Recent Posts
February 3rd, 2010 in Finance by GabiGoldberg
So it’s 2 days until Up The Creek. Are you packed and ready to go? You had better be. They even made a check list for you so you won’t forget to bring things like: your ticket, ID Book, tent, mattresses , camping chairs, torches, sleeping bag, duvet, sun block, insect repellent, toilet paper, camera, cap or hat, something warm, towel, pillow, headache pills, money, sunglasses, condoms, swimming kit, anything that floats – lilo, paddle, boat – and lastly, your friends and a good attitude.
For Three hundred die-hard Creekers, you can pull in on Thursday, 4 February for a chilled out preview gig at the bar stage. For R100 extra, you can choose the best spot for your tent and kick-start the weekend’s carousing so that the place is cooking by the time the rest of your friends arrive.
You can look forward to performances by a selection of some of the best in the entertainment industry: The Dirty Skirts, Taxi Violence, The Rudimentals, Bed on Bricks, Flat Stanley, Dan Patlansky, Ashtray Electric, The Pretty Blue Guns, Dave Ferguson, The Black Cat Bones, Piet Botha, Andra, Ryno Velvet, the Boulevard Blues Band, Akkedis, Van Coke Kartel (acoustic), Hot Water, The GODS, Willim Welsyn en die Sunrise Toffies and many more, who will be joined on stage by a selection of some seriously funny comedians, like Corné and Twakkie, Martin Evans and Dave Levinson. Are you excited yet?
This year they are offer a special bus service to Up the Creek and back. The bus will depart from Cape Town and arrive at Up the Creek on the Friday afternoon at about 16h30. It will leave Up the Creek again on the Sunday afternoon at 15h00, giving you enough time to still chill out and catch all the amazing bands on the Sunday. Now how cool this that?
Visit www.upthecreek.co.za for more information, alternatively, phone the helpful people at Red Hot Events (021 510 0547) or e-mail info@upthecreek.co.za if you are confused about life in general or more specifically, any details of the Up the Creek Music Festival.
My post first appeared here on Musical Mover & Shaker!
January 27th, 2010 in Finance by GabiGoldberg
“I started making music because I’m fascinated at how powerful it can be…”- Andrew Chaplin.
Locnville is New York born and South African raised twins Andrew and Brian Chaplin. As their surname suggests the two are in fact related to the late and great Charlie Chaplin and with a connection like that one wonders if that has affected their success or how people perceive them, Andrew explains “For people that know Charlie Chaplin and what his ethos was, I would definitely say that the relation affects their view of us. In terms of whether it has affected our success or not, I’m not too sure. If it did, I would hope it’s for the best!”
I have to know, are the twins, double trouble or twice as nice? Well, that all “depends on the day! laughs Andrew.
How they picked the name, Locnville “Is quite a long story” says Andrew “but basically it’s a metaphorical way of saying that we have both American and South African influences in our lives.”
As to their music influences Brian explains “There isn’t one specific artist or group as a main influence…” he adds “I like to take a little bit of everything and interpret it into our music.” He describes their sound as “Melodic Hip Hop infused with electronic and organic synths.”
Andrew explains how they started making music, as something almost instinctive. He says “Our family has always been quite musically orientated, so I think we got a pretty good sense of melody and rhythm from a young age. Music, in general, has always interested me. I find it amazing how music can completely alter your mood or your perception of something. I think, for me, I started making music because I’m fascinated at how powerful it can be…”
In the beginning their focus was on making rock music but then they started experimenting with Hip Hop, Brian explains that the somewhat drastic change “came purely from a change in circumstances.” He continues “When we moved back to the states at 11, we weren’t able to play our instruments because of sound restrictions, so we started downloading Hip Hop instrumentals and writing to them – and eventually really got into it.”
At a relatively young age their musical endeavours had them working with Gabi Le Roux and R&B soul singer, Given Phike and then to top it all off their group III then earned double platinum status from Mxit Music alone. Andrew says “It was a really good learning experience for us, as well as the fact that it was a lot of fun. Gabi le Roux is an internationally acclaimed producer; he really helped us get a sense of what the music industry actually entails. There’s a lot of stuff behind the scenes that people don’t really know about, he gave us a sense of what that is and how to deal with it in the most appropriate way. Given Phike is an amazing singer, and he really gave us a sense of cultural diversity in music and how it can work together. Our history with Mxit Music, that’s a different story, it was an unexpected excursion that ended up making it possible for us to pursue Locnville.”
After their success with III and Mxit Music Andrew and Brian decided to create Contra-Banned.com as they felt “like many forms of music distribution, artists end up getting a tiny percentage at the end of it all for the music that they have dedicated time and effort to…” Brians adds “We came up with The VirtualCD concept around the same time that we were recording the album, so when it was done we figured we’d be the first to release our debut in The VirtualCD format and see how people took to it…”
Their album name “Retro Electro” came about to “describe the ideology of the album. Our reasoning being that we wanted to bring back the “Retro” or “70’s” ethos of music where more thought was put into the lyrics and the music was all round more socially aware than the majority of today’s popular music. The “Electro” part was really just making the music more commercially viable for today’s pop culture. However, the Deluxe Edition that will be available in stores February 2010 is named after our debut single, Sun In My Pocket, for obvious reasons of recognition.”
Recording the album “was great” Brian continues “We did the recording the day after we finished school while the Plett Rage was going on, so of course no one was in town and it gave us a chance to focus purely on the album. All in all, the album only took about 2 weeks to get done…”
Andrew’s favourite track off the album “is hard to choose” he elaborates “To be honest, I love all of the tracks on the album, but my personal favourite is definitely “Get To You”. I was really happy with the production on that track, and it has a very personal message in it.”
Off the wall antics took place whilst in studio, as to what exactly happened Brian laughingly says “I probably shouldn’t divulge the details…”
Their live shows have had some interesting moments, Brian explains “we once did show where there was no stage and nothing separating us from the crowd – we both had a bottle of water and a glass of something special on stage, and the people in front went a little crazy and knocked the glasses all over us and hit the laptop off its stand, luckily Andrew managed to catch it mid-performance, but the whole experience was quite an interesting one.” Interesting moments aside, Andrew’s favourite part about performing is “that you really get a sense of the diversity of people that listen to the music at performances. I also just love to jam out with the peeps!”
They happened to have just released the video for their second single, 6 Second Poison and it already looks to be a very popular follow up to Sun In My Pocket, even more successful dare I say? The sleek look of the video gives it an international “feel”. Andrew says “We decided to go with 6 Second Poison as the follow up single because it’s so different from Sun In My Pocket and we wanted to give people a sense of the versatility on the album. The concept of the video was dreamt up by the director, Kyle Lewis. Kyle has an amazing ability to convert a song into a very appropriate visual representation. He also directed the video for Sun In My Pocket, he wanted to go more ’stylized’ on this one. It was a 2 day shoot that took place at the AFDA Studios in Cape Town, the rest was shot in an airplane hangar in Stellenbosch. It was a lot of fun to shoot, and we had an amazingly talented and young crew working on it…”
The third single they are releasing will be a surprise; just because “We have two specific tracks in mind to pick from for the new single” explains Brian “they’re both quite different to each other, so depending on where the world is in a few months time, we’ll be able to choose the next one.”
They are releasing the Deluxe Edition of the album, Sun in My Pocket, in February, later this year. The Deluxe Edition will have completely new artwork as well as the fact that all of the tracks have been re-mastered by Ministry of Sound’s Wez Clarke. It will also have some remixes that haven’t, as of yet, been released, as well as a DVD that will include their music videos and other visuals to do with Locnville.
There is also word of a second album, which Brian confirms as true. He says of it “people can expect something slightly more experimental – we’re going more “epic” on the production and playing a lot more with our vocal range, so don’t expect Retro Electro. I really think we’ve stepped up the production side of things as well as our vocal range on this new one, I’m really excited to see how people take it.”
The duo have “just signed a deal with Just Music” something Andrew “is really happy about it. They understand our vision and aims, and are able to make them a reality. We’ve also signed a licensing deal with Sony Music in Belgium for the Netherlands and Brussels region, so I’m really hoping that will give us a foot in for the European market.”
As to what they would like to achieve in the music industry Brian says “The only specific goal is to see how far we can take Locnville. I want to expand our boundaries by collaborating with people you wouldn’t expect us to; I want to do it all.” They do plan to go international but they wanted to have “a foundation” in their home country before taking it overseas.
The two clearly never have been satisfied with only being artists and their enterprises ranging from record / publishing company to a film production company reflect just that. Andrew explains “We’re both shareholders in our own record / publishing company. We both love film and other aspects of the entertainment industry. Our film production company recently did Flash Republic’s new music video, which hasn’t been released yet, and we plan to do many more for other artists in the near future. I’ve always been interested in the ‘back-end’ of business. I love to work behind the scenes, there’s so much more to all of this than it seems.
Locnville are on the rise and with what they have accomplished an even higher level of success is sure to be achieved in the near future.
My interview first appeared on Musical Mover and Shaker!
January 20th, 2010 in Uncategorized by GabiGoldberg
I had the opportunity to ask Francois Van Coke of legendary band, Fokofpolisiekar a few questions ahead of their upcoming gig at Kirstenbosch.
The band is “very stoked” to be playing Kirstenbosch again. The last show Fokof played Kirstenbosch in 2008 has been described as “the stuff of legend” Francois says this show will be compare to the other as “we had a bit of time to prepare and the band toured together in Dec, so if everything goes according to plan it will kick ass.”
He says “I was really disappointed that we didn’t play last year. So, obviously we want to bring the goods this year. It a beautiful venue and we can’t wait.”
With regards to material he explains “the last time we did Kirstenbosch we started with a acoustic set and it turned into a full on rock show. I think we are going to try and find a middle ground this time around, with hard rock and acoustic stuff mixed all the way through the show…”
He’s most looking forward to playing “Ek Skyn(Heilig)’ as it’s always gonna kick ass at Kirstenbosch.”
I personally can’t wait for Sunday to come already so I can rock out. Who is joining me?
p.s. If you haven’t gotten your tickets you can get them here.
November 11th, 2009 in Blogs by GabiGoldberg
“Music is a powerful thing that can change and inspire, so I would be happy if I can give people something good through what I do-but more to use music as a tool to speak about things. I was greatly inspired by Fela Kuti’s Music is the weapon. Where he said, music is a spiritual thing and anyone that is given the gift of musicianship should use it for something great. To make a difference, to influence positively…”
His name is Gazelle. Gazelle is an “eclectic mix of mysticism from the dark continent, psychedelic visions of Afro-futurism, theatre and music.”
Xander explains “I’ve been always busy making music. Since I was a little kid playing on a drum that was made for me by my other mother Aysa” he continues “I think it is a natural thing when people start with some sort of expression…”
His influences range from “Boney M, Beegees and Goombaye Dance Band” to “the more traditional and pop side of South African music like Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Johnny Clegg and the Savuka, Brenda Fassi and Stimela.” He says “I found a lot of inspiration in the theatrical side of music and was astonished by the great stage performers of our time like Bootsie Collins, George Clinton, Prince and of course like millions I stood in front of the mirror studying the moves of Micheal Jackson.”
He picked the band name Gazelle although he had “previously performed as reggae artist in a soundsystem with Dubmaster China and Teba and was given the name White Lion-so I figured Gazelle is the opposite, the prey, the vulnerable, but with hidden strengths. Maybe its the place that I’m from, growing up in the bush hunting or a strange name that ringed in my ears from seeing too many National Geographic documentaries…”
He lived close the border of Mozambique and it influenced him musically as “I grew up in a rural place where I went to bed some nights with the sound of drums in the distance. So I guess the beat has always been in my blood. It was surely a strange mixture between the music I heard from lying on the carpet as a kid listening to my parents disco vinyls and hearing all the traditional music from the farm workers that played a big part in my life.”
He met band mate Nick Matthews “through a mutual friend Brevan who shared a studio with Ricardo Moretti. I tried to convince Ricardo to help me on the project that I started but then Nick saw the potential and we went from there…we also usually work with Grenville Wiliams on bass and Dubmaster China on percussion (whom are two musicians that I had met through various missions in music)…”Working with Nick has it’s ups and downs as “he’s my partner and my friend. A band is like a relationship with lots of passion…good times and bad times. But we make a great team and compliment each other very well…”
They are preparing for a “European tour Kalahari Safari in January in Europe and have new project called Dicoco which is a gathering of some people. Dicoco is a monthly event that we are holding until march next year-a gathering place for movers and shakers to mingle socialize and come up with new things…communication..creating a space for the Rennaissance to manifest…The first we are having is this November…it’s gonna be a special event.”
In rather exciting news he will be moving to NY in March to take up some recording deals that have come up with “a really amazing producer”…whom will be mentioned in months to come when they are “done with it”. If that is not enough he is “also working on a television show that will be filmed in various countries.” This is all in preproduction so he “can’t let too much out…”
He has been featured in the Italian Rolling Stone Magazine and played Rome Fashion Week, of such illustrious events he said “I had such a great time in Rome, Marcelo Burlon the Editor of Rodeo Magazine organised this event where Gazelle and Jerry Bouthier, the creator of Boombox in London, performed…it was crazy, a fancy car with a driver in the suit picking us up from the airport, we immediately said to him to take us to every major tourist spot…”
Bob of Bloody Beetroots, “is a good friend of mine and I did a few shows with them, the craziest one surely in Razzmatazz in Barcelona during Sonar. He phoned me up one day and said he wrote a song for me and I had to be the voice. It is on their first full length album called Ramborama and the song is called Theolonius the Voodoo King.”
Recording the album ‘Chic Afrique’ “was an amazing experience where we worked with so many amazing musicians and beautiful people. We locked ourselves up in the Red Bull studios for a week and brought in about 20 traditional musicians to create the album. He continues “the studio is a free space, it is a place of expression ….so crazy shit happened!” He proclaims “it’s gonna be the Graceland 3000, the Paul Simon on Acid.”
Recently ‘She did me In’ (their first single) was playlisted on 5FM (although the tune has been the feature song for one of the biggest fashion brands in Spain Berskha) he explains “it was quite a hit there and we are working on various releases with different people internationally. We are also working on a remix album called The Revolution will be Remixed which feature some of the most amazing people like Boody B from Palms out sound and Bjorn from Fettes Brot (the biggest hip hop group in Germany).”
He opened for the incredible Santogold and said of that “It was an amazing festival in an old fortress in Oslo. We made a collaboration show with our friends Sweat X and did a collaborative show called Azania 3000. It was quite a night. We ended up DJing at the after party and kept on going even when the cops tried to shut us down…” he laughingly adds “what happens on tour stays on tour…”
Performing “is a time of expression, a moment where you can let go..the perfect moment to use all the ego that you have within you. I like to save my ego rather for the right moment like performing than just in ordinary daily socializing.”
He has played extensively over the globe and his favourite place to perform is hard to choose as “we have had so many countless amazing experiences….I feel so fortunate that I can truly live my dream in that sense. Some of the favourite places was surely the strangest..like Warsaw for instance…where we lost our luggage but when we found out we would perform in the Palace of The culture, the most amazing building in Warsaw…we had to go forward and do it…and it was the craziest crowd we ever had….Other favourites is probably because we have such amazing friends in cities like Copenhagen and Barcelona…So each place is different…but we try and make the most of it…give it our all and take all we can from it…”
They are set for another European tour next year and will be performing in Hamburg, Paris, Stockholm and Zürich to name a few of the many tour destinations. Knowing Gazelle’s flair for live shows, they will undoubtedly be mind blowing.
Their wardrobe is quite intensive and “getting 18 people dressed before a show” is not uncommon. Within the band, Nick works on various projects like Iridium Project and Xander also does various collaborations (like that of 340ml which he is busy with and Fagget Fairies from Copenhagen in the near future)…The collaboration with Fagget Fairies could only be a very interesting one!
One of the craziest things that happened at a show was “the one time in Transkei where two girls swam across the river to come jump on stage during our New Years gig…..well that is a mild one….some others I prefer not to share…” to which he laughing concludes “I’ll let the columns deal with that…”
Gazelle is “colourful part of the African Renaissance promoting the growth and worldview of any African born art.” and will continue to do so, internationally promoting a positive outlook for Africa.
He explains of the band “We strongly believe in our goals and aims. We would like to remove African music from solely being described as world music, but to have it on the same stage and be respected as music of the world like any other.”
They are Gazelle. Preparing for world domination.
My interview first appeared on Musical Mover and Shaker!
November 3rd, 2009 in Blogs by GabiGoldberg
It has been said “What Dan Patlansky can do with a six-string Fender Stratocaster at the age of 27, most critically acclaimed guitarists will never quite achieve in a lifetime.” How true the statement is, Dan’s playing is simply blues at its best.
It’s Rocking The Daisies and I hurry up to the Media office to see if Dan Patlansky could squeeze me into his busy interview schedule. It was 15:30 and it turned out that he had interviews lined up until 16:00 (at which time he would be on the road to get to his next gig).
I walked outside and who was there but Dan himself, smoking. I expressed my disappointment at not being able to interview him-he then told me that he was sure there was a cancellation and I should find out. It turns out there was and it meant I had 15 minutes to chat with him.
We settled down and although his eyes were hidden behind sunglasses his passion for the blues and music soon came through as soon as we started talking.
I delved into his past and he revealed “I started out playing guitar at 15 years old and I grew up listening to the blues-it’s been 12 years [since he started playing] and it’s been fun…”
He is constantly inspired by artists and his influences are “old blue artists like Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimi Hendrix, Robert Johnson, JJ Cale and many more…”
Fender recognised Dan’s “fiery playing” and offered him an endorsement deal. Dan happens to be one of only six Fender endorsed guitarists in South Africa. He says “I’ve always been a fan of Fender, even if I wasn’t sponsored by Fender, I would still play using their guitars-so it’s a huge bonus to have the endorsement and I couldn’t be happier…”
We moved on to the topic of Rocking The Daisies and his performance hours before (one that further cemented my belief in his out of this world guitar work). He mentioned it was his first time playing and he laughingly mentioned “it was a bit weird playing in the daylight but it was still really cool.”
Naturally our conversation moved on to talk about his new album Move My Soul, which has received critical acclaim in the short time since its release. He says “it’s great to have new and fresh material after having been playing the last album for the past 3 years, so we’re very excited about it.”
As for the tour, he’s playing on the outskirts of Cape Town, in places like Stellenbosch and Grahams Town but says “I’ll probably play a few shows in Cape Town next year, in February or March”.
He tours with Andy Turrel on drums, and Errol “Smelly” Fellows on bass. He met them “years back, whilst touring in Durban, as I lived there for 4 years, although I live in Joburg now…” It turns out Smelly will be retiring at the end of the year as “he’s getting sick of life on the road…” That means Dan will be looking for new a bass player. No pressure.
Life on the road isn’t as glamorous as it may seem. “It’s not like it is in the movies with our buses and flying to every destination, it’s very hard work.” He laughingly admits to losing “about 5 kilos every time I tour, from sweating and not eating properly” He continues “but it’s a cool life, you get to experience and see parts of the country as well as parts of the world that you’d probably never see if you didn’t tour…”
He’d like to “expose the younger generation to blues and blues rock.” We agreed that many young people stereotype blues and he continued that most young people“are scared of it.”
My final question to him was how he would describe his music. He captured the essence of it in one word, “Raw”.
Dan Patlansky is one of the most exciting blues artists of our generation, a legend in his own right and people are taking notice.
My interview first appeared on Musical Mover & Shaker!
October 8th, 2009 in Finance by GabiGoldberg
When first hearing of the band Your Name in Neon one could be forgiven for thinking that they are a pop band whose focus is on getting their name written in neon letters above. Well, you’re wrong.
Your Name is Neon are one of those rare bands that manage to fuse countless genre’s , creating a sound that can’t be defined by the mainstream. Instead their sound is a hybrid of rock, pop, melodic vocals and screamo thrown in for good measure.
One could also be forgiven for thinking that a hybrid of such diverse range of genres would produce an album which would be inaccessible, however The Endeavour is best described as being “effortless”. Your Name in Neon transcend the boundaries of even those genres they take their cues from and have created an album that can be listened to and enjoyed by anyone and everyone, regardless of ones preferred musical tastes.
The lyrical content is dark and sinister side, although only discernible upon closer inspection as one is at first lulled by Gavin’s voice. The soft, swirling interlude that is The Traveller sets the tone for the album, flows into The Endeavour, (the title track and their first single) one of the more commercially appealing songs.
Street Mood Blue Gas Jeans and The Saviour, are jammed full of metal inspired riffs; yet they both progress melodically and gently flow into a melodic pop sound.
Over all the album is sure to get the band noticed. Their playing 50 shows in nine months shows this band is nothing short of dedicated!
Cliche’s aside, Your Name in Neon is a band that will see just that, their name up in lights and with a follow up album due towards the beginning of next year, the band aren’t showing signs of slowing down.
9/10.
October 2nd, 2009 in Finance by GabiGoldberg
“I think we had no choice [but to make music] otherwise we would be in a mental hospital.”
Meet Vaqueros Paganos. Formed in 2007 in Buenos Aires as a duet compromising Diego Pagani and Clara V whohad been friends since they first met in 2005 at an Elliott Smith tribute concert. The duet subsequently grew in to a 5 piece band, with both Diego Pagani and Clara V writing the lyrics and playing guitar; Coco is on bass; Lean Perry is on keyboards and piano and, since 2009, Martín Bocking is on drums.”
How they chose the band name is “a tough one, one we can’t answer. We swore not to tell anyone about it…”
With regards to their sound Clara says “We sing in Spanish, so the tragic lyrics and amazing voices in “boleros” are fundamental to our sound. I think “Monocovers” (we recorded it in 2008, as a low-fi experiment of cover versions recorded with just one microphone, in one hour) is a good way to get in touch with our influences.” Speaking of their influences, they range from “The 50’s and 60’s… the retro feeling of Nancy Sinatra… The 70’s… all kinds of psychedellia and the The 90’s… Alice in Chains, Mark Lanegan, Nirvana, PJ Harvey…”
In May they released their first LP, called “El Libro Negro” (“The Black Book”). “We’ve been playing those songs in every possible format, in every possible place… rehearsal-pain-gig-rehearsal-pain-gig! We are already starting to make new songs for the next LP, even sexier and cooler than this one…”
They question the music industry saying “Sometimes it seems more like a show-off industry, and it’s not about “your craft” after all… I think the main challenge is to play the music you really want to, and let it flow.” With that said, it would be great to get someone to support our songs, record as many albums as we want to, tour the world playing music, you know… But if it’s meant to happen, it will. In the meantime, we’re having fun together.”
Clara’s favorite thing about performing is that “It’s real and as we like to take some risks, it’s always kind of an experiment and an adventure. It’s fate itself.”
Recording the new album was an intense experience. We had a lot of fun, but we also fought, cried, bled… The witness and judge sometimes was our producer Diego Acosta, for “No mires ahora” studios. It was all registered by the lens of Rafa Paz. The new single they are releasing is called “El pastor” (“The shepherd”). Her favorite track of the album is “Plegaria de verano” You can download it here . She says “It was the hardest. Yet lovely. It’s our favorite…”
Off the wall antics whilst in studio included “eating cinnamon cookies and beer and pizza at the same time. Many times..” Clara takes the longest to get ready before a gig “I’m always trying to arrange plugs. I can’t help it, it’s like they are alive and get messed in my bag, ALWAYS.”
Their side projects are many and varied. “Perry (keyboards) has his own solo project, he already released an EP, which can be downloaded for free from here.
Diego Pagani is also known as pobrediego, released an EP a couple of years ago, for free download. He’s finishing his new album now, to be released during October 2009. Bocking has an affair with electronica… more information coming soon…Coco… Coco… you never know what he’s up to. Math rock maybe…I have a project with some friends of mine called Cec and Lara, we’re also going to release an EP soon.”
Perry definitely talks the most rubbish and is also definitely the messiest on tour. One of the craziest things that has happened at a show has it’s answer “at 2:15 of this video” Be prepared.
Vaqueros Paganos are a quirky band with music that is a subtle blend of electronic, rock, psychedelic and grunge and will appeal to many.
September 30th, 2009 in Finance by GabiGoldberg
Mobile novels (or M-novels) are big in Japan, “six out of the top 10 fiction best sellers in 2008 were m-novels that had later been printed in book form.”
An M-novel called Kontax, commissioned for The Shuttleworth Foundation looks to be an exciting first for South Africa, is set to create an a stir, involving the youth and hopefully creating an interest in reading, all via cellpohones.
The Shuttleworth Foundation knew that it was “worth exploring [cellphones] potential for publishing and authoring.” They believe that “cellphones may represent a way to alleviate the chronic shortage of books in SA as they provide a viable content distribution solution.”
M4lit (Mobiles for literacy) is all about getting kids to read and it is “making world history as the first of its kind to be offered in both English and isiXhosa (to increase accessibility to a broad range of South African teenagers).” It also looks to find out what learners think about m-novels, and whether the mobile medium as a literacy tool interests them.
They have chosen to utilise Mxit (a popular instant messaging service-which has roughly 14 million subscribers) as a platform from which to send the m-novel out from.
The m-novel, Kontax, written by Sam Wilson, is about the adventures of a group of teenage graffiti writers.
The story line is as follows:
“Kontax are the hottest graffiti crew in the city. These four friends come from all over town, and they each have their own unique talent. Sbu has the vision, K8 (pronounced “Kate”) has the training, Songezwa has the technique, and Airtime has the creativity (and the big mouth). The Kontax hang out together making graffiti. They’ll paint wherever they can, and wherever they can’t. They’re the Kontax, and it’s their voice.
One night Sbu hits it off with a girl at a party, but she suddenly disappears, leaving him with her cellphone and her first name. Who is she? Where did she go? And why doesn’t anyone on her cellphone contact list know her? Sensing she is in danger, the Kontax crew uses every idea they can think of, and all their skills and connections, to track the missing girl. As they do, the Kontax discover that this mysterious girl is in more trouble than she could have possibly imagined. Tracking the girl down leads Sbu and his friends into a world of action, mystery, and increasing danger…
Readers will be invited to interact with Kontax as it unfolds on their cellphones: by voting on and discussing the progressing plot, as well as leaving comments. To make it more appealing there will be airtime prizes available for winning submissions and comments.
Every day another chapter in the mystery plot is told, with 21 chapters unfolding over 21 days.
M4lit has huge potential and looks to change the attitude of South African youths’ towards to reading and writing, as well as it leading the way for more interactive m-novels in South Africa.
September 22nd, 2009 in Finance by GabiGoldberg
It’s midway through June and I’m off to meet with Rian and Louis to discuss the new Taxi Violence album, The Turn that was, at the time currently in the works. We (Louise, their publicist and I) meet up with the Louis and are shortly joined by Rian at High 5 and then move next door to Vida.
Settling down at Vida, we start chatting and Rian’s first question is about Twitter and how to get more followers. Louis lights up a cigarette and settles down to listen. After discussing Twitter for awhile we get started with the interview.
Louis and Rian’s friendship is apparent, from the constant banter and the fact that they have known each other “since before we started shaving. We were in a band together in school” says Rian. Louis then continues the story “we were in a band with our ex-bassist and then he disappeared, like really disappeared, when he did he played with George but that band broke up. Then our original band got back together again and we were amped to rock; all we needed was singer, but George refused” Rian interjects again “he refused at first, there were some vibes, but he got over it.”
The band name Taxi Violence “is nothing revolutionary” explained Rian “it was picked one day when we were sitting eating cereal and watching cartoons; it just fell off the couch. They were two words that sounded punchy together” Louis then butts in “we chose it because Fokofpolisiekar was already taken.”
Their first show that they played out of town (in Port Alfred) was “interesting, we went off in Louis’s car to this festival-if you could call it that-there were about 100 people at any given time, it wasn’t much of a festival” laughs Rian “anyways, we got there on the Friday and only played on the Saturday-so by the time we were supposed to play we were pretty drunk, we had a 30 minute slot and I thought we timed our set perfectly” Louis adds vehemently “it was timed perfectly!” Rian then continued “suddenly, midway through our one song, the sound went off, a bouncer came out and chucked us off stage. The lead singer of the Finkelsteins (who happened to be the MC) then came out and started slagging us off; I’ve never seen George so angry…” “It was a bad show” concluded Louis.
Their influences are “The Venga Boys, Roxxette” and Rian jokingly adds “and Billy Ray Cyrus.” Louis continues more seriously “we draw influences from a lot of different stuff, although we all like rock, we also listen to a lot of different music. George used to be a dub DJ so he’s very much influenced by electronic sounds; George and Rian also grew up on Hendrix and Pink Floyd, whereas Jason and I grew up on The Beatles and Radiohead.”
Their album Untie You Yourself was a massive success and was re-released, although “it is a lot less glamorous than it sounds” Rian adds “I was hoping it would sell out, in South Africa you are never assured of having cd sales so you pick your numbers conservatively; they didn’t sell out as we had 100 thousand copies” “no, we had 500 thousand copies” jokes Louis and then adds “it sort of just happened…”
As for making it in the music industry Louis says passionately “I’d love to make a living off what I love, it’s any South African musicians dream.”
When onstage “we find there is a kind of energy when we perform; it just happens. It’s not there when we’re offstage, but when we are onstage we create it, the infectious effect it has on people” Louis adds “it’s my way to escape…”
We then switch to talk of their upcoming album and their excitement is apparent. “It’s going to be huge” Louis then turns and points to the billboard across the street “we are going to be on that billboard.”
“The vocals haven’t been recorded yet, but when we played it back I had a definite favourite, then it changed, but Church Going Man is a standout track” says Louis of the new songs. Rian prefers “the more experimental stuff”.
What they are looking forward to most with regards to the new album The Turn is to be able to “have worked so hard, and to finally get it (a labour of love) to the fans”
They were scheduled to play a festival during September in Germany “but it got cancelled, although the tour will still be happening, just in October” when talking of touring when asking who the messiest is, Rian suggests Louis, who then looks thoughtful and concedes that it might be him. Louis says “we’re pretty clean guys, we make the beds and stuff” so they make good guests then? “yes” Louis answers laughingly. The unanimous answer to who talks the most rubbish on tour is “George” Rian adds “when he gets on a plane he just gets all lame”.
With The Turn released to critical acclaim, the band are doing it their way and they are doing it right.
August 18th, 2009 in Finance by GabiGoldberg
Photo Credit: Liam Lynch
Die Heuwels Fantasties. “It represents more than a band name… it’s almost like a mythical place. We wanted something that is open and inviting and didn’t offend anyone before they listened to any of the music” he then says laughingly “ag yah, we had a couple of margarita’s and it seemed like a good idea at the time!”
The three knew each other “from school! We’ve been friends forever me [Pierre] and old Kenny and Johnebo.” Hunter and Pierre have been writing songs together since a very young age but, “We never finished any songs way back when and mostly just gave advice to each other on the songs we were making for our respective bands at the time (New World Inside and Time Spent)…these are the first full on songs we wrote together…interestingly enough Sonrotse was the first…that was about 2 years ago…we wrote most of the songs even before Hunter joined aKING…we wanted to move away from the type of music we made respectively until now, which was mainly guitar-driven…”
Hunter and Pierre own the label Supra Familias. “Supra Familias is the collective noun for everyone who feels the vibe and does something about it.” They released Die Heuwels Fantasties debut, self titled album under their label. They’d like to “develop as much talent as we can” and “do as much as we can” with regards to the music industry.
Die Heuwels Fantasties album had Johnny de Ridder in charge of the production. And artists like Francois Van Coke, Laudo Liebenberg of aKING and Adriaan Brand of Springbok Nude Girls all contributing to the album.
Their album has elements of many genres, from hip-hop beats, flat out dance beats, to rap and rock sounds. They pushed the creative boundaries but “the only plan from the start was to write a record on guitar and try to make a record with as little as possible guitar on it in the end” he says reflectively “In a way we succeeded, I guess and in a way we didn’t!”
Recording the album was “long, tedious and amazing, it involved lots of instruments and friends…” The off the wall antics whilst in studio included “recording a vocal piece by playing back a take into Johnny’s old court yard in the waterfront to get a real (and natural) reverb. There is a seagull pandemic there (as everybody knows) so we got some seagulls in the background on “Leja.”
Some fun facts about album include “Hunter singing a little low part on most of the tracks (as layered backings) and him probably singing the most on Klein Tambotieboom as at the end he is alone on vocals…”The verses for the song “Die Vraagstuk” were written by Jack Parow and Pierre and Hunter wrote the chorus. The way ‘Noorderlig’ came together on the album was unexpected and amazing. Pierre’s favourite line from the album is “die aardbol respireer die oseaan.”
Their performance at the Coke Zero Fest saw Hunter on bass guitar, Johnny with the electric guitar and a drummer on set. The drummers name is “Frederick den Hartog and he use to play drums for DeltaBlue but more recently lead guitar for Die Helde and now Thieve. Philip Erasmus from Thieve also helps on the drums as a session when he can. He laughingly says “it’s a family affair. Supra!” as Thieve are signed to their label…
When playing live “Johnny does everything, both the beat and the chorus at the same time!” as Johnny plays both the electronic and guitar. He says with finality “Johnny is a genius.”
The new single that’s being released is “Sonrotse, the video was shot in Mozambique and everybody was there- it was bliss!” The video will premier on MK, on the 24th of Aug.
The band is laid back; nobody really takes a long time to get ready before a gig as its “Ready. Steady. Go”. When Hunter ‘becomes Kenny’ he can talk a fair amount of rubbish…but that goes for everybody, and messy just doesn’t exist on tour!”
