Image: 5 Gum SA

Image: sentimentalistmag.com

Luke Pritchard, Hugh Harris, and Peter Denton are The Kooks. The trio met during their studies at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music in East Sussex in 2002, and formally came together as The Kooks in 2004. Taking their name from the famous David Bowie track, Pritchard and former band-mate Paul Garred were the creative energies behind the band’s formation, persuading Harris and Denton to join under the guise of a school project. With a shared fondness for the music of David Bowie, The Police, Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones, the band quickly began to work on their first demo in an effort to get noticed and play local gigs.
 

The band was welcomed on stages in Sussex, and their demo attracted offers from an array of music managers and record labels. They only had to wait four months after their emergence as a group before they were signed to Virgin Records – one of music’s premier hotspot record companies. Since then they have released three albums: Inside In/ Inside Out (2006), Konk (2008), and Junk Of The Heart (2011). Inside In/ Inside Out was a global success that spawned mega-hits like ‘Naive’ and ‘She Moves in Her Own Way’ to cement The Kooks’ arrival as one of the forerunners of English indie rock. Their debut record also brought The Kooks numerous accolades winning them the award for Best UK & Ireland Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards in 2006, and a nomination at The Brit Awards for the single ‘She Moves in Her Own Way’. Their second record Konk shot to number one in UK charts, while Junk Of The Heart sold in excess of 3 million records worldwide.
 

5 Gum aims to stimulate the senses, and last year they achieved that goal with Two Door Cinema Club being one of the highlight performances of 2012. This year the #5GumExperience presents yet another unmissable taste of sonic supremacy. Enter the competition to book your place at one of the biggest experiences of the year and welcome The Kooks to South Africa!

THE COMPETITION

We have 2 X double tickets for the CT performance and 2 X double tickets for the JHB performance to give away. Here’s what you need to do to win:

1. The million dollar question: Let us know who you would invite to the #5GumExperience The Kooks concert and why? Leave a comment at the bottom of the page with your answer!

2. Tweet a link to this post, a mention of @onesmallseedSA, 5 Gum SA, The Kooks, and the #5GumExperience hashtag. Also remember to include a hashtag with the city you live in – #JHB/#CPT! (This is very important!)

3. Like both one small seed Magazine & TV and 5 Gum SA.

The four winners (two from each city) will be announced tomorrow, Thursday 18 April, at 5pm. Each winner will be allowed a plus one to invite to the show. Check our Facebook and Twitter, and this post tomorrow to find out if you’re one of the lucky four. So get sharing, Tweeting and commenting guys and girls!

Image: vulturemagazine.com.au

Important information:

Tickets are not available for sale. If you entered with 5 Gum SA via Facebook check your email inbox and spam folders.

Performance dates are as follows:

Johannesburg: 19 April at a secret location
Cape Town: 20 April at a secret location

Stay posted and good luck!

Image: mxdwn.com

Image: controlaltdelight .com

Image: 5 Gum SA

Images: 5 Gum SA, vulturemagazine.com.au, mxdwn.com, controlaltdelight.com, sentimentalistmag.com

The Goo Goo Dolls have announced the release of their new album, entitled Magnetic, on 7 May, 2013. The debut single from Magnetic, entitled ‘Rebel Beat’, is being met with coast to coast excitement in the US in advance of its official launch.

The band, singer guitarist John Rzeznik, bassist Robby Takac, and drummer Mike Malinin recorded in New York, London and LA with Gregg Wattenberg (Train), Rob Cavallo (Green Day), John Shanks (Bon Jovi) and Greg Wells (Katy Perry). Magnetic is the tenth studio release for the Buffalo, NY trio. ‘I’m so proud of our new album,’ says Rzeznik. I’ve had such a great time and learned so much from the amazingly talented people who worked on it with me.’ He continues, ‘I think that positive energy comes across on the songs. Writing and recording Magnetic changed my thinking about making music and doing it in a fun way.’

Image by Chapman Baehler

Magnetic Album Cover Artwork

The Goo Goo Dolls have sold over ten million albums worldwide, with 14 Top 10 Radio hits, that’s more than any other artist in the history of the Hot AC format. They are the only artist to have three songs on Billboard’s ‘Top 100 Songs from 1992-2012′ including the Number One slot, for ‘Iris’. John Rzeznik has been honoured with the Songwriters Hall of Fame Hal David Starlight Award and they have shared the stage with everyone from The Rolling Stones to Taylor Swift, who recently covered ‘Iris’ with Rzeznik on stage. Most recently Goo Goo Dolls honoured President Barack Obama with a headlining slot at The Creative Coalition’s Inaugural Ball, which took place yesterday in Washington, DC.

For more information visit www.googoodolls.com, www.facebook.com/googoodolls, http://twitter.com/googoodolls. Look for the band on tour later this year.

An outstanding and profound piece of music, ‘Two Dogs’ parallels the process of an emotionally turbulent relationship, where both parties are ‘too angry to heal.’ Director, Ryan Kruger, describes the development of the concept of the video itself:

‘When tasked to make the music video for ‘Two Dogs’, I went looking for a concept that was based on a simple idea, but one that was also a great idea. And in the end, the idea was as simple as exploring a couple’s relationship at the dinner table. Two people are chained to a table out of reach from each others touch, in a representation of purgatory and an endless last supper scenario.

The only way they can explore each other and fulfil their desires both good and bad, is through the meal laid out before them. We see the monotony, even though the meal is perfect, overcome them.

 The Butler, Phillip Hotz (aka papa smurf aka papa jew aka pops), appears in many of my videos. In ‘Two Dogs’, he plays the role of the Devil in disguise and we watch him as he watches his ‘creation’, when he turns the hourglass to signal the start of the emotional food marathon. The video was shot in high speed (slow motion) and in black and white. I think this adds so much to the video and captures beautifully those real moments in the performance.’

The upcoming album called Atari Gala is one of many under Carstens’ belt. Even post-Springbok Nude Girls, Carstens hasn’t missed a beat; he has released three other solo albums, won numerous South African Music Awards, shared stages with the likes of REM, The Rolling Stones and U2, and in March held his first art exhibition in Cape Town, at The Lovell Gallery, Woodstock.

‘I painted the Japanese word ‘Atari’ on a recent artwork to mimic a bird singing a message of warning. 

That got me thinking that it could be a great name for a piece of music. Because this is my 10th studio album, I wanted to emphasize a kind of celebration, not only of the 12 tracks on this particular album, but of the whole creative process that has brought me thus far. Every song is an event or a tale, a celebration or a warning cry, that stems from life’s experiences.’ (Arno Carstens)

Video Credit:
Director: Ryan Kruger
Producers: Darryn Bennet & Ryan Kruger
DOP: Faheemah Hendricks
Editing: Stephen Du Plessis

Make Up: Nicci Allen
Production Design: Anika Prins