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What once was a Mecca for musicians and artists is now prime territory for urban development. This new documentary checks the cultural pulse during a critical two-year period of modern history.

"We didn't want to have a preconceived notion of what this story was going to be,” Echotone producer Daniel Perlaky said. "It's not like, oh developers [are] bad and music good [and] here's that tragic experience. What we really wanted to see is that personal story coming out of the artist themselves."

Band manager Perlaky appears in the film as a link to the artists. Local musicians like Bellaire, Black Joe Lewis and the Honey Bears and more give a behind the scenes look at life as a working class musician.

In contrast, the film also takes a bird's eye view of aggressive commercial expansion.

"I think the visuals are pretty striking. I think we were filming at a moment in Austin when all these skyscrapers were going up and the condos were being built, and it was just really changing the landscape that we had know," Perlaky said.

Through its ambitious photography and piercing music Echotone captures a city in transition where the artistic community is challenged by an ever-evolving marketplace.

"I absolutely feel there is a message to the film, and I think for me certainly it's that there's a vibrant creative community and all it really needs is an infrastructure and support and there's many arguments being made for that,” Perlaky said.

Echotone producers hope to spin off a new TV series that looks at similar culture conflicts across other cities.

As for the film, Echotone shows at the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz beginning next Sunday.