CTEMF 2012 from one small seed on Vimeo

CTEMF 2012

March 2012 saw a selection of Cape Town’s electronic music scene come together in celebration of its existence. Through a series of development workshops, Satellite events and a core three day festival the process of presenting an annual look into the multiple facets of South Africa’s electronic music scene had begun.

Last year we caught up with some of the DJs/producers after they had played for our post-event review…

I thought the layout and location of the festival was pure genius, the sloped floor leading down towards the stage and backstage area were brilliant, the sound was amazing, the bars were always clean and quick and the weather just perfect. (Fabio Di Cosmo aka DJ Cosmo from Digital Rocket)

For me the most important part about CTEMF was how professional the whole event was run. Truly a worldclass event that I believe will grow, and in future become the cornerstone of the Cape Town music calendar. (Floyd Lavine)

You need the time for the festival to grow – to morph. Numbers are not the most important thing. This is the first time we have hosted something like this in SA; CTEMF really set a standard, and people should be aware of that. (Audiophile021)

CTEMF 2013

Now one year on, the CTEMF proudly reopens its window onto the ever-growing world of South Africaʼs electronic music scene. Once again we reach back to the roots of how it all started and discover what continues to inspire. Who has progressed and why and who are the names to watch. Which global artists shape trends in South Africa and, more importantly, who are the South African artists that are shaping trends globally.

2013 sees CTEMF proudly welcoming its first International guest, non other than Richie Hawtin. As one of the initial role players in the global techno movement in early ’90s, he has continued to be a driving force both on and off stage, positioning him currently as number two artist in Resident Advisorʼs 2012 DJ poll.

| Elektronik Dialogues | Haezer: the interview from one small seed on Vimeo
 

Locally, CTEMF will once again present a selection of the absolute cream of the crop of our Electronic Music Scene. From scene originators and business leaders to the up & coming mavericks and industry revolutionaries. There is no other festival like it in South Africa. The CTEMF continues to strive for an inclusive view of the scene around it – Past, Present & Future. Once again you are invited to rearrange your sonic geography. Be A Part.

The Competition

1. Like Cape Town Electronic Music Festival (CTEMF) and one small seed Magazine & TV on Facebook

 

2. Follow @CTEMF and @onesmallseedSA on Twitter and ReTweet this competition

 

3. Leave a comment telling us if there’s anyone else you would’ve had added to the line-up if you could have…

 
The two winners will be announced on Monday the 7th February at 16h00

All tickets available on Webtickets
 

CHROME SPARKS

My lord, this track gets me every time. The layers work so well together, from those creepy male vocals to the harps to that bass that just kicks you in the teeth. And just when you thought you’d had enough, there are all those little nuances that just flow through you. This producer is one to listen out for. Pure auditory bliss, friends.
 
 
 
 
αtμ – ♥​(​V) (bonus track)

αtμ

damu the fudgemunk

Beatmaker Damu the Fudgemunk has done it again. We’ll be keeping an eye on this man, who somehow manages to capture the old school, soulful vibe that hip-hop can so easily claim, without sounding dated. You’ll have this track on repeat all day. Don’t say we didn’t warn you…
 
 
 
 
Afta-1 – Love Suite

afta-1

kaytranada aka kaytradamus

fybe-one

PETE PHILLY & PERQUISITE

FAT FREDDY'S DROP

Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you started to organise events?

My father is a professional jazz drummer, so I grew up playing drums and guitar and by 1997 I had a band. We were playing punk rock and hardcore music. Electronic music came by the end of 1997 – while traveling in Miami I was introduced to breaks and house music. At home besides playing with the band,

I was taking my PC everywhere playing this ‘weird’ 4 x 4 music, unknown to everyone that surrounded me, with a Winamp and a mouse.

In 2002 I moved to London where I touched a real mixer for the first time and had my first paid gig in a club. In 2003 I met Enrico and Ross from the Antiworld Events. At first I asked for a gig, but I ended up distributing flyers all over London. From being a flyer distributor to main promoter and resident DJ, I believe that I learnt the art and tricks of promoting with these guys – they were sharp! In 2004, myself and two other partners started our own events company called Digital Hive. At our second event we gathered 1 500 people. In 2006 I decided to create something new, something more daylight, something fresh. Kinky Disco was born and we’ve been operating since then.

What was your initial motivation behind the Kinky Disco events?

We promoted an event in an old abandoned library in South London. The main room was huge, the ceiling was very high and made out of glass. Sunday morning the sun rose and shone inside the venue, it was a different environment for a dance floor, taking into consideration that for the majority of the time people in London spent their weekend dancing in dark rooms. You could see in everyone’s faces that everyone was cheering up merely because

they could see the sky from the dance floor and there was natural light.

A good friend of mine approached me and said ’I wish we had more venues like this man’. I heard the ’ding’ and saw an imaginary light bulb on the top of my head. Since then I decided to take my dance floors outdoors.

Six years since the first Kinky Disco party – looking back, what have been some of your favourite memories?

A good memory was at the first Kinky Disco rooftop party of last year’s season. By the end of the event (2am) the dance floor was at its best – just like it was six hours before. But our time was over and we had to cut the music off.

The crowd went mental, nobody wanted to leave the dance floor – it was crazy.

And the next moment everyone on the dance floor was singing songs. It was a funny moment because you could feel the high vibrations and it took us about two hours to exit 400 people out of the venue.

Being involved in throwing parties for this long – do you think there are other organisations that are following the Kinky Disco concept nowadays? If so, how do you feel about this?

Sure there are. I feel honoured. It’s great to know that my vision and concept is tight to the point to influence other promoters. As long as newcomer promoters don’t see each other as competitors, but as work mates and walk in the same direction, only great things can come out of it. In the end we are all doing the same thing, we must all look after our guests in the best way possible and keep everybody together.

What is going to make this summer’s Kinky Disco events special?

Great music, great locations and a musically educated crowd. This is a sublime combination and we are very fortunate to have that. Besides that, we want to create a sort of ‘entertainment centre’ whenever possible, where guests have the option to walk onto the dance floor and party, or enjoy external activities like the pool, volley ball, football, slip ‘n’ slide, art and a clothing exhibition by local designers among a few other surprises that we want to keep as a secret for now.

What is the worst thing that could happen when organising an event like that?
Rain.

Tell us what the most important thing is when it comes to choosing the artists to perform at the Kinky Disco events?

It all comes down to music quality. We create a musical journey that starts at 90 BPM and gradually finishes at 120 BPM, in between you can expect down tempo, minimal, electronica, deep house, tech-house and some other weird stuff that you have to hear to understand.

It’s like choosing the right pilots to fly an aircraft.

It sometimes takes me three or four days to plan a line-up.

Is it important to have international acts?

It is and it is not. From the point of view of a promoter, it’s always nice to offer something new. It’s great to have internationals down here broadcasting fresh music, influencing local DJs and party people. However, I’ve seen well respected artists coming down and delivering a terrible performance, where a local DJ could have done way better.

Have you been to the European summer daylight parties? How do they compare to the SA ones?
I’ve spent seven years in Europe so I’ve been to quite a few. The big difference is: everything in Europe is much more affordable, especially technology. With a small budget you can have an amazing set-up and with a big budget you can create a mind blowing city. Another point is,

you can fly artists pretty much all over Europe for under R 1000 and because the market for big names is a bit saturated up there, their set fees are very different than here.

To sum it up: in Europe you can have a high-end production with more super-star DJs on the line-up with the same amount of guests that would attend an SA event. But we are getting there.

Is there a philosophy or mindset that you would want party-goers to take away from the Kinky Disco parties?
Yes… go wild!

Kinky Disco parties go on for 12 hours so you might not be too worried about this – but I’m going to ask anyway – how do you feel about the South African law being so strict about closing clubs/parties at 4 or even 2am? Why can’t we have after-hour clubs like in Berlin, for example?

Good question. Why can’t we? I don’t believe stopping alcohol consumption at 2am or 4am will change the statistics of violence in this country. I’d spend more time and money to find a real solution to fight against real criminals and let people party a bit longer.

The kinkiest experience you’ve ever had is… ?

Hahaha. I take it you’re talking about events… still…. my answer might be inappropriate for an online magazine.

What’s on your summer playlist for 2012?

Lot’s of stuff. At home it ranges from Sublime to Massive Attack.
At the party it would be from Kompakt Records to No.19 or Hypercolour.

When are your next events?
November 10th – Kinky Disco feat. Phonokemi (Berlin) and December 1st – Kinky Disco feat. Jennifer Cardini (France).

Lastly, how exactly does one ‘Take Fun Seriously’?
When you wake up on Monday regretting everything that you have done over the weekend. (laughs)
Hence a Facebook status of a guest and good friend of ours:

‘’ Looking forward to act like a normal human being on the dancefloor, talking sense instead of playing out a victory scene from the movie Brave Heart… was fun though…’’ – Warren Bokwe

 
 
 
 
 
 
Collaborating with Olmeca Tequila, who are famous for the ability to ‘ignite’ a party, means that it will be a tour not to be missed. Steve Aoki is an American electro house musician, record producer and the founder of Dim Mak records. He’s worked with the likes of Armand van Helden (Brrrat), Afrojack (No Beef), Laid Back Luke and Lil Jon (Turbulence), Tiësto (Tornado), LMFAO and Nervo (Livin my Love) and more. His awards include Best DJ of the year in 2007 (Paper magazine), Best Set of the Season in 2007 (Ibiza Awards), Best Party Rocker DJ in 2007 by BPM magazine and Best Mix Album of the Year in 2008 by Billboard.
 

 
Known for his crazy antics (he includes a canoe in his DJ Ryder – for crowd surfing!) and onstage performance, Steve Aoki offers up a head-banging, foot-stomping and extremely high-energy performance. Olmeca Tequila is excited to be involved with another top international DJ coming to SA. In keeping with their long-standing commitment to provide the best electronic music experiences to all the ‘party starting’ consumers of Olmeca Tequila and the public in general. Here are a few did-you-know facts about Steve Aoki that might surprise you…

• Steve Aoki is an avid fan of the hardcore straight-edge punk rock scene of the mid 90s.
• He began his DJ career under the moniker ‘Kid Millionaire’, which brought him a lot of success in the hip-hop community.
• He was a special character in two NBA games, despite the fact that he’s not anywhere near as awesome at basketball as he is at making music.
• Wonderland Avenue in LA, known for its street cred and infamy (ex-porn star John Holmes was involved in a 1981 quadruple homicide at an apartment on the narrow road), may soon gain notoriety for something new: the world’s most unlikely road where some of America’s most beloved recent electronic music has been made thanks to Steve Aoki who named his debut for New York-based Ultra Music and his own label Dim Mak Records, Wonderland.
• Arguably, no other producer has done more to raise the international profile of Los Angeles in underground electronic music circles than Steve Aoki. He broke bands such as Bloc Party, The Bloody Beetroots, Klaxons and The Gossip through deftly marketed single and full-length releases on his Dim Mak label, which he began in 1996 and now has over 250 releases.
• In May 2006 Aoki became a board member for MC5 bassist Michael Davis’ Music Is Revolution Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides music education support within public schools.

THE COMPETITION

We have 1 X double tickets to give away to the CT, JHB and DBN performance and 1 pair of SkullCandy headphones, here’s how you can win:

1. Drop us a Tweet with a link to this post, a mention of @onesmallseedSA, Electric Music, Olmeca SA & Steve Aoki. Also remember to include a hash tag with the city you live in – #JHB/#CPT/#DBN! (This is very important!)

2. Like both & one small seed Magazine & TV and Electric on Facebook.

3. Join either the Steve Aoki SA Tour DBN, Steve Aoki SA Tour CPT or Steve Aoki SA Tour JHB on Facebook.

4. The million dollar question: leave a comment telling us why you need these tickets…

The three winners (one for each city) will be announced on Monday 26 November. There will also be a fourth winner who gets to win a pair of SkullCandy headphones – this prize will go to the person who gives the most love to our Steve Aoki interview – so get sharing, Tweeting and commenting guys and girls! Stay posted and good luck!

Important information:

Tickets are now available at Computicket, so get moving and get yours.

Tour dates are as follows:

Durban: December 7th, The Wavehouse

Cape Town: December 7th (later), Thunder City

Johannesburg: December 8th, H20, Margaret Lane
 

Image: Adriaan Louw

Do you ever get high before you create tunes?

Luc Vermeer: We get fuuuucked. (laughs). No, we don’t smoke actually. We don’t need to, we’re quite stupid as it is. I guess it works for some people but I think if we smoked, we would make the most amazing Grammy Award-winning song and then if we’d look at it the next day it would be the shittest thing ever.
Sebastian Zanasi: Yeah. No drugs or alcohol when it comes to making music.
Luc: Alcohol sometimes.
Sebastian: We’re people who are so obsessed with music, it’s everything that we do all the time, so we’re always in the mood to make music. That’s the only thing we need to feel.

Do you know what a song is going to sound like before you make it?

Luc: It kinda depends. When we’re sampling something we might hear what we’re going to do with it but I don’t think we’ve actually visualised a song from scratch.  It usually takes one thing that triggers what we have in mind. So it can be a sample, drums or some chords that he (Sebastian) has laid down and then we’ll fire it from there.

When and how did you realise that people liked your music?

Luc: We bought all our Likes on Facebook. (loud laughs)
Sebastian: When we got to make something at Red Bull Studios in Cape Town for the first time that was a tiny bit of an indicator. And just sharing with friends and getting nice feed back from them.
Luc: There were also a lot of people at the album launch and it was weird to think that they’d come to watch us. In Pretoria people knew the tune and were singing along. That was just weird because Cape Town and Pretoria are so far away from each other. I think that’s when we realised that it wasn’t just people who we know that like our stuff.

Image: Loyiso Mzamane

When and how did you decide what musical direction Christian Tiger School would take?

Luc: We still haven’t decided that. (laughs)

There is no direction, we’re kinda just going down a hill in a trolley.

Sebastian: It’s such a weird thing because you obviously make music from what inspires you and that always changes. We’re constantly up and down. I’m not fully satisfied with what we’ve made.
Luc: There’s still a very experimental side to our music. We haven’t made enough songs yet. You need a good number of tracks before you can see what direction you’re going to take, even if it’s just a very broad direction…what we like more, what we feel more, what we’re best at.

You might add some vocals though?

Sebastian: Yeah.
Luc: I mean in a broad sense our main direction now is electronic and experimental but within that we don’t really know.
Sebastian: It’s going be this but within it there are just too many little niches and we still need to find ours. But yeah with the vocals…
Luc: For the next EP we want to get one rapper and one singer. Not sure who yet. But we’ll catch two nice elements of electronic music and hip hop and fuse them together.

Do you know who you would really want to work with?

Luc: Singers are easier. Well, they’re not easier but we are very specific when it comes to rappers because it’s very easy not to sound good with rapping.
Sebastian: Especially on electronic. When it comes to local singers we both enjoy Inge Beckman and Eve Rakow from the Frown. Internationally, it ranges from smaller acts, not smaller in size that is…
Luc: We just want midget rappers. (laughs)
Sebastian: Yeah.
Luc: Guys who have already dabbled into the experimental side of hip hop would be cool. Like Blu, for example, he’s already done stuff with Flying Lotus and Samiyam, that kind of stuff.
Sebastian: My one big dream would be Yukimi from Little Dragon, man, she’s so cool.

Image: Loyiso Mzamane

I really enjoyed the concert when they played here.

Sebastian: Yeah, my knees were wobbling throughout. She has the coolest melodic lines.

Did you get to meet her at all?

Sebastian: Yeah, I did it was crazy. And I wasn’t like, ‘Hey, I’m Sebastian I want you to sing on one of my songs’. I was really shy. But, they’re a nice bunch of people, Little Dragon.

Image:Christelle Duvenage

Sebastian: It’s so far out – it’s a dream – but I’d like to be signed by Warp. And then just tour with all the people we really enjoy listening to. Luc, what’s your dream? I know you want to skate down Long Street naked.
Luc: That’s actually a nightmare that happens every night…
I hope a bigger community with experimental music and hip hop will develop in South Africa. I think it’s rising now but it would just be nice to have events that are similar to Boiler Room and Low End Theory. I think in the future we’re going to have a lot of projects, like solo projects. So it’s going to be interesting. I might work on some more hip hop-ey stuff, he (Sebastian) is definitely going to do some electronic stuff. But those will always be side things. Christian Tiger School works so well and we’ve been doing this straight for about a year and we’ve only had two main arguments so far.

What international artists would you ask for advice?

Luc: Portishead, RJ D2, DJ Shadow and J Dilla if he was still alive.
Sebastian: Bibio and Mount Kimbie.
Luc: I’d say Portishead because their production style is quite interesting. They used to sample their drums and then resample and resample just to make it more low-fi. They also used to make a song and then press it on vinyl and then record it again. Also, they would find break beats and just slow them down a lot so it would be like ‘Funky Drummer Fast’, which is like, drum ‘n’ bass-ey and then slow it down completely, which would make it ominous. The pitching of the drums and how slow they are would make it sound dark.

Do you think non-electronic genres will die out in the future?

Sebastian: I think electronic music might get a whole lot more popular and it might get to a stage where within popular culture, those people might think that electronic music is taking over.
Luc: The only way for electronic music to take over is for it to replace acoustic music, like instrumental music, with the same sort of sound except it’s electronic. But I don’t think that’ll ever really happen because there’ll always be people who like acoustic music. You’ll never have an electronic band replacing a folk band.
Sebastian: And I don’t want it to happen either.

As much as electronic music is intensely beautiful there are things that just can’t be done by a computer and that has to remain.

Image: Loyiso Mzamane

Just because it’s on a laptop does that make it not music?

I mean people use electronic guitars, it’s still an instrument. I’m just talking equipment-wise. I don’t mean actual genres.
Sebastian: There’s always this stigma about it because a lot of great electronic artists don’t have musical musical backgrounds.
Luc: Classical backgrounds you mean?
Sebastian: Well, for example, Gold Panda doesn’t play an instrument, doesn’t know theory. So obviously he’s a musical person but he’s not musically trained. And I guess their argument is: now he’s making music, but why? That means I can do it. But on the other hand you get Little Dragon who were music students. They’re all using synths, keyboards and MIDI controls.
Luc: I guess it also depends on who’s making the song. You can draw out the notes for a keyboard sound, if you just do that, that’s not really being a musician. I think that’s what people don’t like when it comes to laptops because it’s so much easier to make a song than to actually do something on a piano.

Image: Loyiso Mzamane

How do you go about it?

Luc: I’m not classically trained and he’s getting there, he’s much more competent than me but we’ll find something and practice that progression. Well, I would because I’m not that good at piano. I’ll practice until I get it right and then we’ll record it. So it’s not like we’re cheating by drawing it out and then you say to someone: I composed that – although you just drew it out. It’s music but I think that’s what technophobes don’t find musical. A laptop is a musical instrument, a sampler is a musical instrument. It just depends on how you do it. If you just gather loops you’ve downloaded and put them together on garage band, then well done. And I’m just saying that because I started out doing loops on garage band but that’s just because I didn’t know any better.

Is remixing lazy?

Luc: I think it takes just as much skill. It’s just a different side of music creation because it’s always nice to see what someone does with a song. If you know the song that is being remixed it’s really interesting to see how people have changed it. For me, that’s the main reason for remixing. When I was into different electronic music, like dubstep and electro, I would always try and remix really crappy songs where people would say: uh that’s a really shit song but now there’s a cool twist to it.

Image: Loyiso Mzamane

And you can remix something well and not so well.

Luc: Yeah, definitely. You can get it so wrong. Just choose genres that just don’t go. Or maybe they could but you just did it wrong. Except for hip hop. Hip hop remixing is just putting another beat to the lyrics. It’s really funny.

What was the most awkward thing that ever happened when you played?

Luc: I had to lift my keyboard at Waiting Room because they were switching over at the end of our set and I started pretending that I was a butler with a pizza going: ‘Do you want some more?’ And then the cable that connects my laptop to my keyboard hooked the needle of the one turntable and it went zwooop and everyone heard that.
Sebastian: It happens often. That same gig I had to hold my little piece of equipment up in the air for 20 minutes and battle with a tired arm and faulty cables. I’m sure there are many more of those moments still to come. I’m so excited. (laughs)
Luc: At least I can hide behind my laptop, you got nowhere to go dude.

If you had to be in a boy band of the nineties which one would it be?

Luc: Backstreet Boys.
Sebastian: ‘N Sync because I have slightly curly hair and if I’d sit on Justin Timberlake’s lap…
Luc: No I don’t think you’d fit in because Justin Timberlake would tell you to get out, so maybe O-town for you…

Interview by Christine Hogg
Images by Loyiso Mzamane, Adriaan Louw, Christelle Duvenage

spoek mathambo - father creeper

Pomrad - Vlotjes

flying lotus - until the quiet comes

we sink - marooned

Giraffage

maths time joy - lightyears

Maths Time Joy – Lightyears feat. Thai Matic
This EP will blow your mind. The ttle track, Lightyears featuring Thai Matic is the perfect intro, showing off some amazing vocals with tiny little details that come together incredibly beautifully. You’ll thank us later. Remember, you heard it here first!

 
 
 
 
 

Yeasayer- FragrantWorld

oby-nine - weightless

quadron - average fruit (iamnobodi remix)

Quadron – Average Fruit (Iamnobodi Remix)
A sexy track if there ever was one, German producer Iamnobodi dropped this uber-bounce-worthy retake on one of Quaron’s gems. Chock-full of attitude, we like it louder, most definitely!

 
 
 
 
 
Compiled by Shiba Melissa Mazaza

IMAGE: TONI-J PHOTOGRAPHY

OSS: Spaza$hop! Where does it all begin?

S$: SPAZA$HOP began in 2009. Two kids looking for a way to channel their energies and dreams. It was frustration, ambition and longing that got us writing raps in a three-room house in Soweto. We felt our rhymes so much that we found a studio and started recording. The first track we did was ‘Anti-gravity’. Turns out that track was hot because it became our first number 1 thus reassuring us that music was indeed our path.

Growing up who were guys looking up to?

Charlie Macc’s early influences were kwaito and house music loving artists like Dr Mageu. He frequented Electric Workshop in his teens. As Jonny Joburg I have always been into rock ‘n roll and American hip-hop with bands like Rage Against The Machine and Eminem molding me as a kid. All these influences have translated into SPAZA$HOP! Infact it’s why we’re called SPAZA$HOP! cause that’s where you find everything you like, everything you need for everybody.

Sunlight soap for the hood and Lux for the bougie niggas. We represent the ghetto kid who went to school in the suburbs and the suburban kid who spent weekends in the hood. It’s the juxtaposition of two worlds and the creation of a third.

What has the evolution been from Spaz$hop Boys to Spaz$hop! ?

SPAZA$HOP! aint boyz no more. We’re both 26 years old and we have a record label that’s partnered with some major players in music. We are now business MEN.

The Rehab Tony video seems to measure up to the song title, you guys have a lot of striking imagery in it, reiterating the song title. The contrasts from hospitals, to soldiers and opulence are pretty insane. What inspired the track and how does it correlate with the video?

Rehab Tony is actually one of the many Aka’s of the producer Francis Muller. He has a whole album’s worth of music that he’s done as Rehab Tony and when I heard it I was like lemme jump on that ish. The track is an edgy party jam and the video is just as edgy if not more. The video is a story of two guys being resurrected through a ritual and being set on their paths. We were resurrected from doing hip-hop as we knew it to this new sound, new look, new world.

Who are you guys in your day-to-day lives?

We wake up Charlie Macc and Jonny Joburg and go to bed Charlie Macc and Jonny Joburg. Charlie is a house DJ and aspiring actor whilst Jonny is a music producer and runs Renaissance-Rock Recordings.

What’s the ultimate goal you’d like to achieve as Spaza$hop!?

To take what people think is just a niche market sound to the average kid on the street.

So what are the plans moving forward with the album dropping in October?

We have some shows we’re organising with the owner of The Woods and Townhall in Newtown, Johannesburg. Take our music directly to the kids who’ll appreciate it. Then after that we gotta take it everywhere-else. Especially to the people who think they’re not into it. They just don’t know it yet.

Are there any other big announcements to be on the lookout for?

The Biggest announcement is the ‘Pinki Pinki’ video dropping in October and the album dropping October 31st.

What has the reception of the music been this far in terms of a country-wide response?

The first people to show us love were the executives and the blogs. The people have needed some education but they’re finally on our page. I think ‘Pinki Pinki’ is the perfect blend of influences; two parts electro and two parts Kwaito. The kids really dig it.

Any small towns to shout out?

S/O Diepkloof, Soweto and S/O Umlazi township in Durban.

Who would win a fight: Obama or Mandela?

The fight would be rigged so I ain’t putting my money down.
 

 
Interview by Phumlani Pikoli
image credit: Toni-J Photography

Image: Sara Gouveia

There’s something about the melancholic synths and the pitter patter of the hihats building into the drop just before the distorted high voice sings stay, stay, stay glitched out into a non-sensical arrangement of words where a barely audible I’m sorry comes in, only to repeat the stay. A crash bass and multiple kicks later we’ve dropped into the world of alien electronica. Reaching levels of almost ethereal austerity as it switches up without warning yet stays on the same path of discovery and unravelling the layers in which the song is comprised. It’s more of a journey than an actual song and takes its own voyage leaving the traveller subject to its choice of route before reaching the destination.

OSS: The difference between Card On Spokes and Shane Cooper is…

COS: It’s like Iron Man and Tony Stark, but not really. Card On Spokes is a pocket on my jeans where I keep a bag of nyum-nyums that I only indulge in for electric-hootenannys and deep space synth voyages.

Does that leave Shane (Tony) as an instrumentalist?

Ja, when I play as a bassist I go by my given name. When I make music at the mercy of a functioning powerpoint I am COS. Then I can pass the buck if shit hits the fan.

Have you ever found yourself having to do that, passing the buck? Has shit ever hit the fan?

My laptop crashed during a show just before Felix Laband and PHFat once. I had to rinse out some mad delays on my synth till the laptop started up again. I sweated so hard in those few moments. I think the psycho-delay trick worked.

Did anyone notice? Assuming being PHFat fans the kids were already way drunk so they don’t count at this point…

A few kids in the front row started shouting for Dubstep. Some friends said they thought I did it to build tension. Tense it was.

Image: Sara Gouveia

Gotta love the moments of improv right? So how would you say that you’ve stylistically progressed from In You Go? which was your last EP drop…

In You Go was a collection of tunes that I wrote over two years that I felt represented some of the different sounds and beats that I was delving into. It was also closure for me from that period of writing, and gave me a chance to start fresh with a clean canvas. The new EP has a lot of similar colours and characteristics, but I feel my sound is a lot more focused on this EP. I know how to express my ideas more clearly now, and I have better techniques of creating more detail and widening things sonically, which was something I wanted to work on for this release. I learnt a lot from the process of finishing In You Go, and working with Sibot and Dank on the post-production. It informed a lot of the kind of opening moves I made when starting sketches in the studio.

I think a lot of the magic in a track has to happen in the first few hours of writing.

I also have a lot of new sounds and instruments to play with now, so I’ve been recording and manipulating some acoustic instruments on this record. Less is more, but sometimes more is more.

Having greater clarity in the expression of your ideas do you find yourself satisfied in their execution? How do you handle the collaborative efforts you have to undertake for instance in the post of each joint you make, seeing as the process is quite personal? And with the upcoming video how do you think it’s gonna aid the realisation of a tangible idea for the music made? Are you trusting the director’s vision or are you making sure the song doesn’t get lost in the translation that is the video…

Image: Sara Gouveia

Well, I’m happier with the delivery of my sounds than I was before, but I’m always trying to improve on the way I make music, while being true to the initial idea that seeded the song. In terms of the post-production, I only work with people whose opinion I trust and input I value as a quality perspective to help me be more objective about the sound. That’s why I worked with Sibot and Dank on the last EP. I really enjoyed having them hear the stuff and give me feedback. I hear things differently as soon as I’m in a room playing it to someone else. The post-production can be really tricky, it’s like putting a magnifying glass on everything, and at that point you don’t want to back track too far, so you have to be confident in what’s been written. Those guys also know when or when not to to make any comments on the creative aspects of the track, which is key. What it really comes down to though, is if the post-production guys can add the right juice to your song. I had Matthew de Nobrega master In You Go as well, and he’s a wizard for that.

Nocturne 1 from noël labridy on Vimeo.

For the video the director told me about his rough idea and then I sent him a song I thought would work. I had full faith in what he would come up with, cause I’m a fan of his work. He called me with an edit one day, and I was completely stoked with the outcome. I think the video suits the track perfectly, and it’s funny as well, which is great. A sense of humour in music and music videos is important.

And what does ‘Disguise’ mean to you? What are you saying with it?

Well, the title was the first word that came to my head when I wanted to name the song, so I can’t claim there is a deeper meaning behind the title. I’m generally more into the shapes and colours of a song than a specific meaning. When I wrote this I was listening to a lot of dark UK stuff, and it was winter and pretty cold in Cape Town, so I guess that influenced me. I also have to credit Earl Grey tea.

Catch the rattling Card On Spokes at Earthdance and Rocking The Dasies and expect to have your brain melted and legs hurt from the sway you are sure to enjoy, you masochists.

Interview by: Phumlani Pikoli

| Elektronik Dialogues | Haezer: the interview from one small seed on Vimeo.

Cape Town-based producer Haezer is steadily becoming a star of the local electronic scene while also making waves overseas, with his trash-electro swarming all over the internet and two top 30 Electro House Beatport singles to his name. He came to international recognition when his breakthrough single ‘Who The Fuck Is Haezer’ got popular and went on to be remixed by some of the biggest names in the business.

Haezer talks us through his upward spiral, from his early influences, through his previous career as a film editor by day and dj by night, to his current life as one of the city’s finest dance-music producers, headlining festivals alongside his idols. He also offers an insight into the current state of the South African electronic scene and music industry as well as how he and his contemporaries fit into it.

“The kids here are hungry the music needs to have substance to it.”

As Cape Town’s electronic music scene is growing and breaking out of its shell, Haezer is establishing himself as one of the leaders of the movement, touring the world promoting his music and the local scene that he represents.His latest 6-track EP, ‘The Wrong Kid Died’, is due for release in August, featuring collaborations with local vocalists such as Tumi Molekane from Tumi and The Volume, Francois van Coke and Hunter Kennedy, both formerly of Afriakaans rock legends Fokofpolisiekar, Evil Boy, known for his work with Die Antwoord, and Mike Zietsman of PH FAT. After returning from a tour of Europe Haezer is set to perform at Oppikoppi Music Festival and Grietfest later this year.