THEATRE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY THOMAS PEPLER
WEBSITE: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Theatre/54012357382?ref=ts
COUNTRY: South Africa STYLE: Experimental / Hardcore

WHAT FUELS THE WRITING PROCESS FOR YOU GUYS AND WHAT INSPIRES THE BAND THE MOST TO WRITE THE TYPE OF MUSIC YOU DO?

As a band we draw influences from everything around us whether it is our beliefs, music, design, photography, dreams, stories, and our life experiences. When writing for the band we look towards writing music that has an emotive quality and that the music itself reflects the messages portrayed within the song. We aim to broaden the usual topic matter that is so frequent within today’s music.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN PERFORMING TOGETHER AND HOW DID IT ALL START?

The band began as an idea last year after the demise of our previous bands. We wanted to work on something that was fresh and more diverse than our last projects. The band finally came together towards the latter half of the year and we began writing. It was a difficult period for us as we were trying to find our feet and develop our own sound. We worked on songs and scrapped many until we got four songs that we could use to be gig ready.

We began our gigging stage fairly recently in February and have played small shows to get back into the motions of live performances. Our next show will be on the 11th of April and will form part of the Give Life Tour. We’re very excited for that as we’ll be playing with some of South Africa’s best Hardcore and Metalcore acts.

YOU LIST SCHALK VENTER ON YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE AS BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR ART DIRECTION. IN WHAT WAYS DO YOU THINK THE VISUAL PART OF PRESENTING YOUR BAND IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS YOUR “SOUND” AND HOW DO YOU PLAN TO PRESENT YOURSELVES VISUALLY?

We think that as a band it’s really important to set the right image with out losing sight of what the band’s main focuses are. People perceive the band as a whole and what you do as an individual plays a lot into your bands public perception. Theatre is not an overly image conscience band and we try to focus more on the band’s outlook from the fans point of view rather than our own.

We want to be engaging with our fan base and not have them feel disconnected from us. We want to talk with our fans and connect with them on a more personal level. Schalk Venter has been a good friend of ours for some time and he understands our mindset. With his visuals we hope to achieve Theatre’s band ethics.

THEATRE DEFINITELY HAS AN EXPERIMENTAL SIDE. IS IT SOMETIMES HARD TO DECIDE IF SOMETHING WILL WORK OR FIT INTO A SONG AND NOT JUST SOUND WRONG WHEN WRITING NEW MATERIAL?

Yeah, it’s always difficult trying to push an invisible barrier. We carefully breakdown the songs critically, to see where parts fit and how they transition into the other parts. We’re always careful to be mindful not to add parts that may sound like filler material. Any one can write a song. It takes a lot of skill to be able to write a great song that people will remember.

I REMEMBER SOMEONE TELLING ME ONCE THAT IF YOU MAKE MUSIC YOU MUST FIND YOUR SOUND AND STICK TO IT SO THAT PEOPLE WILL IDENTIFY YOUR MUSIC EASIER, BUT IN A DAY AND AGE WHERE IT IS INCREASINGLY HARDER TO DO THAT AND SOUND ORIGINAL DO YOU THINK IT IS JUST NATURAL FOR A BAND’S SOUND TO KEEP ON EVOLVING?

We think it’s very easy to use copy paste formulas when writing songs. It works for some bands and it gets them large fan bases. We tend to try and stay away from that sort of mindset. It takes away from the music and people can feel the dishonesty within it. The music starts to become sub-standard and disconnected. As a band we’re slowly developing into a sound that we can call our own. We take influences from all over and try broadening on them to push our own sound further. We think people will relate more too honest music than something that feels manufactured and contrived.

YOU HAVE POSTED A FEW LIVE VIDEOS ONLINE SO FAR. TELL US MORE ABOUT THEM AND IS THIS A WAY TO CREATE A BIT OF “HYPE” BEFORE YOU UNLEASH ANY STUDIO RECORDINGS?

Our videos are there to give people an insight into our sound. Our videos show the good and the bad parts of our performances. We wanted to give an honest view of our music rather than polish it up and show only the good parts. As for the hype aspect, the videos serve as a small taste of things to come before we get into the recording stage.

DOES YOUR MUSIC CARRY ANY MASSAGES OR REFERENCES THAT FANS CAN RELATE TO OR DO YOU JUST PLAY FROM THE HART AND HOPE IT REACHES SOMEONE IN SOME POSITIVE SHAPE OR FORM?

Each of our songs holds some form of positive message and each serves an important purpose, whether it is to inspire, exhort, captivate, or to simply make people think. We try to write music that will change people’s perceptions not only to hardcore music, but to life as well. With this type of music there is no need to verbally share a message, it will naturally occur.

YOU GUYS SEEM TO REALLY BE IN THE MUSIC GAME FOR THE LOVE OF MAKING MUSIC AND PERFORMING LIVE, BUT EVEN IF YOU LIKE DOING SOMETHING THERE HAS TO BE CERTAIN CHALLENGES ALONG THE ROAD?

You will always find challenges in life, wherever you are, and this includes playing in a band. At the best of times, we function as a substantial unit; however there are always small challenges on the road, such as writer's block, contradictive ideas, fuel, practice times, etc. We all lead separate lives; Theatre is what brings us together.

WHERE HAVE YOU GUYS PERFORMED SO FAR AND DO YOU SEE ANY DOORS OPENING FOR YOU TO PLAY BIGGER SHOWS AND LARGER VENUES IN THE FUTURE?

Performance wise we’ve played at the Shed Skatepark in Stellenbosch as part of their 1in30 gig program that will happen every month with different bands. The shows are aimed at giving an all age’s event to kids who can’t get into the club type shows. The music promotes a positive place where people can enjoy themselves and appreciate local music.

Otherwise, other shows are being organised through friends of ours and event organisers. We hope that these shows will get our band some exposure with new fan bases both young and older and also lead to a more frequent gigging cycle. We’re lucky to have made contacts through our older bands and this should be an advantage for us in the gigging scene. We’re a band that loves the performance aspect of music and jump at the chance to play shows.

WHAT WORDS WOULD YOU USE TO SUM UP THE EMOTIONS THAT YOU FEEL WHEN BLASTING A CROWD WITH WAVES OF DISTORTION AND EMOTION URGED ON WITH A SCREAMING VOICE?

Passionate, dramatic and expressive.

DO YOU HAVE TO BECOME “ANOTHER PERSON” ON STAGE TO PROJECT THAT ENERGY THAT IS NEEDED TO EXCITE A CROWD TO THE POINT WHERE THEY ARE COMPLETELY 100% INTO YOUR PERFORMANCE?

As a band there should be the right level of musicality within a show and the performance aspect. We aim to deliver shows to the crowd that makes them feel apart of Theatre. Crowd interaction is very important to us and we think that’s where our music makes the connection. The more energy put out by the crowd only fuels us more. On that note we don’t become different people on stage, we just be ourselves and feel the music.

I GUESS WITH A BAND NAME LIKE “THEATRE” YOU WERE BORN TO PERFORM. WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM YOU GUYS IN 2009?

(Laughs) Theatre has only just scratched the surface. Be on the lookout for new songs, loads more shows, and some song recordings in due time. We will also have some merch out during the course of the year.

ANY LAST COMMENTS / ADVICE OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

We’d just like to thank everyone that’s supported us thus far. The music is as much for you guys as it is for us. Interact, participate. Let’s break down the walls and see what we are really made of...

Hope to see you at the next show.

CROSSINGPOINT

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROCHELLE PHIPSON
WEBSITE: www.crossingpoint.co.za
COUNTRY: South Africa STYLE: Hardcore / Metal / Punk

CROSSINGPOINT HAS BEEN GOING FOR YEARS BUT COULD YOU PLEASE EXPLAIN TO THOSE WHO HAVE NEVER HEARD ABOUT THE BAND BEFORE, WHAT THE BAND AND THE MUSIC IS ALL ABOUT?

RICHARD: Were about the music, the message and the friends! That pretty much sums it up. We love what we do and put everything into doing it. This is what we live for!

RAY: We are a band that hopes, has and will inspire people to live with hope, strength and love. We believe in the hardcore scene and that mixed with our faith in Christ we play our hearts out and work our buts off to live this passion out!!!THE MESSAGE THE MUSIC THE FRIENDS!!!

BRANDON: We are all straightedge, some are vegetarian, we believe in God, and we love hardcore like nothing else. These 3 things are the cornerstone of the passion that drives us to do what we do.

YOU GUYS JUST RELEASED A NEW ALBUM TITLED “SELF ASSASSINATION”, WHAT CAN FANS EXPECT AND HOW HAS YOUR SOUND EVOLVED SINCE THE LAST ALBUM?

RICHARD: The sound has hugely evolved. When writing for this album we really tried to push ourselves in all areas we could with composing songs and different parts as well as pushing our skills to try and do things that weren't always ‘natural' or not necessarily what were ‘good' at.

RAY: It's heavier and better produced. We play our own style of HXC I think? I can't narrow it down to an exact sound. But its def got a dirty and raw feel to it! Basically we are not like most other bands in the "scene" at the moment, we are not metal, not metalcore, deathcore, or any other kind of core that has suddenly hit the stages. We are a HXC band that plays raw and heavy!! And that's what the album is. So buy it, come to a show and bring the freaking mosh!!!

BRANDON: It's a big progression from the first album obviously. It's heavier and darker, faster, and slower, so there is a lot of dynamics. Lyrically, it's spiritually inspired, but not on a typically ‘gospel' level. I think anybody into thought provoking music and ideas will appreciate some of the thinking we scream out.

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR ALBUM TITLE “SELF ASSASSINATION” RELATE WITH THE MUSIC ON THE ALBUM, AND WHAT MADE THE ALBUM TITLE STAND OUT FROM ALL THE OTHER OPTIONS YOU HAD?

RAY: It's about sparking a revolution in our minds. To put to death the lies and negative ideas, thoughts and words spoken over us or taught to us. Basically you and I are more than what we think we are. We are strong, we are worthy, we are the hope this world needs, we are more than conquers and it is rooted in the love that Christ has for us. For us to fight back for what is right and good in these times. To rise up and be the people we are meant to be. To stop thinking some one else will do it, to stop just settling for the hate ,"abuse" and negative forces that try to control us. To fight back with love, grace and a righteous anger.

BRANDON: I don't remember having any other serious options on the album title. This one came out and we all said “YES this is it”.

HOW DO YOU GUYS APPROACH THE SONG WRITING PROCESS AND WHERE DO YOU USUALLY FIND INSPIRATION FROM?

RICHARD: ? We try to write music that moves you emotionally. When we write a heavy part, it's heavy as balls! When we write a doomy part it's scary and sludgy. We try push every aspect of every song as far as we can.

RAY: My inspiration comes from my life in Christ, from other bands, movies, books, ideas, etc but it all gets filtered thru my beliefs in my faith and the HXC scene.

BRANDON: SELF ASSASSINATION was basically written with me bringing guitar riffs to the rehearsal room, and working with the band in making them into songs. We would change them completely sometimes, throw some out, and make up new ones on the spot.

There is however ONE song on the album which has music that was written in a single jam session.. We were recording everything and came back to listen to it later, thought it was pretty hot and worked it out note for note and it became a song exactly as we played it. That was cool!

YOUR MUSIC IS ALL ABOUT DELIVERING A POSITIVE MESSAGE TO PEOPLE, DO YOU THINK THERE SHOULD BE MORE BANDS DOING THE SAME THING AND GIVING PEOPLE HOPE IN A DAY AND AGE WHERE THE ONLY THING YOU READ ABOUT AND SEE ON TV ARE WARS, MURDER AND THAT SORT OF THING?

ROSS: Definitely! I truly believe that nothing is going to get better by itself; it's up to each of us to build towards a better future whetherit's a band or in your personal capacity.

RICHARD: Yes, definitely. We get force fed so much negativity day to day, everywhere you go, everything you see! The people with something positive to say are the ones that keep us going! And feed us hope! We just hope that we can be that to someone else who might be going through a hard time and in need of some posi input.

RAY: For sure... We as musicians have an awesome privilege to be a light to many. But HXC is all about speaking about what you believe in so I have grace towards those so called negative bands? I have no right to judge but at the same time like I said before we need to stand up and be the hope needed.

BRANDON: At the moment I sometimes feel like we have a refreshing and unique take on things compared to some bands, even internationally. It's not forced or anything, that's just the way we are. I've never been one to be negative about a situation or predicament. It's always better to pull yourself up and try finding the good in everything and making the best of it.

THE BAND HAS A REALLY PROFESSIONAL LOOK, IS IT IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO BE PROFESSIONAL AT ALL TIMES AND MAINTAINING A HIGH STANDARD AND WHY DO YOU THINK SO MANY BANDS STRUGGLE WHEN IT COMES TO CREATING A “CORPORATE IDENTITY” FOR THEMSELVES?

RICHARD: Thanks. We really do try to stay professional in everything we do as a band. If we had the opportunity we would drop everything right now and do this ‘professionally'. So many bands come and go and say that they are serious but when it comes down to it they just end up disintegrating. It's flipping hard to try tour and push ourselves as much as we do because of the lack of backing for a band like us in South Africa , so it's up to us to do everything we can to get us where we want to be.

ROSS: We take what we do seriously; it's as simple as that. We don't settle for anything if we think it is not up to scratch and I think bands often overlook the finer details, which can often be damaging to the way people view them.

RAY: Brandon our guitarist has been in the music scene for a long time, so as a band we are very blessed to have this "weight" behind us. His knowledge and passion has been a major influence to why the band is were it is and why it looks like it does.

With his knowledge and ours put together we have come to look like what you see today. Yes to have a professional "look" is good but in the end we are just people and we must remind ourselves this is fun as much as it is a hopeful "career".

BRANDON: For a long time I found people weren't taking us seriously. So we decided to work together in giving a crowd every reason to have faith in us. From our punctuality, loading in and loading out, setting up on stage, having good quality backline, etc. It just makes things work so much smoother and easier if you know what you want to do and just do it without compromise!

CROSSING POINT HAS A GREAT ENERGY AND SOUND ON THE BAND'S RECORDINGS; HOW DO YOU TAKE THAT ENERGY AND PROJECT IT TO A CROWD ON STAGE?

RICHARD: I think it's the opposite. We are all performers and are really passionate about what we do! Especially when were onstage and we know we can make an impact on someone's life. The difficult thing was trying to put that passion onto the album!

We had to make some big decisions when recording to try get the passion on the album.. For example the drums were tracked live without a click. Which might seem unorthodox but thanks to you mentioning the energy on the album, it must've worked!

RAY: Practice hard and loud!!! And ask God for lots of energy on stage, hahah true though. We love playing and going hard so most times its easy to go off but some times you get those difficult gig were you just have to push though.. As a band we are all very thought full of one another and work well together so the unity is very strong and that helps so much!! These dudes
are my brothers!!!

ROSS: For me Hardcore has and always will be better live so the challenge for me is actually the opposite…trying to make the recording as good as the live show.

BRANDON: Feedback on SELF ASSASSINATION so far has been that we have taken our live energy successfully to CD! That's a real compliment! In recording we experimented with different techniques but eventually went with one that felt the most real and energetic. I think having the album mixed and mastered by WestWestSide Music in New York really paid off. They knew what they were doing and instantly grasped what our vibe was.

WITH A NEW ALBUM OUT YOU GUYS MUST BE EXCITED ABOUT YOUR NEW SET LIST. IS IT SOMETIMES A BIT HARD TO CHOOSE WHAT SONGS TO PLAY AND WHAT SONGS TO LEAVE OUT?

RICHARD: Yes, were kind of learning as we go with playing, the new songs and listening to guys comments about the different songs. So when writing the set list we'll say like “flip, guys go mad to that song lets do it first to get everyone going” or “guys haven't been going off to that song lately, lets leave it off” sometimes we all just love playing certain songs so much it
doesn't matter!

RAY: Yes this is a mission sometimes, but for bigger shows were we have a bigger time slot we just do all the songs.

BRANDON: We have our own favourites but they kind of rotate around. The new ones are challenging because we are less comfortable playing them live. Sometimes it's cool to leave older songs out and play the new ones for awhile.. And then it's a treat to bring an old one back and rock the heck out of it! In general we choose a set based on the gig we will be playing and how long we have to induce mayhem!

IN WHAT WAYS DO YOU INCORPORATE CROWD INTERACTION AT LIVE PERFORMANCES?

RICHARD: Wall of death.

ROSS: I have always hated the ‘rock star' mentality. If someone wants to get up on stage and sing along or what ever they are morethan welcome to and we encourage that type of thing.

RAY: Well in HXC is a common thing to give the mike out to the crowd so they can sing to a certain part, so I do that in various parts. Usually you will get the crowd stampeding to the front to grab the mike at a certain part and then you know it's there turn to sing!!!

BRANDON: I don't really think about this kind of thing. If people want to sing along, grab a mike then go for it. But I don't think we have ever thought about a live set or part of a song like ooohhh, this is when Ray must give the mike to the crowd to sing, that would be so flipping lame.

Sometimes a crowd rocks out, sometimes they don't, we always try our best to use the opportunity of playing live to have a good time and best represent ourselves and our lifestyle. The Wall of Death which we started doing 3 or 4 years back always seems to get the kids excited, ha-ha. We don't always do it though; it depends on the type of show.

HEAVY MUSIC HAS REALLY BEEN GETTING ALLOT OF ATTENTION AT THE MOMENT, WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE CURRENT CROP OF BANDS COMING OUT OF THE SCENE AND THE STANDARD OF MUSIC?

RICHARD: It's awesome. But hardcore is not a phase and the kids that are in it for the fashion and the trend will soon fade away and move onto the next dying fad. Hopefully the kids that
we interact with realise that there's more to this scene then anything else, and end up
sticking around!

ROSS: Its great to see that people are becoming more open minded! When a style of music suddenly gets popular there will always be some good and some bad but i'm glad to say that the standard is high.

RAY: There is a lot of rad bands coming out these days, very talented musicians especially what I'm seen in the metal style genera. But we need more HXC bands ..So freaking start one!

BRANDON: Personally I don't know any local bands that inspire me at the moment. There are a lot of copycat ‘school of rock'/'Zen of screaming' bands around though. Good musicians, actually INSANE musicians, but internally uninspiring. The music isn't grabbing me personally as coming from the soul, it sounds like ‘music by numbers' or very formulaic.

DO YOU THINK THAT HARDCORE AS A GENRE WILL ALWAYS BE AROUND AND INFLUENCE MUSICIANS IN SOME SHAPE OR FORM?

BRANDON: A tough question which is why I left it out in the original interview ha-ha. Hardcore will always be around for me, but it's not always in the open for every musician or person to be influenced by. These days hardcore is the big ‘scene' thing in SA. Even bigger than ‘indie'. To put it another way, it's the biggest sub culture in the country at the moment. Of course as with all things, it will ebb and flow though.

ANY OTHER THINGS THAT THE BAND IS LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2009?

BRANDON: I'm trying to get CXP back to tour America in July.. Hopefully on the Warped Tour thanks to our friend Fray who helped CrashCarBurn do the same thing in 2008. Otherwise, a friend in the USA wants to help us do a 4 band, 2 van of the country.

That would be insane as well! Other than that we are hoping to shoot a new music video or two. And most exciting of all, we will be releasing anEP of 5 new songs by the middle of the year. So far the new stuff sounds quite different, but there are hints of it in certain parts of some songs on Self Assassination – so this EP is going to be a small experiment for us.

ANY LAST COMMENTS OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

ROSS: Just like to say thanks to all the people that have ever come to our shows over the year, you guys make it worth it! Also please come and say what's up to us at the shows, we love meeting new people and making friends.

RAY: Thanks: blood witness, Kevin's custom tattoos, and music connection and to all the Crossingpoint friends and fansout there shot!!!

BRANDON: Just want to thank the people that believe in this music and don't sell out. The people that keep it real, that take the time and effort to get fully immersed in the hardcore scene and all it has to offer. It's a worldwide family that will be with you every step of the way.

DANCE YOU'RE ON FIRE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS PREYSER
WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/danceyoureonfire
COUNTRY: South Africa STYLE: Indie / Progressive

“DANCE YOU'RE ON FIRE” IS ONE OF THE BEST BAND NAMES I'VE HEARD IN A WHILE. IT SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING A SERIAL KILLER WOULD SAY TO HIS VICTIMS AFTER SETTING THEM ON FIRE, BUT SOMEHOW I THINK I'M MISSING THE POINT?

ADRIAN: Our singer came up with the name. We were all sitting around at one of our first practices together, I'd heard him mentionbefore that he liked it as a band name. So we put it to a vote and decided that's what the band would be called Dance, You're On Fire. It doesn't really have any specific meaning we just really like it. I guess people can give it their own meaning.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN PLAYING TOGETHER AND HOW DID “DANCE YOU'RE ON FIRE” BEGIN?

The band began with Nic, he wanted to start playing music again after taking a short break from it when his previous band ended. So he spoke to Tom, our other guitarist, and myself and we were very keen seen as we were looking to start playing again too. So we organized to meet at a small bar with James, our drummer, and our previous bassist, Andre, and started writing together a
week later.

The original line-up was together for about 1½ years before Andre emigrated and we've had our new bassist, Paul, now for about 2 months now which is going great.

INDIE MUSIC HAS EXPLODED ONTO THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSIC SCENE LIKE NOTHING ELSE IN THE LAST FEW YEARS. HOW WOULD YOU SAY “DANCE YOU'RE ON FIRE” HAS MADE THE SOUND IT'S OWN?

Indie kids have told us outright that we do not play indie music, so we're only indie in that we are independent. When we write we like to make the music as interesting as we can without seeming very far up our own asses, but sometimes it means we throw in some complexity, we like complexity, but that makes us seem very far up our own asses, which we are, so I guess it all works out in the end.

YOU GUYS HAVE A SELF-TITLED EP OUT, WHERE CAN PEOPLE GET IT AND HOW MANY SONGS DID YOU COMPLETE FOR YOUR FIRST RELEASE?

So far the EP is available at our shows and through local distros such as Canned Applause Records and Hope Haven Records. We're looking at getting online distro soon. It's a 5-song EP and it goes for R50 at our shows.

HOW DID YOU GUYS DECIDE ON THE DIRECTION THAT THE MUSIC WAS GOING TO TAKE AND WHERE DID YOU RECORD THE SONGS FOR THE EP?

We never really decided that our music should go in any particular direction, we thought that as long as we enjoyed it, found it interesting and were happy playing it others hopefully would too. We recorded at Anti-Motion Studios ( www.myspace.com/antimotion ) in Rouxville, JHB.

IS THERE SOME KIND OF COMPETITION IN THE BAND TO SEE WHO COMES UP WITH THE WEIRDEST SONG TITLES?

Haha, we know some of our song titles are weird, what happens is we'll just be talking and say some pretty ridiculous shit and then come up with song names from those conversations.

If people only knew some of the names we suggest and throw out they'd think we're pretty screwed up. So yeah, I guess we have our own little competition to make names that will make us laugh, while still having some connection with the songs.

WHAT WAS THE IMAGE YOU GUYS HAD IN MIND FOR THE PROJECT AND DO YOU THINK IT WAS ACHIEVED WITH THE DESIGN AND LOOK OF YOUR EP AND MYSPACE?

We wanted the whole thing to be about the music, and how we're really proud to have made it. It's not about us; it's about what was created, and how we wanted to share it. In order for people to notice it without hearing it, the design to stand out from other standard CD case designs, so we had the idea of a sleeve with a fold out inner containing the CD. It sort of resembles the packaging used for LPs, only CD sized. As for the artwork, we wanted something simple but effective.

The inner has a pretty abstract piece of artwork shown in the stages of its development. We wanted this to be representative of the songs and how they are a little abstract and how they developed a lot from the beginning. We then took that artwork and had it translated through to our Myspace to have it all tie in together. A big thanks to Jacques at Zoology for the design.

EVERYBODY IS TALKING ABOUT “FREE MUSIC” THESE DAYS AND THAT BANDS SHOULD FIND NEW WAYS OF MAKING MONEY FROM THEIR MUSIC. DO YOUTHINK IT IS PRACTICALLY POSSIBLE?

It may be practically possible for overseas bands, signed to established Indie and Major labels, but in South Africa , where most bands have few ways to make up the costs of recording and production, it's another story. That being said we don't play to make profit, but it would be nice to be able to cover the costs of the EP because that shit's expensive.

IN WHAT WAYS DO YOU THINK THE INTERNET HAS MADE IT EASIER AND HARDER FOR BANDS TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL MUSIC CAREER?

The Internet's great because it makes it possible to get your music out to the whole world but at the same time anyone can go and do the same so a lot of really great bands are often dismissed without even being heard because it's just so saturated out there now.

DO YOU THINK THAT THE LOCAL MUSIC SCENE IS FINDING ITS OWN IDENTITY AND THAT MORE PEOPLE ARE FOCUSING ON BEING ORIGINAL RATHER THAN SOUNDING LIKE A BAND FROM OVERSEAS?

The local scene has a little diversity but we find that there are still a lot of bands trying to emulate what happened overseas. It seems like South Africa is always one step behind the big overseas scenes, like the States and Europe . When a certain genre explodes here, all of a sudden dozens of those bands appear, and that's pretty normal of course but the problem is that when that genre explodes here it's either dead or dying quickly in the overseas scenes.

That may be a reason why a lot of South African bands never get out of here. Finding a band doing something really original is hard as it is, and in South Africa it's damn near impossible. Even if they do something different, they just don't get the recognition from South Africans because they're more than likely not in the genre that has just exploded here, and therefore get ignored by overseas labels. There are South African bands that are being damn original, but they get overlooked because they usually don't fit into what's popular here at the time.

IN THE “ ABOUT DANCE, YOU'RE ON FIRE” SECTION ON YOUR MYSPACE THERE IS TALK OF A MUSIC VIDEO AND EXTENSIVE COUNTRYWIDE TOURS. HOW MUCH OF THAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM YOU GUYS IN 2009?

We're just beginning to organize the rest of 2009 now, because of the line-up change, and all of that is included in our plans. We're looking at releasing two videos by mid-year and we're definitely going to try play in as many different towns as possible.

I READ AN ARTICLE THE OTHER DAY ABOUT HOW PEOPLE ARE GETTING ADDICTED TO FACEBOOK. DO ANY OF THE BAND MEMBERS HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM?

Haha, not really, we mostly use it to promote the band, but 4 of us are definitely on
there every day.

ANY LAST COMMENTS / ADVISE OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

Just a huge thanks to Project RFS for this interview. The questions are great and we had a good time answering them! OH, AND CHECK OUT www.myspace.com/danceyoureonfire FOR UPDATES AND NEWS ABOUT DANCE, YOU'RE ON FIRE!!!

V.O.D. (VOICE OF DESTRUCTION)

PHOTOGRAPHY BY DR - BENWAY
WEBSITE: http://www.voiceofdestruction.com
COUNTRY: South Africa STYLE: Metal / Death Metal / Rock

HOW DID THE IDEA OF REUNITING V.O.D. AFTER TEN YEARS COME ABOUT?

PAUL BLOM: Just like the 10th anniversary of our Bloedrivier album in 2006 was an inevitable event, so was the tour. Bloedrivier was never available locally - we recorded it in the UK for our German record label and it was only distributed in Europe, Japan and the U.S.A. So the re-release (subtitled The V.O.D Archives Vol. I ) was the first time the album was available locally. Our last V.O.D show was a decade ago in ’99, and the time was just right for all of us to converge and do it both for the pleasure of doing it again, and to appease the many loyal fans who had been screaming for a reunion for years.

Ironically we never got together at the end of the '90s deciding, “right, we’re breaking up!” We needed a perspective shift and just naturally went off doing other stuff (not necessarily music) – it’s quite an intense thing having 4 people together in such close proximity around the core of a band, everything happening around this single axis.

WILL ALL THE ORIGINAL MEMBERS RETURN FOR THE REUNION?

PB: Yes, the core members of the V.O.D Metal era are back together (the band started as a Punk/Hardcore act in 1986 and evolved through Crosscore into Metal): Francois (vocals), Greg (Guitar), Diccon (Bass), Paul (drums).

WHAT HAVE ALL THE MEMBERS OF V.O.D BEEN UP TO FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS?

PB: Diccon remained in his native UK after our ’96 tour, and played in bands like DEMONIAC, which became DRAGON HEART, which turned into DRAGON FORCE – he played on the latter’s first album, but left as he didn’t enjoy the music. Still living in London, he now plays in PAGAN ALTAR.

Francois did a one man project called DIE KRUIS and also formed K.O.B.U.S. with Theo from the NUDE GIRLS, winning a SAMA last year. (www.kobusmusic.com).

Greg moved to the West Coast where he is the editor of a community newspaper.

1998 I created my one-man project F8, and in 2002 started TERMINATRYX.(www.terminatryx.com). I also created and run the South African HORRORFEST- and X FEST Film Festivals (www.horrorfest.info / www.xfest.org); write about movies, music and games; and recently launched the KOPSKOOT! Compilation CD featuring (for the first time ever) a 16-track collection of heavy Afrikaans music (www.flamedrop.com/kopskoot).

WHAT CAN PEOPLE EXPECT TO SEE AT THE REUNION SHOWS AND CAN THIS TOUR BE THE START OF NEW BEGINNINGS FOR THE BAND?

PB: People can expect V.O.D in full force. Listening to those songs now not only brings back many memories, but they are still killer tracks with a very unique sound that set us apart from all the other bands of the time (and today). What is also great about this reunion is the fact that so many young kids heard about the band but were too young to attend the shows – while others weren’t born yet! This will be a blast for the band, the old fans, and those who never got to experience V.O.D in its various modes since the mid-‘80s.

Not all the members are keen to give it another go, but I am completely open to anything, as you don’t know what it may spark. There are also many songs that we never recorded. It will be difficult though with Diccon in London and Greg on the West Coast…

YOU HAVE ALSO RE–RELEASED THE ALBUM “BLOEDRIVIER”. WHERE CAN PEOPLE GO THE BUY THE ALBUM?

PB: Bloedrivier is available at most stores (if they don’t have it, ask for it: an ENT Entertainment release, distributed by IRIS – catalog number CDENT 008). Otherwise it can be ordered on-line form OneWorld.co.za: http://www.oneworld.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_music_info&cPath=1_8&products_id=3925

It will also be available at the shows, together with T-shirts and tour posters.

IN THE YEAR 1986 WHEN I WAS BORN YOU GUYS WERE MAKING MUSIC SO I MUST ASK HOW THE LOCAL SCENE WAS BACK IN THOSE YEARS AND HOW WOULD YOU COMPARE IT TO TODAY’S MUSIC SCENE?

PB: As mentioned, V.O.D started as a Punk/Hardcore band. It was quite wild and brought together a wide range of music fans of all races. There weren’t too many venues catering for extreme music, and without the internet it was DIY all the way with flyers and word of mouth. Systematically it grew into quite a scene, especially when V.O.D morphed into Metal. The bands and the fans were totally into it.

HOW WOULD YOU SAY THE BAND’S STYLE EVOLVED THROUGHOUT ITS TIME AND WHAT PERIOD OF THE BAND’S HISTORY WILL YOU BE REVISITING MUSICALLY FOR THE REUNION?

PB: The Punk/Hardcore days (with Stewart on vocals) was very in-your-face, raw and conscientious in approach with several political songs. When it reached the Metal-era with Francois on vocals the subject matter shifted somewhat with some more religious subjects filtering in as well as narrative and fantasy elements, a social angle not discarded.

We’ll be covering a wide range of the band’s history, but will retain some of the Punk songs for the final Assembly show (28 March) in Cape Town, where Stewart will guest doing a few of the early tracks.

Some of the late-‘80s Cross-over songs like Stormbringer, Trojan Horse and The Path will be played, as well as the ‘90s favourites like Goodbye, Black Cathedral, JMSP, A Beast Is Born, Religion, and (maybe) the entire If I Had A Soul epic.

HOW MANY SONGS HAS THE BAND COMPLETED IN ITS MUSIC CAREER SO FAR AND WHICH ONES STAND OUT AND BRING BACK THE MOST MEMORIES?

PB: It must be around 4 dozen or so. Every song has its own significance for each member. Personally Black Cathedral is a landmark song for me, because that really galvanized the new V.O.D as it got to be known – diverse, intense and unforgettable songs like those that followed, incl. Religion and A Beast Is Born.

A song like JMSP brings back great memories because of the effect it always has on the audience – going nuts! It’s also very surprising how many people love silly tracks like My Cat’s Cock – probably because it reminded them of the live shows where Francois pulled out a stack of crap local vinyl albums for the audience to destroy. Naturally If I Had A Soul is up there for its sheer scope, ambition and overall accomplishment, its multi-part saga clocking in at over 15 minutes.

THE BAND DID MAKE IT WHEN YOU WERE SIGNED TO A GERMAN RECORD LABEL AND RELEASED THE ALBUM “BLOEDRIVIER”, HOW DID THINGS SLOW DOWN TO THE POINT THAT THE BAND HAS BEEN OUT OF ACTION FOR SO LONG?

PB: After our European Tour in ’96, I think we were quite burnt out and needed a breather. It was a steep, tiring climb. For me personally I had enough of the UK and wanted to be back home near the ocean. Francois eventually also came back. Greg moved to the Isle of Mann.

Besides some other club shows, we then played Oppi Koppi in ’98 (two nights in a row) with 2nd guitarist Johan (flying down from Namibia) and Adam from Pothole on bass. When Greg came back in ’99 we played the first Woodstock festival with Tom on bass. That’s when we redirected our attention, and time simply flew by.

While those festival shows were brilliant, it just wasn’t the same without the proper line-up.

METAL HAS REALLY GAINED POPULARITY AGAIN IN SOUTH AFRICA OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS, ARE YOU HOPING TO HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE YOUNGER GENERATION OF METAL LISTENERS THAT ARE NOT SO FAMILIAR WITH THE BAND WITH YOUR REUNION TOUR?

PB: Definitely. History is important in all areas, including music – and V.O.D influenced or inspired many local bands to pick up guitars and make uncompromising music. And no matter how old music may be, it remains music and will live forever. Whatever your age, this music will have an effect on – be it sweeping you up into a moshpit or driving you from the venue, or on CD for repeated listening.

V.O.D has become legendary, but you need to back it up. On the tour we’ll put all our energy into playing the best shows we’ve ever done and give the audience what they came there for: be it reliving a great time or satisfying their curiosity.

What people will realise when they hear these V.O.D songs again is how we didn’t try to sound like anyone else but ourselves, and that the songs are as cool today as they were back then. The new generation music is different to our style in many ways, often trying to emulate popular bands of the moment which often make them hard to distinguish. With V.O.D the combinations of all our styles created a unique sound which is instantly recognizable, infectious and unforgettable.

COMPARING THE OLD WITH THE NEW. THE MUSIC INDUSTRY HAS CHANGED A LOT OVER THE YEARS WITH THE HELP OF THE INTERNET. HOW DO YOU THINK THE MUSIC INDUSTRY WOULD BE LIKE TODAY IF MUSICIANS ALREADY HAD THE INTERNET AT THEIR DISPOSAL IN THE ‘80S?

PB: Quite different! We toured up to Johannesburg in the late ’80s and early-‘90s with no cell phones or web pages, having to call venue owners from phone booths and if they weren’t home, you had to hang around in Hillbrow record stores or wherever until you can reach them!

Connecting globally has become so much easier and more convenient, but this also has its drawbacks as any garage band and professional act have to vie for attention, and the listener needs to wade through a swamp of shit to find something they really like. Anyone can shove anything on-line without any quality control, so it takes a lot more patience to find something that appeals to you. And gaining friends on your MySpace page doesn’t mean they’ll buy your album or attend your shows…

It has become an essential marketing tool whereas back in the day it was done the old-school way – playing shows building a fan base that helped spread the word. Guys like Barney Simon and Phil Wright helped a lot in spreading the word between cities back then.

WITH SO MANY BANDS MIXING DIFFERENT GENRES OF METAL INTO THEIR SONGS THESE DAYS DO YOU THINK THAT THE GENRE HAS LOST ITS ORIGINALITY OR IS “EXPERIMENTATION” NEEDED SO THAT IT GROWS INTO SOMETHING BIGGER AND BETTER?

PB: Everything evolves inevitably, as V.O.D did. Nothing is sacred and no-one can stop you from blending genres, sometimes it works damn well, other times it’s a joke. My attitude is always, if it speaks to you, who cares what it’s called and who made it?

If you enjoy it, who can tell you it’s not your place to appreciate it? And if someone creates something with passion, I don’t feel anyone has the right to tell them they suck – if it’s a carefully planned commercial exercise following the tried and tested recipes to cash in and duck, that’s when the pointing fingers can come out.

ANY LAST COMMENTS/ADVISE OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

PB: Late March we’re releasing the first V.O.DVD, The V.O.D Archives Vol. II, consisting of two of our home video releases, featuring Welcome To South Africaaaargh!!! – Live ’93, and our stint in Europe ’95-’96. It features live shows, on the road footage, interviews and a whole lot of madness. Extras include A Brief History (looking at the band’s timeline), and Before The Storm (a short capturing the band’s first rehearsals together after more than a decade, in preparation for the 2009 Reunion Tour).

This will be followed by The V.O.D Archives Vol. III: Return To The Great Abyss on CD, including classic V.O.D tracks and rare demos.

We’re aiming at 2010 for an in-depth feature length documentary on V.O.D’s history and the effect it had on South African music, tentatively titled The V.O.Documentary: 25 Years Of Destruction.

All updates will be on the official website and Facebook Group:

www.VOICEofDESTRUCTION.com

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5711375805

We definitely want to thank everyone who kept the V.O.D fire burning after all these years, and those attending the shows on the reunion tour.

And, whatever you do, be true!

THE OCEAN DOESN'T WANT ME

PHOTOGRAPHY BY UNKNOWN
WEBSITE: www.theoceandoesntwantme.com
COUNTRY: South Africa STYLE: Alternative / Progressive / Experimental

YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN BUSY SINCE I LAST INTERVIEWED YOU. YOUR NEW NINE TRACK ALBUM TITLED “WHICH I HOPE TO LIVE FOR” WAS RELEASED A WHILE BACK. HOW LONG DID IT TAKE TO FINISH?

We had a bunch of songs by the end of 2007, enough to go into the studio. The idea was to jump into the recording with the new-year. Then we split ways with our guitarist, and we had to rework a bunch of tracks so as to fit our new setup as a three piece. From reworking the songs to shoving the finished product into a fan’s hand took eleven months, with about a week of that time spent in the studio. We basically had the music done and recorded by end August, and after that we focused on packaging and printing. We launched it on the 13th of December.

WHAT WERE YOU GUYS INFLUENCED BY THE MOST DURING THE WRITING PROCESS?

Lots of our inspiration comes from random small interactions with the world, like a random film clip somebody saw, or a line of text in a book. Whether we have a huge discussion about it, or just mention it while plugging in a guitar amp, it always seems to relate back to some small interaction. Listening to various types of music always contributes to our head space. During the rewriting process, we took in a lot of doom, jazz, electronic, drone and instrumental music.

WHAT DID YOU WANT TO DO DIFFERENTLY MUSICALLY WITH THE SONGS FOR THIS ALBUM COMPARED TO YOUR OLDER MATERIAL?

Our biggest focus was on writing for the album. The music is much more cohesive, and contributes to a whole. We believe that an album should be viewed as a unit, not a bunch of random songs. Our music has become more introspective, in that we are even more focused than before on what we, as musicians, want to do, as opposed to what people would want you to do. With the style of music that we’ve involved ourselves with, it has become more and more apparent that we answer only to ourselves. Wait. That does not sound marketable: rather, we are now considered Afrikaans Pop-Punk.

DID YOU USE THE SAME EQUIPMENT THAT YOU USE LIVE TO RECORD THE ALBUM AND WHAT TYPE OF AMPS, TUNINGS AND GEAR TURNED OUT TO PRODUCE THE BEST RESULTS?

We do not see the point in writing studio only songs, so, in essence, we have used the same gear that we use live, except maybe for a different amp for nuances here and there.

CF: Ibanez Artcore guitar, through a Boss DS20 distortion, to an Electro Harmonix Holiest Grail reverb, to a Boss DD20 delay pedal, to a Boss loop station, into a Peavey Classic 50 2*12 amp. He also uses his voice.

Robin: 2002 Tama Rockstar Custom 5piece, 2 snares (one mahogany, the other brass), one with snare on, the other with snare off. Zildjian Cymbals. Selection of A Customs, K’s and Oriental’s. Electronics wise: a Roland SPD 20 percussion trigger pad and a Korg Kaoss pad 2.

Beastie: Ibanez EDB 400, Boss GT-6B, Boss Bass Overdrive, Behringer Ultrabass BX1200, additional electronics done with Korg Kaoss pad 3.

WHO PRODUCED THE ALBUM AND HOW BIG OF A ROLE DID THIS PERSON PLAY IN THE OUTCOME OF THE FINAL PRODUCT?

Bernard Cronje from Groundlevel studios did the engineering, and to a point, also the production although he does not really see the merit in a production credit. He is an awesome guy to work with, and listened to all our needs. We are quite a fussy bunch, and we never clashed heads. We specifically wanted a rawer sound, and he met us halfway. He also has a tendency to see different solutions to problems.

WHEN WRITING SONGS DO YOU GUYS AVOID MAKING THEM LONGER THAN A SPECIFIC TIME AND DO YOU THINK THAT IN THE “SINGLE” DRIVEN MUSIC INDUSTRY OF TODAY THAT THERE IS STILL A PLACE FOR SONGS THAT LAST EIGHT MINUTES AND LONGER?

No, we don’t ever put any time restraints on our songs, the song’s message or mood dictates the length of the song. Ben-hur, Godfather part one, Godfather part two and Deerhunter were all slow, long films, and people never question their legitimacy. Besides, it is not that we’re exploiting a verse-chorus repetition for 20 minutes. We’ve never really expected any air play, so we’ve never try to fit that mould, and thus we’ve been refused air play.

THE COVER ART FOR “WHICH I HOPE TO LIVE FOR” LOOKS VERY COOL. WHO DESIGNED AND ILLUSTRATED THE COVER AND HAS THE LOOK OF THIS ALBUM GIVEN YOU GUYS ANY NEW IDEAS ABOUT THE VISUAL DIRECTION YOU WOULD LIKE TO TAKE FOR ANY FUTURE RELEASES?

Thank you. The artwork was done by the brilliant Shotopop design. The visual direction was very strongly focused on our ideas for this specific album. For future releases, we’ll definitely be looking in a whole different direction, whatever we feel suits the concept best.

YOUR WEBSITE LOOKS GREAT AND IT CERTAINLY SETS A GOOD STANDARD FOR OTHER LOCAL BANDS TO FOLLOW. ANYBODY THAT DOES NOT BELIEVE ME VISIT http://www.theoceandoesntwantme.com/, MY QUESTION IS; DO YOU THINK THAT PEOPLE ARE RELYING TOO MUCH ON MYSPACE AND OTHER NETWORKS TO PROMOTE THEIR BANDS?

Social networks are a very accessible and viable way to create an online presence. It requires virtually no skill to create and maintain, whereas a website does. Even if you do have a website, these days, it is crucial to have a social network presence as well.

We’ve always had a site, so we just tried to do something special on it. Getting back to your question, I think that bands only rely on it because there is no cash lying around. We are lucky in that we’ve got some web development experience.

ARE YOU GUYS EXPLORING THE POSSIBILITIES OF A NEW MUSIC VIDEO, SHORT FILM OR DOCUMENTARY, AND IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT MAKES A GREAT MUSIC VIDEO?

We are currently looking at the feasibility of a music video, and we have a few friends in mind to assist us. We’ve recently learned that it is not advisable to work with people that do not understand your viewpoints. At the risk of flying off at a tangent, we generally do not care for concept driven videos about televisions in industrial areas, and cameras following girl meets boy scenarios. A great music video compliments the music, it does not try to dissect and explain the music, or try to expose and market it either.

WITH A NEW ALBUM COMES A NEW SET LIST TO PERFORM LIVE. ARE THERE A FEW SONGS THAT YOU GUYS ARE PUTTING ON “ICE” FOR A WHILE AND WHICH ONE OF THE NEW SONGS ARE YOU GUYS MOST EXCITED ABOUT PERFORMING LIVE?

All the songs have been written to be performed live, but logistics and set-lists sometimes don’t allow you to perform certain songs. “We watched them come” is one of our favourites, but we’ve only played it once or twice as it is a bit of a downer. If time permits it, we do play the whole album from start to finish. We are currently in the process of writing a new release, and we can’t wait to perform that, but we’re also holding out on that until we’ve finished the biggest part of the work. Our shorter set always contains “You’re yellow not golden” and “While you were away, I forgot to stay the same”. Between the two of them, there is always something to excite us.


WHAT OTHER CHANGES HAVE YOU MADE IN THE LAST YEAR TO IMPROVE YOUR LIVE PERFORMANCE VISUALLY AND SONICALLY?

When the venue permits it, we move the drums to the front of the stage, as Robin is an exciting visual component, and it levels it out that all three members feature equally. It is the way that we write our music. Sonically, we are constantly looking for new ways to create noise and texture. So we introduce new toys and play around with ways in which to use our current equipment.

THE OCEAN DOESN'T WANT ME PERFORMED IN CAPE TOWN A WHILE BACK ARE YOU GUYS PLANNING TO HIT ANY OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY AS WELL DURING 2009?

I think we’ll play a few other spots. Generally, we aren’t that focused on spreading any gospel, but rather to enjoy ourselves, we’ll visit our friends in Cape Town again, maybe via Durban this time.

ANY LAST COMMENTS/ADVISE OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

Thanks for the questions and keep up the genuine journalism. Thanks also to Shotopop design, Entropy Management and Jacques de Klerk for their continued support.

We’re playing a very exciting gig with The Watermark High and a Skyline on Fire on the 3rd of April at Cafe Arc in Pretoria. We are involved in all three bands, so it is a gathering of music that we appreciate, and promises to do something a bit different.

AZRAIL

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JANA KOERNER
WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/azrails11thhour
COUNTRY: South Africa STYLE: Metal / Death Metal / Alternative

GREAT NEWS IS THAT YOU GUYS FINALLY RELEASED YOUR FULL LENGTH TITLED PRIMORDIAL LATE LAST YEAR. HOW MUCH TIME DID YOU SPEND ON THE WRITING PROCESS AND ARE YOU GUYS HAPPY WITH THE END RESULT?

Yeah, of course it is a major milestone for the band musically and personally. Such occasions
give us the oppurtunity to look back on where we started and where we are moving to, going in
to the future. The songs on the album were written over a period of about a year, some of them, like for instance “Tempted”, is probably the oldest song on there, dating from when the band first got together back in 2006.

We were pleasantly surprised by the end result, as any band probably is hearing themselves on a recording for the first time. Soundwise, we wanted to differentiate ourselves from the current sound of metal albums coming out from SA, of which most of them we see as over produced and lacking that raw emotion, which we feel is so inherrently important in metal. Thus from the start we set out with a goal of keeping the sound raw and brutal, yet still modern and heavy as fuck. This is one of the reasons we didn't use triggers on the drums and also ran it through analogue compressors and such in the mastering stage.

TELL US MORE ABOUT THE CD COVER DESIGN AND WHAT WAS THE IDEA BEHIND IT?

We wanted the cover to reflect our sound and vision as not only a death metal band, but also as fans of death metal. We were always intrigued by the artwork of other bands such as Cannibal Corpse, Death, Slayer and Decapitated, and knew our album also had to have a completely original artwork on it.

We actually had quite some difficulty finding someone to do the artwork we wanted for this album, but after searching high and low, we finally found Stephen from Darkwater, whom we felt confident and happy with. We gave him an outline of the artwork we wanted done and he simply made it happen from scratch. (Although I must say, Oli also gave some contributions here and there, such as the new logo.)

The idea behind the album cover basically links up with the album's title, Primordial, meaning the first or original. The cover's theme is that of the first or primordial man stepping out of a black oozing river, the primordial soup, having no skin he is an abomination in a hostile and violent world, which is not necessarily Earth.

WHERE DID YOU RECORD AND WHO PRODUCED THE ALBUM?

We recorded with Ari Terblanche at his studio on the west coast. It was an amazing experience spending time in his studio, tracking and just focusing on the music every day. We then sent the album to Simon (Fuzzy) Ratcliffe at Sound & Motion studios in Cape Town for mastering and he took out some tricks on it.

When it comes to production and in keeping with how almost everything in Azrail seems to work, we all gave our 2 cents worth here and there. Money wise, Riaan can probably be seen as the producer, seeing as he mostly paid for the thing.

HOW HAS YOUR MUSIC CHANGED FOR THE BETTER WITH THE MEMBER CHANGE AND THE ADDITION OF A “NEW” GUITARIST IN THE BAND LAST YEAR?

Well, I think I was lucky to come in to the band at just the right time, the guys were ready to go bigger and also approached me and later the new material with open minds and an eagerness to try new things.

The music itself has in some ways changed dramatically from what the band did when it first started out. I like to think it has not only become heavier and more brutal, but also more technical and complex, especially as we grow in confidence as musicians and as a band. Technicality and brutality is our greatest focus moving forward.

DID YOU GUYS TRY OUT DIFFERENT GUITAR TUNINGS AND OTHER INSTRUMENTS WHILE RECORDING?

Not really, me and Riaan play in different tunings from each other all the time, he's in drop D and I am in D standard, but the songs were written in these, so we didn't see a need to change that. Though we did experiment a bit with different tones and distortions, and Riaan also likes to go acoustic sometimes, as in “Tempted” and on the hidden track.

OF ALL THE NEW SONGS ON THE ALBUM WHICH ONES STAND OUT FOR YOU GUYS AND WHY?

I think each one of us has their favourite, for me the last song, “Stepping through the nether portal”, stands out, because it encompasses everything we've been trying to accomplish musically so far, namely brutality, technicality, speed and groove. It also is an indicator of where we are aiming to take the music of Azrail in the future.

YOUR NEW SONGS ARE ALLOT HEAVIER… AND ONE CAN SEE IT WITH ALLOT OF BANDS THAT START OUT AND THEN JUST GET HEAVIER AND HEAVIER THE LONGER THEY PLAY. DO YOU THINK THE BAND WILL HIT A PLATEAU AT SOME POINT?

As I said earlier, I think this happens with most bands as they inevitably grow in confidence. I don't know how far we will push it, we generally get bored with our own songs very quickly and the next song always has to be more than the previous, I guess we are just weird like that. If one stays true to the vision and musical identity of what you're trying to accomplish, I personally don't believe there are any limits. We are our own worst critics and always see so much more room for improvement and always try to push our musical ability beyond our own comfort zones and expectations.

NOW THAT YOUR ALBUM IS COMPLETE YOU GUYS MUST BE FOCUSING ON MAKING AN IMPACT ON THE LIVE CIRCUIT, ANY SHOWS COMING UP IN THE NEAR FUTURE THAT YOU GUYS ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO?

In January we took a gamble and played a few shows around the country, promoting the album, which was an amazing experience. Next we are looking forward to Ramfest in Feb/March as it is our first time playing there and we simply can't wait to tear up the place while also internally decapitating some people in the pit.

IN WHAT WAYS DO YOU THINK THE BAND HAS IMPROVED LIVE OVER THE LAST YEAR, AND WHAT LESSONS HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM PLAYING VENUES ACROSS THE COUNTRY LATELY?

I think we have each grown a lot more confident on stage, I myself used to have a massive problem with stage fright. But now we are confident and energetic on stage, each member knows what is expected of him and then some more.

Azrail live is a well oiled machine of death and slaughter at the moment. We also know our set through and through, good enough even to play around with the songs a bit on stage and just let the brutality flow from us to the crowd.

Lessons we learned from playing around the country is that there are fans of metal, everywhere, and that there is an underlying sense of brotherhood in the community, which I believe is the true strength of the relatively small but vibrant metal scene here.

IN YOUR OPINION WHAT CAN ALREADY EXPERIENCED BANDS DO TO HELP ASPIRING BANDS TO GET OUT OF THE GARAGE AND ONTO A STAGE AND HELP THE SCENE TO GROW?

Well, give them a listen, maybe invite them to share a stage, but most importantly, give constructive criticism and guidance where necessary. For instance, Azrail is most definitely not the first band any of us has played in, and many of the previous projects never made it out of the garage. Sometimes something just clicks and the rest comes together over time. I think this is where the more established bands' guidance and criticism can be invaluable at times.

IT SEEMS LIKE MYSPACE HAS TAKEN A BACK SEAT TO FACEBOOK WHEN IT COMES TO LOCAL BANDS PROMOTING THEIR BAND THESE DAYS. WHY DO YOU THINK
THIS HAS HAPPENED?

It's cheap and efficient, and I think it's just so much easier to attract fans on there, manage you're band's publicity and keep people informed about what's happening. Also, most people seem to have moved their personal profiles to Facebook these days, probably because of the virus trouble Myspace had at some time ago. Although I must say, I don't think a band should be wholly dependent on Facebook or Myspace.

WOULD YOU EVER DRIVE A CAR INTO A SWIMMING POOL?

Hell yeah, not my own car of course, maybe a hearse with a rocket strapped to it, covered in foetuses to give the pool a lasting effect.

ANY LAST COMMENTS/ADVISE OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

Thanks to everyone who supports us in so many ways from all around the country, you are the enriched uranium in our atomic bomb of destruction. Also, our friends and drinking buddies down here in the Cape , and our other Azrailite legionnaires and friends here and all around the country.

And especially, the guys who looked after us on tour, gave us a roof over our heads and beer in our bellies. Cameron and the rest of Reverend Henry Kane, Pledge Defiance and Theatre Runs Red in Durban, and Architecture of Aggression and Deane Crescent in Gauteng. And of course Rehan and Bennie from Bile of Man, for being true to the spirit of death metal and being the most brutal moshing motherfuckers around in Gauteng !

Death metal is alive, wreathing with sores and gushing puss everywhere. Spread the plague and above all, keep it fucking brutal!

THE LOTTERY TICKETS

PHOTOGRAPHY BY THOMAS PEPLER
WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/thelotterytickets
COUNTRY: South Africa STYLE: Indie / Powerpop

HOW DID YOU GUYS DECIDE ON THE BAND NAME “THE LOTTERY TICKETS”, I GUESS YOU DON’T PLAY THE LOTTO ALLOT?

It came to Robert in a dream; Shaka Zulu appeared over his sleeping bag and told him that he should call the band that. So we did. It’s been alright ever since.We actually had the idea of taking out the lotto before every show…became a mission or either forgot, so not actually.

IF THREE MILLION RAND OR MAYBE POUNDS DID “FALL OUT OF THE SKY”, WHAT WOULD YOU BUY?

Proper instruments first of all. Then maybe a watermelon farm. And a few Gatsby’s.

ON YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE UNDER “GENRE” YOU GUYS DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND AS “POST ZIMBABWEAN RHODESIAN SOFT ROCK”, HOW HAS THE BAND’S SOUND EVOLVED SINCE YOU GUYS STARTED AND IN WHAT DIRECTION DO YOU SEE THE BAND’S SOUND MOVING IN THE FUTURE?

The bands sound will move to Port Elizabeth. We will have to find a new one then in the Cape Ads. Seriously though, we learnt to play our instruments together at the same time. So that’s been a good thing.

FROM WATCHING THE VIDEO ON YOUR MYSPACE, I SEE YOU GUYS USE WHAT I THINK ARE FENDER GUITARS, WHAT OTHER EQUIPMENT DO YOU GUYS USE?

Mike swopped his BMX for a sketchy bass guitar, Robert used the band fund to buy a no-name Fender Rip-off, Reggy has nice drums and cymbals and James has too much money, pedals, tuners, amps, the works!5.

HOW MANY GIGS DO YOU GUYS HAVE UNDER THE BELT AND WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR 2009 WHEN IT COMES TO PLAYING LIVE?

Wow…good question, let’s see…about 20 – 30. So we are still stage virgins.

IS THERE ONE VENUE THAT HAS BECOME YOUR “HOME” FOR SOME REASON… THE ONE PLACE WHERE YOU SEEM TO PLAY THE MOST?

Not really, maybe The Hidden Cellar, it feels like home. Deidre and Jose know how to make people feel at home. The after show shots are always classic.

HOW ARE THINGS LOOKING ON THE RECORDING FRONT FOR THIS YEAR AND WHERE CAN PEOPLE STILL GET THEIR HANDS ON “THE LOAN SHARK EP”?

They are sold out. Download, copy some else’s, look in Cash Crusaders. We are looking at recording soon. Looking forward to get some new songs down.

WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE TITLE “THE LOAN SHARK”… THERE ISN’T A GUY OUT THERE NAMED BORIS THAT WANTS TO BREAK YOUR KNEECAPS IS THERE?

We’d like to hope not! The concept is based on the story of a lonely great white shark with no friends and a passion for jazz.

ON A SCALE OF ONE TO TEN, HOW GOOD CAN YOU DEFEND YOURSELF?

It varies. James A: 10 James R: 8 Robert: 4 Mike: 1

WHAT SUBJECTS DO YOU GUYS LIKE TO COVER IN YOUR LYRICS?

English HG, Afrikaans HG, History HG, Economics HG, Art SG and Biology HG.Nah, mostly girls and other tear jerking subjects like that.

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN A SITUATION WHERE YOU CAME UP WITH “THE BEST SONG EVER” IN YOUR HEAD BUT THEN FORGOT IT AGAIN?

Well…James went overseas to the Shetland islands and had a epiphany about life, wrote a song that he claimed to be the next thing, met a rare otter. Came home and forget it. Arsehole.

I SEE THAT A NUMBER OF POP STARS ARE PERFORMING FOR RICH PEOPLE AT PRIVATE FUNCTIONS FOR A FEW MILLION A PERFORMANCE THESE DAYS WOULD YOU GUYS EVER CONSIDER THE WHOLE “WEDDING SINGER” THING IF THE MONEY WAS GOOD ENOUGH?

Hell Yes!!! We are sell-outs! We do weddings, funerals, 21’sts, Matric Dances, Bar Mitzvahs, Initiation Camps, Memorial Days, and Bingo Evenings. You pay, we play.

ANY LAST COMMENTS/ADVISE OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

Thanks to Patrick Swayze and Keuna Reeves for Point Break. It changed our lives.
It will change yours. Watch it.

THE EXPLOITS

PHOTOGRAPHY BY EXPLOITS BAND
WEBSITE: www.exploitsband.com
COUNTRY: South Africa STYLE: Punk / Rock

HOW LONG HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN MAKING MUSIC AND HOW DID THE BAND COME TOGETHER?

We have all been attracted to music from a young age, but as a band, we have been making music together for the last 3 or 4 years. We met at church and started a youth band for our youth group called “Exploits”. After playing together for about a year we started writing our own music and nearly a year after that we formed the band “The Exploits”. Since our formation we’ve changed drummers about 4 times and we have also lost an acoustic guitarist – we searched everywhere for him, but he was gone!

WITH A BAND NAME LIKE “THE EXPLOITS”, ARE YOU ALL ABOUT TAKING ADVANTAGE OF OPPORTUNITIES IN LIFE AND EXPLOITING THEM TO YOUR ADVANTAGE?

Well, our name actually comes from the verse Daniel 11:32 which states “The people who know their God will be strong and carry out great exploits”. For us our name means to do great things. And we believe that any and everyone is capable of doing great deeds. Mother Theresa once said “In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love”. And we believe that each individual is capable of that.

WHAT SUBJECTS DO YOU GUYS COVER THE MOST WITH YOUR MUSIC?

In our music we talk a lot about standing up and making a difference in the world which we live in. We see our songs as an encouragement to urge people to do and act! We also talk about personal struggles that we face in life, but through it all moving forward. So we carry a lot of hope in each of our songs. Yeah, i think that’s what we strive for, hope!

ON MYSPACE YOU LIST “SWITCHFOOT AND HILLSONG UNITED” AS SOME OF YOUR INFLUENCES. I GUESS RELIGION DOES PLAY A BIG ROLE IN YOUR LIVES AND IN YOUR MUSIC THEN?

Yeah, God plays a really big role in each of our lives. If it wasn’t for His grace and love which carried us through some really tough times, we’d probably never of started, or stayed in, this band.

IN HARD TIMES LIKE TODAY WITH THE WORLD FINANCIAL CRISIS AND ALL THAT, DO YOU THINK THAT RELIGION COULD HELP TO KEEP PEOPLES HOPES UP?

It's not religion, or any set of rules which can bring about change. They most often just cause people to be rebellious. The crises that we face in the world today will only be changed once people start seeing their neighbours, and fellow citizens as part of God's creation which needs to be respected. And in that way 'religion' is the hope. It’s a personal commitment to loving God and loving others. Without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ your hopes will always be crushed!

WHAT INSPIRES THE BAND THE MOST TO WRITE AND RECORD MUSIC?

The sound of 'good' music! That’s always a good reason to make music. So we 'try' to write 'good music'. The lyrics are mostly inspired by our lives and experiences which we’ve faced.

WHERE CAN PEOPLE BUY OR DOWNLOAD YOUR MUSIC AND ARE YOU GUYS PLANNING ON RELEASING ANY NEW MATERIAL SOON?

We have one EP out at the moment, and it is called “Start Today”. It is for sale on the iTunes Store and on CD Baby (http://cdbaby.com/cd/exploits). You can also buy the CD directly from us at our gigs. We’ve actually been working hard over the last year on some new material and we’re looking at recording some new material probably to the end of the year or early next year.

HOW DOES THE EP TITLE “START TODAY” RELATE TO YOUR MUSIC AND TO THE BAND?

It's a challenge to get a move on, to start now. It is sort of a command phrase. The phrase was birthed out of just doing what we could with what we had. And as we have pursued music more and more, we have gained more experience and have bought better equipment, etc. So ya, it’s just a challenge to get up and do what you have dreamed of doing - now!

WHEN LISTENING TO YOUR SONGS I HEAR SOME DELAY AND OTHER EFFECTS AS WELL. WHAT GEAR ARE YOU GUYS USING AT THE MOMENT?

We use a Fender and Epiphone guitars and bass, a Hughes and Ketner amp, a Line 6 Spider 2 amp, and a Boss GT8 effects pedal. We use a little bit of delay to create a fuller sound in our music. We also use some weird slicer / tremello effects for some songs. The drummer doesn’t use any effects (laughs).

HOW MUCH DO YOU GUYS TRY TO GIG IN A MONTH AND ARE THERE ANY PLANS TO PLAY MORE SHOWS IN OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY?

We have been on a long hiatus with some changes in the band, but we are almost ready to start gigging around Jhb again.When we do play, we try to gig about twice a month so we have time to still work on new material at the same time. We would love to tour around the country, but so far no plans have been made.

WHAT IS THE MOST PLEASING THING ABOUT PLAYING TO A LIVE AUDIENCE?

We love the live shows, because it is just a release of all the hard work that we have put in. The best part is jumping around and going ape on stage. We definitely try to put on a performance for people and not just a bunch of songs.

IF YOUR LIVES DEPENDED ON IT WOULD YOU BE ABLE TO RIDE A HORSE AND JUMP IT OVER A FENCE?

We definitely wouldn’t all be able to fit on the same horse. But, separately I guess we could. Horses are temperamental, so if my life was at stake, I just hope the horse realised his life was also at stake, and hopefully he'd be able to manoeuvre himself over there... I don’t think any of us have had a jumping-horseback-over-the-wall experience… yet!

ANY LAST COMMENTS/ADVISE OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

Yeah, pursue your dreams. And live! It’s a simple phrases and simple nuggets of truth that people don’t take to heart and actually apply and then get all bummed out about life not working out. Oh and try not to complain about South Africa too much, it's a beautiful place. Yes, there are mistakes, but rather see what you can do about it, instead of blaming others.

A final thanks to anyone who has seen us play, bought our CD, and just encouraged us. Thanks to our church for giving us practice space, and to our families for giving us the chance to play music!

21st CENTURY TRAGEDY

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRENDON
WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/xxitragedy
COUNTRY: South Africa STYLE: Metal

FROM THE OUTSIDE THINGS SEEM TO HAVE BEEN A BIT QUIT ON THE RECORDING FRONT FROM YOU GUYS; ARE YOU FOCUSING MORE ON MAKING A NAME FOR YOURSELVES AS A LIVE BAND AT THIS STAGE?

TIAGO: Well actually we’ve been taking time off the live scene to focus on the whole recording the album thing.

ARNO: After a long year of trying to slog a name out for ourselves in the live seen we decided to take a “break” from the live thing for a while. I say “break” because we didn’t take it easy at all. We’ve been busy recording our debut album entitled Broken by Design, at Burning Tone Studios. Look out for that one in May sometime....punt punt. We also did a song for the upcoming Hammer the Masses 2 compilation which should be out in April.

MUSICIANS NEVER REALLY STOP WRITING NEW MATERIAL, HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN WORKING ON ANYTHING NEW THAT YOU’RE EXITED ABOUT?

TIAGO: The new material that we’ve been working on is much smoother and still slamming, but it’s only in the early stages so you’re just gonna have to wait and see.

ARNO: Yeah we’ve been messing around with new material which is sounding very tasty. We just need to finish up recording the album so we can concentrate on taking the song writing to the next level.

WHAT HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN LISTENING TO LATELY FOR INSPIRATION, AND WHAT ARE YOUR TOP FIVE METAL ALBUMS EVER?

ARNO: To tell the truth we don’t just draw our song writing inspiration from metal, it goes from The Faceless to Joy Division and everything in between. It depends on the mood. As for top metal albums, in no particular order:

BRENDON
Rust in Peace – Megadeth
Antichrist Superstar – Marilyn Manson
As the palaces burn – Lamb of God
The Downward Spiral – Nine Inch Nails
The Price of Existence – All Shall Perish

MURPH
Seventh Son of a seventh son – Iron Maiden
Reign in Blood - Slayer
Cowboys from hell - Pantera
Above the weeping world - Isomnium
Cruelty and the Beast - Cradle of Filth

TIAGO
Redeemer - Norma Jean
Tides - Oceania
As the palaces burn – Lamb of God
Miasma – The Black Dahlia Murder
Undoing Ruin - Darkest Hour

ARNO
Far Beyond Driven – Pantera
Sacrament – Lamb of God
Rust in peace – Megadeth
Seasons in the abyss – Slayer
Imprint – Vision of Disorder

WEZ
Nocturnal – Black Dahlia Murder
Sacrament – Lamb of God
Vulgar display of power – Pantera
Undoing ruin – Darkest hour
Seventh son of a seventh son – Iron Maiden

HOW HAS THE MUSIC YOU HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO INFLUENCED YOU IF YOU HAD TO COMPARE THE BAND’S SOUND AT THE BEGINNING TO HOW 21st CENTURY TRAGEDY SOUNDS NOW?

ARNO: The sound of the band has basically become more refined. I can say that personally I’ve begun broadening my horizons by not just limiting myself to metal guitar anymore and I think it’s going to open up the door for some interesting riffing and some killer new songs. But fear not, the Tragedy is still deeply rooted in delivering the crunching ass riffs and the cream in your pants melodies. It’s just gonna be closer to what we initially wanted to do when we wrote our first material only, with more song writing experience behind us I think we’re gonna end up with even more crunchy cream.

TALKING ABOUT SOUND, WHAT EQUIPMENT ARE YOU GUYS USING AT THE MOMENT?

TIAGO: I usually use a guitar and Brendon usually uses a mic and shit, um...we use beer and weed and speakers and stuff.

ARNO: Mostly beer and weed.

AS A LIVE BAND YOU MUST HAVE SOME ADVISE TO OUR READERS ABOUT MAKING YOUR EQUIPMENT LAST AND MAKING IT GO THE EXTRA MILE ON AND OF STAGE?

TIAGO: It’s cool, I think everyone already knows how to do that.

ARNO: First you drink the beer then smoke the weed, then when you’re nice and hammered you make your way to the stage, try not to fall and deliver the crunching rot.

HAVING PLAYED LIVE FOR A WHILE NOW, WHAT HAS BEEN THE BEST SHOW FOR THE BAND SO FAR AND BEST VENUE TO DATE AS WELL?

ARNO: The best shows for me last year were the last five before we took this song writing timeout. We had basically just came out of one of our most shite gigs ever....and I mean EVER, and after that shite gig the remaining five were just fuckin’ awesome. Things just started getting nice and loose on stage and the attitude just got an extra set of balls. I’m really fuckin’ amped on 2009.

TIAGO: That last gig at ROAR was fuckin’ crazy. People getting fucked up, especially Jacques, we love you dude!

POINTLESS QUESTION: DO YOU THINK IT WOULD BE POSSIBLE TO COLLAPSE ONE OF THOSE PLASTIC TUNNELS/PLAY AREAS THAT FILL UP HALF THE CAR PARK AT FAST FOOD STORES IF YOU HAD A BIG ENOUGH AMP?

ARNO: Dude if you find that amp, let me know.

TIAGO: Actually get me the one that blows the whole fuckin’ place down.

IS 21ST CENTURY TRAGEDY STILL BASED IN PAARL…IF SO, ISN’T IT ANNOYING TO MAKE THE TRIP TO THE CITY FOR EVERY SHOW, OR HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN LUCKY TO HAVE YOUR SHOWS SPACED OUT OVER TIME SO THAT PETROL MONEY NEVER BECOMES AN ISSUE?

TIAGO: Not really, half of us are in Cape Town and the rest are in Paarl and our jam room is in Paarl, so we’re pretty to use to it. It’s either driving through to Paarl to jam or driving through to Cape Town for gigs....and occasionally Jozi streets.

ARNO: When is petrol money cool anyway!? Like he said, we’re use to it.

WHAT ARE THE PLUSSES AND MINUSES TO BEING AN INDEPENDENT METAL BAND IN SOUTH AFRICA?

ARNO: The pro’s are you get to do whatever you want artistically. If you aren’t doing exactly what you want musically you only have yourself to blame. The downside...no one gives a fuck.

TIAGO: There’s a lot of support between most of the bands but some bands in the same predicament not really trying to help anyone besides themselves, dog eat dog, its just fuckin’ bullshit.

SOMEONE ONCE SAID THAT HARD TIMES MAKE FOR THE BEST SONGS; DO YOU THINK THAT IS TRUE IN ANY WAY?

TIAGO: It’s all about the mud. Harsh times cause a lot of mud to build up. If the person gathering up all this mud knows how to channel that shit into song writing, ear pussies start bleeding.

ARNO: Totally true, I think its somewhere in the middle when the music starts happening. It’s like when you have the rot times, then come the good times and somewhere in between is the grime where the crunching rot resides.

ANY LAST COMMENTS/ADVISE OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

ARNO: Dude wussup with all the “advice”? I’m not fuckin’ Jesus.

TIAGO: Do drugs; have unprotected sex, shoot heroin and fuck your life. If you can’t deal with it... kill yourself.

GRAVITY WINS AGAIN

PHOTOGRAPHY BY PATRICK BEYER & NIKKI VAN WIJK
WEBSITE: http://www.gravitywinsagain.com
COUNTRY: South Africa STYLE: Rock / Pop

GRAVITY WINS AGAIN HAS RELEASED A REALLY COOL MUSIC VIDEO RECENTLY FOR THE SINGLE "BAIL ME OUT". YOUR WEBSITE WWW.GRAVITYWINSAGAIN.COM HAS A REALLY COOL PAGE WHERE PEOPLE CAN GO AND WATCH IT. TELL US MORE ABOUT THE VIDEO?

NIC: The video was fun to make, and we also found ourselves well equipped with knowledge after spending a day with walls covered in news paper. Knowledge is power.

GARETH: I read up on all the latest current events and news about the world markets, whilst simultaneously rocking out and sweating way too much. The video was directed by Peter Jones, and he and his team were super professional. Drew wasn’t even allowed to look him in the eye, that’s how intense he was.

PEOPLE CAN ALSO GO AND CHECK OUT WWW.LOVEHATECAKE.CO.ZA WHERE THEY CAN PRE ORDER YOUR NEW EP "LOVE.HATE.CAKE". MEANING THAT PEOPLE CAN PLACE THEIR ORDER AND PAY FOR A COPY UPFRONT AND HELP YOU MAKE THIS CD. WHO CAME UP WITH THIS CONCEPT AND WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS TO FANS?

GARETH: Our producer, Matt Allison (no relation to me), and I came up with the idea sitting in the studio one day. It’s been going well – we really would like some more people to pre-order the CD, so that we can give you guys the best product we can. You get a whole ton of free stuff when you pre-order, and we’re looking at throwing in even more stuff soon. Please check out www.lovehatecake.co.za and look around. We’d appreciate it a lot!

HOW CLOSE ARE YOU GUYS TO REACHING YOUR GOAL OF RELEASING THE EP?

GARETH: Most of the tracking will be finished this coming Saturday (February 21), and then it comes down to raising the money for mixing, mastering and pressing, which is pretty costly. We want to make it as good as we can, so that when you hear the songs they will sound exactly the way we want them to.

WHILE YOU GUYS ARE WORKING ON GETTING LOVE.HATE.CAKE OUT HOW ARE THINGS GOING IN THE "LIVE" DEPARTMENT, MEANING HOW HAS YOUR LIVE ACT IMPROVED IN THE LAST FEW MONTHS AND WHAT CAN PEOPLE EXPECT TO SEE AT A GRAVITY WINS AGAIN SHOW?

NIC: People can expect to see and hear us play music and cure colds and flu, all at the same time.

GARETH: I think we’ve got tighter for sure…there have also been some shows where it has basically turned into a standup comedy show with songs inbetween. We all enjoy entertaining, and besides, its boring just going to see a band and they ignore the crowd and play 10 songs and get off. We’d rather make people remember us by playing some cool songs and trying to make them laugh and have a good time rather than being yet another forgettable rock band.

HOW DOES YOUR SETUP DIFFER BETWEEN RECORDING AND PLAYING LIVE?

NIC: It doesn’t really differ, other than the fact that when we record, we have someone telling us to play the song one or two more times. That seldom happens when we play live.

GARETH: Right...unless my mom is in the crowd. Then we have to play the song over if there is even the slightest mistake. She is ruthless, I tell you.

EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT BEING IN A BAND AND TRYING TO MAKE A SUCCESS OUT OF IT IS HARD TO SAY THE LEAST. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES YOU HAVE FACED SO FAR?

GARETH: Wow…I think that with the internet and Facebook, Myspace, etc. it has helped bands to get their name out there a lot. It has also made things a lot harder, as there are now 400 million bands vying for your attention online. I think that kind of oversaturation definitely makes it harder to be noticed. There are so many awesome bands out there that don’t get the attention they deserve.

ARE YOU GUYS PROUD TO BE AN INDEPENDENT BAND, AND IF THAT RECORDING CONTRACT CAME AROUND WOULD YOU GUYS SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE?

NIC: I’m proud to be making music and music videos without the help of a label, it all depends, if the right dotted line came along it could be an option.

GARETH: I agree – the more you can do yourself the better, especially with the state of the music industry worldwide. Book your own shows. Make your own merch. Shower five times a day. All good advice!

WHAT DO YOU GUYS DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT WORKING ON ANYTHING RELATED TO
GRAVITY WINS AGAIN?

NIC: I make cartoons (3D Animation) and do some illustration and design. Oh and play in another band.

GARETH: I am a web designer, and Drew works for the man (aka Mxit). He used to be a full-time male belly dancing instructor, but sadly the market for it has dwindled. It’s a dying art form…much like Latin or Simply Red.

DO YOU FIND THAT WHAT YOU DO OUTSIDE OF THE "MUSIC" INFLUENCES HOW AND WHAT YOU WRITE FOR GRAVITY WINS AGAIN SOMETIMES?

GARETH: Absolutely, all the songs are about life experiences and ideas and stuff like that. Obviously we don’t have songs about designing web pages or animating, but you still interact with people day-to-day in your job, and in normal life as well. We all listen to a lot of different types of music as well, and I think that helps a lot. Nic claims that listening to Beyonce helps him to come up with killer drum parts and breakdowns – I’m not convinced myself though.

PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS EXPERIMENTING WITH NEW IDEAS WHEN WRITING MUSIC, BUT ARE THERE A FEW RULES THAT YOU THINK PEOPLE SHOULD NEVER DEVIATE FROM WHEN WRITING SONGS?

GARETH: Wow. Good question – I’m not sure if I’m even smart enough to answer that. The only thing I can think of is always write from the heart, and be genuine.

NIC: People should never try to fuse hip-hop with gregorian chant.

OTHER BIG PLANS FOR THE YEAR 2009?

GARETH: We want to do something called “The Two Month Challenge”, where you just let your facial hair grow unashamedly for two months with shaving. Maybe we will do something cool to tie in with that – we invite you guys to join us! We will post details about it as soon as we have organized it properly. Women need not apply (unless you already have your own moustache).

IS THE CHOCOLATE CAKE USED IN YOUR PROMO PHOTO ON WWW.LOVEHATECAKE.CO.ZA REAL OR DID YOU GUYS HAVE LIKE THIRTEEN "PROP" CAKES ON HAND TO GET "THE PERFECT SHOT"?

NIC: Wow, you think that shot was perfect?

GARETH: That was a great cake, possibly one of the top 5 cakes I’ve ever had. We just had one, it was baked for us by our photographer Kim. I was in love with it – I would have married that cake if I could. Alas, our country’s legislation frowns upon a man marrying baked goods.

ANY LAST COMMENTS/ADVICE OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

NIC: I’d be REALLY excited to see America have its first Ginger president.

GARETH: I’d like to thank Matt Allison, who is awesome. Peter Jones for wearing his Scottish hat and directing our video…please go and check out our music video for “Bail Me Out” on MyVideo.co.za or Youtube. If you don’t, Peter will find you – and don’t think he won’t.

DOWN ON THE FIRST

PHOTOGRAPHY BY YOLANDE SNYDERS
WEBSITE: http://www.facebook.com/people/Jason-Vorster/552992036#/pages/downonthefirst/37705078113?ref=ts
COUNTRY: South Africa STYLE: Rock

THIS QUESTION WILL PROBABLY IRRITATE YOU IN SOME WAY. HOW DID YOU GUYS GET YOUR BAND NAME, I GUESS THE FIRST DAY OF EVERY MONTH IS NOT GOOD, BUT SERIOUSLY WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

WAYNE: We tried pulling the name from the hat vibe, but that didn't really work out as well as we had planned. I think the name just appeared in a thought one night whilst lying awake in bed trying to fall asleep. It was also a name that doesn't have a particular meaning so we thought it would be a very cool idea to get fans involved and give them a sense of being a part of the band…. We like to take a personal approach after all its yall we got to thank and be grateful for. For me it was the first time I took a “Downer” which Fucked me up for years…..lol

TRUCKER: Getting a girl to go down on you on the first date.

I KNOW IT IS HARD BUT HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND TO PEOPLE?

WAYNE: I think that we are very lucky to have so many influences within the band. Each member has his own particular style of music that they listen to and we manage to make a big melting pot of rock. I personally think that pigeon holing our style of music is just over complicating things. There are far to many sub-genre's of the same thing out there…… Dude its all Rock &Roll to me….

TRUCKER: I'd say just straight forward rock with subtle hints of all our individual influences.

ROCK HAS BEEN AROUND FOREVER AND IT LOOKS LIKE IT WILL ALWAYS BE AROUND IN SOME SHAPE OR FORM. WHY DO YOU THINK THIS GENRE HAS SUCH A LARGE FOLLOWING AND IMPACT ON PEOPLE WORLD WIDE?

WAYNE: Nothing beats the sound or ringing guitars and thundering drums and I think. People have realised this. I remember when I was in school everyone was into “Techno” cause it was new….lol… Look what happened to that. I think there is only so many times you can listen to the same shit before you start getting bored of it, like playing a song on repeat all the time. That's why rock will always be here, even though its not as new and as advanced it all sounds different and every band try's something new and it's the shows that ultimately makes Rock what it is today…. AWSOMELY HUGE!!!

Dude, who wants to see some dude behind a laptop when u can go out to watch a full piece band giving a performance and playing their hearts out? a band interacts with the crowd and feeds energy back to the people who are watching. Rock gives that personal touch and is always willing to take things one step further for the fans, no questions asked…. Lets use Ozzy Osbourne as an example…. That dude has done more on stage for his fans than anyone else I have ever heard of… Hes fucking old now and he's still rocking it out…… Dude, that's Rock & Roll.

TRUCKER: It's the only style of music that everybody in the world can in some way relate to. The ‘dance generation' proved this by remixing some of the rock scenes legends. If I have to listen to another Nirvana or Pearl Jam remix….

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE SOUTH AFRICAN ROCK SCENE AT THE MOMENT AND WHAT PART OF IT DO YOU FIND THE MOST EXITING?

WAYNE: The scene is very awesome now… bands galore, fans galore and really cool. Festivals and shows. South Africa has managed to get her foot in the door, we are attracting some attention in the overall world market and I think we have Seether to thank for that, as they are our biggest music export. There are some really great bands here that I dig and we have great potential and fantastic musicians, and dude … the fans can get WILD!!!

Which is awesome. For me the most exciting part of the scene are all the festivals…. I love them. Also, as I mentioned earlier, is that there is some interest from oversees looking into our bands here and the opportunities that will open for the musicians and bands are going to be radical.

TRUCKER: I'm glad to see the SA Rock scene booming again. The way that festivals have grown over the last couple of years is insane. Just look at Rocking the Daisies where they actually had to turn people away at the gates.

PEOPLE CAN GO AND LISTEN TO YOUR SONG “PYROMANIAC” ON FACEBOOK. WILL MOST OF THE SONGS THAT YOU RELEASE IN THE NEAR FUTURE HAVE THE SAME TYPE OF “SOUND” OR ARE YOU EXPLORING THE POSSIBILITY OF USING OTHER “SOUNDS” AS WELL?

WAYNE: To be honest, I don't really remember the motive behind recording a slow song first, The next song that we are going to release is another slow one that willbe our radio single that we plan to submit to all the local stations once we receive it back from mastering. It was a suggestion that was made to us that we should do a slower song first as a radio single to attract some attention toward the band…. Which we open mindedly took. All our other tracks are heavier and more driven and we are planning to do another recording very soon of which will definitely be a heavier song.

TRUCKER: Pyromaniac is one of two mellow tracks that we have in our set at the moment. Although the response from the online track has been great, people seem to enjoy our other tracks more when it comes to the live set.

YOUR BAND BIO ON FACEBOOK MENTIONS THE WORDS: “…SUBTLE USE OF COMMERCIAL INFLUENCES…” DO YOU THINK THAT MOST BANDS ARE INFLUENCED IN SOME WAY BY COMMERCIAL MUSIC EVEN IF THEY DON'T WANT TO ADMIT IT?

WAYNE: Yeah I definitely think so, Dude I have found myself listening to Ah-HA on occasion… and I think that some of their stuff is pretty cool, I do try and keep an open mind to things as I don't want to limit myself in any way… I think that most people won't admit it out aloud but there are some cool commercial stuff out there… Nirvana has become very commercial and it still rocks the socks off you. Commercial means: fit for a wide popular market and with the way things are going even some heavy metal may become just that….

TRUCKER: I think that all bands in some way or another are influenced by commercial music. Even the bands that try to stayaway from it. WITH THE WORD “COMMERCIAL” COMES THE WORD “RADIO”.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE STATE THAT LOCAL RADIO IS CURRENTLY IN AND DOES THE BAND HAVE ASPIRATIONS OF GETTING ITS MUSIC ONTO RADIO?

WAYNE: Unfortunately I don't listen to much radio so I wouldn't know what the state is, but we are planning to get on the stations. All bands need exposure and is the perfect tool for that. The more people that hear us the better, we may attract more fans. What would u rather do, play a show for 40 people or play a show for 400 people. The more people at a show the more energy, the more energy the better the show… its all a cycle dude.

TRUCKER: You can play the best music in the world but that still doesn't mean shit if nobody hears your music. It seams that rock bands are finally topping the charts again so things are definitely looking up.

WHAT TYPE OF IMPACT WOULD YOU GUYS LIKE YOUR MUSIC TO HAVE ON PEOPLE?

WAYNE: I would like the people to enjoy what we write, enjoy our shows and Fuckin rock out with us, man.

TRUCKER: We're not here to change the world. If we can get people to relate to the songs in some way or another and just have an awesome time with us, I'll be happy.

WHAT SONG HAS HAD THE BIGGEST IMPACT ON YOU AND WHY?

WAYNE: Alice in chains – Man in the box….. dude, That song is the fuckin Bees Knees…. It has so much emotion in it… I can also relate to it and to Lane's Struggles that he had and I have been through some similar shit man… Lane is a legend to me. And they are probably my favourite band.

I SEE YOU GUYS HAVE A FEW SHOWS LINED UP IN THE NEXT MONTH. WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE KNOWN MORE AS A GREAT LIVE ACT OR AS GREAT RECORDING ARTISTS?

WAYNE: I love playing live shows…. So for me it would have to be a live band, but recording is also very cool and there is no feeling like recording a track and seeing a song grow from beginning to end and the anticipation of waiting to see how the fans will take the songs.

TRUCKER: Recording is cool but live shows are definitely what it's all about.

HOW HARD IS IT TO GET “A FOOT IN THE DOOR” AND GET GREATER OPPORTUNITIES TO PLAY LARGER SHOWS THESE DAYS ON THE LOCAL SCENE?

WAYNE: Dude its all about how big the band is, the more fans u have the bigger show you'll play and the more opportunities will arise. That's why bands should try and get on the radio as much as they can… it's all about exposure and getting your music out there and heard. TRUCKER: It's still about getting your music heard and being at the right place at the right time. So basically, just be everywhere all the time and doors will open.

SUPERMAN OR BATMAN?

WAYNE: Batman is cool with his suit and all but he's only a vigilante and not a super hero, so he would get pulverised by superman. I also take my hat off to a dude that can pick up a hot girl wearing red and blue tights…. The dude is legend in my books. I say superman..

TRUCKER: Use to be superman because of the whole “the only superhero that was born a superhero”But have you seen Batmans car? Fuck.

ANY LAST COMMENTS/ADVISE OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

WAYNE: Yeah… firstly I would thank Theo Crous for the huge opportunity of recording with him, to Yolande From YSP photographyfor the work she has done for the band, I would like to thank all our members of fan page, our band members and the best for last,our special lady friends for giving their guys up for three whole nights in the week… and everyone who know us and who don'tknow us yet….