WHAT: Solid Gold: SXSW Sendoff Showcase WHEN: 5 p.m. March 14 WHERE: First Avenue TICKETS: $3,$6 18+ www.first-avenue.com Solid Gold is the kind of band that you watch and revel in. ItâÄôs ethereal, shaky, Wurlitzer-driven pop, psychedelic in its inception but danceable upon delivery. With a catchy, well-crafted single (âÄúGet Over ItâÄù) immediately hitting home, their full-length âÄúBodies of WaterâÄù is an impeccably produced first album. The two follow-up tracks, âÄúBible ThumperâÄù and âÄúCalm Down,âÄù continue on this wavelength, striking a balance between melodically catchy rock and roll and synth-based dizzy pop. To say that Solid Gold is one of the best bands in the Twin Cities doesnâÄôt do them justice. In truth, chances are the band will soon explode to be a national sensation âÄî and with good reason. Speaking with Guitarist Adam Hurlburt, A&E got the chance to learn about the process of playing in the Twin Cities as well as South by Southwest. So are you getting pretty excited for SXSW? Is this the first year you guys are going? Actually this is the fourth year for us. Do you get invited to South by Southwest or how does that work? No, you submit an application, I guess, some songs or a demo. Now itâÄôs an E.P.K., an electronic press kit âĦ to see if youâÄôre worthy enough. How do they choose which bars or clubs youâÄôre going to play? ThatâÄôs kind of all up in the air. This year itâÄôs a little bit different, they send you something that asks if youâÄôre OK to play here. In the past it had just been âÄúyou play hereâÄù and bands had no say in it whatsoever. Do you play multiple shows? The official South by Southwest thing is you get one show, and thatâÄôs your official showcase, but the trick is to play as many parties as you possibly can. The first year we went down there we didnâÄôt know this so we played one show. We drove 23 hours to play one show and then drove home, pretty much. Then the next year we figured it out and started playing parties. The official showcases donâÄôt even matter as much as the parties; everyoneâÄôs at the parties because thereâÄôs free beer. Since youâÄôre playing âÄî do you get into other things for free? Yeah, each member gets a wristband and then the band gets one badge. The badge is like the coveted thing; you skip all lines to get into shows and stuff. You guys are playing the sendoff at First Avenue with First Communion Afterparty and some other people that are going to SXSW, right? Yeah, itâÄôs an all-ages thing. WhatâÄôs your favorite venue to play? We love playing the Uptown Bar and the Kitty Cat Klub; those places are kind of our home-bases. We know everybody that works there and stuff. But I guess now weâÄôve been kind of spoiled. The main room of First Avenue is just amazing to play. The Turf Club is also great. We played there a few weeks ago and it sold out. The energy there is just so cool and the bar itself is so cool and beautiful. So youâÄôre going to London in a week or two. Have you been to London before? Just once, it wasnâÄôt a tour. We won this contest for “Vice Magazine,” so “Vice” flew us over there to play their party at the club they own. So are you guys just going to play Britain when you go? Just in London this time. This is more of just [an attempt] to puppet us around in front of labels. ThereâÄôs a lot of label interest for us over there so itâÄôs more of that. WeâÄôre playing nine shows in six days; five actual shows in venues, two in stores, one at Rough Trade and one at Pure Groove and then two radio appearances. WhatâÄôs your favorite band to go see in the Cities? I like to see a lot of bands. I just saw Haunted House for the first time not too long ago and theyâÄôre awesome. I like Lookbook a lot, I think theyâÄôre like the âÄúnextâÄù band on the radar. Who do you listen to thatâÄôs not from Minneapolis? Umm Lately, IâÄôve really been jamming on Dr. Dog. I was kind of a latecomer to the Dr. Dog thing, but IâÄôve been listening to it a lot now.