The Independent Vision Behind Seismic Dance Event, Austin’s Three-Day House and Techno Festival
Andrew Parsons and Kelly Gray spent years booking local shows through RealMusic Events before launching the festival and opening its permanent home, The Concourse Project
For about 17 years, Andrew Parsons and Kelly Gray have been throwing electronic music events in Austin. Their ninth Seismic Dance Event runs Nov. 13–15 at The Concourse Project, the venue they opened in 2021 that now ranks No. 3 in the U.S. and No. 31 worldwide on DJ Mag’s Top 100 Clubs list. This year’s festival brings together a standout lineup of artists, including Above & Beyond, Sara Landry, Porter Robinson, Max Styler, Layton Giordani, MPH, SG Lewis and more.
What began as a series of independent events has grown into three interconnected ventures that have helped redefine Austin’s electronic dance music landscape. The couple’s shared vision drew on one partner’s passion for event production and the other’s skills behind the decks and in the studio, helping put Austin on the map as a destination for electronic music fans.
The early days of RealMusic Events
In the years leading up to the founding of RealMusic Events, Austin’s electronic music scene was relatively small and close-knit. There was often just one electronic music event on any given weekend, giving artists and fans a place to get to know one another. Today, fans can choose from shows across a range of electronic music genres any day of the week. The range of venues, festivals and shows reflects the groundwork RealMusic Events laid over the years.
Through RealMusic Events, the team produced shows at venues such as Cedar Street Courtyard and Parish and partnered with influential labels to produce one-off events in Austin. Dirtybird Barbecue and Anjunadeep Open Air were among the events that inspired the team to start a festival of its own.
From small gatherings to a festival stage
In 2018, the team launched Seismic Dance Event. Producing a festival posed new challenges in infrastructure, layout and logistics, but it also gave the team more room to experiment and more control over the experience. Gray described that kind of “360 oversight” as an advantage that made parts of the planning process more predictable and manageable.
That creative freedom shows up in details such as the festival’s indoor and outdoor stages and its use of sustainable and naturally derived materials in its merchandise.
“Boutique, independent and homegrown” is how Gray describes Seismic Dance Event. The team built the festival with community support, without the infrastructure or financial resources of a major festival group. Seismic now draws between 7,000 and 8,000 attendees per day and has booked chart-topping artists such as John Summit, Dom Dolla, Sara Landry, FISHER and REZZ. Some of those artists made their Austin debuts at Seismic, helping establish the city as a destination for the genre. RealMusic Events has also raised the profile of Austin’s underground electronic music scene in a city historically better known for rock, country, Americana and blues.
Building a home for the sound
As RealMusic Events and Seismic Dance Event grew, the next step was building a permanent space for the community the team had spent years cultivating. As venues and trends shifted across Austin’s music scene, the team developed a brick-and-mortar venue where it could produce shows on its own terms. Having its own venue gave the team more control over production, bookings and capacity.
The COVID-19 pandemic halted in-person shows and put the team’s plans on hold. Gray said the pause gave the team time to refine its business plans. The Concourse Project opened in 2021 and became the home of RealMusic Events.
Gray said the team’s festival production experience helped shape The Concourse Project into what it is today. True to its name, The Concourse Project continues to evolve, with an immersive experience that extends beyond the music.
Over roughly 17 years of producing events, Parsons and Gray have helped turn a small underground scene into a prominent part of Austin’s musical identity. Their work shows what a shared vision and a willingness to take risks can do for a music community.
RELATED: Learn How Ray Benson Is Still Creating Opportunities for Austin Musicians After 50 Years