Patreon at SXSW: Day One at the House of Creativity

The #HouseOfCreativity doors are open

Patreon kicked off our Rainey Street residency today for SXSW, officially welcoming festival-going folks to our House of Creativity. A hub for creators of all kinds right in the heart of Austin, Texas, the House of Creativity hosts collaborative programming, interactive exhibits, daily exclusive performances, and nightly, live music showcases. We’ve been planning this thing for months, and today our team was PUMPED to welcome creators, artists, makers, and minglers from all around the globe.

What to do at the #HouseOfCreativity

Patreon’s House of Creativity is not just your home for showcases and sessions, but also the perfect place to check out our inspiring, creative activations. Here’s what you can expect at our house:

• Stop by our “Leave Your Mark” Guest Wall, where you can share a snapshot and your artist story, plus your perspective on why art matters, and other topics.
• Visit our larger-than-life MadLib Wall and tell everyone what you’re creating, and what this year and creative freedom means for you.
• Get creative in our Confession Booth, where you can answer prompts by recording things like a message for your future self, a poem, or belt out your new hit single.
• Curious about the creators on the Patreon platform? Put on your headphones and get to know some of our creators at our Listening Stations.

Monday’s daytime lineup

To start things off, we dove right into the concept of creative liberty: making what you want to make. Our very own Creator Partnership Lead, Alexis Gay (who, by the way, just hosted a panel here on the steps required to launch and grow a membership business), welcomed Keith Habersberger, Ned Fulmer, Zach Kornfeld, and Eugene Lee Yang — also known as The Try Guys — to the stage to chat about taking risk, why trying things can make you a better person, how Patreon helps them build deeper connections with fans, and (of course) their continuous pursuit of creativity.

“We want to show that trying things makes you a better person.” — The Try Guys

Next up, it was a Hannah-Trifecta (or, a trifectannah) when Hannah Hart and Hannah Gelb invited their pal actor/writer/director Hannah Marks onstage for a live taping of Hannalyze This! They dished on balancing perfectionism with self-worth — and the (often hilarious) mental health foibles creatives face on a daily basis.

“Self awareness at its worst will make you hesitant, and its best makes you constructive. Editing yourself is horrible but it does make you get better.” — Hannah Hart of Hannahlyze This

Hear-it-to-believe-it musical showcase

Look, we knew who had been confirmed to perform Monday night, but it’s different when you see it on paper and then it legit happens before your eyes. Take a look at this lineup.

First to hit the stage was Novo Amor, a Welsh multi-instrumentalist with 1.2 million streams on YouTube for his climate change conscious music video, “Birthplace.” Then Angie McMahon, a young Australian singer-songwriter who has opened for the likes of Bon Jovi, took the stage and slayed. After that Amanda Palmer, a giant in the music industry, famous for both her solo work, her band The Dresden Dolls, and as an advocate for “The Art of Asking” sent the crowd soaring. With a quick change of the set, Nika Danilova of Zola Jesus came on next to deliver darkwave and goth vibes during her unique and rare solo set. Then, Cautious Clay took over, and the flute-playing soul-singer from Brooklyn (whose breakthrough single “Cold War” was featured on the season premiere of HBO’s Insecure) get the audience swaying. Rounding out the night was Australian duo, Geowulf (aka Star Kendrick and Toma Banjanin) who brought all their beachy-pop melancholy to our stage.

So yes, we went late into the night, but if the volume of cheering counts as an indicator — it was more than worth it!

Too excited about Tuesday to sleep

Oh, right. All of that was only DAY ONE. If it seemed like Monday was packed, it’ll be bananas to think about what’s on deck for tomorrow. Doors open even earlier to bring you live performances of three podcasts plus two important panels, followed by another official showcase, presented in collaboration with Aquarium Drunkard and Gold-Diggers. Get all the details here.

Get in on the action

Are you in Austin and want to swing by? Make sure you register here so you can join us.

If you’re not local but would love to follow along, connect with us on Twitter and Instagram. We’re live tweeting the heck outta this week, so even if you can’t be there, you’ll get the good stuff.

Our team is beyond happy to be here in Austin, and so very grateful to the folks at SXSW, and the amazingly talented creators who made this all possible. We’ve got Texas-sized love for you all tonight, and can’t wait to be back on Rainey Street tomorrow.