MELINA MELETAKOS
THE DECEMBER STREETS
This is your second time playing at Rag. How does it feel to be back?
Tristan: It’s awesome. Rag is always one of the highlights of the year for us. It’s [Pretoria] our hometown, so it’s always a party. A big, big party.
Corneil: It’s a nice vibe as well. Especially something big like Rag, it’s good for our portfolio.
You recently signed to 2 Feet Music. How did you land the deal?
Corneil: Well they actually approached us first, quite a while back already. Everything’s going good; the album’s coming out in June.
Is your new album going to include the tracks from your EP or is it going to consist of new material only?
Corneil: Yes, we’re going to re-record most of the stuff from the EP and then add completely new stuff.
How will the tracks on your new album differ from your older material?
Tristan: We’re basically going to keep the same formula as the old stuff and probably add a few elements to create a new sound. We’re just going to keep those feel good vibes; shake your ass kind of music.
Corneil: I think all of us are also better musicians, obviously.
When you turn on the radio and hear one of your songs, do you think, “Yes, we’ve made it!” or do you feel the need to constantly achieve more?
Tristan: We don’t listen to radio … No, it never gets old. We still BBM each other when we hear our stuff on the radio.
You’ve played at numerous music festivals across the country. Which one has been your favourite so far?
Tristan: Splashy Fen. We played Oppikoppi, which was a different audience and that was cool. The best shows are when there’s a big audience, they’re on fire.
You guys have made your EP available for free online and really encouraged your listeners to download and share it. How do you think the way listeners consume music has changed and how does that affect you guys as a band?
Corneil: If people can’t find the music, then they aren’t going to know about it, so we don’t mind if they download it off Facebook. Some people still buy CDs because there are one or two tracks that we haven’t released.
Nico: Live shows pay way more anyway.
Corneil: To get to the point where you make enough money out of CD sales to make it viable, it’s quite a step, so you need to give stuff away for free to get there.
Nico: They’re going to download it anyway so we might as well give them permission to.
DANCE, YOU’RE ON FIRE
You’ve been nominated for an MK Award this year in the indie category for your song “Boxes of Tigers”. In one sentence, convince people why they should vote for you.
Tom: Our video has lots and lots of shiny lights in it. Everyone likes shiny lights.
Your first album, Secret Chiefs, was released in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. How was it received by international audiences?
Tom: It was received well. Our faces and our album cover [were] in bus terminals and airports, on the radio and everywhere else, which was weird because we suck here in South Africa. We didn’t see any of that but we heard about a lot of it, which was quite cool. A little bit surreal.
You guys toured quite a bit in November and December. What’s the best and worst thing about touring?
Tom: Touring is really cool because you get to see the country but the downside of touring is that you’re away from home, and you have to spend time with these guys …
Jethro: And you drink way too many Jägerbombs.
Tom: It just becomes a little repetitive but it’s fun to go on tour.
Adrian: It just sucks when you have a job. We all have jobs. You go Thursday, you come back Sunday and you go back to work on Monday. That sucks, you know. We’ve played a lot of shows. I think we played in Cape Town over ten times last year. But we’ve had a lot of experiences.
Tom: We’ve almost [run] out of petrol. At one point, we were literally convinced that we would have to hitchhike into Colesburg to get petrol for our van.
You mentioned that you all have day jobs. What do you do for a living?
Paul: I run a video production company.
Tom: He makes all our videos.
Gavin: I write philosophy and I work at a university.
Tom: I have a communications agency so I do a lot of social media and stuff. I play on Facebook a lot and I write a lot.
Jethro: If I wasn’t a musician I would probably be bumming around at home wondering what the f**k to do with my life.
Adrian: He does.
Jethro: F**k off, I work at a book shop.
Tom: He’s the guy you ignore at the robot. Look at that beard.
Jethro: If I was a bum, my placard would be spelt f*****g well.
You recently got back the mastered track for “Blackout”, your entry in this year’s LitNet Sing ’it competition. Tell us a bit more about the competition and when we can expect to get our hands on “Blackout”.
Tom: We agreed to take part in the competition last year and I think it was about 1800 people [who] wrote into a LitNet Sing ’it competition. They gave in their lyrics and then artists like us, HHP, Karen Zoid and Jax Panik each chose one to record. We recorded the song in January. We chose some lyrics by JP Jansen van Vuuren. It was nice to record again after a year and a half. It was like a little intro before going into the studio in March. The track will be out on 20 February. It’s a bit weird for us because it’s the slowest song we’ve ever written. It’s just more relaxed but we’re very happy with it.
What are some of your favourite local bands to share a stage with?
Jethro: Van Coke Kartel are awesome to play with. They’re really cool.
Tom: The guys in aKING are the most down to earth, humble, awesome guys you’ll meet in South African music and probably one of the biggest rock bands ever in the country. And they’re so much fun to hang out with so, for that reason, they would be my choice.
Tom, you’re a former Tuks student. What are some of your fondest Rag memories?
I was in res in Kollege. I was there for three years. My best memory was Rag procession in second year, I was a senior and we took a trolley from Pick ‘n Pay, sawed off the front, put a first year in it and we would have to push them for the entire Rag procession. We also had to give him petrol, which was papsak. It was amazing. My best friend in first year never made it to the end of the procession. He got picked up in an ambulance.
Who are you looking forward to seeing on stage tonight?
Tom: Tidal Waves.
Jethro: I think they’re playing now.
Tom: Okay, well I was looking forward to them. I think everyone that played tonight is cool. I think the December Streets are doing a lot of rad stuff. They’re really [up-and-coming].
Is a new album on the cards for Dance, You’re on Fire in 2012?
Tom: No. This is our last show ever. We’re breaking up.
Adrian: I don’t think anyone would care.
Tom: No-one would care.
Adrian: Like three people would care – my mom, my dad and my girlfriend.
Tom: Nah, we’re just self-deprecating. We’ve got a new album coming out. We’re going to go record it on 19 March. We’re going into studio for two or three weeks. We’re basically recording with the same people that we recorded the first album with.
SOUTHERN GYPSY QUEEN
You guys have been in the industry for 10 years now. How has it changed since you first started out?
Gareth: It’s weird, it’s changed so hectically. It was all about who the best band was, who played the best live shows. Now it’s become like a business, which is good in some ways.
How do you think Delusions of Grandeur differed from your previous albums?
Gareth: It’s the first time that we played as a three piece. We used to be a four piece before that. It took us two years to write it and to learn how to play again because we were used to playing with four. It’s probably the best, most raw album because we did what we really wanted to do and it turned out to be the best album that we’ve made.
Paul: It’s the first album we’ve made that’s just rock. We love all styles. We played rock, funk, blues, everything. But with this album, it was just pure rock ‘n’ roll.
Is there a new album on the cards this year?
Gareth: There’s not an album this year. We’re going to do a short EP for the 10 year. We want to release four new songs just to warm up for the album next year which we specifically want to write for the fans for the 10 year so we’re slowly introducing them into our set and we want to see what the fans like and then those four are going onto the EP.
Will the legendary Theo Crous produce your next album?
Gareth: Probably. We like to change producers. We never want to make the same album twice. That’s like our main rule, so if Theo can get what we want to do in the next identity then we’ll use him, yes.
You’ve performed at numerous music festivals around the country. Which has been your favourite?
Gareth: Probably an Oppikoppi or a Splashy Fen or one of those will always be a stand out gig for me.
Paul: Strab, in Mozambique. I get to take my shirt off. Now I have to wear a wife beater. They’re back in fashion, or at least I say so.
Gareth: And the worst gig was at Skaapfees. They pulled the plug out after two songs.
Tammy: And they turned off all the lights.
Paul: They thought we were a sokkie band.
Do you think being related to one another makes it easier or more difficult to be in a band?
Gareth: We’ve seen so many band issues. If you’re hating each other, you can just break up. If our band breaks up, we still have to see each other all the time. I think the only reason we’ve been together for ten years is no matter how s**t things get, we’re family so we have to sort it out.
Paul: Gareth and I fight every day. We want to kill each other and then we can go watch movies together.
Tammy: I just shake my head and walk away.
Paul: Don’t be fooled, Tammy has the dirtiest mouth out of all of us.
At the end of the day, Rag is about giving to those in need. Are you involved in any charities?
Gareth: We get involved with an entirely different charity every year. We’re from the Eastern Cape so we’ve involved in charities there and then in Kalafong.
Paul: There’s a guy that runs a feeding scheme [that] helps get people back on their feet. He rides around in our old van.
Gareth: We’re not one of those bands who is like “Sannie het haar arm gebreek” now everyone is going to play a charity show. We choose like one or two charities and then all our charity work goes to them.
Do you have any party tips for the poor, unsuspecting first years?
Gareth: I have the best party tip. If you can only afford beer and you get full, bring a quarter Jack with you because after a whisky you can drink beer again. It’s the best party tip ever, I promise you.
Paul: Girls, just flash your boobs.
Gareth: Or really drunk. Stay drunk. Get sober. Then get drunk again.
Who are you most looking forward to seeing on stage tonight?
Gareth: It’s definitely a toss-up. We’ve already seen Tidal Waves; they’re one of my favourite bands, so probably them but Tumi and Fokof both have phenomenal lyricists. It’s tight, but we’re going to go with Tidal Waves.
Paul: Francois, of course.
Gareth: Yes, Francois. When they started you obviously heard about all the hype but we’ve all seen it. The crowd looks amazing now but in an hour’s time it will probably be three times the size, we are not going to know where they came from. Fokof are going to steal the show.
TUMI
You’ve said that Danyel Waro has had an influence on your music regarding the proportion of rapping vs singing. How would you say this shift has impacted on your music?
I think […] he made me understand what singing is. I used to view singing as very technical, kind of like Whitney Houston where you have to be a trained singer. He just made me realize that singing is really functional. People sing at funerals, people sing at weddings. It permeated my music in the sense that if I feel like a song needs a melody, I just sing it. I’m not the greatest singer in the world, but if that is what a song is asking for then I’ll do it. He gave me that confidence to reimagine what singing is.
You also write a lot of poetry. Where do you find your inspiration?
From a lot of literature. Inevitably when you read a lot, you’re exposed to stuff. Anyone from Shakespeare to Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, Breyten Breytenbach. It ranges, but the stuff that I love the most is not really political[…], it’s social. It not about the system we are under but more about how we personally react to democracy, to apartheid. It’s about human beings, how the gardener feels, how the lonely housewife feels. How people react to that stuff, that’s what inspires me.
How did your collaboration with Peach van Pletzen come about?
Simple. I saw Peach perform and I loved his s**t. I went up to him [and] I said, “Yo, we gotta perform together, we gotta do s**t together”. I just really loved his music. The beauty of working with Peach was that I was taking him to all of my audiences, these purely hip hop shows with Peach and his guitar and his keys and he’s like, “What the f**k?” And then he would take me deep in Pretoria, like deep in Hatfield. The way music permeates social barriers is beautiful.
What are some of your favourite local music acts at the moment?
Zubz, Zaki Ibrahim, Nonku Phiri, Isochronous, Voodoo Child, Tidal Waves.
What can fans expect from you in 2012?
I have a reputation [for] not really being in the country too often and I think that’s going to continue, unfortunately. I’m leaving tomorrow (Saturday 11 February)) for Zanzibar and then we’re doing a European tour for three months so I’ll only be back around August. I did a song with Peach, “The Beast”. We’re going to release that.
This is not your first Tuks Rag show. How do the Pretoria crowds, in your opinion, compare to others?
They don’t give a f**k, yo. They’re wild out. They’re like, “I paid, I’m here.” And there’s always mud, rain, people vibing. They really do believe in the music and they support it.
What advice do you have for students who would like to get into the music industry?
Don’t. Make music but don’t get into the music business. Speak your heart, be honest to your music. F**k what’s popular, f**k what’s trendy. Say your name, say your cause and you’ll catch up.
Do you have any party tips for the poor, unsuspecting first years?
Don’t get drunk with anyone that’s not a first year because you will wake up with a carrot in your ass. Trust me, no matter what, always buy the groceries first.
FOKOFPOLISIEKAR
Gig after gig, you manage to pull in a huge audience. Have you gotten used to the effect that your music has on people or does it still surprise you each time?
Wynand: It’s all pretty much repeat every show, you know what I mean. It’s almost ten years that we’ve been doing this. We were joking on our way here; I think we’ve played Tuks Jool every year for about seven years.
Snake: It’s pretty cool because every year there’s new first years [who] haven’t seen us and they have this new energy.
Why do you think your music is still relevant to young South Africans today?
Wynand: We have no idea.
Snake: It doesn’t make sense.
Wynand: I think Fokof kind of captured a vibe.
Snake: I think the stuff Hunter wrote about is still relevant. It has a universal quality, it’s not something that will just disappear.
A recent article on Mahala said that nowadays the message behind your lyrics “seems to have been misconstrued” and that audiences interpret Fokof lyrics “as an exercise in reinvigorated Afrikaner nationalism”. What do you think of this assertion?
Wynand: I think people will always interpret all lyrics the wrong way. It depends on a lot of stuff. It depends on how they are feeling, where they are [in] their lives. There’s no way you can determine what people are going to think. I believe that’s part of it (the music) though, people make it their own. There’s no way of controlling what people think.
Snake: We discovered that long ago, years ago. That’s the beauty of making music; people can interpret stuff in a different way, sometimes the wrong way.
You toured London and Amsterdam last year. How did international audiences receive your music?
Wynand: Whenever we’ve toured overseas we’ve played to South Africans. It doesn’t matter where you go, you will always find South Africans.
Snake: They’ll bring friends along, people who work with them and what not.
Is another Fokof album ever going to be on the cards?
Wynand: Of course. We’re definitely going to do an album. When, I do not know. It’s difficult with all of us being so busy.
