You recently performed at Oppikoppi and now you’re performing at Arcade. How do you handle the shift between playing at outdoor festivals and playing once-off club gigs?
Andre: It’s not all that different, really. Sure, most festival stages are huge compared to club stages and it does take some time to get used to playing so far away from the other cats in the band, but in all honesty a stage is a stage. Clubs, however, do have their own merit, and vice versa. For instance, it’s impossible to achieve the dynamic of a smaller intimate club setting in an outdoor festival vibe, but the same can be said for the energy levels that are reached on big festival stages. We play it by feel.
Do you expect a significant increase in attention due to your numerous live performances in October?
Andre: Contrary to popular belief, show attendance actually decreases if you saturate the circuit in specific areas with overplaying. You need to maintain a healthy balance between playing just enough so that your audience will not forget about you, and then again not play too frequently which will lead to your audience growing tired of you. Much like a spoiled child, I suppose.
Andre was recently involved in a programme called Kinderklets, where rock stars are interviewed by young children. What was the experience like?
Andre: There’s something to be said for the sincerity and honesty of being interviewed by a four-year-old. No time for fluff and beating around the bush. I loved it, and it reminded me of the reason I started making music in the first place. Witty little lad, he was. I see some great things for master Keegan in the future.
Your lead singer, Kobus de Kock Jr, has a very distinct visual style. What is the inspiration behind that?
Kobus: Music is a very powerful medium, and pairing it with something visual is almost twice as powerful. I’ve always enjoyed very visual frontmen [like] Freddie Mercury, Nick Cave, [and] Tom Waits. Local artists like Inge Beckmann, Francois van Coke and the great Johnny Clegg are also very visual and demand the attention of the audience with their performance.
In August, the band started working on the first track of a new album. What can listeners expect?
Andre: The first single is a real emotional rollercoaster ride and is guaranteed to stir something deep inside the listener. It’s been tried and tested live and has proven to be the obvious choice for us to reveal the nature of what’s to be expected from the new album. [It is] set to be released on iTunes within the next couple of weeks. Get it, play it!
Image provided.
