10 Tips From Kosha Dillz For Recovering From SXSW

By indie rapper Kosha Dillz (@koshadillz) as he was waiting for his flight out of Austin.

If you were hangin' out at SXSW all week let me hear you say heyyyyyyy!!!!!

Ok now that Hell Week is over, you are officially in the Marines, anointed and…oh wait…this is SXSW right? Im sorry. Wrong article!

Now that you are officially out of a real job and working for yourself…let's go over the necessary things to get your life together, the week after hustle for post-SXSW. You will realize that it really has nothing to do with SXSW at all. It has actually everything to do with reality.

1. Go to the gym and sweat.

You are already thinking about what you are doing with your career too much. Stop thinking. It's not working . Go to the gym and run and sweat out all the wackiness in your body. You need to get back to reality. Stop thinking about networking. Think about working. Bring the body and the mind will follow.

2. Do your laundry.

Do your laundry immediately and handle that. Nothing like kicking ass this week in your networking and coming home to smelling like death. Do your laundry and fold it proper or pay someone to do it.

3. Go to the supermarket and shop for healthy food.

You probably spent a shit load of money on parking and crappy food, so promise yourself you will not eat out this week.

4. Go through your phone and text the people you don't know starting from 8 days ago with some thing like "yo what up!!!"

Do this immediately before you erase it. The chances are if you do this, you can save your voice, and connect with one of your pointless conversations of the night. I happened to have it with lots of important people from Huffington Post editors to big musicians.

5. Whip out all the business cards and put them in a pile.

I have business cards from LA Times and Huffington Post to Warner Music Group and Korean video games. (COM2US). Who knows what they'll ever do for me, but the least I can do is put them in a pile and reach out to them.

6. RECAP with your team of performers, agents, press crew and mgmt.

Scour the internet for everything. DJ Sidereal and myself ended up on Kassem G's SXSW recap video (at 1:15) featuring Adrien Grenier and it has over 200,000 views. Sometimes acting like an idiot pays off. 

I was also rapping with Flex Mathews on Fox 7 news about copious drinking at SXSW. I did an interview for Telemundo in complete Spanish and was also reviewed at Nic Adler's #Morningafter brunch at the Hipstamatic house.

I need to make sure we can make cool emails to send out in a day or so for random people who we met plus the real people we want to stay in touch with. Everyone deserves a thank you.

Link your press people with press, agents with bookers and buyers, and mgmt. with many cc's. If he/she is like mine (brandon@supergoodmusic.com), they are recuperating as well!

7. Tax Season: Call your credit card company for a report.

You should document your expenses of the week. You should also ask for last year's report to be sent to your house so you can figure out your tax season. I know I need to pay my accountant and get it ready.

8. Get prepared for a recap email blast with pics/video for your fans.

I am making a blog up with the top 10 moments of SXSW. I have like 20 but whatever. I'll include pics and more of interesting things I got – like random videos.

9. Don't mess up the business you already have by recovering! Keep it!

Being away for a week is crucial. This week I will send out all my Kickstarter rewards, record new music, and make sure I have the contracts for my college shows so I will not lose out on the money I need. The entire industry is getting back to normal. Your job is to get back to normal on the creative level and make sure you put out the best tunes you can.

Today I am featured on the cover of iTunes with Yo Pal Hal for Miracle Morning and #hanginout will be sent to everyone of my emails I collected.

10. Go on a date and call your family.

After a long week of craziness, it's ok to go out and do something fun that has nothing to do with music. People are probably wanting to see you. Wife, kids, girlfriend, boyfriend, or internet relationshipper. Go make out somewhere. Then call your parents and say hello. The emotional rollercoaster of SXSW is very real and making out is always fun. Maybe you'll get luckier?

Right now it's 3 am. My flight is at 6 am.

I would like to say thanks for taking the time to read this. I only write like this to give myself the advice just as much as you might want it. I met some people who said they loved my writing at the Driscoll from an app called Bandsintown. I thought to myself…Why not write some more ? instead of lurking on Facebook and Twitter, let people search for me. Instead of looking for my press, let me create some too by writing about how to bring SXSW home with you, along with the awesome bands we all heard in passing at random pizza experiences.

The worse thing about spending money on events like this, is not being able to jump right back in and create it for ourselves. I'm so exhausted I know I'll pass out longer than I should, but I deserve it. I did 12 shows. The least I can do is write something for you.

Speak to you soon Hypebotters.

More:

• 8 Ways To Take On SXSW If They Didn't Take You
• Kosha Dillz' Alternative Strategy For Getting Booked At Music Festivals
• 8 Low Budget DIY Music Promotion Tips From Kosha Dillz