SA Rocks

Some of you might know that once upon a time I played music, in a band, on stage and even recorded an album. [see below for songs]

Now the reason I bring this is up is as follows; The lead singer of the band I was apart of, Bevan Lynch, has started his own band called Stereo in Flight. They are playing their very first gig in Durban.

Here are the details:

You can also head over to the Facebook event and get involved.

Popularity: 11% [?]

I was fortunate enough to be invited to the MK Awards on Sunday night past.

What an incredibly eye-opening and fantastic night and show. I rocked out. I was sucked in and embraced the entire evening as flippin’ incredible.

One of the stars of the show was undoubtedly Jack Parow. The man rocked out colabs with some of the hottest rock property in SA right now and he blew the crowd away.

Here’s the video that he based the colab on:

Popularity: 4% [?]

Young Mr Clegg will be hosting his first live performance of his debut album at the Nelson Mandela Theatre, Civic Theatre Complex, Braamfontein on 12, 13, 14 May 2009.

That means that starting from tomorrow you can check out Jess Clegg live. Do it, the man is brilliant and everyone in JHB is always looking for different things to do.

Tickets are R120 and R150 (excluding Computicket booking fee). Discounted tickets for groups of ten or more are available by calling VIP Ticketing 011 877 6853.

Popularity: 8% [?]

I can’t say it enough, I am loving the local music scene right now. South Africa has some phenomenal musicians coming forward and making their mark right now. One of the most astounding for me personally is aKing.

Their music is distinctive, as they say, thanks to Laudo (lead vocalist) whose voice is incredibly recognisable and sets aKing apart from other bands right now. Their song writing skills are local with a twist of darkness and self-loathing which is always good. They are fast building a cult following that crosses language, culture and genre barriers which is always fantastic to see.

aKing rock.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Bellville, Rock City is a DVD/CD/Print project that documents pieces of the life and music of some of South Africa’s most phenomenally influential Afrikaans Rock bands; Fokofpolisiekar, Springbok Nude Girls, Foto na Dans, aKING, Jax Panik, K.O.B.U.S!, Van Coke Kartel, New Holland, Ashtray Electric, Thieve, Lukraaketaar, Tatum and Die Heuwels Fantasties who are all from Bellville.

I’m assuming that the idea for this project came from the surrounding friends/fanbase of these bands as many of the people I know who are fervent fans are very creatively endowed. It’s quite admirable to see this collective creative development around young Afrikaans people exploding in so many dimensions. Other local artists would be lucky to have the same loyalty and dedication to their ideas.

The package Includes:

• A 13-track audio CD featuring 13 of Bellville’s most prominent Rock Groups/Artists.
• A 30 Minute documentary short film about the Bellville Rock Scene. Fokofpolisiekar, aKING, Ashtray Electric and others on tour.
• 8 MP3’s from the archives of Bellville bands throughout the years.
• 10 Music videos.
• A 48 Page booklet in which the musicians share their photos and experiences.

More details and tracklistings can be found here.

Due for release on the 28th of November through Rhythm Online.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Here’s another great band that was recently and luckily thrust upon me. Love their vibe, love the tunes and love the band. Top class stuff.

For more info on them check out their myspace page, mynoise and their very own website.

Popularity: 6% [?]

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: 5% [?]

Chris Cornell was one of the featured international bands at My Coke Fest 2008. The Cru master sent me an email directing me towards this:

Message From Chris

Hello everyone.

I am on a plane from Cape Town to Johannesburg, then back home to Paris. Just played South Africa for the first time ever and as I leave I again feel very lucky to be able to do what I do as my life’s work.

The country is beautiful. The weather, the water, the mountains, but as usual, for me what really matters is the people. The fans and the South Africans that we met have all been amazingly warm and friendly. Getting this kind of reception so far away from home always moves me. This has been another on a long list of firsts for me in the last year.

As a solo artist I can finally move unencumbered; making my world as big as possible and playing music for as many people around the world who will show up to listen.

I have been working on a lot of new stuff that I will tell you about later.

Peace. CC

To see the comments on the above post from Chris Cornell visit his site now!

Great words from a great artist.

Popularity: 5% [?]

I absolutely love Seether (the old SaronGas) and I love the fact that they are an SA Band that has made it big. I also dig it that they help support local bands and come back to SA whenever they can speaking Afrikaans and rocking the Brandy and Coke!

What I really want to say about them is this: They are pissed off at someone (Amy Leigh perhaps) and aren’t scared to say it.

Have a look at their new song, Fake It, and decide for yourself.

On a closing note I must say that Seether or their PR/Marketing team is on top form. Their website is slick and their ideas are great. The one thing that I thought was really smart (although not very “opensource”) is that you cannot embed their video directly from YouTube.

The YouTube page with their video directs you to their website. This is the only way to get the embed code for the video. It has been viewed over 300 000 times on YouTube and I am sure that a countless number of viewers must have visited their site to check out more. Very clever.

Popularity: 10% [?]