SXSW Survival Guide: Tips, Tricks & Advice From Artists Who've Been There, Part II

"You always pack more socks and underwear than anything else. That's most important for smell. Throat Coat Tea for singers which has licorice in it and it naturally coats your throat. Water and my AAA membership."

"A magic marker to write 'Sleep' and 'Has it been two drinks already?' on my forearm."

-- Frontman Andrew Burr

"Kombucha -- I just love it. It hydrates you and everything. I guess hydration in general; I didn't hydrate too well the last time. It's March in Texas and little old me going down there in my March clothes unprepared -- not this time."

-- Vocalist/Guitarist Jenn Wasner

"Condoms! That was our drummer's suggestion. You need Wellingtons, you need booze, you need a tent and you need your own soft toilet roll. Also, Germoline, a toothbrush, toothpaste, scissors and an axe."

-- Frontman Adam Thompson

"Directions to the hotel and Death Metal Pizza on 6th [Street, in Austin]."

-- Singer Brendan Canning

"Well, really, to be honest with you, it's nothing. But my friend showed me this awesome thing that looked like a tube of Mentos, and you take out one of the little things that look like Mentos and you add water to it and it pops up into a one-foot by one-foot moist towel! Of course, I'm the drunk guy showing everyone and when I need a moist towel there are none left."

-- Guitarist Jimmy Shaw

"Generally a good book is good to have on hand. I guess when you are playing other festivals, you got big grounds to wander around, but I don't really do that so much anymore. I tend to sit around in a quiet corner and read a book."

-- Frontman Finn Andrews

"Sleep and a grain of salt."

-- Multi-Instrumentalist Michael Coomers

"I just got an airbed that has an mp3 player and speaker built into it so I can jam when I go to sleep. That's my first thing. Definitely floss, gotta stay fresh. We want to hit the Tito's vodka distillery in Austin because it's the best vodka ever."

-- Singer Josh Kolenik

"Well, one thing we like to have with us is a blender. We like blending things, like making drinks -- like smoothies and cocktails. That could be hard to use at a festival if there isn't a plug in the tent."

-- Frontman Simon Balthazar

"Air conditioner. They're always hot."

-- Singer Patterson Hood

"I do crosswords a lot and drink a lot of beer that's about it."

-- Bassist Toby Leaman

"Socks, boots (in the UK), painkillers, crossword compendium."

-- Frontman Scott Hutchison

"Water and hopefully a cell phone of some kind -- some way to find the rest of the people that you're with."

-- Bassist/Vocalist Jonny Bell

"Band aids."

-- Singer Chaz Budnick

"Advil, an extra pair of underwear, a jumbo pack of condoms and a hair net."

-- Frontman Paul Sprangers

"The survival kit so you don't get stressed-ival-ed at the festival is nothing that you can hold or touch or buy, it's just a whole s--- load of patience. People who organize festivals are one thing, but the people they hire [to work them] are just regular people who have no f------ idea where to tell you to go. It usually takes you like two hours driving around in mud, trying to dodge hippies pissing all over the festival grounds, to finally find your place. Once you get there, and you're all set up in your little tent and you're eating grapes, it's all fine though."

-- Guitarist Ben Cook

"Plenty of water to drink -- mustn't get dehydrated. Probably some sun screen. Practical shoes. Knowledge of a good place to take an afternoon nap. Most importantly, good friends. Of course, if you are talking about a festival that we were to play at, we'd also be sure to bring our guitars and stuff, and probably some T-shirts to sell."

-- Singer Patrick Stickles

"Uh, a helmet for protection and a hotel room and Whole Foods."

-- Drummer Theo Katsaounis

"This is my first SXSW, so I kind of have to wing it. Obviously a good pair of beat phones, iPod, my CD mixes of all my songs, that's my survival kit. And a blunt."

"A lot of patience and money to be at SXSW."

-- Joe Lewis

"Earplugs. I wonder if anyone knows of a good hangover remedy?"

-- Bassist Mitch Derosier

"Probably sleeping pills. I dunno, I've never been to SXSW so I'm kind of frightened of how intense everything will be. I'm gonna probably be bringing earplugs and sunglasses and a big woolly hat."

-- Frontman Angus Andrew

"My laptop. It's not sexy but I can't go anywhere without it."

-- Vocalist/Guitarist Justin Warfield

"Shot of B-12."

-- Frontman Kevin Murphy

"I wish I could say sleeping pills, but I don't really like pills. I don't know. I really need to put one of those together, because I always get so killed. I mean, SXSW and CMJ are so hectic at times, and I'm not really sure how I have survived. Doing six or seven shows this year, I'm not sure I will survive."

-- Singer Tom Fec

"Water and a phone. SXSW is an ideal place to overhear good phone conversations."

-- Frontman Will Johnson

"A poncho and a pillow."

"I think for the most part it would be my synths."

-- Singer Alan Palomo

"I just try to pack well. I've been touring since 1999, so that's 10 years, and I'm 28, so it's a significant amount of my life. I don't really think about it as anything weird. I'm like one step closer to a normal life than a carnival person."

"When we go down, we'll carry hot sauces with us, Cholula is great. There's this hot sauce store in Austin and last year we bought like seven bottles and just kept those in our van while we were there."

-- Frontman Joey Kneiser

"Honestly, this throat spray. I have been freaking out because we did the record and I have been singing a lot. We did a show and my voice was totally out. We are playing bunch of shows at SXSW, so I will definitely bring some throat spray. I am a man of few belongings, I guess."

-- Frontman Stuart McLamb

"A lot of cassette tapes to play while we're on the road. We have a massive box of tape and we just blindly put them in while we're driving. We don't really bring too much. We bring a 4 track so if we think of songs we can just record them."

-- Singer Dustin Payseur