JanSport All Roads Lead to Austin 2018

With the goal to bring bands from all over the globe to one stage in Austin, TX during SXSW, JanSport teamed up with COLLiDE and sent 10 bands swag packs and asked them to create unique videos sharing their sound, culture and sights and sounds from their home city. Three lucky bands were selected to perform day showcases based on the original and engaging content they provided.

JanSport will be back at Container Bar with COLLiDE on Rainey Street for three incredible days of live music. This year we follow the journey of The Qualitons (Budapest, Hungary), Kemba (Bronx, NY) and Naked Giants (Seattle, WA) from their home cities to Austin. Learn more about each band below:

The Qualitons, formed in 2008 is inspired by the sound and energy of early rock, mod-beat, funk music of ‘60's and ’70's.

Their debut album Panoramic Tymes was released in 2010 by german funk-soul company Tramp Records. After some lineup changes, Qualitons is currently working on their second album. Their sound has since changed from their debut album. The group's musical style now primarily consists of garage rock with an emphasis on psychedelic rock and elements from genres such as “60s dance music and soul.

Kemba has always made music inspired by acts like Mos Def and Goodie Mob, who are lyrical and not afraid to address crucial contemporary issues. Kemba’s story starts in the Hunt’s Point section of The Bronx, where he was the middle child of a single mother in an R&B-filled household. His older brother, himself an accomplished rapper, was the one who first brought hip-hop into the house, and started his younger sibling on a new path. By the time he was nine, Kemba was already writing raps, and he never looked back. The ability to rhyme was his one relief from childhood teasing over severe eczema, which lasted well into his teens.

Naked Giants are a 3-piece garage rock band from Seattle, Washington. Grant Mullen's bluesy guitar solos, Henry LaVallee's pounding backbeats, and Gianni Aiello's juicy basslines combine to form a psychedelic whirlwind of fuzz. Their friendship ties together their various influences to curate a different take on the traditional garage rock sound. Unlike what you've heard before, their spontaneity and their stylistically diverse catalogue sets Naked Giants apart from the cutandpaste garage outfit. They bring together sounds influenced by the likes of Ty Segall and the Sonics as well as Pink Floyd and even Spinal Tap with an audible energy that gets any crowd doing the twist.