Photo Story - West By West Campus Music Festival

Festivalgoers watch from the roof as Wiccit plays their set at the
Marjorie-Daw stage

Right about the point when a grown man from the audience donning only a blond wig prances around a small back-yard stage, it occurs to me this is no ordinary show.

West By West Campus is an annual music festival housed by various student co-operatives located just outside the University of Texas at Austin, free to the public. Hosting more than 40 local Austin bands, WXWC promises and delivers an unorthodox experience.

The stage providing space for the nude festivalgoer was stumbled upon after I took a left down an 

The 21st Street Co-op serves as home base for the festival,
welcoming all to its doorstep.

unassuming alleyway, which sums up how I went about navigating the entire festival, guided by maps drawn on dry erase boards and verbal directions provided by the staff. The venue was the Marjorie-Daw co-operative, one of the four stages located at the festival.

The 21^st Street Co-op serves as the base of operations for the festival, which makes sense as I try and contemplate the expansive estate. I find myself trying to navigate a complicated staircase that also serves as a bridge to another building, both of which stand tall. It invokes the nostalgia of climbing a tree house.

Battletoad remixes the theme to "Reading Rainbow,"
gauging the initially apprehensive crowd.

I follow the rumbling sounds of electronic music until I locate the door to a bizarre scene: a dark, club-like room where a frog-masked DJ by the name of Battletoad remixes the theme song to “Reading Rainbow,” a children’s show from the 1980’s and 90’s. The crowd seems weary at first, but ultimately succumbs to the rhythm and dances till the bitter end.

Tessa Hunt, General Director of WXWC, posted at the
21st Street Co-op's outdoor staircase.

Battletoad isn’t being paid, and neither are any of the other people involved in the festival. Their only compensation is people enjoying the experience.

“If anything, we lose money,” said Tessa Hunt, the General Director of the festival. “It’s just in the 

name of party.”

Festival sponsor, Isis, showcases a branded car.

Hunt devotes much of her unpaid time to party planning, which ranges from booking bands to gathering sponsors.

A cement lot used normally as parking space for the co-op’s residents serves as space for the sponsors of the festival. A shining purple car boasting the Isis brand screams to be looked at, and Vitamin Water is being passed around freely. The merchandise girls used the Isis app to process my payment for the WXWC t-shirt.

DJ Bass, loyal WXWC attendee, enjoying his third year of the festival.

“This year it’s way more organized,” said DJ Bass, who has experienced each of the festival’s three installments. “It’s not necessarily more money, but more forethought. They knew there was going to be a bunch of people here; they knew they were going to need a place to use the restroom, so they got Porta Potties. That’s totally something that never would have happened the first year.”

WXWC staff workers, Carlton Eide and Mariah Stevens-Ross,
help man the 21st Street Co-op info desk.

Along with Porta Potties, WXWC supplies a volunteer staff to help with production and herd around the festivalgoers to their desired locations.

“We’re like air traffic controllers,” said Carlton Eide, a staff worker manning the info desk in front of the 21^st Street Co-op.

Broken Bass Band making last minute preparations before playing
their set at the Marjorie-Daw stage.

Through the combined and volunteered effort of executive planners, artists, and event staff, West By West Campus is a truly odd treat offered to all those who simply decide to walk down 21^st Street.

Two staff workers sell WXWC merchandise at the French House s.tage.

Festivalgoer poses while swinging on a swing hanging
 in the front yard of the French House Co-operative