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!