FOKOFPOLISIEKAR

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LIAM LYNCH
WEBSITE: www.fokofpolisiekar.co.za
COUNTRY: South Africa STYLE: Rock

Interview Answered by Francois van Coke

A SHORT WHILE BACK YOU COLLABORATED WITH DIE ANTWOORD FOR THE SONG “DOOS DRONK” HOW DID THAT COLLABORATION COME TOGETHER AND WILL YOU PERFORM IT AGAIN IF DIE ANTWOORD IS ON THE SAME BILL AS YOU GUYS?

We have been fans of Max Normal for a while. They were fucking amazing live. Waddy(Ninja) came to me and said he wrote a chorus for me, that I have to sing. We spoke about it briefly and we got Johnny on board. He made the beat and I went to sing the chorus is his studio. That was it. If we have the chance to do it again we will, definitely. It was great performing the song with them at Ramfest this year.

HOW BIG OF AN IMPACT DO YOU THINK ALL YOUR SIDE PROJECTS WILL HAVE ON THE “SOUND” OF ANY FUTURE NEW MATERIAL THAT YOU WRITE FOR THIS BAND?

Fokofpolisiekar will stay Fokof. Johnny and Hunter is the main writers and when they get together it will be Fokof.

IF ONE LOOKS AT HOW YOU GUYS ARE HERE AND THEN THE NEXT MOMENT YOU’RE OVER THERE DOING SOMETHING DIFFERENT MUSICALLY HOW HAVE YOU KEPT THE BAND “ALIVE”?

We established Fokof when we did that full time for the first couple of years. All of us are friends and it is like a family reunion every time we get together. Obviously we like making music together.

IN APRIL YOU DREW A CROWD MADE UP REPORTEDLY OF A RECORD 1400 PEOPLE AT THE KLEIN LIBERTAS THEATRE. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE BIGGEST CROWD IS THAT YOU HAVE PERFORMED FOR SO FAR?

Probably at Oppikoppi main stage or at the new year parties in Pretoria. It is difficult to say, maybe there was more people when we opened for Metallica, but the sun was still out.

BECAUSE THE BAND IS POPULAR ACROSS THE COUNTRY IS IT HARD TO REACH ALL YOUR FANS ON A REGULAR BASIS WITH LIVE SHOWS AS MUCH AS YOU WOULD LIKE TO?

Yes, because we only play bigger shows or festivals we hardly ever get to Durban or Natal as a whole. We would like to go there more often.

WITH THE RELEASE OF THE "FOKUMENTARY" COMING CLOSER AND CLOSER THE SPOTLIGHT WILL BE SHINING BRIGHT ON THE BAND AGAIN AND YOUR FANS WILL DEFINITELY FEEL NOSTALGIC AFTER WATCHING IT. DO YOU THINK THERE WILL BE RENEWED “PRESSURE” ON THE BAND TO RELEASE A NEW FULL LENGTH ALBUM IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE DOCUMENTARY?

Hopefully the documentary will lift our profile even more, but we have been planning another full length album since we finished ‘Antibiotika’. We will focus on that sometime next year.

NOW THAT I ALSO FEEL NOSTALGIC AND ONE THINKS ABOUT IT YOU GUYS REALLY HAVE DONE IT “ALL” IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSIC SCENE AND THERE WILL PROBABLY NEVER BE A BAND LIKE FOKOFPOLISIEKAR AGAIN, BUT ARE THERE CERTAIN GOALS YOU WOULD STILL LIKE TO REACH WITH THIS BAND?

It would be great to tour oversees again in the future and hopefully klap some of the European festivals. But, we would love to make another great album.

YOU MUST HAVE SEEN THE DOCUMENTARY ALREADY; DID IT LIVE UP TO YOUR EXPECTATIONS AND IN WHAT WAYS DOES IT SHOW THE BAND IN A DIFFERENT “LIGHT” THAN WHAT WE ARE USE TO SEEING?

I think the documentary looks great and we laughed a shitload when we checked it. In some of the behind the scenes footage we are very young and it is quiet embarrassing. Maybe our parents will be shocked, we were quiet crazy when we were younger.

HOW MANY HOURS OF FOOTAGE WAS THERE FOR THE GUYS FROM “FLY ON THE WALL” TO USE, AND WERE THERE DISCUSSIONS BETWEEN YOU AND THEM ABOUT WHAT YOU WANTED THE DOCUMENTARY TO BE LIKE OR DID YOU LEAVE IT ALL UP TO THEM?

They followed us around for about a year just before we took a break for a year and we gave them hours and hours of behind the scenes stuff to work through. So, there is great footage. You can’t make a doccy about yourself, so we left it up to them.

THERE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A BIT OF CONTROVERSY AROUND THE BAND, DO YOU THINK THAT THOSE TYPES OF “FIRES” WILL SLOWLY START BURNING AGAIN IF “SOME PEOPLE” SEE THIS DOCUMENTARY?

Maybe, but we heard that Christians really enjoy the doccy and that a pastor wants to show it in his church.

IN A PREVIOUS INTERVIEW YOU SAID THAT YOU DID NOT CONSIDER FOKOFPOLISIEKAR TO BE “COMMERCIALLY” SUCCESSFUL, BUT WHAT WOULD YOU SAY HAVE BEEN THE BIGGEST PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL SUCCESSES YOU’VE HAD WITH THIS BAND?

That is difficult to say, we don’t have a gold album. The first Afrikaans song to be play listed on 5, first Afrikaans nr1 on 5. I think we just achieved some things that was thought impossible, before we were around.

SOME SAY BAND NAMES DON’T PLAY SUCH A BIG ROLE IN A BAND’S SUCCESS BUT DO YOU THINK THE BAND WOULD HAVE COME AS FAR AS IT HAS IF IT WASN’T CALLED FOKOFPOLISIEKAR?

The name was a very important thing for us and it is a great name. We knew it was going to have a impact initially, but we also knew we had to be a great band with great songs to back it up.

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

Thank you for the interview.