Making use of our digital magazine features, we have been able to breathe new life to previous print content – and everything has truly come together, just how we always envisioned! Please take your time to go through this magazine (all at once or a little bit each day) as a lot of work went into producing every edition and every page, since we first launched in 2005. This issue is a superlative balance of content, comprising of traditional and contemporary art, photography, fashion editorials, exclusive interviews, videos, feature articles, music, and the best of one small seed TV.
 
So, without further ado…
 

 
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Image: vimeo.com

You tweeted about your Cape Town visit and asked your followers what to do. Responses included ‘roll a huge one’, ‘visit your biggest fan’ and ‘go on a Muizenberg train trip’. Did you get to do any of these?

Hardus: Not those ones.
Jono: Those are still things we need to do.
Brad: We spent four hours playing with squirrels in The Company Gardens.
Josh: You just have to give them nuts. Lure them out.
Brad: At one stage I had a pigeon on each hand and a squirrel on my lap.

Does everyone have a tour duty? What do you always take with you and who is the worst when it comes to ‘Van Livin’?

Hardus: Merch guy!
Jono: Van Livin…we won’t go into that.
Josh: Jono is terrible at van living.
Brad: We’ve got a manager so he kind of…manages us.

You played Oppikoppi this year, you played Daisies, you’re playing Synergy. So in all honesty, which festival is the best?

Hardus: Well, we didn’t get to spend too much time at Daisies, so it’s difficult to say, but we had fun playing.
Brad: Daisies was awesome.
Jono: I mean they’re all doing their own thing. Oppikoppi has the dust, Daisies is green and beautiful… and windy.
Brad: The crowd was awesome; it was just such an amazing energy. That’s the main thing for us. We wish we could have spent more time there.

Image: samusicscene.co.za

The coffees arrive and we have to decide which mocha belongs to whom and who ordered the flat white. oss now has insight to the boys’ coffee choices.

You took part in MK’s BandAid series with Gary Cool, where fans got to ask you industry-related questions. Anything unexpected come up?

Josh: I don’t think any of them were expected. There were some really good questions and I think there are not enough people asking those questions. It was really cool.
Brad: My favourite interview. It was really interesting. I think it’s nice to see people actually thinking about touring and management and all those kinds of things. It’s not just like jump in a van and do whatever you like. You just can’t afford to do that, unfortunately. It would be awesome if you could just jump in a van and play whereever you wanted, you just can’t do that nowadays.

Is it important for you to connect with your fans on a personal level?

Jono: Yeah, I mean, before we were in a band we were fans. I think it’s the only way you get going places. We’ve sat down with bands and asked them how to do stuff. It’s so much easier if you can ask someone ‘how did you do it?’

You invited fans to go up Signal Hill a while ago, to join you guys for a drink:
a. Did they pick?
b. Did they bring anything cool to drink?

Jono: There were so many people there… but we didn’t know any of them. No-one came for us (laughs).
Josh: No-one came.
Hardus: It was too short notice.
Josh: It’s quite unfriendly.
Jono: My sister was there.
Josh: In all fairness, people would have been a little mad if they did come, we were literally there for 10 minutes. We had to go to Gary’s interview. We didn’t plan our day very well.
Jono: But it was beautiful.

Image: axe-effect.co.za

‘Hello Sweet World’’s success thrusted you into the international spotlight. Did you expect the response to be as big as it was?

Brad: It’s kinda weird, you know like, if you think back in the day, if you got a video on VH1 America, you cracked it. I think the interesting thing for me was we got a lot of hits on that video quite quickly, but the turn-over in the industry is so quick nowadays that we were just another band. Which is a little bit scary for bands coming up because, although there was some initial excitement, we didn’t have record labels phoning us saying ‘who are these guys?’ We’re part of such a huge pool. Everyone can do it themselves now and it’s just getting wider and wider. It was quite an interesting experience.

Would you get VH1 tattooed on you, to thank them for playing such a big role in your international success?

Josh: That would be a hell no.
Jono: We’ll draw it with a marker and wear it for a day.
Hardus: Would you rather get VH1 or Bad Boy tattooed?
Jono: That’s one thing I just can’t. Tattoos are a no-go, or maybe… nah, I wouldn’t.

I’ve read a few of your interviews and people really hate on Durban. Do you feel like you constantly have to defend it or are you patiently waiting for Durban to become a local music mecca and everyone to eat their words?

Brad: I think you have to be honest about what Durban is. We are the most Durban-proud people you’ll ever meet. I don’t think we have to defend it. There’s so much talent that has come out of Durban. There’s a whole creative hub, and it’s definitely stepping up. It’s not just music, it’s markets, a lot of artists and designers that are coming out of there as well. I know the music scene is shaky but it doesn’t mean there isn’t one.
Jono: I think they just need some fire under their butts, but it’s getting there.

What’s next for Gangs of Ballet?

Jono: Go home and have ‘n lekker dos. We’re working on some tours, so we’re going to be pretty busy. Everyone must come and say hello to us. We’re going to try to go to all these little places.

Click here to buy their latest release Yes / No / Grey.

one small seed was super hyped to get the chance to catch up with the guy who Rolling Stone voted in as one of 2012’s Top 10 ‘DJ’s Who Rule the Earth’. And although we’re pretty sure he’ll make 2013’s list, we’re more sure making ‘lists’ aren’t really his thing. Unless, of course, it has the prefix – ‘set’ – before it.

I was never a fan of DJs that play the hits, it’s too easy. Even back then when I was working in a record shop… I got lots of promos but I stopped playing them when everyone else got the same record. (Ridha)

Boys Noize, image: c/o one-eyed-jack

When in SA will you take time to engage in our country’s unique styles of dance music? For example township -tech, kwaito, shangaan electro?

Yes totally; I’m gonna’ spend almost two weeks around my shows. I am so excited to check out the culture and of course the diversity in electronic music. I’ve heard so many good things about some crazy styles.

What is the first memory of electronic music you have? Good or bad… ?

Very good! I was at home in the room of my brother (who’s eight years older) and he was doing the ‘Walkman’ X ‘pump’ dance to those early house records from Farley ‘Jackmaster’ Funk, Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley and Trax Records or Bomb The Bass. I was only six or seven years old so I didn’t know it was house music.

What are some of your fondest memories from when you worked at Underground Solution in Hamburg? Is the shop still around?

That was the BEST TIME, really… So many good memories. I remember I was there the first time when I was 14 years old. I bought a few disco-house records but I only had one shitty turntable from my parents at home. After some months I ended up going there every day to check out all those house records and dig deep into all the different labels and I bought myself a set of two shitty reloop turntables and a mixer. One day the chef asked me if I wanted to work there, ’cause I was spending all my free time there anyway.

I started to work there as well as keeping my other job as a cleaning boy (where I made way more money) in order to keep buying all those records I wanted. I got crazy addicted to vinyl and stuff but at one point I couldn’t stand the cleaning-boy job anymore so I decided to only work at the record store. A few months later, my chef offered me a warm up gig in a proper house club for about 600 people and I was playing right before Boris Dlugosch, who was the local hero, so the full scene was there and I kinda’ rocked it (laughs). I was only 16 years old and super slim, but yeah, after the gig everyone came to me to give me big-ups. That one night changed my life!

What was the last record you bought?

There were a few. There is so much good stuff on vinyl right now. I bought that Kyle Hall 2×12″ and some new L.I.E.S. records. I really like all these rough house and techno productions that are having a comeback.

The deep house scene in Hamburg was really notable in the ’90s – different to Berlin, which was much more techno… Growing up there, during that time, what were some of the labels, clubs and DJs that moulded the early sounds of Boys Noize?

I was always a fan of those homemade weird production records that don’t sound too clean. Lots of Theo Parrish, Moodymann/Sound Signature, Guidance Recordings, Glasgow Underground, Henry Street, Ian Pooley… but even some Ibadan and all Masters At Work of course.

When I started off in ’96/’97 it was also the time of the first French Touch, especially all those early Roulé/Trax On Da Rocks releases by Thomas Bangalter really shaped me as a producer. They had the vibe of Chicago’s Dance Mania Records but the production was more special.

And then I discovered Disko B and Gigolo Records a little bit later and I started to lean more towards electro and techno, and right after all those it was Berlin labels like Sender, BPitch or Shitkatapult. I think that is when I found my own sound.

In Mark Dery’s text titled Black to the Future, he states ‘Techno, whose name was purportedly inspired by a reference to ‘techno rebels’ in Alvin Toffler’s Third Wave, is a quintessential example of Afrofuturism’ – What are your thoughts on this?

I think techno is way more then just a music style. Techno for me is also almost a lifestyle; although I wouldn’t say my music is techno. We make the music we love and we don’t really care what other people say. In a way, techno started out like punk music, a movement against the so-called ‘commercial music’. Techno clubs were dark and banging and you could loose yourself for hours listening to the hard 4/4 rhythm. I don’t know what ‘Afrofuturism’ means but maybe it has something to do with this?

image: residentadvisor.net

You’ve commented that Mr Oizo is ‘the best producer in the world’ — what, in your opinion, are some of the key factors that makes a great producer?

(laughs) Yes, he definitely is one of my favourites! First of all it’s the sound. It doesn’t happen much anymore when I get fascinated by a sound of a certain producer but still Mr. Oizo does that to me. His production is always on point, kind of minimal but always playful and lots of fun. For me, those factors are the most important. Don’t get me wrong, I like more serious production too but I prefer to hear something where you think ‘WTF he’s got balls. It’s the same with those Theo Parrish records – sometimes they are so rough you can’t even play them but that’s exactly the reason why I do play them (not at a festival haha!). But, yeah, I think producers shouldn’t take themselves too seriously; it’s no fine art, it’s about simple emotions. We do this for fun and basically as a hobby and electronic music has no rules. Every time I hear a producer that breaks out of their own style I’m happy.

And, then what make’s a great DJ set?

Well, there are some factors. First of all let’s take a small club (say 500 people), second would be great banging sound and third being not too much light. I think a good DJ has a good feeling for moments and the DJ does the right balance of playing new shit no one has heard of but also giving the people a little candy (no real candy) every now and then. Again, you are a DJ at a PARTY and I think it’s most important that everyone has fun and can go crazy. So, yeah that’s basically it (laughs).

I’d rather try and break a new record into a hit; trying something out is what a lot of DJs don’t do enough I think. If I would play hits only I’d be retired from DJing already.

image: commons.wikimedia.org

In an interview with Gigwise on talking about Daft Punk’s latest album you said ‘No one really does it like they do – and no one can do it.’ I agree! Without blowing any horns here, what do you think you do that that makes you stand out for others, such like Daft Punk stands out for you… ? Or at least something you are spending solid hours on developing. I mean Rolling Stone voted you amongs the Top 10 `DJS WHO RULE THE EARTH` in 2012…

Thank you, I can’t really name it, I think. I do look for sounds that other people don’t use. I buy so much music every day and I look out for music every day, so I try to find a way for exciting myself with sounds that I don’t hear in the same context I guess. The music I do has to excite me and when it does it has an effect on other people or producers. Also, I’m happy I can finish making records easily; I don’t overthink my music too much, which I guess a good thing.

In today’s money-making world of EDM, how do you maintain your sense of passion for the Art without giving in to the dollar?

I just trust my feelings to be honest. Also, I’m not the kind of guy who makes an EDM-type of record and put it out, I just cant, it’s not my style. I am happy with the way I live and the way I make my music. I don’t have to start making music for a business reason, it just ain’t me. I do love pop music and all that but for my own music I have a good vision. I was always careful what I put my name next to, for instance I never did remixes for acts I don’t like just for the money. It is not easy doing it the way I do and some people might think I’m stupid, but yeah, I’m so happy to be where I am without doing the obvious shit.

BNR (Boys Noize Records) recently had its 100th release, which of those 100 releases do you think will be considered a genuine classic 20 years from now?

(laughs) I don’t know but there might be some timeless bombs here and there I think some of the stuff from Housemeister, Strip Steve, Djedjotronic or SCNTST are always anytime good to play.

image: mixmag.net

Erol Alkan has been supporting your music right from the beginning leading to many collaborations with him. How did your collaboration with Skrillex come about (recording as Dog Blood) and what is the concept behind the release?

We didn’t plan this. I took off time from touring last summer so I was in Berlin all the time. He had a show in Berlin and I invited him over to my studio. We spent a lot of time playing each other’s music until we started to play around with some of my analogue gear. We recorded some sounds and put them onto his computer… in the end he crashed at my place and we ended up doing two tracks. Both of us knew we didn’t want to call it BN and Skrillex, so we decided to start this new project instead. The record came out in August 2012 but we didn’t tell anyone about it until our first festival show in March this year.

You were a warm up DJ early in your career. Do you feel that it is dying art in today’s world of huge festivals where the crowds want instant music from the get-go?

Well, I think it’s coming back more and more. There’ll always be cool clubs and there needs to be a guy who sets the mood right and gets the girls and boys dancing, right?

Do you feel it’s essential for a DJ/Producer to release their music on their own record label in order to give oneself longevity in the industry?

No, it works both ways. Look at the Chemical Brothers or The Prodigy for example. You can do it either way.

I’ve just seen too many producers trying to enter into pop after a while on a major label… I like to have 100% control of the way I release my music.

image: thekoolkids.com

Is there more pressure or a difference when remixing a current artist or when remixing a classic artist like you did with CJ Bolland’s ‘Horsepower’?

For me it’s almost the same thing. Generally it’s tough to remix techno tracks like CJ Bollands. (especially when there are no stems haha). Though, it was quite difficult to remix the Daft Punk TRON: Legacy soundtrack.

Any Alva Noto X Boys Noize collab? You mentioned he might not be up for it, but we thought you wouldn’t be up for this interview… (you might not be, I’m sending these off in blind faith)!

Yes! I’d be totally up for this! You know what, I just did a remix for ATOM TM which is coming out on Raster Noton and they all love it!!!!

Who in the future would you like to work with?

I’m happy the way things are. I love making music with Gonzales and we are actually work on a new album. But if you ask me, maybe Prince :0

Please finish this sentence: ‘South Africa…’

South Africa is where one of my best friends comes from and the place I will visit this year for the first time. I am really excited !!! oi

interview by Sarah Claire Picton and Bradford Newcomb
images: C/O one-eyed-jack, residentadvisor.net, mixmag.net,commons.wikimedia.org,thekoolkids.com

Relevant Links

BN Facebook
BN Site
BN SoundCloud
Vodacom in the City
Rocking the Daisies

Official music video for ‘What You Want’ by Boys Noize on YouTube

THE HIVES

The Hives will no doubt satisfy long-standing fans with music ranging from their early albums Barely Legal (1997) and Veni Vidi Vicious (2000) to Tyrannosaurus Hives (2004), The Black and White Album (2007) and their most recent Lex Hives (2012).

Catapulting them to international rock status with hits like ‘Hate To Say I Told You So’, ‘Main Offender’, ‘Supply And Demand’ and ‘Die’, ‘Alright!’ off of Your New Favourite Band (a compilation of songs from Barely Legal, VVV and the A.k.a I-D-I-O-T EP). The Hives made lovers of garage-rock sit up and take notice. Tyrannosaurus Hives gave birth to tracks ‘Walk Idiot Walk’, ‘Two-Timing Touch & Broken Bones’ and ‘A Little More For Little You'; and The Black and White Album shook the airwaves with its hit single ‘Tick Tick Boom’!

Knowing they still had so much awesomeness to share with the world, the 12-track compilation Lex Hives was released in 2012 on The Hives’ own label, Disques Hives. Lead single ‘Go Right Ahead’ moved the band into glam-punk territory and was met with rave reviews and huge airplay.

SKUNK ANANSIE

Reunited after an eight-year hiatus, Skunk Anansie have ‘come home’, says lead singer Skin. Along with band members Ace (guitar), Cass Lewis (bass) and Mark Richardson (drums), Skunk Anansie have rekindled the feeling and soul of their previous work to continue the distinctive and dynamic sound that has made them the award-winning music force they are today. Skunk Anansie will get feet stomping and crowds jumping with their versatile range of hits from multi-platinum albums Paranoid And Sunburnt (1995), Stoosh (1996) and Post Orgasmic Chill (1999). Fans will remember singles like ‘Brazen’ (Weep), ‘Hedonism’ (Just Because You Feel Good), ‘Weak’ and ‘Secretly’.

Newer music off their albums Wonderlustre (2010) and Black Traffic (2012) combines Skunk Anansie’s trademark raw rock riffs, deep funk, frenetic drum-work and lush vocals with more confidence and maturity. Singles ‘My Ugly Boy’, and the gothic, slow-burning ‘My Love Will Fall’ have reinforced their status as one of rock’s most innovative, passionate and soulful bands.

Skunk Anansie will also be releasing their first-ever live acoustic album; the as-yet-untitled collection will be released in September this year, just in time for Vodacom in the City and Rocking the Daisieshttp://rockingthedaisies.com/

STAY POSTED FOR COMPETITIONS!

Relevant links:

In the City
Rocking the Daisies

image: Laura McCullagh

You guys have played at Rock the River, Up the Creek, and Synergy, but this is your debut album. How did you manage to book shows without an album on hand?

Rob: In Cape Town the industry is small, so once you’ve played good gigs and you get the right people to come check you out, the more contacts you make you kind of fit yourself in. We were very lucky that we did make the right contacts for quite a lot of the festivals. In certain places we haven’t made other contacts and we haven’t been able to play a lot of venues – in Assembly we’ve only played twice in four years, but we’ve played Rock the River twice, Up the Creek three times, Synergy three times, Rocking the Daisies only once. It’s very much you play as much as you can, but you try and make as many contacts as possible too in the same way.
 

Stephane: You going to the gigs for the past ten years, you know a lot of people in the industry are _ so it’s very good with networking, always talking to everyone, obviously it helped us to get the name out there even if we didn’t have an album yet.
 
 

These days CDs don’t get sold as much because of the Internet. Do you think festivals are a good way to get your music out there and make money at the same time rather than replying on an album?

Rob: Absolutely! And gigs, lately, that’s the only way you pretty much can make money is through gigs because the festivals we’d love to make money out of festivals but sometimes if you want to play at festivals you’ll take what they can give you. It’s tough, but for us we wanted to have a CD. For us being in a band, one of the iconic things is having your own album and not just putting the songs online. We wanted an actual physical thing right in front of us. For us, we’d rather spend the money and have that physical thing in our hands because that’s what all great bands have! We want to be a normal band, not just an Internet band! (laughs) You know we could’ve made everything on Fruit Loops or whatever these kind of programmes [people use], but we recorded it!
 

Stephane: Also the process of doing it was very exciting! Dreaming all my life of recording an album and finally we went through the process of doing it and it’s like to be in a studio with a sound engineer…
 
 

image: Carole Moreau

The album is called Blazing Trails and Fiery Tales. What’s the tale behind the album?

Rob: It’s pretty much as I said we’ve been going for four years and the journey that the four of us have taken together has been awesome because before the band the four of us… Steph I hardly knew, and Nick I went to school with but he left the school under bad circumstances so I thought he was trash! (laughs) I’d been friends with Kyle for quiet a few years but I never heard him play drums, so for me the last four years has been our trail together and we’ve made the songs that have been our tales and yeah, our ‘tails’ and the blazing and fiery just come together in the whole fox comet thing and comet and red hair. (laughs) No, but actually it comes together and that’s exactly it, the songs are very personal, and the lyrics play out our personal lives, personal development and the four of us coming together that’s a development story – the friendships, the band and the music has developed. None of us were really in bands before this. Well, Steph was in a band back in France –
 

Stephane: I was younger. (laughs)

Rob: — When he was younger. So yeah, it’s been a blazing trail and we’ve been telling our fiery tales. (laughs)
 
 

You guys have been working on the album for four years, but ‘Ginger Ninja’ is one of your oldest tracks, so it is in some way very close to you.

Stephane: You know, in four years we probably created about thirty songs so this is the eleven songs that we chose that represented the different phases we went through in those four years.
 

Rob: ‘See the World’ was also one of our first. One of the first gigs we ever played was in our friend’s garage in Vredehoek and I still remember playing that song in our soundcheck with literally two speakers and a friend of Kyle’s was setting it up. He was a DJ and he was the only guy who knew how to work these kind of things that we knew at the time. We played that song and for me that was the hardest type of rock I’d ever sung before. Out of singing I’d been in the choir and done jazzy songs when I worked in restaurants and random cabaret shows, but I’d never been that hard before. We had written the song and for me it was quite hard so I was a bit worried about doing the song. I remember playing that song with that one guy and his mouth just opened and after that it was like ‘that’s my favourite song’. We’ve literally played that song every single gig and it’s progressed, it’s got better. But for me it’s quite close to my heart because we played it almost 80 gigs and I was worried about singing that song at first.
 
 

Tell us about your affinity for gingers.

Rob: (laughs) How much time do you have?! No, I’ve always been a proud redhead and I always thought it was funny that people took the piss out of gingers. I never got ripped of because of my hair colour, but other people did and people got really worked up about it and there’s a lot of us, only 1% of the world’s population is ginger so I like to bring that minority – the South African ginger population – bring them towards me if I can! I think it’s slowly working. I’m stoked that we finally have an audible copy of the song that hopefully gingers can hear. I never wanted to be in a band that would just go up and play a song and then we go ‘oh that song was nice’. I wanted to be in a a band that when people came and watched up play they got entertained. Not just the music is cool, but they really enjoying it and they really liking it, they really going crazy. And for me personally, it’s just a selfish kind of thing. The more I can push the ‘gingerness’ the more it’s stuck in their head.
 
 

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You also do some acting and entertainment is an important part of your work as a band. Does the acting help you on stage to be more entertaining and develop your stage persona?

Rob: My whole life I’ve always been a performer; I’ve always been an entertainer. I’ve never just been an actor, I’ve never just been a musician, I’ve been all of them. I wouldn’t say that I’m better at the one than I am at the other, so I combine all of them together. I definitely think that the acting really helps me confidence-wise on the stage but also the singing really helps me when I perform because all of them work together to create who I am and as a persona I would like to be known as the ginger guy who can do anything really entertaining except for magic.
 

Stephane: It definitely helped the band because from the beginning we saw that he had this thing of interacting with the audience and that’s very important. I’ve been to so many gigs in South Africa where the music is good and if you don’t have a guy on stage that can interact and really make the show then even if the music is really good, people get easily bored. So it definitely helped us to have this guy jumping all around and really confident with the audience and it shows on stage. Also, you can see with Rob that he’s not taking himself too seriously so I think it helps us because he can do anything on stage. Sometimes the singer could seem a bit arrogant, but you can see with Rob he’s just having a laugh all the time.
 
 

You had the launch and it was pretty successful. How did you guys experience your debut album launch?

Rob: It was our first gig of the year and going from the first two years where we were gigging all the time, all the time the third year not as much but we played big gigs we chose festivals and big gigs playing with big bands so playing this gig was such an important night for us. We really rehearsed and made sure that our performance would be top notch and we were so happy afterwards because for us it was kind of like a milestone done. We’re going for four years now and we finally have our album and we’re happy. To have a performance that went down so well to be able to have a five month break and go on and play thirteen songs was awesome and we were really really proud of the night and proud of our performance and yeah it was awesome.
 

Stephane: It’s a happy conclusion to that whole process.
 
 

Image: Nadine Aucamp

What would make the album a success?

Stephane: The video is very important so that’s something we going to do in the next few months, because in South Africa you need to have a video on MK if you want to do well, if you want to get good big festivals, if you want to get the big gigs you need to have a cool video on MK so that’s definitely something we’re going to do soon. We tried already and it didn’t really work out, we didn’t have enough budget, but now we’re putting everything together so that we can do something really cool.
 

Rob: I think what really equates to success in South Africa is a whole balanced and rounded product. If you have good songs, a good live performance, a brand that people can relate to and then a video or something visually to check out… If you can get all of that then it’s going to make you successful in South Africa. But it’s also hard to say what is successful especially in South Africa, because our style of rock music is still happening in South Africa and it’s so hard to actually make a living out of it, but for us to be successful would just to sell as many CDs as we can for people to want to listen to us and to still come to our gigs and still book us for festivals. That would make us a success.
 

Stephane: We want to send the album to all the radio stations and hopefully we can get a few songs played. That would probably also help us a lot to get the name out there.
 
 

Where can fans buy the album?

Rob: The best way would be to contact us online on our website and then we can organise from there. Will we be launching our iTunes in the next week, so stay tuned!
 

Kevin Mc Elvaney, Post-Production: gldn.de

Images: image: Nadine Aucamp Photography, Kevin Mc Elvaney , Carole Moreau, Laura McCullagh, Facebook, banner: Michelle Ramsay

image: capetownolx.co za

With the convenience and affordability that mobile IM has created, we all have a burning need to feel constantly connected and share every experience with our friends. This means we need a diverse space that is not limited to a particular smartphone platform. Something that offers more than just instant messaging, because face to face video calls and live chats should be just as simple. And some things can only be described through a gif.

Like this:

WeChat is the latest social communications platform that boasts more than 300 million people. It offers more features than its competitors and allows you to customise your experience in great detail. Being able to create boundaries and control who sees what, means you are in charge of your privacy. The personalised pages allow you to share ‘moments’ with niche groups, just like your music genres. Adding someone to your WeChat contact list is as simple as shaking salt onto your popcorn (there really is a ‘shake your phone to add your friends’ feature).

How to enter

Downloading WeChat is free, so you’ve already won. But because we all like a little extra, we are giving away an incredible weekend package to Rocking The Daisies. All you have to do is:

• Download WeChat here.
• Add us on WeChat, our ID is —> OneSmallSeed
• For an extra entry, Tweet this post using the hashtag #WeChatZA

Tweet

It’s that simple!

The Prize

1 Double Pass to Rocking The Daisies PLUS accommodation with linen, private toilets and your very own chill area. Oh… and breakfast! The winner will be announced Friday 14 June via WeChat!

Good luck!

image: channel24.co za

image: ormsconnect.co.za

images: ormsconnect.co.za, channel24.co za, capetownolx.co za

Image: ©Alt-J

Gwil Sainsbury, Joe Newman, Gus Unger-Hamilton, and Thom Green met during their student days at Leeds University. They formed Alt-J in 2007 and have since taken deeper strides into the high ranks of Britain’s indie culture. The quartet released their debut album ‘An Awesome Wave’ in May 2012 and triumphantly accepted the British Barclaycard Mercury Prize for their efforts. From Australia to Belgium, France, Ireland and the USA ‘An Awesome Wave’ has put Alt-J at the forefront of indie rock and with nominations at the Brit Awards 2013 for Best British Group, Best British Album and British Breakthrough, the band has only teased us with a sample of their true potential.

Fresh from stops at Coachella, Glastonbury, Reading and Lollapalooza, Alt-J will head to Rocking the Daisies which takes place from the 3rd- 6th October 2013. Get all the info below before tickets run out.

Venue: Cloof Wine Estate in Darling, Western Cape
Tickets: webtickets.co.za
Info: www.rockingthedaisies.com

Alt J – Tessellate from Paul Newton on Vimeo.

Image: ©Alt-J

Image: ©Alt-J

Image: Voice Factory Communication

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

Can we begin by you telling us who you are
Michael Kennedy (moniker One Track Mike) is my name and I am defined externally by those who have an opinion. Personally I define myself by the company I keep and the choices I make.

What made you want to go into events planning? You studied graphics at Tech, why didn’t you just become a graphic designer?
After my studies I left SA and lost myself in the free-thinking spirit of the UK party culture, bought a set of turntables and a Mackie PA system and naturally gravitated toward providing a platform for the music I so enjoyed. I never quite possessed the passion for a canvas as I do for my music or the hospitality industry, but my years in art school certainly honed my creative edge, which I utilize frequently within the events. Plus I do not take orders well, so working alone seemed the likely option.

What are some of the hardest things you’ve had to deal with on the way up the ladder to success?
I am probably my biggest critic as I am seldom satisfied. Attention to detail and a touch of OCD makes my job that much harder and possibly restricts me from working with others. It goes without saying that to make it in the music industry is no easy feat and I’ve been determined enough to push on through after many, many disappointing turnouts at events, financial loss and spent energy – and largely without the help of sponsors. Pushing boundaries in Durban certainly tested my spirit to continue, and then the moment that both defeated and re-directed me – I was minutes away from signing with an investor to fund my dream venue, and then it fell through by the actions of my own hand (a long story, but one which saw my departure from Durban to the hilltops of Peru in search of a shaman and revised headspace to return to live in Cape Town). Having said that I feel I am only just on the cusp of realizing the ‘success’ you talk of. There is a lot to learn …

What would you say is the most important thing when it comes to working in your industry?
Infrastructure is key. A great product is one thing, but more important is getting everybody to know about it. Be passionate and aware of your intention in getting into this industry – don’t do it because it’s considered cool and/or you have some money to throw a party.

What inspired you to start creating unique party experiences? What is the main thing you would like to achieve?
My very first party was on a hilltop in Brighton (UK), and we carried my speakers further than any man should to make it happen. Following that were many events (including a party on a small island in the Cederberg Mountains / a festival in the Midlands / warehouses / badminton courts / theatres / harbours etc) which required a lot of effort to facilitate. The result of which are memories of an event that makes a typical club night pale in comparison. It’s difficult to create awareness for each and every new event you do – especially when the location keeps changing – but when you do you will have something ‘unique’.

How do you feel about Cape Town and South Africa’s growing electro and techno scene? What do you foresee in the future…?
I think South Africa is touched with a bit of magic, and Cape Town in particular already being one of the world’s greatest party destinations.

Unlike Europe or other confirmed party destinations in the world, we are hungry and it is palpable in the crowd – as confirmed by many of the producers hosted here.

It’s a natural dynamic which really works to our advantage and helps in attracting the bigger names we wish to see visit here. However the disadvantage of a scene that is as ‘hungry’ and small as it is – saturation !! Promoters and DJ’s really have to be on top of their game to maintain their identity within this craft which is so easily and often imitated.

Tell us a bit about each of your endeavours: The Beach Bar, The Train, The Make Believe Parties…
The Beach Bar – after attending my very first RTD Festival, I established a relationship with the owners of the festival and appealed to them to work with me on my vision of creating an outdoor scene for house and techno music. Three years later (and two years of the Beach Bar) and we have created this animal which has been the platform to provide the impetus for the outdoor events soon to come.

The Make-Believe Train – this is one solid concept event which cannot be imitated.

Essentially two events in one day (the train and the destination location) with limited tickets available. What really makes this event concept special is the nature of travel – in particular that all guests depart and return at the same time. Generic events only get going once the dance floor fills up – which is not the case here. Logistically, a difficult one to have run smoothly, but not as taxing in terms of production.

How do you feel about the upcoming event with Bruno Pronsato? What can we expect the night to bring us?
WOW – Bruno Pronsato LIVE !! We are so worthy… This event should be the zenith of Make-Believe production for 2012, in terms of the featured artist, location and production.

This is one pedigreed producer that truly has a sound of his own, and he will be performing LIVE (no that doesn’t mean he is playing or looping his own tracks through a laptop, it means he is composing the music on the fly).

To support this amazing producer with an amazing event I have extended certain areas of production to create a space that is visually as stimulating as it should be audibly. It is, after all a train station, so expect to travel – within your mind >>> a 12KW D&B quality sound-system provided by Kilowatt / video-mapping by Afterlife / lighting & décor by Make-Believe.

What does music mean to you?
My purpose, to create.

Any other future projects after this weekends party you can fill us in on…?
Most note-worthy – SHIFT OUTDOOR ELECTRONIC MUSIC MOVEMENT on the 26th January 2013. Make-Believe & Get Fact (pioneer brand/new name) will join forces to bring together the creative energies of our ‘family’ in creating an outdoor party that will change the face of CT’s outdoor party scene. This will be a massive light-bulb moment for many of those who have enjoyed the outdoors thus far. And NO UNDER 23’s at all Make-Believe events … a sophisticated taste for a sophisticated crowd.

Interview by David and Shiba
 

THE COMPETITION

We have one set of double tickets to give away to the CT performance, here’s how you can win:

Click attending on the Facebook event

The winners will be announced Thursday 01 November at 10h00. Stay tuned! Good luck

Click here to read an interview with Bruno Pronsato on his visit to South Africa
 

]]> http://www.onesmallseed.com/2012/10/mike-k/feed/ 4 http://www.onesmallseed.com/2012/10/encounter-with-grandmaster-flash/ http://www.onesmallseed.com/2012/10/encounter-with-grandmaster-flash/#comments Sun, 14 Oct 2012 15:03:20 +0000 http://www.onesmallseed.com/?p=26696 Born Joseph Saddler in 1958, Grandmaster Flash is now almost 60 years old. Gracing South African soil this October, we were able to gain some insight into the science behind the man himself and how this living legend came to find his way into music history, overcoming every negative voice who told him he would never amount to anything… coining the term “beatbox,” the crossfade and the instrumental use of the turntables themselves, this man is not your average Joe. Length 03:42 (October 2012)

Encounter with Grandmaster Flash from one small seed on Vimeo.

Screenshot

Screenshot

Location: redbull studious- Cape Town

Special thanks: rocking the daisies

Music: ‘wildstyle’
‘the message’
‘new york, new york’
Grandmaster flash and the furious five

Produced by: one small seed productions

Shot: john norman

Edited: loyiso mzamane

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