Live Review: LA Cobra 05-09-2009

LA Cobra
Mystic Boer, Bloemfontein
5 September 2009

These four guys from Pretoria are stuck in the glam metal scene of the good old 80’s and they’re reliving the glory days of White Snake, Poison and Guns and Roses. Their musical make up is complete with flowing long hair, excessive soloing and cheesy rock moves.

On the evening their glam/sleaze metal was delivered so accurately, awesomely and with so much fun it was impossible not to want to put on a leather jacket and grow bad hair - Bon Jovi style. And for those who were not old enough to remember, or not familiar with the 80’s glam metal scene, it didn’t matter because every one in the crowd stood gob smacked at guitarist John Strong’s shredding. His fingers were working at such speeds that his guitar produced sounds similar to what I would imagine it sounded like if Pacman was having a seizure. It was without a doubt one of the (if not the) most impressive performances by a guitarist I’ve seen all year.

Other than John Strong’s sonic mayhem, Don Cobra’s shirtless appearance, hair throwing moves and shrilling vocals completed the LA Cobra 80’s time warp. Overall, their songs are very accessible and when you throw in awesome covers of Europe’s ‘Final Countdown’ and Twisted Sister’s ‘We’re not gonna take it’ and blend it with their over the top stage antics you are left with one truly entertaining rock ‘n roll gig. These hair metallers left the crowd with one thing on their minds. “Let’s do the time warp again.”
7/8

NM - Andre Kluyts

Live Review: Isochronous & Kidofdoom 12-08-2009

Isochronous & Kidofdoom live
Mystic Boer, Bloemfontein
12 August 2009

Isochronous

The time factor in their name was not without a sense of ambiguity on the evening. Because on the day their transport from Pretoria to Bloemfontein broke down and to cater for the problems everything started a lot later than scheduled, but they still only arrived at the venue about 20 minutes before they had to go on stage.

However on the flip side, their arrival onto the NepTunes radar couldn’t have been timelier. About midway through their set I was left picking the pieces of my mind from the walls, because it felt as if I was in a trademark Quentin Tarantino shootout scene and they were blowing minds all over the place with their music.

One of the highlights were when bassist Franco, who plays a six string bass, well and truly tamed the beast with a face melting slap and pop solo in their track ‘Beauty Queen.’ Frontman Richard performed like a possessed logger sawing out the melodies on guitar and Alex on keyboard brings a pleasant atmosphere to their songs. When this band stops in your town. You have to go see them!
7/8

Kidofdoom

A person walking past the Mystic Boer whilst Kidofdoom were summoning their otherwordly sounds probably thought that the club was in the midst of an alien invasion.
But the only thing alien about this band is that it is an instrumental only child.

As in Isochronous the focal point of Kidofdoom is Richard Brokensha. But in Kidofdoom he has no vocal duties so his performance was a mix between a mad scientist and an orchestra conductor. He was constantly busy mixing tones on keyboard, whilst headbanging to the drum and bass rhythms and found some time to exert some rock ‘n roll contusions when playing guitar.

As there are no vocals, their live qualities lie in their ability to intrinsically connect the energy and ambiance of their songs with the crowd through clever arrangements and a tight performance. Kidofdoom’s music is a liquid remedy to a hangover of banalities that are creeping in at South African mainstream music. They are definitely bringing something fresh to the South African music scene and they are doing it well.
6/8

NM - Andre Kluyts

Music Video Review: The Sick Leaves - All these foolish things (I've said)

This music video was taken from The Sick Leaves’ SAMA nominated debut album Tunnel Vision and was also recently added to rotation on MTV Europe. It is an animated music video which was produced and animated by Matthew MacFarlane and together with Sick Leaves frontman Eksteen Jacobsz conceptualised the surreal environment of the music video.

The opening lyric in the track ‘Slip into a never ending dream’ serves as the key to introducing and understanding the bearded man’s imminent journey in the fantasy world. For the first part of the journey the surroundings have been filtered of its colours and speaks to the viewer in various shades of grey, black and white. Peculiarity reaches new heights as a skeletal bird soon flies by and the man’s skeletal dog soon joins him on his journey.
The second part of the journey takes place when the man and his dog reaches a small boat and sets off into the undulating waters of the ocean. But soon the boat starts flying into the air and among the clouds the journey continues. Psychedelic colours spring forth from the clouds and colour wise the overall mood is lifted. The man’s journey concludes when he flies into the mouth of a large green monster and there he falls helplessly back to earth.

Eksteen Jacobsz says the man’s journey “is about finding companionship in the things we hold dear, but is not with us anymore i.e. the skeletal dog.” Broadly the video touches on themes of loss and the difficulty of moving on from that loss, to the consequences of not doing so in the end.

The video is full of delicious imagery and will provide new information upon each time of viewing. On the track Eksteen’s intense guitar work, but delicate tones become the perfect soundtrack for supporting the odd imagery on screen. All these foolish things (I’ve said) is delightfully strange and a buffet full of themes and meanings to find in the images.
7/8

NM - Andre Kluyts

Afrikaans Pop's Cool Cousins

Afrikaans pop music has always been one of extremes, people either view it as a blatant embarrassment or a brilliant patriotic form of artistry. Whatever your views are the fact cannot be denied that the likes of Steve Hofmeyer, Kurt Darren and Bok van Blerk are not only icons in this genre, but giants in the South African music industry as a whole. They have exposed this niche market as a gold mine and are by far outselling their competitors. Obviously this has inspired countless ‘musicians’ to venture into the Afrikaans pop genre and as a result produced musical products of vomitous quality.

Thus, at the one end of the spectrum you had the harder musical leanings of Fokofpolisiekar and Straagtligkinders and at the other end you had the ridiculousness of braaivleis anthems. And in between those two poles there was a market who wanted Afrikaans pop music that was musically contemporary and lyrically compelling. Or basically in other words, they wanted Afrikaans pop music that is cool. Their calling has well and truly been answered by Die Heuwels Fantasties. I found out more about Die Heuwels Fantasties’ songwriting process, their inspiration and their unique music videos.

NepTunes: How did the writing process work? Did you work with the synthesizers yourselves?

Hunter Kennedy: Pierre and I wrote the songs on acoustic guitar. Earlier today he actually said that the vocal melodies are exactly the same as we initially wrote it on guitar. But then the idea was that we would totally strip it (guitar) away. Pierre and I listen to pop, hip hop, 80’s hits and stuff like that so it was pretty obvious that we weren’t going to do another rock thing. And then we asked Johnny. I don’t think Johnny was necessarily going to be a part of the band, he would just have created the tracks for us.

NepTunes: Are you going to approach the writing process for the next album in the same manner?

Hunter: Well, Pierre has gotten software now.

Pierre Greeff: We now have a basic production setup. So I think we will approach it differently than the first time.

Hunter: Maybe we will create a soundscape ourselves.

Pierre: But I think it will basically stay the same. According to us Johnny is the genius that gets the sound right.

NepTunes: Hunter, where do you draw inspiration for the lyrics for all of the different projects that you are involved with? Do you go into a particular mindset when you write, because each project touches on different themes?

Hunter: Yeah I think so. Fokofpolisiekar is basically personal matters and with aKING Laudo and I write together. Obviously you speak to different people about different stuff. For me it doesn’t always feel that they are about different things. Heuwels doesn’t really have a specific lyrical reference, which I enjoy. We have fun with the lyrics.

Pierre: Like Stralerjakkers Spyseniere. (Laughs)

Hunter: We were like should we do it. Then it was like fuck yeah. So with Heuwels we have a lot of fun. For example: “Onder die wilgerboom kom ek vermom in jou oordrom.” (Lots of Laughs)

NepTunes: What musicians inspire you guys in the electronic, pop and hip hop genres?

Hunter: I don’t really listen to modern electronica. I like Justice. But electronica is a difficult genre to pin down. When I think of electronica, I think of Fischerspooner.

Pierre: I think we draw a bigger reference from pop. And you know pop nowadays in general is electronically driven music.

Hunter: Not that we have mastered the pop genre, but I think it is our biggest reference. Stuff like Postal Service played a big part. As you can hear from the album we listen to a variety of music and that’s exciting for us, not because a record label really puts you in a box, but because we did everything ourselves we had a lot more freedom. And we take chances. When we wrote Klein Tambotieboom and were planning to release it, we didn’t think that people were necessarily going to like it.

NepTunes: Your music videos have a low key production and traveling vibe. Can you tell us more about that?

Pierre: You know making music videos is not always fun, so primarily it all started with us shooting everything in HD with a friend’s camera. And with the last two, Klein Tambotieboom and Sonrotse, the production value has been lifted in the sense that we shot on 16mm and we went to exotic locations and flew in a private jet.

Hunter: To start with we didn’t have the money. Fokofpolisiekar just spend a fucking huge amount of money on a music video and that didn’t necessarily translate into sales. So we just tried to approach it realistically. So then we went with that whole concept of Jack Cadillac on the road. Like those Kings of Leon viral videos they released, before the release of their new album, it was also basically just them fucking around. I think that was cool, because it gave people more to attach to.

NepTunes: If you had the required budget, which elements would you then incorporate into your live shows?

Pierre: I would like to have back up singers and a bra section as well as dancers.

Hunter: Yeah, full show Kanye West style.

Pierre: We have stripped everything down. Johnny VJ’s when we play and that’s cool, because those visual elements are already featuring more prominently than in other bands. I think it is a move in the right direction.

NepTunes: What is your favourite Heuwels Fantasties song to perform live?

Hunter: For me Noorderlig is a cool song to perform live. I like the space of the song.

Pierre: I like Leja, with its R & B groove.

NepTunes: Do you have an eye on the future in terms of new songs, an album or a music video?

Pierre: Yeah, I think you should just keep on writing.

Hunter: It took us two years to write the first album. So we’re in no rush to do anything right now. We have plans of doing covers as well as recreating the album in English and sending it to Europe for testing. But we’re definitely going to take our time. We feel that this album has legs, so we’ll go with it for as long as possible. And we’re going to make a video for every song on the album.

Andre Kluyts - NM

Pop Quiz: Straatligkinders

Bouwer Bosch (Vocals & Guitar)
Song that you identify most with: Meat Loaf - I will do anything for love, but I won’t do that.
If you could play any film character: Shia Lebeouf in Transformers
Favourite TV show: The Office
Favourite Book: The Gutter van Craig Ross
Best album of all time: Blink 182 Untitled
Favourite vocalist: Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional
Favourite song to perform live: Intro & Neem my weg

Bennie De Jager (Guitar)
Song that you identify most with: Bob Marley – No woman, no cry
If you could play any film character: Some ADD role that represents Tom Green
Favourite TV show: The Office
Favourite Book: Save me from myself: Brian Welch (former guitarist of Korn)
Best album of all time: Norma Jean – Redeemer
Favourite Guitarist: Noodles from The Offspring, Timmy from Underoath
Favourite song to perform live: Kan ek met jou dans
Hein Kruger (Bass)
Song that you identify most with: MxPx – My mom still cleans my room
If you could play any film character: Steve Carrel in The Office
Favourite TV show: Animal Planet
Favourite Book: Blue like jazz by Donald Miller
Best album of all time: Comeback kids – Broadcasting
Favourite Bassist: Chris # 2 from Anti – Flag
Favourite song to perform live: Gedagte vir die dag

Ruan Kruger (Drums)
Song that you identify most with: The Beatles – All you need is love
If you could play any film character: T-Rex in Jurassic Park
Favourite TV show: IPL
Favourite Book: Simplicity
Best album of all time: Norma Jean – Redeemer
Favourite Drummer: Giuseppe from Haste the day
Favourite song to perform live: Swaarder as ‘n swaard

Making Music Videos in South Africa

Remember those pre-historic, pre-MK days when music videos in South Africa were an endangered species. On second thought, I guess for something to be endangered it had to exist in large quantities at some point in time. So maybe endangered isn’t the correct word, perhaps non-existent is a better term.

I remember seeing music videos on SABC which were shot in one take and the musician would turn, like a newscaster, to an alternate camera to give the video the feel of a few extra camera angles. Then later the footage just got stuck together and like a preschool Pritt project it was all over and done in 10 minutes.

Thanks to MK this depression era for South African music videos is long gone. In fact, this side of the music industry has never been healthier in our country. Don’t get me wrong there are still tons of utterly atrocious music videos out there, but there are an increasing amount of artists and directors who are continuously producing better and more creative music videos.

The power of the visual medium and the quality of South African music have grown hand in hand and to such a degree that it has forced the mother of all music channels, MTV, to take notice. A few weeks ago I saw Van Coke Kartel’s music video for September Fools playing on MTV Europe’s show Superock. And Zebra & Giraffe’s video for ‘In my Eyes’ has recently been added to the playlist rotation on the same channel. South African music videos are beginning to demand international recognition.

So come with NepTunes as we take you on a concise behind the scenes road trip of the inner workings of the visual music medium. We spoke to directors Morgan Dingle, Sean Metelerkamp, Brian Little from Fly on the wall Productions, Dean Leslie from The African Attachment and Managing Director of Rhythm Records Albert Du Plessis and found out more about the art of making a music video in the RSA.

Budget
The word budget in the South African context is somewhat similar to that of Lord Voldemont in the Harry Potter series. Its name should not be spoken out loud. Those involved in the industry either did not know or did not want to elaborate too much on what artist/bands have the most expensive music videos. So the myth of South Africa’s biggest spenders will live on a little longer.

However, the cost of a music video in South Africa ranges from R5 000 to R200 000. And on average the damage to your bank account is between R25 000 to R50 000. Rhythm Records MD Albert Du Plessis says the budget is determined by “sales and band profile – i.e. turnover will determine whether costs expended are recoverable.” And if you are flying solo then it basically just depends on how much money you and your band mates are able to cough up for a video. So when a band has decided on a song and their budget has been acquired by whichever means, they are then ready for step 2 – the concept.
Concept
This part of the process varies in its execution. Bands more often than not approach directors or production companies with an idea to do a music video. But sometimes a band’s live performances or songs inspire an idea and then a director may approach the band and pitch a concept to them.

The creative process for the concept of a music video can be anything and everything. Different directors have various means for coming up with an idea. Morgan Dingle (director of Straatligkinders – ‘Avontuur van ‘n hartbreek’ and four Prime Circle music videos) says that: “Normally I have a bunch of ideas sitting around waiting for the right songs to match up. Most often though, the band has a particular need from a video and that, matched by a feeling or perhaps lyrics would spark an idea. Drinking helps too.”

One approach that comes across strongly is that the director listens to the song an almost countless number of times to get a feel for the imagery of the song and then along with the budget constraints their idea for the music video will end up being either a concept video or a performance video.
Concept videos vs Performance Videos
Morgan Dingle states that performance videos are very important for new bands, because it introduces them to the public. On the other hand concept videos are quite expensive to pull off, but Dean Leslie (director of Ashtray Electric – ‘Quite Overstared’ and The Parlotones – ‘Overexposed’) believes “things are changing and there are a lot of good music videos being produced locally that have high production value and good concepts.”

The most important factor in this stage is that the power of a great idea should never be underestimated. A great idea and amplified creativity is more powerful than bucket loads of cash. Because in the end a big budget along with a plain idea will probably result in more ladies, more Mercedes and a couple of explosions – which is something that the public has seen many times before.

Bryan Little (director of aKING – Safe as houses and Van Coke Kartel – September Fools) adds to this: “I was trained to use budget constraints as a creative platform for original ways of looking at the medium. Don’t compete with Hollywood, you will lose and your work will have nothing else that makes it special.”

Sean Metelerkamp (director of Fokofpoliskar – Antibiotika) has an entirely different take on the situation: “I don’t think budget plays a part in how an individual wants to make a video, performance or not. But it does influence production value. If your performers can’t perform, then gooi concept, and if your concept sucks then just film crocodiles and parrots having sex. I’ve never seen that so that should be a winner.”

The Shooting Process
After all the admin and planning it comes down to one to two days of capturing the events on film. The days are very long and grueling, because as much as possible is fit into the day of shooting. Getting that perfect shot has left those involved with a number of tales to tell.

Bryan Little: “For Van Coke Kartel we shot at night in a residential area and Justin the drummer was banging away at 4 in the morning. We nearly got killed by the neighbours. In hindsight that was a mistake and very inconsiderate and also cost me a lot of what I wanted to actually shoot. The cops came a lot and we spent more time trying to stay out of jail than shooting.”

Morgan Dingle has also had his share of strange experiences: “I’ve experienced my crew flooding an entire building, being electrocuted in the rain, and a hip hop artist demanding Jack Daniels at 6 o’clock in the morning…All normal stuff in the music video world.”
Post Production
The work to be done in this phase depends on which medium you shot the footage (digital, film, or photo stills). In this phase the footage is graded, which means that you tweak the image colours and CGI (if necessary) are also added. Then, the basic editing which determines the pace and flow of the video is also done here.

Sean Metelerkamp describes the post production phase of the project as the place where you: “Edit/cut raw footage into something you had imagined while you were picking your nose. You try and make it look as pretty as possible.”

And Ta da! You have your music video. From first meet to the end of post production a music video usually takes between one and two months to finish. It’s amazing that these short little pieces of film take so much blood, sweat, time and money to create. But it is understandable as these videos have become the window into what’s hot and what’s not in the South African music industry. With the growing popularity of MK as well as social networking sites, these videos have become the primary source of discovery of new South African music for many music fans.

NM - Andre Kluyts

Party time is abbreviated VCK

I entered the strange world of a band that emerged from the Fokofpolisiekar musical vending machine in a can of whip ass, a world where the term ‘fokof’ isn’t a verb, but a noun and where punch drunk love is not a film, but a lifestyle. I spoke to the hard rock three piece Van Coke Kartel and found out more about their next goals, Francois Van Coke’s lyrics and the religion debacle.

NepTunes: The problem in South Africa is that successful bands sometimes hit a plato, so after two critically acclaimed albums as well as a SAMA award, what is the next step for Van Coke Kartel?

Wynand Myburg: Yeah, at the moment we are actually pretty excited, because we are working on new stuff. It has always been important to reinvent, it is a massive challenge for an artist. We never do the same thing twice, even with Fokof we didn’t do it. So we’re now busy with a bunch of exciting stuff for the new album, ideas for new live shows and this and that. But in terms of hitting a ceiling, I think that with every album you hit a ceiling and then it is up to you to know where you made mistakes and where you can improve.

Francois van Coke: With the stuff that we are working on now we feel like there is a new fire. So we are fucking excited. It is our first goal to complete the album and to create something unique and out of the ordinary.

NepTunes: Wynand, why did you decide to play most of the songs on Waaksaam & Wakker with a contrabass?

Wynand: That is part of the whole thing of trying something different, to change the standard rock songs a bit by bringing in a bit of rockabilly. With the first album it was a bit balls to the walls. You know Kartel has that straightforward three chord rock sound, maybe not the new one (Waaksaam en Wakker), but definitely the first one.

NepTunes: Will you use it again in the future?

Wynand: When we started writing now I used an old jazz bass and I love it. I like its sound, it fits in better with the songs. I will definitely play around with sounds on the new album. I am looking at a Tom Waits vibe, those types of sounds. So yes, it will definitely be around.

NepTunes: Francois, which elements and events inspires your lyrics for Van Coke Kartel?

Francois: Jeez dude, I am trying to make a point of it not to just write about drunken parties for the next one. The first album was written in that break we had with Fokofpolisiekar. During that time we had a steady income from Fokof, but didn’t gig much. So we fucking partied ourselves into the ground. So that comes through quite strongly on the first album’s lyrics and I think there are similar songs on the second one as well. And then the hangover, obviously, and the depression of it.

Wynand: We wanted to write a party album in a way. The idea was van coke kartel. Understand. You know lets write party songs, not as serious as Fokof. We’ll see whatever comes out.

NepTunes: Francois with your different experiences as front man for Van Coke Kartel and Fokofpolisiekar, do you maybe prefer one over the other?

Francois: No, I think it’s fucking awesome to do both. Fokof is obviously much easier and I like the crowd interaction which is obviously difficult to do with Van Coke Kartel. But I think with the new album we are going to get another guitarist for live shows. I think that will give me more of a chance to be a bit crazier. But I like the dynamic of both.

NepTunes: You guys have extensive live experience, what are some of the weirdest experiences you have had on stage?

Wynand: Francois and I once had a fight. (Asks Francois) Was it a Fokof gig or a Kartel gig?

Francois: Fokof. On stage. Mid song. (Laughs)

NepTunes: Why?

Wynand: I thought he was drunk again and was going to sing shit or something and then he skipped a song and I kicked him on the ass. Then he got mad at me and when we started playing the next song he hit me in the face with the mic. But I don’t think the people even realize that happened.

NepTunes: I read that the first band that you both (Francois and Wynand) played in was the Christian band 7th Breed. Can you tell us more about that?

Wynand: Francois and I began playing together in ’96. But then it was more high school bands and it had nothing to do with Christianity or Satanism or anything. But we were all involved at the same church. I played in a band 7th Breed. He (Francois) played in another band and he (Justin) also played in another band.

Francois: I really wanted to play in 7th Breed but they didn’t want me. (Laughs)

NepTunes: What happened after that?

Wynand: Personally - and I think Francois and most of the guys with whom we make music…you know we asked questions and that’s how we ended up doing what we’re doing today. Then we moved from that extreme to another extreme. Rather than saying okay this isn’t working for us, we went and embraced it – They’re wrong and there is another way. The charismatic church went bezerk. After a while we realized that that isn’t really the answer for us. Absolutely nothing is a better answer.

Francois: I preach the gospel of I don’t know. Like in that Bill Maher film Religulous.

NepTunes: Do you have any advice for young up and coming bands in South Africa?

Wynand: The most important thing is to work on something original. I know it’s difficult especially when you’re young. Because it doesn’t matter what you play, it is always a copy of something. Try and break away from everything that is standard. Experiment, you have better chance of coming up with something cool rather than just trying to follow someone. You should have clear goals of what you want to do. But the music is the most important, if you can’t put something good or original together then you’re just another one in the bunch.

Francois: I think it’s fucking important that you play good together as a unit. It is important to practice and to get along with the other guys.

NM - Andre Kluyts