. And meeting people. We just spent two weeks in Los Angeles to get our bearings and meet some family because our dad's whole side of the family is from San Diego and LA. Just spent time there and made friends and we ended up meeting a whole bunch of people in different bands and staying in a house in Bellaire with a band from Canada.

Do you two ever get tired of being with each other all the time?

Occasionally we have fights but they don't really last very long. We have an intense little fight that lasts 30 seconds and then we're over it. We don't tend to hold grudges. There's nothing you can do. It's your brother. It's easier to be nasty to each other and then get over it. With other people in the band you say something nasty and they hold it in, don't express themselves. We're used to it.

Do you have any advice for anyone who wants to be a musician like you guys?

Have something that you're happy with. A product. Do some recordings, do some shows. Then play as many shows as you can. And don't be afraid of selling yourself. I have one friend; I don't know anyone more talented, but he just doesn't put himself out there. He thinks that giving someone his CD is embarrassing or something. Learn how to be social and make friends. That's how it all starts. Our first shows were when we made friends with a band and they go, "Hey, you want to play with us?" You can't be too introverted. It gets you nowhere.

Where will you be after SXSW?

We're doing shows in California after SXSW from San Diego up to San Francisco. Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles,

Check out Lime Cordiale's new music below and go to their website www.limecordiale.com to learn more about this band and how you can purchase their latest EP.

PHOTO CREDIT: Kathy Strain

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