A B TURBO

PHOTOGRAPHY BY IAN ENGELBRECHT
WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/abturbo
COUNTRY: South Africa STYLE: Progressive / Punk / Melodramatic Popular Song

B = Brett Allen-White, M = Matthew James

I DON’T ASK BANDS ABOUT THEIR NAMES REALLY THAT MUCH ANYMORE, BUT I AM REALLY CURIOUS TO KNOW HOW YOU GUYS CAME UP WITH AB TURBO?

M: Press ‘A’, ‘B’, and “Turbo” while you’re playing Contra, and see what happens.

B: If you think about it, we're the Nintendo generation, born in the early and mid eighties... we're the first group of people to have grown up with cellular phones, high speed internet, amazing graphics cards... it's just interesting to be part of the "Communications Age".

M: We came up with the name at the Riverclub in Obs, and had been juggling between ideas for ages. The ‘A’ an the ‘B’ actually stand for Absolutely Brilliant. Or was it Antelope Brain...? I forget.

I CAN DEFINITELY HEAR WHERE THE “TURBO” PART COMES INTO YOUR MUSIC. DO YOU PLAY ANYTHING THAT HAS LESS THAN 160 BEATS PER MINUTE?

M: Well, Green and Gold is pretty slow and driving, but what we try to do is create a sense of texture and variety in the tempo of our songs. I think a live set or an album should be written and structured like a storyline, with peaks and dips in the right places to keep you interested.

THE LOCAL SCENE IS DOMINATED BY METAL / HARDCORE AND RADIO FRIENDLY ROCK THESE DAYS. WHAT CONVINCED YOU TO “SWIM UPSTREAM” AND GO IN THE PUNK ROCK / POST HARDCORE ROUTE RATHER THAN PLAYING A HEAVIER GENRE OF MUSIC?

M: We’d been doing the metal/hardcore thing for a while, and for me personally, the screaming and singing 50-50 combo was not so rad. It was getting predictable. But now I’m not sure where to classify us.

B: We listen to everything. Each member of the band has their own distinct musical taste. I love Southern hardcore, bands like Every Time I Die and He is Legend, and other bands like Converge (too heavy) or SigurRos (too Icelandic) that I'm not allowed to play in the car when we all go out, but then I'm also fine with a little Taking Back Sunday or Paramore.

M: True. And I’m sure the punk rock fans will say we’re not punk rock enough, and the tattooed post hardcore kids will say the we’re not post hardcore enough either. I’m not sure which genre will claim us.

B: I'd actually consider us a rock band, with influences that come from punk rock, hardcore, heavy metal, classic rock, pop... yeah, we're just a product of what we love.

YOU GUYS HAVE AN ENTIRE EP’S WORTH OF SONGS AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD AT: WWW.LOADTHESHOW.COM/SHOW/ABTURBO, I GUESS YOU’VE GOT TO GIVE A LITTLE TO GET SOMETHING BACK?

M: We want our music to be heard, and it’s pretty clear that these days it’s much easier to get your music out there over the internet. And it’s free as well.

B: I didn't know about that. See you in court.

ACCORDING TO YOUR MYSPACE BIO THE BAND IS WRITING NEW MATERIAL AND RECORDING AT ITS HOME STUDIO. HOW HAS THE PROCESS BEEN GOING SO FAR AND IS THIS SHAPING UP TO BE AN EP OR AN ALBUM AT THIS STAGE?

B: Ah, we're writing new songs and recording demos of them all the time, we sort of e-mail them to each other and give opinions, it's great. Devon and Pete are writing the sort of songs that I'd listen to even if I wasn't in the band. I think it's important, you know, to really enjoy what you're making.

M: At this stage, there is definitely an album in the works. Our studio is currently getting re-vamped, and in the meantime, we’re writing and tweaking our new tracks, getting design work together for merch, and basically getting everything ready. The release date for the album will hopefully be known soon, but if you guys don’t know it, then we probably don’t either.

ON MANY OF THE SONGS THAT YOU HAVE POSTED ONLINE YOU GUYS MAKE USE OF VARIOUS PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES, ACOUSTIC GUITARS AND EFFECTS. EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE A “SOUND” IS IT FUN TO EXPERIMENT WITH IT AND TO SEE “HOW DEEP THE RABBIT HOLE GOES”?

M: Of course! It’s always great to experiment during post-production. Sometimes it will just be clear to us that a certain guitar part will sound perfect on a steel string acoustic, and we’ll change it, or maybe put piano behind another part of a song, even though we don’t haul a grand piano to our shows.

B: I joined the band after the songs we have online were written and recorded, so I'm looking forward to recording our new ones, and being part of the production process.

I’VE TALKED TO A FEW PEOPLE WHO SAY THAT EVERY GOOD RIFF IN ROCK MUSIC HAS ALREADY BEEN WRITTEN AND THAT BANDS TODAY ARE JUST REWORKING WHAT HAS ALREADY BEEN CREATED, DO YOU THINK THAT IS TRUE IN SOME ASPECTS WHEN YOU SEE HOW MANY BANDS ARE PERFORMING COVERS THESE DAYS?

B: That's like saying every good story has already been told. I disagree. Of course there are a lot of unoriginal bands out there, but we're not interested in them.

WHAT HAS BEEN THE WEIRDEST THING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN OR DONE THAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE A SONG AT A LATER STAGE?

B: As far as I know, one of our new songs is inspired by our guitarists drunken argument with the sun at Ramfest this year, but I wasn't around for the infamous "What if your head was the theme song from 'Murder She Wrote’, and your neck was a leather bound book, and... oh... where's my beer?" conversation. I was swimming in the Breede with Donovan from Valkyrie Fighter. In the nude. For this, we will not apologise.

M: I believe it was the theme song from Cheers. Devon and Sean also saw some old drunk man at Peddlars in Constantia, on a very regular basis, in the same chair, with what always looked like the same drink. So Devon wrote a song about him. I think that guys still there. Waiting for what, we do not know.

MAY IS GOING TO BE A BIG MONTH FOR YOU GUYS WHEN YOU OPEN FOR HASTE THE DAY AT THE KLEIN LIBERTAS THEATRE. DO YOU THINK THAT OPENING SHOWS FOR INTERNATIONAL ACTS LIKE HASTE THE DAY WILL OPEN MORE DOORS FOR YOU IN THE FUTURE?

B: We certainly hope so. It's a huge blessing. I still have knots in my stomach when I think about it.

M: Definitely! Although I dont get knots until about a day before. I think it’s about time we got the recognition we deserve, and it’s a great feeling. I feel like getting chances like these is alot like trying to pick up wet soap. It’s possible, but it’ll take a while before it happens. And some of them slip right through your fingers. I could do soap analogies for hours. Regardless, we’re ecstatic.

DO YOU GUYS SPEND MUCH TIME GOING OUT TO WATCH OTHER BANDS, AND HAVE YOU EVER BEEN INFLUENCED IN A POSITIVE WAY TO BE A BETTER MUSICIAN, BY WATCHING ANOTHER BAND PERFORM?

B: I attend as many gigs as possible, at least one a week, two if they're on at different times or evenings. It's important to support other bands and show pride in our scene. Last week Matthew, our guitarist Devon and I drove out to Stellenbosch to watch Fokofpolisiekar and the Slashdogs at Klein Libertas, and on Thurs I went to watch C.D.C and Yes Sir! Mister Machine at ROAR.

M: I enjoy watching other bands, and I often find myself watching the performances to see where we can improve as a band, and as a vocalist. I often find myself getting new inspiration and getting amped to perform after I’ve watched a live set. The last time that happened, I think I went to go see Ashtray Electric.

B: I'm a huge Tonight We Die fan, and Wilbert, their original bassist, inspired me to focus more on my instrument and to push the bass lines further. Watching Blindside live here was also amazing and got me excited about making music again.

IF YOU HAD TO CHOOSE ONE GIG AS YOUR BEST ONE SO FAR WHICH ONE WOULD IT BE AND WHAT CAN PEOPLE WHO HAVE NEVER SEEN YOU LIVE EXPECT TO SEE AT AN AB TURBO SHOW?

B: My favourite was our first gig at Mercury Lounge. It just felt like a good, fun rock and roll show, in comparison to some huge budget theatre production where the beer is too expensive.

M: I’d love to say the Pro-X Extreme Games, but it was actually just way to hot for everyone. And it was the biggest stage I’d ever set foot on, so it was a little intimidating. I guess my best show so far was at the New Altum Music Video Launch. That was awesome.

EVER HAD ANYTHING WEIRD THROWN AT YOU WHILE PERFORMING ON STAGE?

B: I've been fed a cheese and Marmite sandwich during a gig.

M: I got bought a brandy and coke once, but fortunately it wasn’t thrown. He did throw a piercing glance my way when it got knocked over.

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

B: I'd like to thank Yes Sir! Mister Machine, Verona Walls, Valkyrie Fighter and New Altum, good friends and good bands we've had the privledge of gigging with so far, and the members of the Cape Town scene who have stuck around since the Purple Turtle days and put up with all our nonsense. Our nonsense. Uh... Southern Suburbs, Rock, City!