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!

Image: Melissa Williams

It isn’t easy to interview Markus Wormstorm or Spoek Mathambo. Don’t get me wrong; they’re both hella nice guys, and more than willing to talk about Sweat.X, their latest musical endeavour. But their minds work differently to those of the rest of the world, and it takes a while to get into their universe.

It’s a place of running in-jokes, big bootied women, jungles, stretch limos, BEE and dance-floor killers.

Sweat.X is a musical adventure into this universe. Markus provides the beats, Spoek does the words. There’s a distinctly funky sound, referencing everything from early electro and wild style hip hop, to Bauhaus and Fela Kuti. But, unlike a lot of the ‘we’re so self referential we’re eating ourselves’ sounds that we hear all too often, Sweat.X is totally South African, and, at the same time, totally unique.

‘Sweat.X is a mish-mash of our mixed-up worlds,’ says Spoek. ‘It’s N.W.A and Sesame Street.’ It’s also a great deal of fun. Not only are the lyrics tongue-in-cheek jabs at the party scene (there’s a character called Drunk Again Jane who features prominently on one track) they also take some wonderful musical liberties. Markus has taken Miriam Makeba’s famous Click Song, isolated the clicks, and used them instead of the traditional cowbell sound. Lark’s Inge Beckman provides vocals on another track – gone is the mermaid voice we’re used to hearing – she’s a full-throated, sexy streetwalker here. According to Markus, the aim with Sweat.X is to have a whole lot of fun, while ripping up dance floors the world over. ‘We’re gonna rock the show anywhere,’ he says. ‘We’ve got a simple set up, so

the plan is to go wherever we can, take the mic into the crowd at shows, and just see what happens.

Spoek Mathambo

‘We’re interested in playing peculiar places, breaking out of the mould in terms of touring and gigging,’ agrees Spoek. ‘I wanna have beer bottles thrown at me.’ This plan is as much about growing the music as having a party. ‘Most of the growth comes during and after shows,’ says Markus. ‘It’s a living organism, and always evolving.’ While they’re dead set on having fun, both performers are also completely realistic about the local scene, and understand that, in order to maintain the momentum behind Sweat.X, they need to speak to international labels and tour outside of the country. ‘The alternative scene in South Africa is elitist, and people get bored quickly,’ says Spoek. ‘There’s excitement, and then it fizzles, until something else comes along.’ In a scene where, all too often, people have to be told what is cool, it’s refreshing to come across a project that manages to stick to its guns and be irreverent at the same time. They may be taking the piss out of the scene, but Sweat.X also has plenty to say, without preaching. ‘Somewhere along the line, people decided that being earnest was a kak thing’ says Spoek. ‘I don’t get it.’ While they’ve never intended to change the world, the truth is that many of the songs exist on several levels – they’re dance floor shredders and make pointed social commentary at the same time. While Sweat.X is still a work in progress, the plan is to release a limited edition EP by the end of the year, and play parties in Joburg and Cape Town to support it. Until then, have a look at their Myspace page to hear their neohebrewhebitchupinyourdiskomakingyourfeetitch sounds for yourself.

Markus Wormstorm

Read the rest of issue 05

Click here to view our #flashBack selection for September.

ISSUE 05 FEATURES:

ARCHITECTURE: INSTANT HOUSING
ARCHITECTURE: FROM RURAL POVERTY TO CREATIVE COMMUNITY SPACE
PHOTOGRAPHY: WARWICK SAINT
PHOTOGRAPHY: POINT OF VIEW – JONATHAN TAYLOR
PHOTOGRAPHY: STREETHEART – BRETT RUBIN
PHOTOGRAPHY: THE KAROO
FASHION: THE DENIM INSTITUTE
FASHION: EMO CHIC
FASHION: PASCHOAL RODRIGUEZ
FASHION: CREATURE COMFORT
GRAPHICS: MASTER BEAR-WRANGLER
GRAPHICS: DISTURBANCE DESIGN
GRAPHICS: SOME KIND OF MIND
GRAPHICS: DIVINE INSPIRATION – DYLAN JONES
ART: BUFFY BRAVE ART
ART: ATTACKING FROM WITHIN
FILM: CROSSING LINES – GREGG WATT
TECHNOLOGY/DESIGN: HELLO COMPUTER
MUSIC: MTKIDU
MUSIC: TEAM SPIRIT – MAX NORMAL
MUSIC: SWEAT.X
MUSIC: LOVE JONES