SXSW 2026 is in full
bloom on a beautiful sunny Friday
here in Austin and today we're
bringing you the director and stars
of the film Stages.
It's the story of an Austin musician
navigating his life and career
and it features many of our city's
best hangs from Hole in the Wall to
Joe's Bakery.
The movie premiered this week as
part of SX, come hear how
the project came together.
That's on today's show.
The Austin Signal is a production
of KUT News, hosted by
Jerry Quijano.
An Austin nonprofit dedicated to
investing in black, indigenous, and
other communities of color is
presenting a free four-day event
during South By.
Come hear what they've got going on,
and we get a check-in from our
official festival correspondent.
Those stories and more up next
on Austin Signal.
Howdy out there.
You are tuned in to Austin Signal.
It is Friday the 13th day of
March. Thank you for including us
in your plans.
We are back in the studio after a
super South by Southwest show at
Schultz Garden.
Thank you to our great guests who
made it possible and to our
listeners who shared the day with
us. We hope to see and meet you
at some future live shows.
We're gonna start today by
discussing the University of Texas
at Austin's consolidation of seven
ethnic and gender studies
departments in the College of
Liberal Arts.
That consolidation was announced in
February.
As KUT's Greta Diaz-Gonzalez-Vasquez
reports, a month after the big
announcement, students and faculty
are still looking for answers.
The departments affected include
African and African Diaspora
Studies, American Studies,
Mexican American and Latina Latino
Studies, and Women's, Gender
and Sexuality Studies, among others.
In total, seven departments will be
consolidated into two.
Right after UT Austin announced the
decision, students held a protest.
What do we do?
Stand up, fight back!
When Latino studies are under
attack, what do we do?
Stand up!
UT officials said curriculums
would also be reviewed, and they
would determine what majors, minors,
and courses will be offered in the
future, but they did not
provide a timeline.
They're trying to act like there's
tools, things being figured out, but
they know that the end goal for them
is the elimination of these
departments and the elimination of
our ways of knowing and ways of
thinking.
That's Alfonso Ayala III, a
second year Ph.D.
Student at the Department of
Mexican, American and Latina-Latino
Studies, who was at the protest.
Say it twice!
Students will not pay the price!
Now, more than a month later,
there's still little information on
what's coming next.
Ashanta Rees is an associate
professor at the College of Liberal
Arts. These are students until.
Intellectual homes.
For a lot of them, this is where
they learn their critical thinking,
their writing skills, et cetera.
So they're really sad.
Many of them are asking questions
on what can we do?
How does this change my degree?
How can we fight back?
Is there anything we can do.
Many are also asking, how
did we get here?
The answer?
SB37.
SB37!
SB37
Senate Bill 37.
It was passed during the last
legislative session and became
effective in September.
Antonio Ingram, a lawyer with the
Organization Legal Defense Fund,
describes it like this.
SP37 as a
law signals that professors
should take a backseat to how
universities are run and
how content and
issues of faculty governance.
Decided.
Faculty at Texas Public Universities
used to be in charge of reviewing
curriculums and making academic
decisions.
But after SB 37 that's
up to the governing board or Board
of Regents whose members are
appointed by the governor.
There's a quorum present and the
board is reconvening in open
session. The date is February 19th
and the time is 9 a.m.
A week after the consolidation
announcement, the UT system also
approved an initiative that limits,
quote, controversial topics in the
classroom.
When critics complained that the
Board of Regents did not define
those topics, Board Chairman
Kevin Eltheiv said,
vagueness can be our friend.
Advocates like Ingram say that
intentional vagueness will make it
unclear on how to comply with these
mandates.
And it leaves students unclear on
what they can and cannot learn under
the state's purview.
It makes people err on the side of
caution, which in the First
Amendment context is quite
concerning because it means they're
not talking about issues or not
communicating ideas that are under
your constitutional rights to do so
freely.
That chilling effect is spreading
further than UT Austin.
Other university systems like Texas
A&M and Texas Tech have also
placed restrictions on teaching race
and gender.
More recently, UT San Antonio also
announced the consolidation of its
Department of Race, Ethnicity,
Gender, and Sexuality studies.
And is actually, I think,
a concerted effort by
the political class executive
branch to really censor
things that they couldn't push
through through the democratic
process.
And Ingram is not the only one to
see it that way.
Nicholas Bloom, a Harvard lecturer
and a graduate from the PhD in
American studies, says because
of its history and diversity,
Texas was at the forefront in
American, African diaspora and
Mexican-American studies.
But now he sees the university as
ground zero for the fight over
academic freedom.
If a state and the
elite of a country are deciding how
and why and when you
are allowed to critically analyze
those things, and we're preventing
people from having the tools to do
that, we're creating a situation
where misinformation can spread more
easily and
where people feel disempowered to
critically think for themselves.
Bloom says these decisions are
hurting the university.
So far, two of his students at
Harvard have decided not to attend
UT for graduate school anymore.
You're going to see a
real brain drain from UT,
you're gonna see the best and
brightest in the country deciding
not to go there.
He worries recruiting faculty will
also get harder.
So I think you're seeing the
kind of destruction of one of the
great institutions of higher
education, you know, in
the history of the country right
before our eyes and it's tragic.
But for those who are currently part
of the departments that are set to
disappear, the uncertainty has
only grown.
Undergrads wonder if they'll be able
to finish their majors.
Graduate students like Ayala have
other questions.
We don't know what it means about
our ability to TA or
to teach what it means for our
funding. We're concerned that staff
will be fired, terminated,
but like we have a lot of concern
for our faculty and staff.
Professor Rhee says, beyond knowing
if and which positions will be
cut, it's also unclear how
departments will be merged.
Our departments have different
cultures, but we also have different
intellectual genealogies,
methods, theories, et cetera.
So what does that mean to put us all
in one department and then have to
shape a degree program or degree
programs?
How do we pick and-
choose what that looks like.
She also worries that more changes
are yet to come for other
departments.
But Ayala says that as gloomy as it
seems, faculty, students, and
alumni still have hope.
120 American Studies graduate
alumnus have signed a letter asking
the administration to reverse the
decision.
Departments are holding informal
meetings to discuss the topic.
And students like Ayala, well,
he knows it's unlikely that the
decision will be reversed.
But he finds hope in organizing and
in making sure the university is
still a place where ideas are not
censored.
All of the students I know of are
resisting the pushout and we're not
going anywhere.
For now, all the programs still
exist.
Despite multiple requests from KUT,
the university has not provided any
information on when or how the
changes will happen.
I'm Greta Díaz-González Vázquez.
South by Southwest is in
full swing and local nonprofit
Dawa is hosting a four-day event
called Vision 8291
in partnership with Venice.
That's a digital distribution and
artist development platform.
Host Miles Bloxson and spoke with
Jonathan Chaka Mahone, founder of
Dawa and Angel from the Block,
one of the presenters of this year's
event. Here's Mahone on what
Vision 8 291 means.
NPR listeners are probably familiar
with the 1928 master plane.
If not, it was a moment in the city
where officials decided
to segregate the city and they
decided to basically cut off access
to water and sanitation and
basically move all the black and
brown people over to what is now
known as East Austin.
And we know that after that fact,
after people recovered and started
to build their communities, then
they come around with gentrification
and redlining all these things.
So at the end of the day, that
community has been traumatized and
affected and impacted by these
decisions that the city has
made overall with their social
policy.
And 8291 is a reverse of
1928.
It's about having a vision for
ourselves beyond the trauma.
It's a about having vision for
ourself moving forward.
And it's about centering,
again, BIPOC voices and BIPOC
innovators, people with ideas,
giving them a chance to be heard and
seen, but also a chance connect
together.
Angel how does it feel to be a part
of this year's event because you're
going to be one of the presenters
there
it feels so amazing especially
as like a native austinite this
is something that shaka and i have
talked about before but that
there's like a sense of deep
like internalized racism for east
austinites because of things like
the 1928 master plan
that have like basically taught us
that all of these great things that
our city has like acl south
by southwest all of these things
that uplift creatives they're
not for us so despite the
The live music capital with all
these events grew up going to South
by Southwest every year.
I never, like, never at
any point in my life imagined that
having an opportunity to speak to
people and connect with people and
be platformed at South by South
West was something that was going to
be for me.
So it feels really meaningful to be
a part of the return to what
I feel like South by is supposed to
be.
Ay, the fun
fact of the situation is I found out
about Angel through their video that
they created for Instagram and
TikTok to teach people about the
1928 Master Plan and gentrification.
And I saw them at
a tenant rally for folks that were
fighting against some of the
developers.
And I said, yo, I was like, that's,
and I invited them to the Killer
Mike concert and also invited them,
to come out to DAWA Studios and now
they are at DAWA studios
creating content.
And there's just this amazing
synergy happening right now.
And so we're celebrating that.
We're celebrating putting someone
like them in front of new people
to share the
amazing work that they are doing in
this world and how it can contribute
to a greater Austin.
Shaka, can you tell us what people
can expect from attending
Vision 8291?
Because I feel like every single
year, the bar gets higher and
higher and hire.
Number one is free.
Number two, it's in East Austin,
okay? On Springdale Road,
okay, very accessible.
Parking is not a problem.
And we're having conversations
starting on Saturday, it's called
the Music Blueprint.
So if there are musicians and
creators out there listening, you
can come and learn about tour
realities in 2026 from Jackie
Vinson. You can come, and learn
about how do I get music
for TV and film?
How do I sync music and TV and
films? You can go and see the first
ever live podcast of someone named
Mauricio Ruiz.
He has something called the Managers
Playbook, which is one of the
industry leaders and podcasts about
just a career in music.
He's interviewed some of the biggest
names in music, in the music
industry.
That's just Saturday.
And I haven't even named everybody
that's going on a Saturday.
Oh, yeah.
Give you a highlight of Sunday.
We have Angel from the Block talking
about social media as an organizing
tool. Also Celine from Community
Power at ETX.
Shout out to them.
We have Jamiah Hargans from
LA Crop Swap.
He's a really important figure in
terms of food and food sovereignty.
And we also have Richie Verseda who
spent seven years in the California
state prison, came out and
just like blossomed.
He created a Netflix documentary
called Songs from the Hole.
He's going to be screening that.
He's also going to do a workshop
after that.
Come out.
Yes, we are censoring BIPOC
creatives and BIPOC innovators and
leaders and folks, but this is for
everybody.
Angel being from the east side of
Austin, how important is it for
you to see things happening like
Vision 8291, you know,
in the place that you call home and
the place you grew up in?
My whole childhood and
life like Springdale Road was almost
never associated with positivity you
know like Springdales almost never
talked about in a positive way and
whatever it is these days is usually
tied to like some sort of
gentrification so the fact that
we're talking about Springdale we're
boosting Springdale in a way that
is positive and serving the
community and celebrating the
community uplifting us it means
so much to me the fact that we are
calling people into the east side
with like black people
running the event making up
the majority of the event.
It's genuinely re-alchomizing
my brain, honestly.
That was Myles Bloxson speaking with
Jonathan Shaka Mahone, founder of
DAWA, as well as Angel from
the Block, one of the presenters of
Vision 8291.
We'll have a link to more about the
fest and a longer version of this
interview in today's show notes and
at kut.org
slash signal.
We'll be back after this break.
This is Jimmy Moss, Program Director
with KT, and you are listening to
The Austin Signal.
Day two of South by Southwest is off
to a great start.
Futurists and CEOs are
doing a lot of panels today and
through the weekend, talking about
how AI will affect everything.
And right now, day two's keynote
speaker, movie director Steven
Spielberg, is probably regaling a
large audience about how he was
all over AI artificial intelligence
25 years ago,
if only Siri looked like Haley Joel
Osment.
This afternoon comedian Larry David
will be featured on a panel and
staying in comedy Austin's own
Saturday Night Live alum Devin
Walker will do the first of a couple
of South by Southwest shows in town
this weekend.
Don't forget plenty of things you
can enjoy on the periphery without
a badge.
Another great lineup for KUTX at
Schulz's Tomorrow Morning,
the Rivian Daystage on South
Congress also on South congress
South by San Jose at the hotel of
the same name and the Radio Daystage
at the Downright Hotel.
South By's Flat Stock, the art show,
opens today at the Palmer Event
Center, all free, no badge required.
Among the luminaries in town for the
conference this weekend, who might
be appearing in Waymo's Near You,
Jamie Lee Curtis, Paul Rudd, Nick
Jonas, and Mark Cuban.
Speaking of weird rides, once I was
chatting with former NFL star
Chad Ochosenko Johnson about
his appearance at South By,
and then a Toyota Tacoma was
pulled up by the valet.
I said, whoa, you're driving a
pickup?
It's all they had.
It's South By.
I'm Jimmy Moss.
You're listening to The Austin
Signal.
Thank you, Jimmy.
We're gonna keep the South by
Southwest ball rolling and talk
about the film Stages, which
premiered Thursday night here in
Austin. Joining us on the show are
director Ryan Booth and David
Ramirez and Leslie Grace, who star
in the film. Welcome to Austin
Signal.
Thanks for having us.
So Ryan, I wanna start with you.
How long have you known David and
was this project made specifically
with him in mind?
It definitely was.
David and I have known each other
for over a decade at this
point and we
met through, I
filmed some music videos and
performance videos with him back in
the day.
There we go.
Filmed some music video and
performance video with him,
back in a day.
And when I thought about kind of
trying my hand at narrative
filmmaking, a friend of
mine named Bradley Jackson who's one
of the co-writers on this film.
He called me out of the blue and was
like, when you think about making
a movie, you should think about
doing it with David.
And he had worked with him on a
project and was there's a way that
he can exist on camera that
I think is like
we could build a whole story around
it. And so I spent a lot of
time kind of in proximity and
adjacent to musicians.
And so knew I wanted to explore
this world as my first film
and couldn't think
of anybody.
Else I would want to work with other
than David. So the whole thing was
built with him in mind
from from the jump.
We made a short film many years ago,
and then now the feature.
So he's been kind enough to
hang with me for the last nearly ten
years.
Well David, what were you thinking
when Ryan first approached you with
this idea?
I was stoked and then years went
by and I thought it was never going
to happen.
And then I got a phone call to
hang out with one of the
producers, Russell, here in town
a couple years ago and I showed up
and he had a shot of Mezcal for me
and I thought he was congratulating
me on my new record but
turns out he was
getting me drunk to tell
me that I needed to start learning
my lines.
We love you.
Which was a really great way to hear
that the film had
been green lit, and we were moving
forward.
And now we're sitting here being
interviewed about a movie we
premiered last night.
Yeah, last night!
And I can't believe I can believe
that.
It definitely has some biographical
elements, I'm sure it's not a one
for one, so I did want to ask you,
and Leslie as well, you are
both performers and here you
are specifically acting in
the film. For you David,
how, when you approached working
day in and day out, how often were
you struggling to be Ben
Garza or David Ramirez, did
you feel like you could commit to
one the other, you're kind of
constantly pulling from both worlds.
I don't think there was a lot of
struggle internally to
switch back and forth.
Thankfully there is a lot music in
this film and
thankfully a lot it was
written by me.
So there was lot of me in it.
I think what was the
hardest part and Leslie helped me
out so much, you're
just such a natural on camera and
just so comfortable.
I'm used to being in front of a
microphone not in front a camera.
And watching you just
exist so naturally in
it was
made me really, really comfortable
because that was the thing I was
most nervous about.
It wasn't really like a character
thing that freaked me out.
It was, something's
watching me right now.
You know?
Yeah, that kind of thing.
But.
I always feel like that
Yeah, but watching you as
he... That was, it's right.
It's Ryan that was watching.
Yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It was me, sorry. I'm sorry.
I'm the whole rest of the crew.
So that made it
really easy just to have you next to
me. That was cool.
And I can say the same.
I think anybody that would watch
this film would be surprised to hear
that that's
something that you felt, because
one of the biggest gifts of
my experience of shooting this film
was getting to
play off of someone who I could
look in the eyes and feel
that they weren't lying, you know?
Didn't feel because of that
because of you not necessarily
you being so honest
as a as as a musician,
as a person in life, in your actual
life, there was no other way
for you to play Ben.
And so it made my
job easy,
dude, for real.
It made it easy, cause I could just
also sink into that.
Like you set the tone for me to
also just exist.
It's a high compliment.
Thank you. So you so David made it
comfortable for you because he was
bringing that true musician feel
Yeah for Davey Leslie made
you feel comfortable because she was
an acting professional and you guys
sounds like you guys are just kind
of Propping each other up which the
chemistry is really Vibrant
in the movie, you know Leslie.
Can you just say more about working
with Ryan and and David on this
project?
It's been a joy,
it's been the joy of my life.
This project came at a time for
me that I, you know, I
always feel that certain things
happen in life just when you
need them to.
And it's, it has been true for me
with certain roles
and the role of Jesse in
stages and getting to collaborate
with everybody that's been apart of
this project
certainly came at time for where I
needed it.
And I was really struggling
in some
ways, in the ways that Ben is
in the film with,
you know, how do I want to keep this
love for this huge relationship
in my life with this thing that
feels so connected to my identity?
How do I keep it alive?
How do not let it be strained
by all the detours that come with
the journey? And
stages allowed me to
explore that.
At a time where I wasn't singing
even, I wasn't using my voice,
I was experiencing a lot of new
things that I hadn't experienced
with music at the time and
it made it safe for me to
via Jesse,
practice being
in love with music again and
feel safe to
do that and I'm just grateful
that I got to experience that.
Ryan early you said like the film
feels lived in and as I'm talking to
you I'm feeling like you almost
feel like your characters, you know,
I feel like I'm getting falling into
the trap of the movie here
Yeah, yeah.
I really could talk all day,
but I know you guys have, it's a
busy week here with South By.
I did want to talk about the
production that happened here in
Austin, because lots of great
places. Hole in the Wall, I
mentioned, is featured a couple
times. Joe's Bakery is featured.
Why was it important to feature
these spots? I'll start with you,
Ryan.
Well, I mean, I think Austin is
is, you know, for anyone in Texas is
an important place.
You spend a lot of time here, even
if you don't live here.
And in twenty twenty two, I came
to town to meet with David
and he was like, we can hang.
But I got to go do this thing at
Hole in the Wall for South by.
And I just was in the room.
I filmed on my little camera.
And that little clip kind of
became a very important
tonal reference.
And then we went back and.
And shot the whole, that's why we
shot the final scene there.
So in many ways, I think the city
is integral and
very, very much woven into
the kind of the fabric of the
original idea of the film.
And so also then to come
back and share the film at South By
feels like a very beautiful,
full circle moment.
This city saved my life, creatively,
you know.
And so to be able to make something
that for me,
I did this for a lot of reasons,
but for me when I was watching is
just kind of my thank you to Austin
thing.
It meant a lot.
It meant a lot and it was nice
to because I think there was a
moment we were talking about doing
it in New York.
Yeah. And I would have loved to
do it to have done it anywhere.
But I don't think that I'm
that great of an actor to pull off
that I am from New York City.
I'm using it
just doesn't really make any sense.
It would have been a different film.
And so making it here
was just like.
Yes, okay, this makes sense and
I don't really have to try that hard
Yeah.
Yeah, you can just be yourself.
Yeah. Just hang out.
That's right.
That's what it's for.
Well, you all really did create a
new, great Texas movie,
and one that will be celebrated by
lots of folks.
Hopefully our listeners will catch
it soon.
It's gonna be playing a few more
times during South by Southwest.
When is that happening?
Saturday at 3.30 at the Violet Crown
and then we play again on Tuesday
night at the Rollins Center
for our final screening
which will be very exciting.
Excellent, that is Ryan Booth,
director of the film Stages, and
we've been speaking with David
Ramirez and Leslie Grace.
They are stars of the films.
Catch it if you can this week.
It is a fantastic movie.
Thank you all for the conversation,
and have a great rest of your week.
Thanks so much.
And thank you out there for tuning
in to Austin Signal.
We will be back with you on Monday.
Have a great weekend.
Happy South by Southwest.