At this years just-concludedSXSW, hip-hop/pop artist Kimmortal was scheduled to play a showcase with other rising acts fromCanada.
Im thinking, Im spending too much to go to the States and do one show, they recall.
Im doing the math in my head and going, Wow.
Artists from Canada are concerned about the increasingly hostile rhetoric from the Trump administration.Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket/Getty Images
There was this sense of feeling lost.
Its more expensive and things are more bureaucratic, especially for independent artists, Kimmortal says.
It feels heavy, like, Why should I even try?
Theres a sense of vagueness and of fear.
The impact of Trumpstariffson Canadian goods is still being played out.
Guerette estimates that tariffs could increase the costs of selling T-shirts by as much as 50 percent.
Thats a major source of revenue, he says.
A lot of artists survive on that.
(In Austin, Kimmortal opted to bring stickers to avoid the hassle.
People said, Yo, do you have any shirts?
I had to say, No, its a hurdle to bring my own stuff.)
There were a lot of unknowns, and you want to know some basic boxes were checked.
We never had any concerns about those boxes being checked before.
Was I being overly cautious?
Yeah, I sure was.
And I dont regret that.
But I did what I had to do.
Other impacts of the tariffs are already becoming more evident.
What used to take two to three months is suddenly taking five to eight.
Thats a lot of uncertainty and risk to put into an already very difficult budget.
Its forcing people to change their plans or delay tours.
It was extremely anxiety-inducing.
And that wasbeforeTrump was inaugurated.
Thats money were not spending on artists.
The low dollar has a real impact.
As a result, the festival may not have the funds to book what she calls marquee American acts.
The tariffs could make themselves known in less obvious ways as well.
And then we have to try and pass it on to the audience.
The Toronto noise-art band Gloin alsoplayed at SXSW.
But for the rest of the year, the group will be devoting its time to shows in Europe.
Weve never been there before, so we wanted to concentrate on that, says singer-guitarist John Watson.
Another factor, he admits, was potential hassles in the States.
We were expecting it to be a shitshow.
Ive had people close to me saying, Why do you still want to go there?
But we love going to the States.
Its so fun and the fans come out and the people you meet every day are awesome.
I dont want to punish the United States by not going there.
