Austinist Weekend Music Preview: Progress Coffee Residency and Couture de Amour Deux @ The Parish

On Saturday, The Parish is home to Couture de Amour Deux. (We quite enjoyed the first one.) Ume headline a 1 a.m. with The Black and White Years (at midnight) preceding them and The Always Already readily getting things started at 10 p.m. DJ:/RUBIX will keep proceedings lively in between sets while the entire shindig is hosted by J.J. Castillo (ME Television.) The fashion show itself takes place at 11 p.m. with threads courtesy of Loves, Mariessa, knoxy, and Model Citizen, and jewelry designed by Amy Cline. Rachel Ehrenberg will be on hand to touch up the models’ make-up. We decided to quiz the scheduled bands on their thoughts regarding the bond between fashion and music.

Image provided by Loves, Mariessa

Jamie Cano (The Always Already): Music and fashion have always relied on one another for inspiration as well as procreation. Music gives fashion a voice, a context, a chance to become alive. Fashion gives music a visual expression, a reflection of a certain piece of the cultural zeitgeist.

Scott Butler (The Black and White Years): Perhaps the relationship goes like this: musicians wear clothes, designers listen to music. Also, bands like to screw models and vice versa.

Lauren Larson (Ume): What people wear often reflects the music they listen to. In junior high I traded in my tennis shoes for Converse because of the bands I liked. Then, in high school, my band had a song ranting against "Fashion Punks" - those who wear the "cool" clothes and spikes but could care less about the music and philosophy behind their wardrobe. As a musician, I'll always be more concerned with the music than the "look" of a band, though I think it's awesome that a band today can rock out and still be stylish.

Do any of the band members actively indulge in clothing themselves "fashionably"?

Cano: We each have our own yet semi-similar style. We like to wear clothes that look good on us. Whether others consider what we wear fashionable is a different story.

Butler: We all try to indulge in clothing "fashionably," but that is relative. We are not cute, so we need to dress in a way that tricks the eye, like a Dali. Our band-wear, thusly, has been known to cause nausea and other motion-sickness related ailments.

Larson: I don't think we would consider ourselves "fashionable." I love to wear interesting and vintage dresses while I play, but as a very active guitarist on stage I usually have to go for comfort over fashion. I'd like to wear heels, but I'd fall down (and have fallen down on stage because of the shoes I was wearing). When fashion hurts, go for the flats.

Where do you shop for your fashion needs in Austin?

Cano: Mostly thrift stores. We try to stay conscious of where the clothes are made, where our money is going. Sometimes a local boutique like Estilo can be a good indulgence.

Butler: If we told you, you'd be there, buying all the good shit.

Larson: I mainly shop at vintage stores around town - Feathers, New Bohemia, Flashback, etc. I also get good finds at Buffalo Exchange and I love going to small town thrift stores. Our bassist wears a lot of Threadless shirts and vintage button-ups, while our drummer has worn the same shirts and baggy jeans for years. Though the guys do like to indulge in colorful shoes.

If you could describe the quintessential fashion and music hybrid with one (or two!) words, what would be?

Cano: David Bowie.

Butler: Bowie, Asspants. . . . is 'Asspants' one word?

Also on Saturday, Austin Blues Society brings us the 1st Annual Oaks – Juneteenth Blues Celebration from 5 p.m. until midnight at The Oaks (10206 FM 973 N., 78763) – with live music from the legendary W.C. Clark and Blues Boy Hubbard and the Texas East Side Kings, among others.

The intriguingly titled Jared’s 2nd Annual Grumpy F*ck Fest takes place at Red 7 on Saturday while The Drag’s favorite venue Hole in the Wall marks its 34th Anniversary celebration all weekend with free shows galore -- check out the slideshow below for details.

Images from MySpace / provided by entity.