Shot in New York but bringing together three different musicians of African descent the unique beat and lyrics here are addictive. Gazelle, a South African musician and electropop producer, Jogyo who is a Dither Down mainstay and the vocalist Devi Mambouka joined forces on this track ‘R.U.N’ which Jogyo said is an acronym for ‘Remember Union Now’. The individual style of each artists shines through but also works seamlessly with the others. Get ready for an exciting trip.

 

Gazelle – R.U.N (Featuring Jogyo & Devi Mambouka) by dm_517554946c655

Image: Press Junkie PR

Images and video: Press Junkie PR, Okay Africa.

Words: Emma Remington

Preparation is key in getting to a point where you can raise anarchy effectively. So we took lists to Oppikoppi and found out what goes into raising hell. Here are some of our favorites and their own survival kits for the legendary Oppikoppi Music Festival.

Kid Fonque

Name: Allan Nicoll
Total number of days at Oppi: 2
Total number of hours slept: 2.5
Traveled from: Johannesburg

Items consumed:
Castle Lite
Amstel
Vodka
Cigarettes
Potjie
Omelette
Mini donuts
Gum
Tea
Water

Survival Kit:
CD Case
Oppi Mix
Camera
Headphones
Earplugs
Beer
Cash
Oppi Card
Gum
Cigarettes
Phone
Flyer for next gig
Warm things

Gazelle

Name: Xander Ferreira, Nick Matthews
Total number of days at oppi: 1
Total number of hours slept: 0
Traveled from: New York via Cape Town

Items consumed:
Windhoek draft
Red Bull
Malboro
Smirnoff vodka
Havanna Club
Jaegermeister
Wimpy dagwood Braai

Survival Kit:
Trademark Pillbox Hat
Shoes
Gazelle CD
Sunglasses
Cellphones
Lighter
Beer
Gum
List of important numbers
Business Card
Something from Fender

LARK

Name: Inge Beckmann, Paul Ressel
Total number of days at oppi: 2
Total number of hours slept: 4
Traveled from: Cape Town

Items consumed:
Airwaves gum
Camel lights
Windhoek
Whiskey
Red wine
Footlong hotdog
Fruit
Green tea
Ajitsuke nori (Japanese seaweed snack)

Survival Kit:
Stage Outfit
Sunglasses
Mic
Earphones
Plectrum
Fruit
Green Tea
Double Muff

Van Coke Kartel

Name: Francois Van Coke, Wynand Myburgh, Justin Kruger, Jedd Kossew, Jason Oosthuizen
Total number of days at oppi: 2
Total number of hours slept: 4
Traveled from: Cape Town

Items consumed:
Bottles of whisky
Red Bull
Beer
Cigarettes
Chicken potjie
Steak
Salad Fruit

Survival Kit:
Whisky
Red Bull
Fruit
Yogurt
Cigarettes
Sunglasses
Scarf
Watch
Nosespray
Vitamins
Sweets
Extra Zildjian Drumsticks

If these preparations prove anything is that you cannot predict a storm, but you can brace for it. Rock on, rock hard and see you at the next Oppikoppi.

Danielle Laity: Who is Jeremy Loops?

Jeremy Loops: It is ME, Jeremy, hello. I hail from Cape Town and grew up in a little place called Kommetjie. It is also a number of close collaborators who feature in my sound, like my man Motheo (MC Trak) who played with me at Assembly on Thursday night, as well as others like Andre (Machineri) and Andrew (7ft Soundsystem).

You use a variety of instruments to create a unique sound. How did this sound develop?

After my studies I spent a number of years yachting around the globe. At sea, I had endless amounts of time to experiment with different instruments, one of which was my trusty loop pedal, of course. I had no option of a band, and so the natural progression was towards a variety of instruments in a one-man band style.

You seem to enjoy performing with other artists. How do you feel this enhances the performance?

I like the dynamic it creates. I love feeding off other artist’s energy on stage, and am always looking for ways to keep things fresh. Having various artists included in my act or featured in one of my loops, is a great way to achieve this.

Tell us about some of the artists you have performed with.

In my short time in the local music scene I have had the pleasure of performing with a bunch of great artists. I have played with Freshly Ground a couple of times, as well as Gazelle and Desmond and the Tutu’s. This past week I played with Farryl Purkiss and Yoav.

Which South African and international artists inspire you?

They all do. I take influence from almost anything nowadays. If it sounds good, I’m listening. Life’s too short to close your ears off to any particular style of music. I swear by folk legends like Guthrie and Dylan though.

What can we expect from Jeremy Loops in the future?

Good question. Well I’m recording at the Red Bull Studios later this month, so expect some long awaited recorded material. Otherwise, primarily, you can expect to see me looping the hell out of my loop pedal, playing as much as I can, and just getting out there. Follow me on Facebook to keep up to date with gigs and new material.

I also run a social Initiative with 2 close friends of mine called Greenpop, where we plant trees in under-greened communities in the Western Cape. Our mission towards a “Treevolution” has gained widespread support, and if you don’t already know about us, I implore you to check out our website at www.greenpop.org and gift an indigenous tree to a tree-needy school/orphanage/community centre today!

images courtesy of The Assembly

Boom+27 is a bi-weekly online news portal showcasing a recap of all the latest events going on in and around Cape Town, Johannesburg and other South African cities. Featuring festivals, parties, award ceremonies, live gigs, exhibitions and more, one small seed will be there to keep you up-to-date on all things relevant in the world of pop culture. This punchy, entertaining video clip captures the phenomenally good, the unforeseen and the hilariously bad going on in SA, providing the discerning audience an on-the-ball overview of what’s been happening.

For our first episode of Boom+27 we take a look at RAMfest 2011, the 5th annual MK Music Awards, Gazelle’s latest music video launch and the Flamjangled Tea Party. Aside from the beats and the bass, here at home one small seed has not only launched a new mag, but a new site and more, so keep watching to get the lowdown on all the action.

one small seed made it to RAMFest 2011 in Cape Town, but barely made it out alive! Check out the footage to see what went down at South Africa’s only REAL Alternative Music festival.

RAMfest – The Cape’s Ultimate Rock Festival – spanned 3 venues this year for the first time, bringing Real Alternative Music (spells RAM, get it?) to South Africa’s metropoles. The main 3-day fest was held once again in the Cape, at the idyllic Nekkies Resort in Worcester, also home to  hippie-fests like Earth Dance. Following that, two more day-long festivals were held at the Wavehouse in Umhlanga in KZN and at Riversands Farm in Fourways in Jozi (who knew there were farms in Johannesburg!).

RAMfest 5 brought music fans more genres to enjoy than ever before, a bigger dancefloor, and hosted three equally awesome stages. There was the main carnivalesque rock stage, a grungy tented metal stage by Metal4Africa and the glowing Electronic Pyramid by Griet Events & Artist Management – all back to back with killer tracks.

The main stage hosted two international headliners: Welsh rock band Funeral for a Friend and American punk rockers Alkaline Trio… who, to be perfectly honest, were a load of shite if you’re not a 12-year-old boy.

But with the host of amazing South African acts to pick from, no one really minded the well-timed beer breaks. Without a doubt, the South African stars on the lineup stole the show, as RAMfest fans witnessed stellar worldclass performances by bands like Die Antwoord, Van Coke Kartel (below), Gazelle, Zebra & Giraffe and more

One of my personal highlights of the festival was a very warmly welcomed return of Pretoria band Not My Dog.

Just prior to RAMfset in early March, Not My Dog reunited with their original vocalist, Hanu de Jong of The Narrow, and have graced the stage together for the first time in around ten years, bringing back their notorious brand of hard rock that South Africans back in the day grew to love. Back when ‘Toxicity’ was at number one, a Black Label cost R5 and you painted your nails black… Well, I did anyway.

Back to RAMfest, Hanu and the gang put on an epic show, and if you happened to miss them, make sure you check them out out and about on their month-or-so-long SA tour.

Other big names on the main stage that can’t not be mentioned were the angel-voiced (and faced, come to think of it) Isochronous, indie band Desmond and the Tutus, the awe-inspiring, internationally acclaimed Blk Jks, Cape Town kids Ashtray Electric, Tumi (of the Volume), Sowetan rockers Ree-Burth (one of whom I got a nice little snap of below) and Cape Town electronic act Mix N Blend.

Artists on the metal stage included Sabretooth, The Dead Will Tell, Enmity, Mind Assault, Contrast The Water, Knave, Haggis & Bong and Juggernaught.

Think electric saws, Slipknot t-shirts, loads of sweaty, greasy headbanging and that move the kids call ‘the windmill’.

Down at the electronic stage were French act Tom Deluxx plus South African favourites Haezer, B-Team, Double Adapter, Niskerone, Toby2Shoes, Jam Jarr, P.H.Fat, Counterstrike, FunaFuji, Sedge Warbler and more. See the pic below for why it was called The Electronic Pyramid.

In addition to the great lineup, festivalgoers had fun in the sun in the river, splashing in the pool, browsing through the market, jamming in the Mercury tent, chilling at the cocktail bar and beer garden, and tripping mildly on space cookies. Plus there was a host of live entertainment in the form of fire spinners, dancers, stilt-walkers and half-naked performance artists all dressed to fit the festival’s really well-designed carnival branding.

(Carnival meets Chinese circus more like it – I’m pretty sure I even saw a fire dragon. If you think I was tripping, see below.)

(That’s totally a fire dragon.)

One thing is for sure, RAMfest5 really outdid itself, bringing South Africans a truly first-rate rock fest. For those who made it out alive, who knows what next year’s festival will hold?

Audiences can look forward to two days of exceptional jazz performances right here in the Mother City. Also expect to be blown away by the “concept bands,” put together by the festivals organisers. These are bands that are specifically assembled for the event. With a number of Cape Town jazz musicians having passed on in the last year. The Cape Town Tribute Band, under the directorship of Alvin Dyers, will pay tribute to Winston Mankunku, Tony Schilder, Donald Tshomela, Ezra Ngcukana, Robbie Jansen and Hotep Galeta and Vincent Kolbe. In addition to “concept bands” other headline acts to perform include guitarist, composer, and arranger Chieli Minucci, US guitarist Chuck Loeb, drummer Cindy Blackman–Santana, and vocalist BeBe Winans.

Earth, Wind & Fire’s 40 Anniversary World Tour

The band’s performance in Cape Town is part of their 40th Anniversary World Tour. Earth, Wind and Fire reinvented music in the early 1970s with their brand of African and African-American styles. Known for they outrageous outfits and fresh harmonies, Earth, Wind and Fire embody the provocative freedom and glam of the ’70s.

Gazelle graces the stage on Saturday night, and just recently these African Kings – Xander Ferriera and Nick Matthews – have combined African fantasy with reality for their latest video, entitled Chic Afrique. The always theatrical and expressive Afro-disco pop stars took to the African Savanah in the search for a connection between a real world and a mythical place. Kings, Queens, a Sangoma and the Tokolosh all play their part in what is to be one of the most coveted and cinematic music videos in South Africa for 2011.

The festival also gives artists an opportunity to reach out to communities. This social investment element explores various components of the jazz world and includes Arts Journalism, Music Workshops, Music Business, Master Classes, Arts and Culture Focus Schools, Gigs for Kids, Youth Workshops and the Photography Workshop. Two exciting new additions to this year’s workshops is The Juilliard School, New York – Conversations 2011: A Trans-Continental Jazz Event and The Berklee College of Music (US) -Auditions, Interviews and Clinics.

An interview conducted a while back. Enjoy…

Sarah Claire: So Spoek, tell me a bit about yourself.

Spoek Mathambo: I’m an Ndebele prince, rapper, dancer, DJ, dreamer, illustrator and graphic artist. I live between Johannesburg and Malmö Sweden. I work as various art/music collectives… Namely: MSHINI WAM, SWEAT X, PLAYDOE and DJ as HIVIV. You can get my township-tech sothocore world bass mixes on the net. My favourite one is called ‘Devil House Mafias 2.’

What are you all about?

I am about absolutely nothing specific. More than being an identity based on content, I am interested in the world.

What inspires you?

Everything. The latest thing that has inspired me is Red, the homeless G-funk beat box and Gou Miyagi the Japanese skateboarder. I usually document everything that inspires me on my blog ZOMBO (http://2faced1.com/zombo). For a long time I made a specific point of making Africa my central inspiration…but I think I am trying to transcend petty nationalism and ‘isms.’

What’s the first album you ever bought?

The ‘Above The Rim’ original soundtrack featuring H-Town, Lady of Rage and Tupac.

Do you even bother buying albums?

Yes… It’s f%*king important to my life! I spent my entire teenage period developing my concept of ownership based on my records and CDs.

What’s your all-time favourite track?

Tough to say… changes ever day…today it’s Doneao – Be Mine.

Describe Sweat X in a sentence.

Markus and Spoek having fun.

What’s next… ?

More world tours, more boobs…onward and up.

Your partner-in-beats, Markus – what three things come to mind?

Literary genius, Musical genius, lying son of a bitch!

Favourite festival?

Valtifest in Amsterdam…Oslo live in Norway. Sibot and I played a great festival in Metz in France. Le Printemps de Bourges in France was great… It was amazing to watch The Brian Jonestown Massacre. They also had a huge SA contingent with BLK JKS, Gazelle, 340ml, Die Antwoord and PLAYDOE.

Is improvisation important to you?

A show with no improvisation is a schitt show for us. Routine is schitt.

Why do you dress so funny?

Your mother dresses funny.

What about bringing out a clothing label? What would you call it?

I am currently doing some collaboration designs with label called Doe out of Cape Town. I work on prints under the name Zombo and am working on some knitwear pieces at present.

If you could MC alongside someone – anyone – who would it be?

Iggy Pop, Sun Ra, Prince, Fela Kuti.

What’s the most insane thing you’ve ever done?

Eaten a box of cigarettes.

What’s next for Spoek?

“%^&%@$”And I will be breeding…little Spoeks.

So from myself and Spoek, “don’t be a f#*king dinosaur…use the Internet and talk to your counterparts all over the world.”

Check out the latest album review of Spoek Mathambo’s Mshini Wam in the latest issue of one small seed, issue 22 – the “Hi, my name is Joburg” edition – or right HERE on onesmallseed.com!

ISSUE 17 FEATURES:

• LOCAL DESIGN: SA’S CONSCIOUS DESIGNERS
• WILD PERSONALITY: IGGY POP
• MUSIC: OFF THEIR ROCKERS
• WILDLIFE: THE TRUTH ABOUT CATS & DOGS
• INTERNATIONAL ARTIST: MARK WHALEN (KILL PIXIE)
• COMIC STRIP: GAZELLE – THE GOLDEN RULE
• LIFESTYLE: EXTREME BEHAVIOUR
• FASHION: DISCOTHEQUE COUTURE – WILD YOUNG THINGS
• SA ART SCENE: UNTAMED ARTISTS
• TATTOO SHOOT: SOUTHERN INK XPOSURE
• HERITAGE & CULTURE: THE DOGON – LOVING THE ALIEN
• INSIDE A DJ TOUR: MIX N BLEND VS P.H.FAT
• SUMMER SPREAD: SOUTH BEACH
• LADIES’ WEAR: JUST SWIMMINGLY
• FOOTWEAR: ADIDAS FIVE-TWO 3
• INDIE ELECTRO-STEEL: SHE MAN LION
• POST-RAVE FIRESTARTERS: PRODIGY
• RATTLESNAKE ROCK: DAMN RIGHT MUSIC VIDEO
• RETURN OF THE MONKI-PUNKS? BOO!
• AFRO PROG ROCK: BLK JKS

one small seed Issue 09 – Part 2

ISSUE 09 FEATURES:

• PHOTOGRAPHER: LAWRENCE ELLIS
• PHOTOGRAPHY: NATASJA FOURIE
• FASHION: PATTERN DRAPING – ALEXANDER KOUTNY
• FASHION: ALIEN PROPAGANDA
• ARCHITECTURE: OPEN HOUSE OPEN MIND
• ARCHITECTURE: WERDMULLER
• INTERNATIONAL: NEW YORK – THE IMPENETRABLE CITY
• PHOTOGRAPHER: JAMEL SHABAZZ
• ILLUSTRATOR: JONATHAN WEINER
• MUSIC: WE ARE SCIENTISTS
• ARTIST: MINÉ JONKER
• EXHIBITION: NIGHT OF A 1000 DRAWINGS
• MUSIC: GREEN IS FOR TURBO
• MUSIC: NEW LOUD ROCKETS
• MUSIC: RADIO GAZELLE
• EVENT: CELEBRATE THIS.ONE.