Here's the lineup for the next Park Acoustics.
Nice, very nice.
Showing posts with label Park Acoustics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Park Acoustics. Show all posts
Monday, 8 July 2013
Sunday, 26 May 2013
New video: Al Bairre | We Move On
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| Al Bairre at Park Acoustics PHOTO: Christelle Duvenage |
My favourites, (I have no qualms about saying that on my blog) Al Bairre, have released a music video for their track "We Move On". It's the perfect example of how to make a super cool video with a small budget. Food fight, anyone?
Also watch Al Bairre's Splashy Fen video. It's good laugh:
Monday, 13 May 2013
Sons of Settlers take the scenic route to stardom
This article was originally published in Perdeby on 13 May 2013.
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| PHOTO: Christelle Duvenage |
Train. Gig. Drive. Gig. Drive. Gig.
Sons of Settlers are on their Playing The Fool Tour, a
double-headlining endeavour with friends and fellow Cape Town musicians
Holiday Murray. They decided to take a train that snakes all the way up
north to Gauteng, choosing to ditch the airport drama for a scenic
cross-country view and loud impromptu carriage jam sessions instead.
They’ve stopped at Park Acoustics on the Pretoria leg of their tour
and, as the first act on the bill, Sons of Settlers delivered a lush,
pop rock-laden set complete with the odd scattering of folk. It’s the
perfect start to the day, despite two of the strings on lead vocalist
Gerdus Oosthuizen’s guitar, Olivia, breaking.
Afterwards, they head to where the comedy show will later take place.
Bassist Ryno Buckle, who his band mates affectionately call “Buckle”,
flops onto the small stage like a rag doll. He’s the unlucky one who was
tasked with driving the 600 km from the band’s gig in Durban the night
before.
“Next time we’ll do it by boat,” jokes Oosthuizen.
“Yes, I think so.
Play coastal towns and then take the boat inland,” agrees lead guitarist
Leroi Nel in jest.
“We talk a lot of crap,” adds drummer Justin
“Bossie” Bosman, almost apologetically.
Truth is, Sons of Settlers never intended on sharing their music with
anyone when they began making tunes. It all came together when
Oosthuizen (former lead guitarist of spacey indie rock outfit New
Holland) and Nel (former lead vocalist of the wildly popular Afrikaans
classical prog rock band Foto na Dans) would hang out and jam after yoga
practice. Buckle (also of New Holland fame) had been playing in various
bands with Oosthuizen since they were kids and joined them soon
afterwards.
The trio’s previous bands were winding down and they were all looking
for a much-needed creative outlet. After coming up with a few basic
riffs, they decided to add a drummer to the mix and make it official.
That’s where Bossie came in.
Were they worried about reintroducing themselves to audiences who already associated them with their previous bands?
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| PHOTO: Christelle Duvenage |
“Not at all,” says Nel, followed by a synchronised “I don’t care”
from the rest of the band.“There wasn’t an intention [to make our music
public], so there wasn’t any pressure. There was no pressure to be
launched as something new, or something different. We were enjoying what
we were doing and thought that people would enjoy it too,” Nel
explains.
Oosthuizen says that with their previous projects their measure of
success involved certain things like getting a slot at Oppikoppi or
getting nominated for a SAMA. Sons of Settlers, he says, is already
successful.
“Our success has been the fact that we have been able to
play together, and have the union that we have on stage, and have the
great experience that we do. We are already winning,” he says.
The foursome is very close to completing their debut album, which
they’re looking at releasing in July. They’ve taken a totally DIY
approach to it, starting with recording all the tracks at Oosthuizen’s
parent’s house in Onrus, something Bossie says allowed the band to
capture an energy that sounds better than if they were pressed to get
everything done in a regular studio.
Sons of Settlers also chose to combine recording the album live with
working on it in studio. This way, Oosthuizen maintains, the album has a
temporal aspect to it. “You’ve got this real, organic, live, breathing
thing but you can pretty it up and still buff it up,” he says.
When it comes to lyrical themes, Sons of Settlers say they touch on a
couple of main ideas, but their first offering is in no way a concept
album. Oosthuizen went through a break-up during the process of creating
the album, which is reflected in songs like “Former Lover”. There are
also the less amorous tracks which deal with how the band sees society
working or not working.
“Something we brought up a lot is a consumerist society, the
unsustainability of the way that the system is going,” explains
Oosthuizen.
Other songs are more frivolous though, like “I Know That You
Want Me”, a song which consists entirely of the lyrics “I want your
body / It makes me do karate / I know that you want me”.
Nel says that the collective concept that in some way ties the album
together is self-empowerment. “The way we perceive things and the way we
separate ourselves from it and we don’t necessarily agree with it, and
that we don’t necessarily need it to feel like ourselves,” he says.
“I think the people that are most excited to have this record in
their hands are these guys sitting right here,” adds Oosthuizen, looking
at his band mates.
So where to next for Sons of Settlers? “We actually have a bunch of
songs that we didn’t get to finish in time for this album and we were
talking about it. We’re not tired of this set, but it’s time to move on.
We’re not planning on riding this wave and seeing where it goes. We’re
writing some kiff stuff now,” Oosthuizen says.
And the rest of the tour?
Break. Gig. Train.
The return of Holiday Murray
This interview was originally published in Perdeby on 13 May 2013.
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| PHOTO: Christelle Duvenage |
“With any creative relationship, it requires some time to
get perspective. That’s definitely made us realise how important it is
to play music together and also to give us time to soak up more
inspiration.”
Holiday Murray’s bassist Chris Carter is talking about
the Cape Town band’s six-month hiatus, a sabbatical of sorts, while he
ventured off to India for a while.
Soak up inspiration they did, and now, with mysterious
Tanzanian stick man traveller Murray in tow, and a 600 km journey
through the night from Durban behind them, they are at Park Acoustics.
Arms woven together, the band huddles ritualistically before taking to
the stage.
What’s the huddle all about? “It’s a secret,” says lead
guitarist Justin Davenport later with a mischievous smile. “Something
happens.”
Whatever it is, the foursome delivers a labyrinth of
intricate sound, a declaration of intent, an invitation to go on an
illusory journey.
Their particular journey started when the band released
their self-titled debut album in 2011. Two years later, Holiday Murray
is five tracks into their follow-up release. The band is toying with the
idea of recording two EPs this time around, with the money from the
first one intended to fund the second. A limited vinyl edition is also
on the cards.
“I think it’s going to be a double-headed album and we
want to look at the interplay between two different styles,” explains
Davenport.
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| PHOTO: Christelle Duvenage |
The band wants to delve into two worlds with these
different styles, the one exploring a velvety, complex sound while the
other dips into a bigger, boisterous, rock ‘n’ roll one. “We’re still
exploring, we’re just playing. We’re not too serious. We’re still
young,” says Davenport.
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| PHOTO: Christelle Duvenage |
having a more produced sound
with bigger, edgier songs and then taking a DIY approach to the rest of
the material.
Either way, they are steering their sound into a
direction quite different from the one that their immensely popular
first song “Jirey” pushed them into.
“It’s not necessarily that we don’t want to make happy
music, but there are a whole range of devotions and ideas that we want
to come through that aren’t just happy-go-lucky, make-you-dance music,”
explains Carter.
“As different as it is to us, it might be different to
other people and that’s cool. We want to keep on surprising people.
We’re going to continue making music that makes us happy and if it makes
other people happy, then it’s an absolute bonus,” says drummer Ellis
Silverman.
When it comes to lyrical content, Davenport says, Holiday
Murray’s music has always been quite metaphorical. A lot of the time it
gets lost in the spaces between the band’s multi-layered sound.
“We talk about a lot of things that have relevance to us
and the way we see the world,” says Davenport. “They often come out
quite ...”
“... abstract,” offers Carter.
Overall, though, Holiday Murray have never chosen to
tackle any specific topic through their music. “It’s just a journey of
words and poetry,” says Davenport.
And to finish this new journey that they are embarking
on, they are heading back home to Cape Town. Rather unconventionally,
they’re doing so by train.
“The scenery is absolutely unbelievable,” says Silverman.
“The number of times you look out into the absolute nothingness and
just think, ‘F**k!’ That’s all you really think. Well I do, at least.”
“I had a few deeper thoughts,” retorts Carter comically.
“I bet you did. Do you care to share?” says Silverman looking back at
him.
“Not really,” is the reply he gets.
“Fine.”
BOOTLEG | Holiday Murray - Live at Kirstenbosch from we-are-awesome on Vimeo.
Monday, 25 March 2013
Gil Hockman releases new EP
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| Gil Hockman at Park Acoustics PHOTO: Christelle Duvenage |
Gil Hockman has released a 5-track EP called All The Little Things. Take a listen below to it below and then download the EP on Bandcamp, where you can name the price you want to pay for it. Be generous, okay? It's a pretty cool collection of tracks.
Monday, 7 January 2013
Wednesday, 2 January 2013
"All I know is nothing comes for free"
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| The Plastics at Park Acoustics PHOTO: Christelle Duvenage |
This song has been stuck in my head since seeing The Plastics on New Year's Eve. Love it.
Sunday, 30 December 2012
Best Local Breakout Artists of 2012
Another list to add to your list of highly subjective year-end lists.
***
Jeremy Loops
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Jeremy Loops at Park Acoustics PHOTO: Christelle Duvenage
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Why?
1. You can't help but feel genuinely happy when listening to Jeremy Loops and his magic loop pedal and guitar.
1. You can't help but feel genuinely happy when listening to Jeremy Loops and his magic loop pedal and guitar.
2. He's joined on stage by Jamie Faull and his saucy sax and Moteo Molecko spitting out powerful rhymes.
3. Mr Loops loves his fans, he really really does.
Matthew Mole
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Matthew Mole at Park Acoustics PHOTO: Christelle Duvenage
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Why?
1) He wins Movember, hands down.
2. He's a tad goofy with his sometimes indecipherable sense of humour that comes through when he speaks to the audience.
3) You can see he really, really does love what he does.
Where to find Matthew Mole:
Soundcloud
Al Bairre
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Al Bairre at Park Acoustics PHOTO: Christelle Duvenage
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Why?
1) They're cool kids without trying to be, and without provoking me to punch them in the stomach.
2) You can download their EP,When I Was Tall, for free over here. It's highly addictive and has been playing on repeat on my computer, in my car and most of all, in my head since I downloaded it a couple of weeks ago.
3) They have lyrics like: "All I ever wanted was to be imaginary/ I would hide under my bed with the monsters that were scary."
Where to find Al Bairre:
Soundcloud
The Dollfins
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The Dollfins at Park Acoustics PHOTO: Christelle Duvenage
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Why?
1) They're one of the few female-fronted bands in South Africa that actually kick ass.
2) You can download their debut album for free over here.
3) They have nicknames like Fuck You, Bear Trap and Pussy Slap.
4) They're all ridiculously good looking.
4) They really don't give a flying anything about what you or anybody else thinks about them.
Where to find The Dollfins:
Soundcloud
Tuesday, 2 October 2012
Wednesday, 29 August 2012
Best. Lineup. Ever.
Park Acoustics have outdone themselves with September's lineup.
Jeremy Loops, Ashtray Electric, Shortstraw, Beach Party and The Dollfins?
It doesn't get much better than this.
Sunday, 26 August 2012
Sun. Wine. Music.
Ah, what a weekend for live music in P-Town. My ears are still ringing and my whiplash hasn't gone away but I carry my war wounds proudly.
On Friday night I covered Goodnight Wembley's debut at Arcade Empire for Perdeby (the article will be in next week's paper). They were magnificent, despite a few teething problems like George van der Spuy's vocals being a bit too soft at times. Their sound is this really raw rock 'n' roll, quite unlike anything we have in the South African music scene at the moment. Shadowclub, one of my favourite local live acts, played before them and were equally as remarkable. The band played a bit of their new material which had a tinge of Radiohead to it. It gave me goosebumps. I'm really looking forward to the release of their second album, hopefully the wait won't be too long. My Epic Vice opened the show but were mostly unremarkable.
Then, today, I went to Park Acoustics at the Voortrekker Monument. Lazing in the sun, drinking cheap wine out of sippy cups and listening to live music is probably the best thing way to bid farewell to the weekend. Dan Patlansky, Holiday Murray, Andrew James and Manny Walters and The Width entertained our ears and boy, did they do a good job. My ears say thanks, and so do I.
I'm going to stop writing now. This is turning into one of those live reviews and for the most part, I hate live reviews. Probably because I associate them with poor quality online music magazines. Ha.
But anyway, hope you all had a good one too.
Here's some photos from Park Acoustics.
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| Four Cousins out of a sippy cup. These are the days of our (student) lives. |
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| Andrew James is incredible with his acoustic guitar and lap slide. Reminded me of Xavier Rudd. |
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| Holiday Murray. I've been a big, big fan of theirs for quite a while now but only got the chance to see them live for the first time today. Their performance was as good as their recorded material and it made happy. |
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| Dan Patlansky. Are there really any words to describe how talented this man is? No. Watching him play, it looks like he is trying to wrestle a demon out of his guitar. He wins. Every time. |
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| The view from Fort Schanskop. |
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| The Voortrekker Monument as the sun went down. Good weekend, good. |
Tuesday, 21 August 2012
Thursday, 24 May 2012
Thursday, 10 May 2012
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