SA Rocks

SA is not short of bands. SA Rocks has started to attract these bands and I love it. At least once a week I’m being e-mailed by bands and promoters with new sounds, funks, vibes, feelings and more and I love it.

Music is a strong part of my life, everyday it motivates me and moves me to do more, create, love, live, thrive and anything else. Everything I do involves music. So from my side send them on, if you know of anyone who is looking for some exposure for their band or a friends band, send them to my way!

The Slickers (love the name) are the latest band to contact me asking for some exposure. I am always more than happy to assist.

Here’s the press release:

If you haven’t yet heard the musical genius of Jozi band The Slickers, prepare yourself for the best arrangement of American alternative rock with a definite “British” sensibility and attitude.

Strongly influenced by his passion for British music, lead singer and songwriter Billy White delivers original vocals, strong melody and hook-driven choruses synonymous with the Britpop sound.

This, coupled with Verny’s guitar delivery, arrangements and production, gives the added dimension of an American influence. It’s the Arctic Monkeys fused with the art-rock of Blur, delivered with a rock sound one might expect from The Stone Roses. Not many bands can pull off this bittersweet sound with such aplomb, but it’s the maturity and depth of talent within The Slickers that makes their sound so original and authentic.

The band is made up of five members, Billy, the singer songwriter, Jp on lead guitar, Anton on bass and Roger on drums. The fifth member, Verny (on lead guitar), is a founding member of the double platinum selling band “Just Jinger” and no stranger to success.

“I am proud to be a member of The Slickers, and believe that the band has what it takes both with the talent of its musicians, and strength of its original compositions to attain great success both in South Africa and abroad. Our growing fan-base who support us at all our live performances are testament to the success which lies ahead for The Slickers,” says Verny.

For more information on how to obtain a CD or catch one of their gigs, go to www.eleven.org.za or www.myspace.com/slickersthe

Here’s what I think:

I dig their vibe, the sound is different, to say the least. There seems to be a bit of britpop influence floating around as well as an old school 60′s twang that rears it’s head in the rhythm guitar in the track “I feel fine”.

This is such an overused and rarely-understood phrase but The Slickers have a very eclectic sound. I want to say Nirvana, Foo fighters, The Parlotones all infused in to one sound when I listen to “Normal”.

The sound is listenable, interesting and different and I love that. I also love bands that try to pay homeage to the old masters with a ting or twang here and there.

I do have criticism that centres around some basic SA music insights. The sound feels too simply, under-produced and rough. This could be attributed to a lack of funding in production, it could be an intentional goal of their sound but I think that if/when a band tries to sound rough and raw they need to produce it in such a way so that it sounds unintentionally purposed, Like the Arctic Monkeys.

All in all I would/will buy this album if it’s out there. I think you should too.

Popularity: 3% [?]

This is a post contributed by Debbie Heustice is the Director of the HIV-911 Programme and the Centre for HIV/AIDS Networking.

HIV-911 – Making Referrals to Support Services so Much Easier!

If I had a Rand for every minute that I have spent searching for a number of someone who can help me with some aspect of my HIV-related work, I would be rich! Talking with a number of colleagues over the past few years, my frustrations have been echoed. Clearly, I am not alone. This frustration is even more pronounced for millions of South Africans who are infected or affected by HIV/AIDS and spend countless hours, travel many kilometres, and spend what little money they have in the hope of finding treatment, care or supplementary HIV/AIDS support services when in fact those very services might be provided by an NGO, FBO or clinic in their own area.

It is our experience that there has, for many years, been a critical gap when it comes to information available about what HIV/AIDS-related services are available and where they are located.

Knowing that there are, in fact, countless HIV-related initiatives in South Africa with skills, expertise and the will to make a difference in the struggle against HIV/AIDS, the Centre for HIV/AIDS Networking (HIVAN) decided to do something. The result is the HIV-911 Programme. HIV-911 fills the service provider information gap for all South Africans as it specialises in providing referrals to over 6 500 HIV-related service providers in the country. Through this, HIV-911 also creates opportunities for the HIV/AIDS service sector, allowing service providers to network more effectively with one another, share ideas, identify potential partners and collaborators for projects, and easily locate and recommend supplementary support services for their clients.

HIV-911 was piloted extensively prior to its national launch on 29 November 2007. We knew that having a comprehensive database of HIV-related services was only part of the solution as people working in the AIDS service sector have varying and often limited access to resources and technology. We needed to create a stable of services which could connect people in the most remote places in South. This was a challenge and resulted in HIV-911 being piloted over a two year period in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

This was a very valuable learning time for us. We realised that, for some people, easy access to our database would mean going online while, for others, a paper-based directory or access to a data collection/referral line would be more appropriate. HIV-911 has, as a result, developed multiple ways of accessing its service provider database.

In January 2007 we began operating a national data collection / referral line and in November 2007 we launched our first hard copy directory series (in partnership with the Foundation for Professional Development), as well as a dedicated HIV-911 website with online search functionality. In this way, HIV-911 ensures that no-one in South Africa is excluded from receiving information on where to access HIV-related support and services.

To access the HIV-911 database of HIV/AIDS services:

* view the directory online at www.hiv911.org.za
* call the data collection / referral line on 0860 HIV (448) 911
* order provincial directories
* or access the HIV-911 database via the National AIDS Helpline

An invitation to you

HIVAN would like your help in maintaining and expanding the reach of the HIV-911 database. If you are involved in HIV-related activities (or know someone who is), please call 0860 HIV 911 to update / add new organisations with our Data Collection team.

Popularity: 3% [?]

With the high crime rates, the car crashes, natural occurances of brain damage that take place it’s a wonder that I hadn’t heard of headway sooner.

I am in awe of the work they do, it’s the sort of work that until you are in need of their assistance you wont even know they exist. But they do.

From their website:

Headway Gauteng, was started in 1995 and is a fully registered welfare organisation dedicated to offering various support programme’s to survivors of Acquired Brain Injury, including Traumatic Brain Injury.

Headway presently has two branches – our main branch in Hyde Park and our outreach branch (Khomelela) in Alexandra. Our aim is to eventually have satellite groups in all the main centres, as soon as funding permits. With no assistance from the government, all our funding initiatives are from private or corporate donations instigated from within our small organisation.

As I have mentioned, it is services like these that you never realise are there until you really need them. I have had my share of experience with brain damaged relatives/friends and I really wish that we had known about Headway.

If you have a vested interested in the service they provide I suggest heading over to Headway Gauteng and Headway KZN and contacting them. Ask if you can help, if they need anything or if you can provide support of any kind. I am sure that a little support will go a very long way.

Popularity: 3% [?]

I don’t often punt events on SA Rocks but this little lecture seems well worth the punt. Thanks to Andy for the email.

Is now the time to emigrate?

Staying in South Africa could be the best decision you’ve ever made.

Are things really as bad as they seem, or are we blind to the country’s true potential?

Don’t pack your bags just yet. Come and listen to the respected trend analyst, JP Landman, outline his widely read article ‘Is the bad mood justified?‘ He will discuss the current political and economic situation in South Africa and illustrate the paradigm shift that is necessary for us to see the good that is taking place amid all the negativity, and how to capitalise on the opportunities it will bring.

This valuable opportunity is on a first-come, first-served basis. Presentations of this nature would normally cost a few hundred Rand per seat, but because we believe in our country and in spreading the optimism, we are giving you this once-off seminar for only R70 per person. Seats are limited, so please book early to avoid disappointment. Click here to confirm your place. You will be taken to the Online Booking Zone; click on Search for a training event, and select Where is SA heading? to complete your booking. Each delegate will need to complete a separate registration.

Tuesday, 1st July 2008

T1 Lecture Theatre
Westville Campus, University of KwaZulu Natal University Road,
Durban

17h00 for 17h30 – 19h00

Wednesday, 23rd July 2008

Linder Auditorium
Education Campus, University of the Witwatersrand
27 St Andrews Road,
Parktown,
Johannesburg

17h30 for 18h00 – 19h30

Tuesday, 29th July 2008

Rotunda
The Bay Hotel, 69 Victoria Road,
Camps Bay,
Cape Town

17h00 for 17h30 – 19h00

Click here to read a brief biography on JP Landman.

Popularity: 3% [?]

For some reason there has been no publicity around this neat little website.

As many of you might know Nelson Mandela is turning 90 this year and the race is one to send him birthday wishes!

At the moment Tanzania is topping the charts with the most birthday wishes sent. South Africa is up there, but lagging behind and I think that we all need to show support for the man and his legacy. Go ahead, send him a wish.

And, and by the way, if you do send in your birthday greetings you will be rewarded with a free music download… Queen, ofcourse.

Popularity: 6% [?]

One of the perks of running SA Rocks is the letters to the editor that I receive. This is one of those letters, one of those moments when people realise that the world is bigger than them and their immediate actions.

Hi Nic

As a major supporter of my home country South Africa, I felt the need to write this, I suppose just to make people aware of the people that actually do work hard in this country without any recognition. Because I truly do believe that SA Rocks!

I was out in Cape Town the other night and we were going to a night club, we took for granted the free entrance that had been organised for us, and we took for granted that we would be able to spend the night drinking and partying with good friends. However, in the car on the way to the club I realised that not everyone finished work at the standard 5pm. It was raining out and it seemed that a lot of the drains in the Rondebosch/Claremont area were blocked. They could just be left like that but instead, the council had sent a team of workers out, in the rain, to clear these blocked drains.

These are all people with friends and family, walking faceless and nameless beneath their rain coats on the city streets after 9pm, ensuring that our country is kept in shape. While we were underneath the club lights, they were beneath the street lights. You will see them in other forms too- the men emptying your bins during the week, the men fixing broken electricity poles in storms late at night and all the people who remain anonymous but keep our lives running smoothly often while we sleep.

It then dawned on me how many people we actually have in this country that do work hard, that do care, that don’t expect any recognition and that just want to support themselves and their families. We often berate car guards for being a nuisance and there are the drunk ones who are not employed by companies who are an irritant.

However, the guys employed by companies are always there, rain or shine, and all they want is a small tip in recognition for their work. I have on many occasions been one to complain about car guards, but then again what do I know about their lives? How do I know what they go through every day to get to work and support their families?

I have seen it in other forms as well. Not long ago I worked for a short time as a delivery person and had to deliver alcohol and drinks to various companies in Cape Town. While office workers sit in their offices and enjoy food and cool drinks from the canteen, they don’t realise the guys and girls who work behind the scenes to deliver these goods direct to their offices and the strenuous physical labour they endure for minimal pay.

I guess this is just to say that there are people out there working hard to ensure our well-being, but we just don’t take the time to acknowledge them.

So in a small manner, this is my acknowledgement to the teams of guys and girls who keep our country great.

Keep it up, there are people thinking of you.

Regards

Sean

Popularity: 3% [?]

I found this really interesting documentary over at the beyondidentity blog.

It got me thinking, what exactly defines African? What exactly is it that makes me so passionate about Africa when some might argue that historically I am Greek, not African.

Is it as simple as “If you were born in African and live in Africa then you are African”? I don’t think so, but why not?

I am extremely interested to know what makes you think, feel, believe that you are African?

Popularity: 3% [?]

I posted about a great local band trying their hand at the music biz abroad a few days ago.

Here is a follow up interview with Irvine.

So dude’s – What makes you guys different?

We used to be a girl band… Besides that, I suppose it’s because we’re a rock band that strives to make every song as unrock as possible. If something is sounding like radio rock we will do our best to mess it up as much as possible with strange chords, rhythms etc. to stretch it into something different. The end product is music that initially sounds simple but is on closer inspection much more complex and interesting than originally perceived. We strive to focus primarily on creating good music as opposed to doing nothing more than merely promoting a cliched rock star image and sound.

Why on Earth would you have followed the musical dream in SA? I’ve been down this road and it’s tough.

That’s a tough one. Basically, we have all tried other things but it turns out that music is what we’re best at. For us it has nothing to do with becoming ‘famous’, we just have an unquenchable urge to create and play good music. Whether we’re making millions from it or drowning in debt we will probably just keep doing it. Although we have also realized the importance of day jobs.

What are your immediate plans?

At present we are based in London and are playing as many clubs and festivals there as possible to build up a decent following. We’ve been promoting our EP on various London radio stations and will hopefully be getting some airplay in SA as well. A Welsh tour is in the pipeline and we are hoping to begin work on our first full studio album near the end of the year.

What’s been the best thing to date that the band has done?

To be honest, it has been pretty tough since relocating to London. The industry here is very saturated, plus we had to find a new line-up, so the accolades haven’t exactly started piling up yet. We’re still pretty much in the beginning stages. With all that in mind, I would have to say that a personal highlight for us was having the privilege of playing a show with Chris Letcher last year. He’s a phenomenal musician and great inspiration to us.

Have you noticed any measurable value that your MySpace page has given you?

Definitely! Myspace seems to be most bands’ primary networking tool these days, and we have definitely benifited from it. We’ve gained fans from places such as America, Europe and other places around the world we have never toured, but most importantly it’s been instrumental in staying in contact with our South African audience.

How big is Online in your strategy going forward?

Nowadays it seems online networking has become the primary means of getting your band off the ground, so we’re definitely hitting that angle pretty hard. Basically, when we’re not working or practicing, we’re on our laptops shamelessly promoting our music and scouring the internet for opportunities.

One of the great advantages resulting from the drastic changes that have taken place in the music industry in recent years is the rise in interest in unsigned bands and the number of opportunities available to bands now without any label backing. I think people have realised that with all the difficulty that many of the record labels are experiencing in the current climate of most music being online and free, lots of good bands these days don’t see the need for signing to a label. For this reason it seems that ‘unsigned’ and ‘independent’ have become the new buzz words of the industry and often have the power to gain you as much attention, if not more, as what the labels can offer.

Anything you want to say to your local fans as a closing statement?

Thanks very much for your support. We can’t get anywhere without you guys, so please keep spreading the word and enjoying the music. You can download our EP, ‘This is Tomorrow’ for FREE from www.myspace.com/irvineband. Thanks again.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Update: Payfine.co.za seems to be back up for the moment!

My blog post about Payfine.co.za from a very long time back on this blog has been a big hit. I thus felt very obligated to alert my readers to the fact that Payfine.co.za seems to be down.

I don’t have any more information than that right now and hopefully it will be back up soon-ish.

For now, keep reading SA Rocks, check out Muti and have a look at the incredible new Mail&Guardian Online!

Popularity: 5% [?]

Wow, Jozi actually has a mayor. I’ve never heard from the position, the person or the office, not a peep.

But I know his name, it’s Amos Masondo and he was the first democratically elected mayor of Johannesburg.

Currently in his second term as the mayor of Johannesburg, Masondo apparently has chosen to prioritise economic growth and tackling the AIDS crisis as major issues.

I am surprised at how much information is actually available about Masondo. See below:

Profile on Joburg city homepage
Interview on Joburg city homepage
CityMayors profile

There is more information available on Wikipedia and around the Google-sphere.

This is the first introduction to localalised government representatives on SA Rocks. I will be trying to focus on more as the days go on but if you have any information, suggestions or ideas, please feel free to contact me.

Popularity: 5% [?]