Carter Vail was supposed to make his SXSW debut back in 2020. Of course, no one played SXSW that year, because it was canceled due to the pandemic.
Five years later, the world seems like a different place. And perhaps the timing was just right for Vail, the Los Angeles-based singer and content creator, who instead made his proper debut at SXSW this year, a year after his oddball musical sketch "Dirt Man" went viral on TikTok.
"For some reason, a lot of people know me for this song," he said, with a mix of reluctance and gratitude, before he played the track at the Parish in Austin.
Speaking with Variance during SXSW, Vail acknowledged his knack for weaving his quirky humor and nonsensical social media posts into his music, which makes for a fun listen for fans, many of whom are perhaps seeking an escape from a darker reality. And they've found that in Vail, who is a self-professed "relentless optimist."
Take, for example, Vail's most recent single "Baked Alaska," which takes aim at a past relationship which clearly didn't end well. But instead of an emotional ballad or a bitter, heartbroken cut, the singer turns acidic lyrics into a playful anthem that rolls right off the tongue.
"Oh no, fuck that / Take all of your stuff back / Miss me with your bullshit too / Ain’t got money / All your friends are ugly / Miss me with your bullshit, ow," the chorus declares.
Acknowledging the challenge and the thrill of SXSW, Vail says: "With South By, people aren't here specifically for us, so it's a very different energy in the room when it's people that know the song versus playing in front of a bunch of people that are here for the conference. But either way it's a lot of fun."
While Vail's presence on social media has expanded over the past couple of years, he admits music had been his sole focus until his family encouraged him to embrace his sense of humor and share more, specifically on TikTok.
"I had been doing the music thing for a long time and then my family convinced me to get into doing TikToks," says Vail. "At first I was like, 'This seems kind of stupid. I don't want to do this.' But the more I did it and the more I put myself out there, I actually loved it. It was so much fun. And I still have so much fun with it."
Ultimately, Vail says his experience on social media and in such an arduous music industry, which still doesn't seem to know how to grapple with the challenges of the streaming era, has informed his belief that rules really don't matter.
"I just feel like, there are no rules for it," he says of maintaining his online persona. "There are some rules, maybe, but for the most part, you can do whatever you want to do. And like, man, why not just have fun? The people that are super specific with how they do it—I think that's great. I'm trying to make myself laugh with it. And if I can do that, then I'm having a good time."
Following the release of his album 100 Cowboys last summer, Vail says he plans to release more soon. And it seems he won't be taking much time off either. Just days after the end of SXSW, the Lollapalooza lineup for this year was announced, and Vail will also be performing at the Chicago festival.
"We're just gonna keep on putting out music," says Vail. "I have a bunch of new stuff that's in the works right now ... I think my whole goal is just to make as much art as possible and in any kind of medium that I can. And right now that looks like music, so I'm gonna put out a bunch of it."■
