Fanbase Music Magazine Issue 26

C o n t e n t s Issue 26 — March 2013 ♦ Editors Note

♦ Team Profile ♦ The Writing is on the Wall Donovan Fourie

♦ Featured Bands 

Donovan Fourie



Graham Gillot



HABIT TO



Dameena



Divine Affliction



Bullet Script



Karmic Kick

CITO

HABIT TO

♦ and in other news ♦ Ryno’s Full Metal Panic ♦ Gig reviews ♦ Togger of the Month

DONOVAN FOURIE

♦ Contact Page

Graham Gillot CHEAP BAD HABITS

Dameena HOLLY

B

efore I say anything about this jam packed issue, I’m afraid I have some bad news to report on.

Editors Note

It is with great sadness that I announce that Daniela de Almeida won’t be writing for the mag anymore. With her other working schedule getting much busier, she has made the decision not to contribute to the mag anymore. As some of you know Danni has been with the mag almost since the beginning, We would like to wish her well on her future and would like her to know she will always be a part of the Fanbase team and if there is ever a time she wants to join the mag again we will welcome her with open arms, but until then we wish her good bye and “We love you Danni”.

With that great sadness we do however have some good news. We have some new members on the Fanbase team. We would like to welcome Matt Williams to the team. Matt is a great writer and a talented photographer and both skills would be used in his contributions to the mag. You can already see some of his work in two of our gig reviews for this issue. The first one being the Just Music sessions gig review and the 2nd one the Valentine’s show held by Justin Serrao and friends. Go check them out. We would also like to welcome Stephan Ferreira to the team. He will be doing a book review section every month called “Life inside a Library” Go check out this month’s book reviews.

Our front cover feature this month is Donovan Fourie. He is no stranger when it comes to Fanbase Music mag and in my mind there isn’t a more deserving musician than him to grace our front cover this month. Check out his interview I also interview a band called Dameena who are an Australian band making big waves. I’m a fan of their music and so should you be, go check them out.

With all the hype out with searching for Sugarman and Rodriguez coming to South Africa, it gives me great pleasure to be featuring Graham Gillot. You may be asking what connection he has with Rodroguez as he is already a well-established musician himself. Well, as well as being an awesome musician who is making a big name for himself, Graham was also a part of the Rodriguez band who accompanied Rodriguez on his S.A tour. I’m so excited about this interview and I hope you enjoy it!

Speaking of Rodriguez, we also have a gig review of his opening Johannesburg show. What an awesome show that was.

Other gig reviews featuring are “Up the creek” , “Ard Matthews” and the big one “Red Hot Chilli Peppers”. Go check them out.

Ryno has been very busy in his section called “Full Metal Panic” Go check out his interviews with Bullet Script and Devine Affliction. He also has so much other kewl stuff going on in his section; its best you go read it yourself.

Don’t forget to check out our Togger of the month section where we feature a talented togger by the name of Michael Ellis, go check out his work.

Well that is it for this month. We hope you enjoy this issue.

To my awesome team, both old and new, I thank you so much for all your help in getting this issue out. You all rock Hobo Hugs Duwyne

TEAM

Full name:

Duwyne Clayton

Full name:

Daniela

Full name:

Crystal

Nick name:

Duzz

Nick name:

Danni

Nick name:

Crys

What is your occupation at Fanbase

What is your occupation at

What is your occupation

Music Mag?

Fanbase Music Mag?

at Fanbase Music Mag?

Editor in Chief

Journalist/assistant

What do you like about Fanbase

What do you like about

Photographer and cover layout/ design

Music Mag?

Fanbase Music Mag?

Fanbase Music Mag has become a very great and unique platform for local bands. Although we love and support international acts, We are really passionate about South African music.

Fanbase Music Mag has the best team who help every month to put our awesome issues every month. We are not a team, we are a family!!!

Our Team <3

What is your favourite band at the moment?

Being in this business I come across such great talent daily, but one that practically comes to mind is Volume Conflict What is your favourite quote?

“Wanting to be someone else is a waste of who you are” ― Kurt Cobain

What is your favourite band at the moment?

What do you like about Fanbase Music Mag? The awesome interviews, articles and people involved with the mag! And the gigs off course.

Green Day (obviously;))

What is your favourite

What is your favourite quote?

band at the moment?

Anything that comes out of Billie Joe Armstrong's mouth is my favorite quote!

Red Hot Chili Peppers What is your favourite quote?

“Damn the man, save the empire” - Empire Records.

PROFILE

Full name:

Marisa Horn

Nick name:

Marisa HippieHeart

Full name:

Simone Factor

Nick name :

S Factor

Full name:

Ryno de Lange

Nick name:

Mr. Ryno

Horn

What is your occupation at

What is your occupation at

What is your occupation at

Fanbase Music Mag?

Fanbase Music Mag?

Fanbase Music Mag?

Columnist, freelance contributor

Full Metal Panic / Writer

Promoter/Researcher/Assistant Editor

What do you like about Fanbase

What do you like about

What do you like about Fanbase

Music Mag?

Fanbase Music Mag?

Music Mag?

I love it because it is a total celebration of local music and shows all the strength and possibilities of our musical community.

Fanbase is passionate about the music scene and promoting and spreading local music throughout South Africa.

Fanbase also gives all bands and musicians a fair chance to be feature in the magazine.

Fanbase Music Magazine is colorful and fresh.

It has a great team of editors, music lovers, promoters and photographers .

Who is your favourite band at the

Who is your favourite band at the

moment?

moment?

ISO

There are so many great bands out there…so many genres. It’s impossible for me to single out ONE favourite. I would however like to mention a few of my favorite local artists in various genres of course and in no particular order: The Paige Mac Band (Paige Mac Mahon), Volume Conflict, Brendon Shields, The Yoo and many others

What is your favourite quote?

What is your favourite quote?

“I do believe Music is the highest form of art”

"today you are you , that is truer than true , there is no one alive that is youer than you " Dr Seuss

Who is your favourite band at the moment?

Zombies Ate My Girlfriend - Local. Metallica (early days) - International.

What is your favourite quote? tune Favours the Brave.

For-

WRITING IS ON THE WALL Hi Fanbase team, I just want to say your mag rocks. I read it every month. I like how you do so much for the South African industry. Keep up the good work Kirk Duzz replies: Hi Kirk, thank you for the kind words. We glad you like reading our mag and we hope we continue to wow in the issues to come, Thanx for the support

Dear Duwyne and team Thanx for doing all that you do for South African music. You rock!!

Tracey.

Duzz replies: Hi Tracey Thank you for writing in. South African music is something close to our hearts. Thanx for all your support

Hey everyone out there—don’t be shy, drop us a note for “The Wall”. Would luv to hear from you all !

The Fanbase Team

Donovan Fourie

When it comes to Donovan Fourie, he is no stranger to Fanbase Music mag as we have featured him in past issues of our mag, but since then the Ex Energy related singer has been busy in the studio re-recording his album â&#x20AC;&#x153;Strings of lifeâ&#x20AC;? after being signed by Wired Sound studio. We catch up with the man himself and get the low down on all the latest info. Enjoy the interview!!!!

For our new readers who don't know you, can you tell us a bit about your past history in music, when did you start taking music seriously?

I started taking my music career serious the day I walked out on stage. When I played that first lick on the guitar and the stage lights came on, the crowd wend louder and I instantly knew that I wanted to take my music career serious and make a success out of it. I come from a long family line of musicians so I always knew that I would end up a muso, I just didn’t think then that I would be taking my music further and making a career out of it. Ever since then I’ve been loving the journey and been doing my best every day to deliver a positive massage to the world and make a success of my music career.

Who are some of your influences?

My biggest influences that really push me to making music would be the people who support me in my dream a reality and always motivates me to be the best I can be with everything I do in life. My family, My friends, all the people who request my music on radio, The company’s and record labels with whom I work within the music industry that always support me and try their best in helping me spread the word about my music. I am truly great full for everyone that stands behind me.

You have been really busy in studio, what can you tell us about the new recordings, is there a new album out or on the way?

I’ve been in studio from July 2012 after signing a record deal with Wired Sound Studio, I’ve rerecorded the full "Strings of Life" album that I originally recorded in my own recording studio in 2010 and then I’m also working on a new album called " Fire within" that I will release later on.

But for now it’s all about the Strings of Life album that I will be promoting. The Strings of Life album will be available in most online music stores worldwide including iTunes as well as our Makemore Records online shop (www.makemorerecords.co.za)

You have recorded this under the name Donovan Fourie, and not Energy Related was there a difference with this album compared to what you have done in the past in 2010?

Back in 2010 I basically recorded the "Strings of Life” on my own in my own studio. The original album was only guitar and vocals. It was only later when I decided to get in session drummer Storm Thomas and session saxophonist Sheldon Sham to fill in over the songs. And I also did bass guitar on the album. Byron Horn only joined in on bass guitar after the album was released.

So there is a big defence compared to what I have done in the past recordings that we did in 2010. A few band members have left and a few band members have been added.

For the rerecording of the strings of life we replaced saxophone with lead guitar and we have added backing vocals.

It was recorded at Wired Sound Studio so the quality of the recording is outstanding compare to the original recording of the album that we did. I think what also made a huge difference was the fact that us as a band got to rehearse the Strings of Life album for like two years before we did the rerecording witch I think makes a huge difference in the music itself. Everything has improved a lot since 2010.

Who else plays with you on the album, or did you do all the recordings on your own.

I play together with (Session Drummer) Storm Thomas, (Session Bass Guitarist) Byron Horn, (Session lead guitarist) Alon Israelhson, and my girlfriend on (backing Vocals) Nat- Lee Kraemer. Much love goes out to all the musicians that helped me make this album possible.

Will you be touring the album and where can people catch you playing live.

I’m looking to do a few tours across the country to promote the album. We will be touring Cape Town, PE, Durban, Free State, East London and hopefully if everything goes well we can tour overseas in the next year or two to promote the album.

Describe a typical Donovan Fourie gig to us, what could we expect?

I always do my best to create a good vibe and an awesome atmosphere for people to feel like they belong, I never pretend to be someone I’m not and I always give it all I have, you can expect great acoustic music that’s easy on the ears and every once in a while I will wear my suit and my chuck tailors just to show my supporters how special it is for me to have them there, I’m always promote peace everywhere I go and you can definitely expect to see me play my heart out whenever and wherever I might perform next.

You have been play listed in the past on Zone Radio and various other stations, how important are these radio stations such as Zone radio for your career?

ZONE RADIO ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!! I truly love that station, they have been so kind to me and didn’t even ask questions when I approached them to help me get my music out there, they just said i must email them my songs and they will playlist the tracks and play it every time when someone request it. I was really impressed by the response I got from people requesting my music. I’m very happy to see that people like the message I put out there. The first time I heard Zone Radio Hill&Dale’s no hoops required show speak about me on Zone radio I was completely blown away.

It is much easier to get play listed on internet radio stations like Zone radio compared to the more mainstream commercial stations out there. Do you think this type of formula is the way of the future to at least give the artist a chance and then it’s up to the listeners to request it to get regular airplay, something witch the commercial mainstream stations are not doing.

It is definitely much easier to get play listed on internet radio stations like Zone Radio. I think it’s a brilliant idea to let the people choose the music. Mainstream radio stations actually heard people requesting not to hear certain songs on radio just because the station really kills the song so much only because it’s a big seller at the moment. Personally I think it’s very important for this country to give our up and coming musicians a chance. The only way that the South African music industry will grow is if we all stand together and embrace our musical talent in this country.

With people paying over R700 for an international act but they wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even pay R50 to see a local gig , what do you think of the state of the South African music industry, do we have hope for the future to make an impact on an international scale?

There has been many South African artists that has made an impact on an international scale and I personally will pay anything to see my all-time favourite artists whether they are local or not.

Personally I believe every person out there has their own opinions about the music that moves there soul. Us as musicians canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always expect that every person in our country should buy all our albums and like your music just to support us. Not everybody listens to acoustic music or punk music or metal music. I think itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s up to us as musicians, record labels, recording studios, event companies, music magazines and everybody in the music industry should stand together and embrace South African music and promote each other instead of competing all the time.

No matter what genre of music you play, no matter where you are from, no matter who you are... it takes a lot of work to step out to a stadium of a 100 000 people and they all singing your songs with you.

Apart from being a musician, what else do you do?

I am a man of all tricks and trades.

I have an 8 to 5 day job working in the motor industry, I am the owner of an independent record label called Makemore Records that I run in my spare time where I do my best to help promote the scene and grow South Africa up and coming artist.

And on weekends I like to hang with my lady and my friends, go play paintball, ride some skateboard, braai, jam some PlayStation, go watch some local and international music shows and just do whatever makes me happy.

How can people get hold of you, do you have any social networks that we can gt hold of you on?

You can get hold of me by visiting my website at www.makemorerecords.co.za. You can also find me on Facebook, Reverb nation, sound cloud and play listed on Zone radio.

You can find all the links to my social networks on the Makemore records website.

HOLI ONE Colour Festival SA Announces Johannesburg Festival Details 6th April 2013 | Emmarentia Dam Something colourful is on its way!

After the announcement that the HOLI ONE Colour Festival will be launching in South Africa, with the first event scheduled for Cape Town on the 2nd of March 2013, people were asking ‘When is this coming to Johannesburg?’ The excitement surrounding this event is tangible, and we are proud to announce the details for the first-ever HOLI ONE Colour Festival in Johannesburg!

The event will take place on Saturday, the 6th of April at Emmarentia Dam, from 12:00 – 20:00. Expect a day of top electronic dance music artists, exhilarating energy, and last but not least, throwing the colourful HOLI ONE powder in the air (and at each other) on the hour, every hour, from 13:00 onwards. Throwing the powder not only creates an amazing visual experience for all those attending, but also expresses freedom and the colour of everyday life. The motto for the HOLI ONE Colour Festival is ‘We Are All One’ which encompasses the passion and showcases the diversity that our beautiful country represents.

Inspired by the original Holi Festival in India, the day is a huge fun-filled celebration of music and dancing, and has no religious aspects connected to it, but shares the same values in bringing people together in love and peace. The festival concept has quickly gained popularity worldwide with colour festivals springing up in Berlin, Dresden, Munich, Hannover, the USA and Singapore.

The HOLI ONE coloured powders are safe, water soluble, completely non-toxic and environmentally friendly.

If you would like to take part in the festivities, make sure you get your hands on the hottest ticket in town! Artist line-up to be announced soon!

2nd March 2013 – Cape Town, Grand Parade – 12pm – 10pm 6th April 2013 – Johannesburg, Emmarentia Dam – 12pm – 8pm Cape Town: http://www.facebook.com/CapeTownHOLIONE Twitter: @holioneSA General Admission: R190 from Webtickets: http://www.webtickets.co.za/event.aspx?itemid=401532269 General Admission including powder (5 colours): R290 from Webtickets: http://www.webtickets.co.za/event.aspx?itemid=401532269 Gate Price excluding powder: R250 at the entrance of the festival.

Powder will also be sold separately at the event for R20/100g. Five different colours are available to choose from.

Event Info: http://www.holione.com Facebook: Johannesburg: http://www.facebook.com/JoburgHOLIONE Issued on behalf of Seed Experiences by One-eyed Jack.

FOR MEDIA ACCREDITATION, IMAGES AND INTERVIEWS contact Mike Pocock at One-eyed Jack: mike@oneeyedjack.co.za +27 82 294 0946 or +27 21 462 0016.

ADDITIONAL NOTES CLEANING: Environmental Credentials: Seed Experiences has won numerous leading environmental awards for the work they do in producing Rocking the Daisies and would ensure the same principles apply to HOLI ONE with a robust clean up operations plan in place.

Winner of the Climate Change Leadership Award 2009 & 2010 Winner of the Eco-Logic Award "Climate Change" 2011 Winner of the Eco-Logic Awards - "Transport" & "Recycling" awards in 2012 Finalist in "transport" category, Eco-Logic Awards 2011 Finalist in Mail & Guardian Future Greening Awards 2012 Entered into the International Greener Festivals Award 2012

Confirmed lineup and performance times below: 12h00-13h00: Sadhu Sensi 13h00-14h00: DJ Mighty 14h00-15h00: Richard the Third 15h00-16h00: Maâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;original 16h00-17h00: Kid Fonque 17h00-18h00: Super Flu (Germany) 18h00-19h00: Toby2shoes 19h00-20h00: GoodLuck 20h00-21h00: Mix n Blend 21h00-22h00: Niskerone

The Johannesburg HOLI ONE Colour Festivalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s full line-up will be announced in March. This event will be taking place on the 6th of April at Emmarentia Dam. Please note that early bird ticket sales for Cape Town have closed.

General Admission: R190 from Webtickets: www.webtickets.co.za General Admission including powder (5 colours): R290 from Webtickets: www.webtickets.co.za Powder and paraphernalia will also be soldseparately at the event.

This is a no under 18 event.

Event Info: http://www.holione.com

Facebook: Cape Town: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cape-Town-HOLI-ONE-Colour-Festival/293602490750798 Twitter: @holioneSA

International DJ sensation, Super Flu, to headline Cape Town HOLI ONE Colour Festival

Featuring some of SA’s finest DJ’s The excitement for the inaugural HOLI ONE Colour Festival has been mounting since the official announcement in December. The Twittersphere and Facebook universe have been showered with colour from fans all around South Africa showing their enthusiasm and excitement for the event. On the 2 nd of March 2013, The Grand Parade in Cape Town will be turned into a colourful extravaganza for one day only.

Adding to the spectacle of colour and celebration is the impressive line-up of the top electronic dance music DJ’s in the scene today. Kicking off the festivities at 12:00 will be Sadhu Sensi, with his eclectic mix of ethnic sounds then followed by DJ Mighty bringing an energetic fusion of house & jazz to the festival.

Richard The Third will be taking festivalgoers on a rollercoaster ride of the best modern Bass music as he initiates the first throwing of the powder into the open sky at 14:00. From there onwards, countdowns will be made for the throwing of the powder on the hour, every hour until 22:00 creating the visual experience of a lifetime with the beautiful backdrop ofTable Mountain and the grand Cape Town City Hall.

By this time, festivalgoers will be covered in powder and enjoying the celebration of life, love and colour.

Next up on the lineup will be world music maestro, Ma’orginal followed by Kid Fonque with his otherworldy rhythm and sounds. Mathias Schwarz, better known as Super Flu, from Germany will bring an international sound to the festival with some crispy bass beats and smoking hot performance. Toby2Shoes then hits the decks bringing his bouncy set to the HOLI ONE Colour Festival before the chart topping GoodLuck take the stage to watch the sun go down and the floodlights lit. As night falls, SAMA nominees, Mix n Blend and the master of drum ‘n bass, Niskerone will be gracing the decks to bring the harder beats and a mash up of musical genres as the floodlights hit the colour and everyone is celebrating the festival motto of ‘We Are All One’.

COLAB NETWORK REVIEW

Review by: Duwyne Clayton Photography by: Matt Roux

The MC of the evening, Stevel Marc summed it all up when he said. Think of 21 years, a marriage? A job? Most people leave a job after only a year, but not Collet Dawson, she was the star of the evening.

We were invited to celebrate Collet Dawson’s 21 years in the business. Now if that wasn’t exciting enough it was said that a big announcement would be made on the night. It was all very exciting but also very intriguing as we didn’t quite know what to expect.

I arrived with my trusty photographer of the evening Matt Williams to the event, which was held at “Arts on main” in Fox street.

This was my first visit to this venue, so it was nice to experience that as well.

As we parked the car half way down the street we saw WONDERBOOMboom singer, friend/client and now business partner of Collet Dawson, Cito Otto all dressed up rushing to the venue, I guess not even he could get a parking closer to the venue as it was already jam packed. We made our way to the entrance and as we were met at the door, waiters were giving out cocktails; I kind of wished I had made more of an effort in the dress code department as the event looked quite posh. But never the less we made our way through to the front desk where we were given our access passes.

Matt and I found a spot to sit down and talk about the proceedings of the evening. While he was getting his camera ready to take pics we noticed a few celebs in the crowd. Trying to keep my excitement in tack I point out to Matt that that standing a few meters away from us is Corné Crous from 7de Laan or better known as her character name Kim Conradie . As we start talking and mingling with the crowd we notice a few more celebs. Rowan Cloete is one of them, he seems like such a nice guy and easy to talk to. Other celebs was Craig Hinds (Watershed), Martin Scholfield (guitarist for WONDERboom), Graham Watkins (Graham Watkins project) and even Letoya Mangezi (Ayanda) from Isidingo looking as beautiful as ever with her big bright eyes.

Just at that moment we were greeted by Riaan Vorster from The Riff Magazine, another music magazine supporting South African music in a big way, go check them out.

Cito who still remembers my name from the interview I had with him for our last issue came over to say hi, what a nice guy, very humble and down to earth. We are then greeted by Tarryne Rautenbach who we later heard is the official Togger for the evening. It was nice to see some familiar faces amongst all the celebs walking around. It made us feel like we fitted right in (hehe) Matt disappeared on a quest to try and take photos of the many celebs in the crowd. As I waited on the side for the evening to begin I was approached by waiters with trays with all kinds of nibbles and drinks for the taking. While I helped myself to some fish pies and another cocktail I could not help but think that this event must have cost a lot of money for it to be such a success.

Eventually the MC Stevel Marc gets the proceedings under way, inviting us all to turn our attention to the stairs on the balcony as artist John Adams was painting a picture. You may ask what an artist is doing painting a picture on a piece of canvas, this is going to take forever right? Well not this artist, I swear I have never seen a picture painted as quickly as I witnessed that night.

His attention to detail was superb, and above all the artist painted it upside down. After covering it in gold glitter he turned the pic around and showed us his masterpiece, it was a painting of Marilyn Monroe . Very impressive indeed.

After that performance we were then invited to go upstairs where the proceedings were to take place. We were advised that we could stay where we are because there are big screens placed all over the venue televising the whole thing. Matt and I decided to make our way upstairs and see what all the fuss was about.

As we were walking through the passage way to the main stage room, we pass another room with a whole bunch of photography work etc. Intrigued by all this we later go into that room and find out it is all about the concept “I was shot in Joburg”. an organization that provides a platform for former street kids, who received photography training through the 'I was shot Foundation' [NGO], to apply their newly developed skills and generate an income. I urge you to check them out; you can find them on Facebook.

We made our way to the main stage room where there was a cash bar, a stage with instruments and another big screen. We see Cito working hard to do last minute preparations before the MC comes up on stage and announces what we are all here to witness.

So there was a lot speeches, but basically, after listening to both Cito Otto and Collet Dawson. We were all gathered here to celebrate the launch of two exciting things happening in the near future.

The first one being the launch of the Co Lab network. Colab Network is a specialist services provider across all genres of entertainment. Under the company umbrella, a network of expertise and skills that has long been established by the duo will now be made accessible to the industry. This will include not only the services that they offer in their individual capacities, but also, outsourcing to a wider scope within the industry.

Under the banner of The CoLab Network, there are 3 divisions.

Individual – Collett and Cito will continue to perform their trades, within their individual capacities.

Combined – Together they pool their expertise to provide additional services to the industry.

Outsourced – For the services that they don’t specialize in, they will commission experts within their network to collaborate with them.

What I like about Collet and Cito’s partner shipping is that Collete said in her speech that night, that one of the things she wants to change in the industry is people helping one another. When she first started out in the industry she spoke to some established people in the industry asking for advice etc, and she was turned away by them saying that they had to get to the top on their own, so she has to work on her own to get to the top.

So Collet announced she wants to change this way of thinking and that those in the industry should be helping each other, which I agree with as I have experienced this first hand when I started out with Fanbase Music mag.

So that was the first announcement of the night.

Apart from that there was also a new exciting project the duo was starting, and that is South Africa’s very own Salsa band called Salsafrica! We were treated to Cito and a 12 piece Salsa band singing and dancing to Salsa music. I must admit I have never got into the whole Salsa genre thing but after seeing this band perform I’m a fan of the music culture. With the guidance of Collet Dawson and Cito Otto, this band will go places and open up a whole new dimension in South Africa in singing and performing.

I for one am very excited about all these new projects taking place and can proudly say Fanbase Music mag is behind it all the way!!!

Well-done Collet and Cito

Graham Gillot

It is with great honor that I get to interview this very talented musician, if you havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t heard of Graham Gillot or the Graham Gillot band, then you are in for a treat. Graham is currently taking the country and world by storm and weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re all invited for the ride. Apart from being a very accomplished musician himself and has taken apart in various successful projects.

Graham has also been touring With Rodriguez in the Sugarman South African tour. Enjoy this interview as we chat to Graham about that and a bunch of other things he is involved in.

Interview by: Duwyne Clayton

Hi Graham, thanks for doing this interview with Fanbase Music mag; let’s start from the beginning, where did all start as a musician, did you come from a musical back ground?

It all started by endlessly jamming really bad “Blues in E” progressions in a basement with 4 other friends in High School. My Mom played classical piano and my Gran is a choir conductor. But I only started getting into music when I was 16.

Who are some of your influences you listened to growing up and influences you today?

Top 3 are Mozart, Hendrix and Van Halen. But I listen to everything from Bach to Paco de Lucia to Satriani to David Guetta. I get bored with one style and I like to analyze different styles and combine various technics.

My favourite artists are the ones who made a revolutionary difference to world of music and the guitar in particular.

Who is the Graham Gillot band and what can you tell us about the band?

The band consists of myself on guitar and vocals, Duncan Combe on bass, sax, clarinet, keyboard (we call him the Duncan Combe Orchestra) and his daughter Jeane Combe on Drums Other than guitar, what other instruments can you play?

I play average harmonica but no other instruments compare to what you can do with a guitar. It’s easiest instrument to learn - but the hardest to master.

You are a brilliant performer on stage, do you still get nervous when you on stage?

Sometimes apprehensive, but not nervous. It comes with time. I am not a performer by nature and I never wanted to be on stage. But when you have done years of gigs and shows you eventually settle into it and the stage can become your home.

Do you have any rituals before you go stage?

No. Sometimes warming up, depending on the show.

You currently touring with the great Rodriguez, how does it feel to be playing alongside a legend like him?

Awesome. It is an honor and a privilege to play with such a humble Legend.

How did it come about that you got to play for him in South Africa, were you chosen to play or did he just say he needs a band and you applied for the job?

“my Mom played classical piano and my Gran is a choir conductor”

In 2004 I played in a band that did a Rodriguez Tribute Show. He heard about us and decided to come and watch one of our shows. We were obviously blown away and worried that he would not like our versions of his songs, but he did and decided there and then to do some impromptu gigs with us. So the little Tribute band became his backing band. It was a great honor for us.

Then in 2009 I arranged a SA tour for him together with the Barnyards and we toured the country.

After the tour with Rodriguez is over, what do you have planned and where can we see you gigging?

The album â&#x20AC;&#x153;Colour of Soundâ&#x20AC;? is online on iTunes and is being play listed at various radio stations. The focus will be on promoting the album. Shows will be posted on the Facebook page.

What can you tell us about Graham Gillot- Flying guitarist, do you really play solos etc while swinging over the audience?

Yes, the first Flying Guitarist Aerial Act - you can look up the video that was posted on the website www.grahamgillot.com

What other projects are you involved in at the moment?

I also have a Guitar Legends Tribute Show, as well as a Rodriguez Tribute Show. The main projects are the original Graham Gillot Band as well as the Flying Guitarist Act.

How can people get hold of you, do you have sociable networks you can share with us?

Yes the best is the facebook page: www.facebook.com/ GrahamGillotBand Or the website www.grahamgillot.com

Thank you so much for doing this interview, you are awesome.

Thank you!

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Saving Silence, the contemporary rock band from the East Rand, has often been described as the hardest working band in South Africa today.

The four piece act is made up of the captivating presence of Danie Carolus on vocals, guitar and keyboards, which is accompanied by the talented Werner Bosman on lead guitar and vocals. These two front the band and their understanding of music and each other makes them a formidable team.

JP Maré locks things down with the bass, keeping things tight and driven. Enjoy this interview as you get to know more of this band.

Thank you so much for doing this interview, where did it all start as a band?

If I have never been to one of your gigs, what could I expect?

It all started about 10 years ago. I was working as a computer Programmer and hating life. I saw Just Jinjer perform live the one day and decided it’s all I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I started writing songs and learning to play instruments and recorded a solo album. After that I rounded up some friends who played started gigging.

The rest is history as they say. Hang on.

Who is this 'they'? Haha

You can expect a bunch of guys rocking out like it owes us money. We have a lot of fun up there and people can always see that. You're only as good as your last show so we go up there to prove a point. We joke around and interact with each other and the crowd a lot too but also know how to make things deep and intimate. Nice variety of emotions and feel.

Did you all come from a musical background?

“once we get stuck in it gets dirty”

I didn't really come from a musical background but the rest I the guys did Who is the song writer in the band and where do you get your inspiration from?

I have written most of our stuff but Werner and JP have been working on that with me now. I generally can only write when I'm upset or after a break up. If I battle to write its cause I'm happy with life. Hahaha. One of those things. Guess it's my outlet. Every song is a story of my life.

Do you still get nervous when you on stage?

We hardly ever get nervous... I do sometimes of my voice is tired or if I'm sick but we have done this for so long and performed to so many people that it’s like second nature. Now and again you have that show that gives you the butterflies though, but once we get stuck in it gets dirty. Haha Do you have any rituals before you go on stage?

We generally hang out and have traditional tequila together followed by a lustful stare into each other's eyes. Hahaha. True story

Tell me something about each member of the band?

Werner is a monster on guitar and his dance moves make the world a better place. He is rock and roll to the T and is the biggest Slash fan ever.

JP is the oddest character I know but he makes the journey more exciting. He has an extensive music collection and knowledge and is a great asset to the band.

I am just a girl standing in front of a boy asking him.

Wait a minute. Wrong speech. I do what I do and am probably our worst critic. I love what we do and was born to do it.

All of us are really close and have a good sense of humour and that's what makes Saving Silence.

Do you have an album out, if so where can we get it from?

We have the 1st album called 'Open Up Your Eyes' which was done before the rest of the band joined last year. We are currently working on a new album which we are very proud of which is being co produced by Denholm Harding from Just Jinjer. We are so excited to release the whole new sound to the public. They will both be in all CD stores and iTunes or on sale at our shows.

How can people get hold of you? Social medias?

People can get hold of us on Facebook and Twitter or check out our website. www.savingsilence.co.za Thanx so much for doing this interview with us Thanks for the write up and the support. Can You Hear It? We're Saving Silence.

Saving Silence Can You Hear It?

Interviewed by: Duwyne Clayton

GOSPEL CHOIR – A BIOGRAPHY HIGHLIGHTS OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS: Soweto Gospel Choir was formed in November, 2002 In December, 2002 their first album “Voices of Heaven” was recorded and went on to reach the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s World Music Chart within 3 weeks of its release in the US In 2003 the choir won its first award, a Helpmann Award, Australia’s prestigious Performing Arts Award, for “Best Contemporary Music Concert” This success was followed when they won a 2003 American Gospel Music Award for “Best Choir” In the same year, they won an American Gospel Music Award for “Best International Choir” They performed for President Bill Clinton at a corporate function in Little Rock, Arkansas In October 2006, the choir performed as invited guests for their Patron, Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s 75th Birthday Celebrations, in front of an illustrious audience which included former President Nelson Mandela, Mrs Zanele Mbeki, Tokyo Sexwale, Samuel L Jackson, Alfre Woodard and Carlos Santana They featured on a guest appearance with Diana Ross, Deborah Cox and Danny K for the “Unite of the Stars” Gala Banquet in South Africa in November 2006 They were invited guests on NBC’s “Today Show” as well as on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” The choir have also made a guest appearance on ‘The Tonight Show with Jay Leno’ In December 2006 they performed at Sun City, South Africa, for Oprah Winfrey and 200 of her V.I.P. guests, including Mariah Carey, Mary J Blige, Tina Turner, Patti Labelle, Sydney Poitier and Quincy Jones On 11 February 2007, Soweto Gospel Choir received its greatest accolade, a Grammy Award for their second CD “Blessed”, in the category “Best Traditional World Music” At the same time, they were nominated for the 26th International Reggae and World Music Awards, held at the Apollo Theatre, Harlem, on 5 May, in the category “Contribution to World Music”, alongside Jimmy Cliff, Salif Keita, Youssou N’Dour and Ziggy Marley In May 2007, the choir won a SAMA Award (South African Music Association Award) in the Category “Best Live Performance DVD” In June 2007 Soweto Gospel Choir was the support act for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers at their concerts in Germany To add to their string of national and international awards, in November 2007 Soweto Gospel Choir won a Metro FM Music Award for Best Gospel Album for “African Spirit”, based on nominations submitted by the radio station’s listeners, and the public In February 2008, the choir was awarded a second Grammy Award for their third album “African Spirit”, in the “Best Traditional World Music” category Also in February 2008, the choir was honoured with the PanSALB Award for Multilingualism and Nation Building, for “Album of the Decade” They performed with Celine Dion during her “Taking Chances” tour of South Africa

The choir has had the honour of performing with gospel legends Bebe Winans and Kirk Franklin While in New Orleans, they recorded a track with rock legend Robert Plant, which was included on a Fats Domino tribute album, with proceeds going to the victims of Hurricane Katrina Their 46664 London performance of “Weeping”, with Josh Groban and Vusi Mahlasela, is featured on Josh’s latest album “Collection” The choir has toured the world extensively, performing at prestigious venues like Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, the Nelson Mandela Theatre and Royal Festival Hall in London .

They have performed at high profile festivals such as the Edinburgh Festival, the Adelaide Festival, the Hong Kong Festival, and the London Festival, always to huge acclaim

Soweto Gospel Choir received its third Grammy nomination in December 2008, this time in the category Best Contemporary World Music, for their album, “Live at the Nelson Mandela Theatre” The song “Down To Earth” from the blockbuster Wall-E movie, their collaboration with Peter Gabriel, won a Grammy in the Best Movie Song category In February 2009, the choir became the first South African artist to perform at the Academy Awards, when they sang “Down To Earth”, the Gabriel/Newman Oscar-nominated song, with John Legend In March 2009, they were nominated for three SAMAs (South African Music Awards), for their cd and dvd, “Live At the Nelson Mandela Theatre”, winning the Award for “Best Duo or Group” In May 2009, the choir was invited to perform at the Inauguration of South Africa’s new President In November, members of Soweto Gospel Choir were flown to Los Angeles to take part in a major Pepsi advertising campaign, alongside Akon and Keri Hilson The choir was one of three featured African artists for the FIFA World Cup Draw held in Cape Town in December 2009 In April 2010, Soweto Gospel Choir was honoured with the inaugural International Achievement Award, at the South African Music Awards held at Sun City.

Also in April, the choir was invited to perform at the Opening Ceremony of the 2010 World Trade Expo, held in Shanghai, as the African representative.

The choir collaborated with U2, as the featured South African artist, on the songs “Streets Have No Name”, “Magnificent” and “Boots” for ESPN’s promotional campaign for the 2010 World Cup. Excitingly, the campaign paid dividends, as along with ESPN and U2, Soweto Gospel Choir received a Sports Emmy Award as winners of the Outstanding Music Composition/Direction/Lyrics category on 2 May 2011.

They can then add an Emmy to their two Grammys, three ‘associated ‘Grammys, three SAMAS and one Oscar nomination – an amazing achievement The choir has also been featured in several prestigious magazines and books including in Time magazine and in Andrew Zuckerman’s “Music”, alongside such music heavyweights as Russell Simmons, Herbie Hancock, Ozzy Osborne, John Legend and Mark Knopfler They performed at the FIFA World Cup Kick-Off Concert in Soweto, the night before the the opening of the World Cup in June, with a international and African line-up including the Black-Eyed Peas, Shakira, Angelique Kidjo and John Legend.

In December 2010, Soweto Gospel Choir received its fourth Grammy nomination, in the Best Traditional World Music category, for its album “Grace”. The choir was featured alongside the London Philharmonic Orchestra in the song “Baba Yetu” and on the album “Calling All Dawns”, both of which won Grammys in February 2011 From May – July 2011, members of the choir toured Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, to rave reviews, while others performed in Guadeloupe , French Caribbean In July 2011, eighteen choir members performed six concerts in Maastricht, Holland, with top selling classical violinist, Andre Rieu. They joined the Harlem Gospel Choir on stage as a first time collaboration between these world famous choirs.

Soweto Gospel Choir joined Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his guests for his 80th birthday celebrations, held in Cape Town in October 2011. They performed at the launch of his new book, and backed Bono on “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, as a surprise for the Arch. They also sang with other artists at both the cathedral service and the private luncheon for their patron. Bono described them as “brilliant”!

They performed with leading South African artists at the ANC Centenary Celebrations in Bloemfontein on 8 January 2012.

In June 2012, Soweto Gospel Choir was invited by South African sensation Zahara, to perform with her and special guest Leroy Bell as part of two sold out concerts that were filmed for her forthcoming dvd.

Other artists the choir performed with in South Africa during 2012, as their special guests, were Andre Rieu and Johnny Clegg In December, Soweto Gospel Choir was nominated for its second Kora (All Africa) Award The choir is an Ambassador for Nelson Mandela’s 46664 campaign and has performed at the Cape Town, Johannesburg, London and New York concerts with artists such as Peter Gabriel, Bono, Queen, Jimmy Cliff, Johnny Clegg, Eddie Grant Amy Winehouse, Queen Latifah, Wyclef Jean, Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder.

They are also Ambassadors for SHOUT, 1Goal, United Nation’s MDG Envoys for Africa and Interpol’s “Proud to Be” campaign Soweto Gospel Choir has founded its own AIDS orphans foundation, Nkosi’s Haven Vukani, to assist organisations that receive little or no funding. To date, the choir has collected over R5million for their foundation. In South Africa, the choir performs for a variety of charitable organisations.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR: “There is simply no flaw here” Evening News, Scotland “When they open their mouths, the sense of texture is flawless…here is energy and passion in song” Business Day, Johannesburg “The public will be blown away” Daily Sun, Johannesburg “These absolutely thrilling singers need nothing but their voices to make dazzling music” Billboard “Simply the best” The Star Tonight, Johannesburg “This is a tour de musical force….Soweto Gospel Choir is a slice of musical heaven” Australian Stage, Melbourne “A singularly joyful sound” O Magazine, USA “Occasionally, a diamond of such brilliance is unearthed that you find yourself compelled to develop a near-fanatical enthusiasm for it” Manchester News

“Meticulous and unstoppable…spirited and spectacular” The New York Times “I was left awestruck by the choir’s majestic and moving performance. There is no equal to their passion and power” Three Weeks, Edinburgh

“Soweto Gospel Choir mesmerised the captive audience” The Sowetan, Johannesburg

“You can’t fake those smiles…nor can you fake the sheer joy in just being alive which seemed to govern every move by these colourfully clad singers, dancers and instrumentalists”.

The West Australian, May 2011 “An explosion of colour, music, dance and rhythm, and a full dose of life. When they sing, they mean it; when they dance, they mean it; when they smile, they mean it. From the first blast of harmonies, we were under the spell of Soweto Gospel Choir”.

InDaily, Adelaide, June 2011

“African Grace is a celebration of the supreme joy of music, life, and love, and the beauty of human voices, movement and collaboration. The energy of Soweto Gospel Choir is truly amazing. The whirlpool of talent leaves you gobsmacked” Australian Stage, June 2011

“It was clear the choir were singing songs from the depths of their soul and the feeling behind them was electric.

Verdict – amazing” Kenilworth Weekly News, UK 2011

“The choir was brilliant!”

Bono, Archbishop Tutu’s 80th Birthday celebrations, 2011

“Presenting grace of form and grace of God in one program is a tall order but the choir pulled it off to perfection.

The costumes were brilliant, the songs powerful, the sound heavenly, and the dancing exuberant.

Classical Voice, North Carolina, 2012

“Breathtaking to the eye and ear, Soweto had the audience having a good time: clapping Soweto rhythms and waving its arms in unison, reminiscent of rock concerts with American youth melding” The Boston Musical Intelligencer, 2012

“Dazzling and unified.....Soweto Gospel Choir was as much to look at as to listen to. The human spirit – this you couldn’t miss” Los Angeles Times, 2012

“and in other news! “ “Searching for Sugarman” wins an Oscar for best Documentary It gives me great delight to report back to you that the Documentary “Searching for Sugarman” has won an Oscar for the best new Documentary.

Searching for Sugarman is a well put doccie about the life and music of singer Rodriguez. What makes this film very special is that it brought Rodriguez back into the lime light and back into music. Rodriguez gave up music after making just two albums.

Rumors went around that he died by committing suicide. But in the search to find out what really happened to him, it turned out he was well and working as a construction worker. He did not even know he was a huge star in South Africa until he was found and bought back to S.A to do a few gigs. You got to watch this movie for yourself to really appreciate it It’s a special time for the makers of Searching for Sugarman, well-done to all involved including the man himself Rodriguez for winning an Oscar!!! Although Rodriguez is an American Detroit singer, South Africa considers him as one of our own and just the fact he was found and is playing music again is awesome for us as fans!!!

Machine Head parts ways with Bassist Adam Duce Sadly Machine Head have parted ways with bassist Adam Duce, according to a statement posted on the band’s official website.

Duce is a founding member of the metal band which is why the news of his departure from Machine Head comes as a shock.

Having formed Machine Head with front man Robb Flynn in 1991, Duce’s exit leaves Flynn as the only remaining original member of the Bay area group.

This official statement was posted on Machine Head’s website: “ Machine Head and bassist Adam Duce have parted ways.

The split is amicable, and Machine Head would like to wish Adam the best with his current and future endeavors. The band will continue on for the time being as a three-piece and have begun the writing process for their follow-up to 2011′s “Unto The Locust”. A late 2013 release is projected.

Machine Head also broke the news on their official Twitter account, simply writing, “Machine Head and Adam Duce part ways,” before linking to the statement.

Adam Duce nor any member of Machine Head have offered an additional comment on the breakup.

Machine head front man confesses to firing Bassist Adam Duce With New info about the parting ways with Adam Duce, Machine head front man confesses in a blog to his fans, that he had to make a decision of firing his band mate of over 20 years.

Now, a new letter from frontman Robb Flynn reveals that Duce was, in fact, fired from the band.

In their original post, the band revealed their intent to remain a three-piece in Duce’s absence and that they had begun the writing process for their follow-up to the ‘Unto the Locust’ album with plans for a late 2013 release. Little else concerning the matter was revealed … until now.

In a new diary entry posted today (Feb. 26), Robb Flynn offers a very lengthy and heartfelt explanation in a new posting online. In it, he revealed the painful process of having to let go of their longtime bandmate with plenty of insight into how things went down. The full posting reads as follows: “2-11-13.

That is the date we fired Adam Duce. That is the day that I had to tell Adam that after 21 years of being in a band together, I just couldn’t take it anymore. That is the day I said “My hope is that this can be amicable.” The words sounded like someone else had spoken them. It was like being outside of my body watching someone else deliver these painful words. But, it was me saying it. And we all said it.

We had our say sitting in our jam room in Oakland. Dave said it. Joseph (our manager) said it. Phil said it. We all said that we couldn’t take being in a band with him anymore. That if this didn’t happen, we were going to break up the band. It was hard. One of the hardest moments of my life.

It was also a long time coming. We may have fired Adam on 2-11-13, but Adam quit Machine Head well over a decade ago. He just never bothered to tell anyone… but we all knew it. Contrary to popular belief, being in a band is tough. Really f*cking tough. It’s the toughest sonofabitch you’ll ever come across in your life and it will beat the living shit out of you 80% of the time. Many times it feels like one big rollercoaster, the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. There are wins and losses seemingly every single day. Being in a band is one of life’s strangest gambles.

But when you do win, when you win that 20%, well… it truly is salvation. It’s what makes eating the other 80% of that s—sandwich bearable. It’s where “those” stories come from. It can be the best job you’ll ever have and unquestionably one of the hardest you’ll ever have.

But until you’ve done it for 20+ years, you have no clue. Until you’ve held a band together for 20+ years, you really don’t know jack shit about it. You think you do, but you don’t. A band is a dysfunctional family, a brotherhood, a family business, and a renaissance-era-court.

You’re roommates in studio-apartment-on-wheels for years-at-a-time, 24-hours-a-day. Plus you’re in the pressure cooker of the spotlight, every move analyzed, read into, or attacked. Everybody wants something from you, everybody wants to be your friend, everybody loves you, and everybody can do so-much-better-for-you-than-the-people-you-have-now. Some people try and turn you against each other, and everyone wants to take credit for your success.

Often time you’re enemies. At odds and fighting about something, but “pretending” everything is “fine” onstage. But it isn’t… You just wear a mask that looks like it’s fine, and after 20 years, we know that mask so well, it slides on way too f—in’ easy. Adam hasn’t been happy in this band for a long time. But how do you leave? To a guy like Adam everything is either winning or losing. A stunning victory or the ultimate failure. There was no in-between. And while that sounds great for a TV show or an interview-sound-bite, or even a John Wayne movie that wraps up in 90 minutes… life just isn’t like that.

And life certainly isn’t like that for a band like Machine Head. A band who operate in the upper-middle-tier. For us, there are no stunning victories, only respectable wins. No ultimate failures, just better-luck-next-times. We carved a niche, we OWN that niche, but it’s still just a niche. Nothing wrong with that.

No matter how un-happy or fed up he got, quitting the band would be seen as “losing” or a “failure”. Truth be told, he was sick of it. Sick of touring, sick of recording, sick of practicing, sick of looking at album artwork, sick of being-on-a-team-but-never-getting-the-ball, sick of yearning-for-the-honeymoon-to-resume when 20 years deep it never does. Sick of never quite hitting the big-time, sick of carving the niche… sick of caring. I don’t blame him. It’s hard to keep the passion. But he just wouldn’t quit.

We wanted him to quit. We were hoping he would quit, “guys, my heart isn’t in this anymore, it was a good run, later dayz”. We didn’t want it to come to this… But he wouldn’t.

I didn’t feel anything as I drove away from the jam room that night. When I awoke the next morning I didn’t feel anything either. I wasn’t “numb,” I still “felt”, was just kinda blank. But three days after the meeting, an argument broke out in the jam room about how conflicted I felt about it. Then I cried.

I cried and cried. I’ve cried every day since. I’ve been an emotional wreck. I cried writing this. I was sick the day that we announced it (11 days and 2 General Journals after actually doing it), walking around about to vomit for hours. I met with him for a couple hours last Wednesday, met with him yesterday. It’s civil. I don’t know what else to say. I don’t have some inspirational quote to end with here. I’m not gonna sit here and tell you everything is gonna be all right, or that’s it gonna be the same. At this moment I can’t even bring myself to say that it’s going to be better. Why? Because it sucks. It f—ing sucks. It sucks for everyone who tried to save this. It sucks more than you can imagine… It’s a horrible relief.

Gerald Clark to take local and foreign audiences across Black Water Having recently launched his album ‘Black Water’ on our sunny shores, Gerald Clark is now ready to introduce live audiences both locally and abroad to his inimitable, foot-tapping gritty blues.

Locally Clark will be performing in a headlining slot at the BIG Blues Music Festival in Kleinmond on Saturday, 2 March (21:30), after which our favourite muso will be packing up his guitar and heading over the pond to the Czech Republic to give them a taste of our homegrown talent over the course of a three-week tour.

Some of his performances in the Czech Republic will include: 12 March 2013 - Jazz Dock, Prague 15 March 2013 - Club Andaluzja, Poland 22 March 2013 - Echo of Blues Alive Festival (17th anniversary) 23 March 2013 - Jazzinec Jazz Festival (15th anniversary), playing alongside such greats as Erik Truffaz and Anna Aaron (F/CZ), the Paul Lieberman Quartet (USA/CZ), Frank Gambale Natural High Trio (USA) and the Benson McGlashan Jazz Trio (USA, CAN, CZ) 27 March 2013 - Piestany, West Slovakia No need to fret though, Clark is already hard at work recording his next album (Gerald's ‘Country Soul’ venture) which will be launched as soon as he is back on SA soil. This expertly crafted work is being polished to a high sheen and promises to introduce a wider than ever audience to Gerald Clark's exceptional talent.

Social media links: Website: www.geraldclark.co.za Facebook: www.facebook.com/geraldjamesclark Twitter: www.twitter.com/thegeraldclark Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/geraldclarkmusic Media contact: For more information, high res images and/or interview requests with Gerald Clark please contact Ice Carstens at icecarstens@gmail.com

Slayer Drummer Dave Lombardo Dismissed From Australian Tour After Financial Dispute Metal band Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo has just detonated a pipe bomb regarding the thrash band’s business dealings and internal turmoil. One week ago, on Valentine’s Day, Lombardo was notified by the band’s lawyers that his services behind the kit would not be needed for Slayer’s upcoming Australian tour dates. The entire story feels beyond odd and incredibly cold, and Lombardo has detailed the sudden decision in an official statement.

According to a Facebook post from Dave Lombardo’s personal account today (Feb. 21), the drummer alleges that there have been shady practices from the individuals who handle the business of Slayer. Lombardo explains that his efforts to secure more money for the band members themselves led to a butting of heads with guitarist Kerry King, and reveals he was ultimately dismissed from the Australian dates, which primarily consist of their run on the Soundwave Festival.

Lombardo posted the following on his Facebook page: “I want to personally apologize to all of our fans in Australia who have bought tickets for the tour expecting to see me in my usual place on the drums.

So that you all know the truth, as of the end of the business day on February 14th, I was notified that I would not be drumming for the tour in Australia. I’m saddened, and to be honest I am shocked by the situation.

Last year, I discovered 90% of Slayer’s tour income was being deducted as expenses including the professional fees paid to management, costing the band millions of dollars and leaving 10% or less to split amongst the four of us. In my opinion, this is not the way a band’s business should operate. I tried rectifying it by letting my band mates know, and Tom and I hired auditors to figure out what happened, but I was denied access to detailed information and the necessary back up documents.

I spent the Christmas and New Year holidays realizing I had toured all over the world in 2012, but yet, had not been paid (except a small advance) or provided a proper accounting for a full year’s sweat and blood. On top of this, I was told that I would not be paid until I signed a long form contract which gave me no written assurance of how much or on what basis management would deduct commissions, nor did it provide me access to the financial budgets or records for review. It also forbade me to do interviews or make statements having to do with the band, in effect a gagging order.

Last Monday, I sat down with Kerry [King] and Tom [Araya] to rehearse for Australia and to propose a new business model that I felt was the best way forward for Slayer to confidently protect itself so we could do what we do best . . . play for the fans. Kerry made it clear he wasn’t interested in making changes and said if I wanted to argue the point, he would find another drummer. On Thursday, I arrived at rehearsals at 1 pm as scheduled, but Kerry did not show. Rather, at 6:24 pm I received an email from the lawyers saying I was being replaced for the Australian dates.

I remain hopeful that we can resolve our issues. But once again, I sincerely apologize to all of our fans in Australia who spent their money expecting to see the 3 of us original Slayer members.

I look forward to seeing you in the future.

Sincerely, Dave Lombardo

Foo Fighters Are Beginning Work on New Album Well that was short lived, we announced a month’s back that Foofighters released a statement saying they are going on a break and won’t be doing music for some time. But according to front man Dave Grohl, work on a new Foo Fighters album is set to begin.

The Foo’s most recent album, ‘Wasting Light,’ was unleashed in 2011 to much acclaim, earning the band a handful of Grammy Awards. According to NME, Grohl has decided that it’s time to work on another effort. “I return to Los Angeles tomorrow to start work on a Foo Fighters record,” Grohl divulged on Feb. 19, only four months after announcing a Foo Fighters hiatus in 2012.

In an earlier NME news piece, Grohl spoke of his plans for Foo Fighters after the ‘Sound City’ engagements were finished, and the front man has since stuck with those plans. “We have a plan,” begins Grohl. “We know exactly what’s coming next, and I have the music for the next record and we’re going to start working on it once we finish doing all this stuff … And we have really awesome, big plans for the next album and I’m really excited about it.”

We for one are glad about this latest news and we look forward to hear what comes out of the band next, now if only a South African tour was on the cards hehe

Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker pulls out of Australian tour due to fear of flying Travis Barker was involved in a plane crash back in 2008 which left him in critical condition and claimed four lives, two which included his best friends. Although the plane crash happened almost 5 years ago the drummer is still very scared of flying and has had to make the hard decision of pulling out Blink 182’ Australian tour. In a recent letter to his fans Travis Barker had this to say: I'm sorry to announce I won't be joining Blink-182 on this Australian tour. I still haven't gotten over the horrific events that took place the last time I flew when my plane crashed and 4 people were killed, two being my best friends. I gave the band my blessing to take another drummer if they still wanted to do the tour without me. I hope to come to Australia again someday perhaps by ship if need be. Unfortunately, there wasn't a boat that worked with the schedule this time around. Once again I'm sorry to all the fans.

-Travis

Axl Rose loses court’s decision to put ex band members in new Guitar Hero 3 game With the breakup of Guns n Roses Original band over 10 years go,‘ Axl Rose may wish to distance himself from Slash as much as possible, but the proximity of the front man to his former guitarist will stand in the ‘Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock’ video game. A judge dismissed Rose’s lawsuit against Activision Blizzard Inc. in which he claimed the gaming company broke a promise made to him when he agreed to license his music.

According to the San Marino Tribune, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charles Palmer heard more than two hours of arguments Jan. 31 concerning the lawsuit’s contract claims before taking the case under submission. On Thursday (Feb. 7), he affirmed his tentative ruling and tossed out the remaining causes of action in the case.

Back in August, Palmer threw out Rose’s initial fraud and misrepresentation claims because they were filed beyond the statute of limitations, but left the vocalist with the ability to pursue the contractual causes of action. In the time since the last court date, Activision filed another dismissal notice and this time Palmer ruled in their favor.

Rose alleged that he had agreed to allow usage of ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ in the video game only if Activision were to disallow any images of his former Guns N’ Roses bandmates or their current band, Velvet Revolver. However, Slash appeared as a character within the game itself. Even though Rose voiced his displeasure during production of the game, the company moved forward with their usage of the guitarist’s image and the band’s song.

Driver of Baroness tour bus faces criminal charges According to BBC News, the driver of Baroness’ tour bus when it crashed in England last August is now facing criminal charges. Norman Markus is due in court in April on charges of “insufficient daily and weekly rest periods,” “using a vehicle in a condition likely to cause danger of injury,” and “not having the correct license entitlement to drive the coach involved in the crash.”

Several members of the band and their crew were severely injured when the bus’ brakes failed on a hill in Monkton Combe, UK, resulting in a 50 mph collision with a guardrail. The band was forced to cancel their remaining 2012 tour schedule and is only now able to perform live.

Nine Inch Nails Returns: Band Announces 2013-14 Tour Four years after declaring that Nine Inch Nails should "disappear for a while," group mastermind Trent Reznor is reviving his most successful industrial rock project for an extended tour that will kick off this summer. Although no dates have been revealed, sources say that one of the reunited group's appearances will be at Lollapalooza in Chicago.

A new statement from Reznor details the new collective that will form NIN as well as the upcoming tour, which will spill into next year. Here is the full statement (via Pitchfork): NOTE FROM TRENT: Nine Inch Nails are touring this year.

I was working with Adrian Belew on some musical ideas, which led to some discussion on performing, which led to some beard -scratching, which (many steps later) led to the decision to re-think the idea of what Nine Inch Nails could be, and the idea of playing a show. Calls were made to some friends, lots of new ideas were discussed, and a show was booked - which led to another, which somehow led to a lot of shows.

The band is reinventing itself from scratch and will be comprised of Eric Avery, Adrian Belew, Alessandro Cortini, Josh Eustis, Ilan Rubin, and me. The first shows will begin this summer, followed by a full-on arena tour of the US this fall, and lots of other dates worldwide to follow through 2014.

Lots of details and dates to come. See you soon.

TRENT

Brian “Head” Welch in talks to re-unite with KORN. oooh we have just got word that Brian "Head" Welch is in talks with re-uniting with his former band mates from KORN. He is already scheduled to play with the band in a few future shows including high profile gigs at Rock on the Range in Ohio and the Rock IM Park and Rock Am Ring fests in Germany. He has already made an appearance on the song BLIND at a recent gig, after surprising the 2012 Carolina Rebellion Festival by joining the band onstage for a performance. In a recent interview with Loudwire the Love and death front man revealed, they are taking it slow but he is in talks on a more permanent reconciliation with the band KORN. KORN lead singer Jon Davis has already spoken to Head in a recent conversation stating how much he wants to get him back in the band, and in a recent interview with guitarist Munky he also expressed that they working on getting head to be back in the band but this issue is a touchy subject so they taking it slow and working towards that.

In my opinion I am really excited about this news, KORN have always been a legendary band but they seem to have lost some of their rawness since Head left the band, so I’m hoping they capture some of that old days magic they did like with songs Ball tongue and Blind.

What will this mean for his current band Love and Death? Well Head said in a recent interview that he would still carry on with Love and death, as he loves that band and uses it to get all the stuff out of his soul that he has to say but re-uniting with Korn will defo be a dream come true.

Son of 1000 have a new drummer Born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, Josh Roscoe is a drummer influenced by the likes of Thomas Pridgen (The Mars Volta), Jose Passilas (Incubus), and Josh Freese. Gigging from the young age of 15, Roscoe is no stranger to the scene, having drummed for the likes of The Exploits and Finding Noah.

After studying music formally at Campus of Performing Arts (COPA), Roscoe has honed his style, striving for simplicity and musicality, with an emphasis on strong groove-based drumming.

Now embarking on a new journey with Son of a 1000, Roscoe hopes to continue the high standard of performance by constantly innovating and incorporating his style to the band and make Son of 1000 his band.

When asked about ex drummer Dave Munn Federico Fernandez said that his priorities changed and we wish him all the best.

He went on to say: For me, I feel that Joshy will take Son of 1000 to another level as when we auditioned him, we gave him "Tricky", "Heist" and "Time will show you" from our new album "To jump with eyes closed" on a Thursday and he had them down and spotless on Saturday morning. I am so happy that he is now part of Son of 1000, very proud.

— E I R

OU F ID ser W i A n D a TH t Org I W fes Ram Hi Dawid, thanks for doing this interview with us (for all the first time RAMfest goers) Can you explain to us what RAMfest is all about?

RAMfest is an annual celebration of alternative music in the form of a national touring festival.

The only touring festival in SA I might add!

With the RAMfest Festival being so successful in previous years, what can we expect this year from RAMfest?

We have the best international line up to date as well as exciting shows from the locals. All in all I think this will be the best event so far.

What goes into the planning of an event like RAMfest, just how hard is it put an event like this together?

This is a whole year of planning and about 6 months of grafting.

Organizing an event like this is quite exciting but also quite daunting, how old were you when you decided you wanted to organize a festival?

I’ve wanted to do this my whole life, but started in my early 20’s.

How long before you were able to make those dreams a reality, and what did you have to go through?

Who are some of the bands playing this year?

International and local?

Every year is a dream come true. We always try and raise the bar.

Rise Against, Bring Me The Horizon, Pendulum DJ set, The Inspector Cluzo, Jack Parow, Van Coke Kartel, Sibot, Das Kapital, Pestroy, Beast,Goodnight Wembley and many many more.

How was it dealing with bands for the first time around?

The local bands are always a pleasure to work with, some internationals can be tricky , but no really bad experiences yet.

Just how important is it to have the media on your side for events like this. They surely play a big part in making it a success.

Is the media on my side? Haha, of course media plays a vital role. Events like this need the coverage to grow.

Haha Fanbase Music mag is defo on your side, are there any sociable Medias we can follow or get hold of to keep up to date with RAMfest?

You can follow/like us for all the updates, competitions etc here: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ramfest Twitter:

@RAMfest

Website:

www.ramfest.co.za

Thank you so much for doing this interview with us, Fanbase Music mag supports RAMfest all the way and we want to thank you for putting this awesome event together.

Thanks!

RED HEART RUM PRESENTS: RAMFEST JOHANNESBURG – 15 & 16 March: Riversands Farm, Fourways.

Once an untamed wilderness that held the promise of opulence and riches, Johannesburg drew fortune seekers from far and wide to its prosperous diamond- and gold fields. Today those who seek adventure still flock here, but for a very different reason...

Get ready for RAMfest 2013, the no holds barred annual music festival that sees the wide open expanse of Riversands Farm in Fourways, Johannesburg transform into a teeming mass of partygoers. An outdoor music event unlike any other on SA soil, RAMfest 2013 is a ticking time bomb of explosive entertainment, just waiting for someone to light the fuse.

The next level RAMfest JHB 2013 line-up includes International acts: Rise Against (USA), British Metalcore band Bring Me The Horizon, Paul Harding en Ben Verse from Pendulum (Australia and England) and some of SA`s wildest acts including Jack Parow, Van Coke Kartel, Beast, Pestroy and many more.

Hot live act favourite Van Coke Kartel is putting together a 90 minute set called “Sameswering.” They will be performing with all of the artists that they have collaborated with in the past including: George van der Spuy, Hunter Kennedy, Laudo Liebenberg, Jack Parow, Peach van Pletzen and Theo Crous.

This year there will be 3 stages at RAMfest Johannesburg: The Red Heart Rum Stage for the MAIN vibe, the Olmeca Tequila Electronic Stage for pumping up the volume and the BOOM stage for rounding it all off with some more good, solid, rocking tunes.

LINE UP  RED HEART MAIN STAGE: Rise Against, Bring Me The Horizon, Jack Parow, Van Coke Kartel, Fuzigish, Black Cat Bones, Pestroy, Beast, Mind Assault, Deity’s Muse and many more.  OLMECA ELECTRONIC STAGE: Pendulum DJ Set and Verse, Double Adapter, Das Kapital, Veranda Panda, Sibot, Benson, Rude One, Reepa and many more.  BOOM STAGE: Rambling Bones, Planet Joy, North of Winter, The Action Thrillers, Short Straw, Tamara Tree, City of Heroes, The Frown and many more.

Herewith the SA greeting videos from Rise Against and Bring Me The Horizon – makes it all real guys!

Rise Against: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIp_QIZmJTs&list=UUBapl0l-qRKP9IJWCw23M1Q&index=1 Bring Me the Horizon: http://www.frequency.com/video/bmth-south-africa/79010394/-/5-715

Full line-up and details for RAMfest Johannesburg: http://www.facebook.com/events/315336655210418

METALLICA LIVE IN SOUTH AFRICA Stadium Dates Confirmed for April 2013 Big Concerts confirmed that Metallica will perform two stadium shows in South Africa next year. The tour is scheduled for Wednesday 24th April 2013 at Cape Town Stadium and Saturday 27th April at Soccer City Complex, FNB Stadium, Johannesburg. Metallica Live in South Africa is another Big Concerts Experience presented by 5FM’s Power Nite of Rock and MK. Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo collectively known as Metallica, are one of the most influential and commercially successful rock bands in history, having sold 110 million albums worldwide and playing to millions of fans the world over.

They have scored almost a dozen multi-platinum albums, including 1991's Metallica (commonly referred to as "The Black Album"), which is the bestselling album in history of Soundscan, scanning almost 16 million albums in the United States alone, and nearly 30 million worldwide. In October 2008, their latest album, Death Magnetic, debuted at number one on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart and in 27 additional countries around the world.

Metallica have garnered numerous awards and accolades, including nine Grammy®Awards, two American Music Awards, and multiple MTV Video Music Awards. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009. In December 2011 Metallica celebrated its 30th anniversary. This past summer Metallica unveiled a brand new stage that featured iconic elements that spanned its 30-year career.

South African Tour Dates: Wednesday 24th April 2013 – Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town Presented by 5FM’s Power Nite of Rock and MK Saturday 27th April 2013 – Soccer City Complex, FNB Stadium, Johannesburg Presented by 5FM’s Power Nite of Rock and MK For more information on all things Metallica, visit www.metallica.com.

Ticketing Information: Tickets go on sale for the Johannesburg show (web, outlets and call centers) – Wednesday 21st November 2012 (09:00 – local time SAST). Price from R340 – R900 Tickets go on sale for the Cape Town show (web, outlets and call centers) – Thursday 22nd November 2012 (09:00 – local time SAST). Price from R295 – R900.

Tickets available online from www.bigconcerts.co.za, or Computicket.

CONTACTS Dionne Domyan (Johannesburg, and National publicity) +27 (0) 833261776, prwork@iafrica.com Gwen Ironsi (Cape Town publicity) +27 (0) 726561906, gwen@pamberi-communications.co.za Wendy Verwey Bekker (Universal Music - International Rock & Pop Product Manager) +27 (0) 8444 22216, wendy.verwey@umusic.com

What do you like about Zone Radio?

I like the fact that Zone Radio is interactive. I am merely the host of the show. I sit behind the desk and push the buttons and line up the tracks that the listeners want to hear. Of course I have my features but the listeners are free to choose what to play for those as well! Too awesome.

What made you get into radio?

I have always had an interest in radio. The dynamics of being a presenter are so multi faceted and coming from a performing background I like to entertain. It just seemed like the way to go to bring another level of entertainment to people. Now I get to talk to people every week which is great.

What’s your fave genre of music?

To be honest I don’t really have a favourite. I have everything from Beethoven to skrillex. That’s the beauty of music. You choose it to create or fit a mood.

What would be your dream play list if you had to play your top 10 songs of all time?

Wow this was tough but here it is! In no particular order of course… 10) Friends and Lovers – Incubus 9) Belief – John Mayer 8) It’s only Love – Bryan Adams and Tina Turner 7) Groove Tonight – Earth, Wind and Fire 6) Landslide – Stevie Nicks 5) You shook me all night long – AC/DC 4) Superstition – Stevie Wonder 3) Voodoo – Chris Isaak 2) My way – Frank Sinatra 1) Try a Little tenderness – Otis Redding There are so many more I could include!! Arg! Haha If you weren’t in radio, what would you be doing?

Full name: Nicholas Evan Snow

I’d be listening trying to figure out how to get into radio! :D

Nick name: Nick (haha)

Now is your chance to sell your show for Zone Radio...

Occupation: Full time financial advisor at Liberty Life as well as a professional singer, actor and tap dancer.

Your show name and time/day: The Braai Zone 12pm to 3pm every Sunday

Tell us why we should tune into your time slot...123 go!!!? :My show is all about the fun tracks we like to have a lekkerjol to. It’s the Braai Zone. So imagine you and your friends are busy having a get together and you have music in the background. It’s good mood music right? That’s the vibe. Along with my favourite segment the Sunday Sing Along where we embarrass ourselves while singing boy and girl band pop from the 90’s. Now that’s a Braai…

Zone Radio is the best radio station….why?

I see Zone Radio as the best radio station because of what it did and what it continues to do for people like me. I have always had an interest in radio and Zone was the first place to unconditionally take me and train me to see if I could ever be a presenter. It’s like a family here. We all support and look out for each other.

Any last words for the readers and your listeners?

A big thank you! You ARE Zone Radio.

“Sun 12pm— 3pm”

What would be your dream play list if you had to play your top 10 songs of all time?

Tough one. It is a constantly changing top 10, however, right now I am listening to a lot of classic rock, so my top 10 would have to be (in no particular order): Ozzy Osbourne – Crazy Train Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here Golden Earring – Radar Love Paul Simon – You Can Call Me Al Dire Straits – Walk of Life Def Leppard – Hysteria Led Zeppelin – Over the Hills and Far Away Rainbow – Since You’ve been Gone Whitesnake – Here I Go Again Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run If you weren’t in radio, what would you be doing?

I would most probably be spending my Saturday mornings in bed, watching television or have my face pressed up against the glass of the studio like a child at a toy store.

Full name: Nikola Milosavljevic Nick name: Wonderboy Occupation: Student Your show name and time/day: The Saturday Breakfast Zone, every Saturday between 9am and 12pm

What you like about Zone Radio?

There as well as the fact that Zone Radio allows its listeners to dictate the music that is played.

What made you get into radio?

It fuses two of my greatest passions: entertainment and music.

Tried it out, and the radio bug bit me immediately.

Now is your chance to sell your show forZone Radio... Tell us why we should tune into your time slot...123 go!!!?

The Saturday Breakfast Zone is all about getting your Saturday off to a perfect start, the Zone Radio way. If you’re a lover of rock music, local talent or exotic music you have never been exposed to, then the Saturday Breakfast Zone is perfect for.

We promise to take you on a musical journey like you’ve never experienced before.

Zone Radio is the best radio station….why?

Zone Radio takes what is considered to be “traditional radio” and throws it out of the window. There is no conforming here, it takes the old and new, mixes it with a lot of local flair and produces a very fresh product.

Instead of having a playlist for each show, Zone Radio moves the listener away from the traditional role of being a passive listener, and moves them into an active role through allowing the listener to control the music choice through requests.

Zone Radio also allows musicians from all walks of life to submit their music to the station and have it playlisted without having to go through the usual long and tedious procedures.

From there it is in the listeners hands’ to request the artist over and over again.

What’s your fave genre of music?

Besides all of this, the music on each and every show is just plain fantastic and will have both young and old tapping their feet away.

Rock and EDM.

Any last words for the readers and your listeners?

Support local music. I never understood how easily some people could spend hundreds of Rands to see an artist they barely know, but would never spend 20% of that ticket price to see local acts.

“Fri 9am—12pm”

Local music needs our support if it is to keep growing and draw an international audience. We’ve got such an immense amount of talent, it would be a darn shame to not expose the rest of the world to it.

HABIT TO are currently in the studio working on their third full length album due for release in 2013. The recent success of their second album, ‘Boomerang Saturn’ demands an increasingly busy touring schedule for the band. With 66 national show dates under their belts over the months of 2012, they have been burning up the tarmac and stages of South Africa. HABIT TO is rocking hard, tighter than ever and hungry to record and divulge the new music they’ve been brewing behind the scenes.

These three musos come together in one harmonious blend of New Age Rock. Having studied music at tertiary level, HABIT TO synchronise a thought process that digs deeper than the basics of song writing.

Formed in 2003, HABIT TO have built up a strong following not only in Durban, but around the country, winning over new fans with every gig. The band has also performed at most major festivals and shared stages with the likes of Prime Circle, The Parlotones, Goldfish, Fokofpolisiekar, Springbok Nude Girls and many, many more.

In 2006 they won the Durban Burn the Bands competition, which awarded them the studio time and funding they needed to produce their debut album, ‘Secrets to a Triangle’. This achievement also gained them huge popularity and opened up many opportunities. The single ‘Cast in Stone’ received extensive radio airplay, while the music video for ‘Gratitude’ was put into rotation on Go TV, MK and MTV Base!

Following on the success of the previous album, HABIT TO unleashed their second album ‘Boomerang Saturn’ in 2011. The music video for the albums first single ‘R10.40’ hit frequent broadcasting into daytime TV screens nationwide on MK and was play listed on various radio stations! The band was also able to celebrate the music video hitting #3 on the charts for Guitar TV (USA) during the month of September 2012. Other familiar singles from the album ‘Boomerang Saturn’ that continue to be heard on various radio stations locally and internationally include: ‘Movin’, ‘Knuckle Down’, ‘That Moment’ and ‘Space’.

Right now the band is preparing for their International tour where they have been invited to play stages throughout China – representing their hometown Durban, South Africa and putting HABIT TO on the world map!

INTERVIEWED BY : Duwyne Clayton PHOTOGRAPHY BY: Lauren Oliver (Olivers Twist Productions) Chris de Canha Kate Olive van Onselen Shane' Grant (Anchorage Media) Lisa Stayt

Hi there and thanks for doing this interview with us, let’s start at the beginning, where did it all start as a band, did you all come from musical backgrounds?

Dang: “The only explanation is that the universe somehow brought us together to ROCK! We all come from different backgrounds. Chillie was born singing and thought that it would be cool to be different so she picked up a Gibson SG and learned to shred as well. Bundy played in various bands before he joined HABIT TO and is also a killer guitarist.

I’m a little schitzo and a bit unsure of my past.”

Who is the song writer in the band?

Dang: “We all contribute to the orchestration and music writing. Chillie is an awesome lyricist and writes all the vocals and lyrics.”

“the universe somehow brought us together to ROCK”

How many people are there in the band and what is each members roll in the band?

Dang: “We're a rockin' 3 piece band with Chillie shredding vocals and guitar, Bundy thumping the bass and I like smashing the drums.”

What can you tell us about each member of the band that other people don’t know?

Bundy: “Dang and Chillie are not brother and sister!

Ha ha ha”

Where do you find your inspiration from for your song writing?

Dang: “Our inspiration is that we all love music. It allows us to see things as we want to and not necessarily as they are. It's an escape, a way to preserve thoughts and memories, a way to create hopes and dreams.

We don't really follow any formula, we usually start with a riff, concept or idea that someone has and then we fight it out from there, haha. Our songs are about life, the good times, the bad times and everything in between.

How would you define your music, what genre would you put it under?

Chillie: “ROCK! Music to play loud and rock out to!!!”

What can we expect from a “Habit To” gig, if we have never seen the band live before?

Bundy: “HABIT TO as a live experience is very energetic and uplifting.

We like involving the crowd from the first note and we don’t let up until the set time is over! Either way all bands say this but we truly give it our all at every show!”

Do you have any rituals before a gig?

Chillie: “I talk to myself and yodel a little whilst running on the spot, Bundy warms his fingers up by playing through the Mixolydian mode in every key and Dang does 'star jumps' until he's red in the face.”

Do you have any “on the road” stories you could share with us?

Bundy: “Yeah we have quite a few tales of sordid mischief and under the table incidents we could share even though we don’t look naughty. Sometimes we can attract trouble ha ha ha. As for the road stories... well we are leaving that for our DVD. We do love being on the road, it’s always a bonding time.”

Do you have any albums out and is there an album in the pipeline?

Chillie: “We have two albums out (Secrets To A Triangle & Boomerang Saturn) and are working our balls off behind the scenes on the third which is coming together like a little gem.”

Finally how can people get hold of you, what are your sociable Medias?

Cyber space: www.habittoband.com Faceplant: www.facebook.com/habittoband Reverbnation: www.reverbnation.com/habitto My Pozzie: http://www.myspace.com/habittoband For the twits: https://twitter.com/habittoband

Stephan Ferreira is just an ordinary guy suffering from a severe case of insomnia and an unhealthy love for books. Apart from reading, Stephan spends most of his time hating Kylie Minogue. He is also an avid supporter of anything chocolate and hopes to one day discover the secret on how to quit smoking without the constant urge to kill everyone around him. His opinions are his own and cannot always be trusted.

Hal, who will be turning three in a few weeks, is still refusing to eat anything.

Agatha Hartard moved in to the Donaldsons’ house and immediately settled in as if she was born for this job. The children loved her and Ruth couldn’t help but notice the house was immaculate. For a while everything seemed to be covered in perfection. And then bit by bit the cracks started appearing again.

Sarah, the woman Christian had an affair with, shows up at his office one day. Ruth is convinced the children are getting too attached to the new nanny. And Agatha has a hidden agenda that could shake the core of the family that believed in her.

Christian and Ruth Donaldson are desperately trying to hold on to the last remaining pieces of their marriage after Christian had an affair with a younger woman. By the time Ruth found out about his betrayal she was already expecting their second child. And then she discovered her husband’s mistress was also pregnant.

Now Christian and Ruth are yet again faced with the daunting task of hiring a new nanny. The last girl left without warning as she could no longer cope with the demands of the job. Five year old Betty wakes up every hour of every night screaming at the top of her lungs.

Everything and Nothing does not quite live up to all the hype. The characters are very one dimensional, and the story itself turns out to be quite predictable. Hall tries to explore the complicated dynamics within a “normal” family but her attempts are inadequate at best.

As the story unfolds one cannot help but hope for an explosive finale, but by the final chapter it becomes apparent that this debut novel only has the ability to disappoint.

When twelve-year-old Steven Lamb wrote the first letter, he had absolutely no idea what he was getting himself into. He needed to know the truth.

When serial-killer Arnold Avery read the first letter, his life changed completely. For the first time since his incarceration almost twenty years ago, he once again felt in control.

Blacklands tells the amazing story of a young boy’s quest to find the answers he desperately needed. While the other boys his age were out fooling around and getting in to trouble after school, he spent his days digging holes in an attempt to find the remains of his dead uncle who mysteriously disappeared at the age of eleven.

From the very first page this gripping novel sets off at an incredible pace. Bauer takes the reader on a journey that captivates and intrigues with the greatest of ease. She is perhaps one of the most underrated authors of our generation.

This work of art undoubtedly deserves a top spot on your list of books to read before you die.

On Sunday April 10, 1994, 7000 fans showed up at Seattle Centre’s Flag Pavilion to pay their last respects to rock legend Kurt Cobain who committed suicide 5 days earlier.

Kurt’s tragic death came as no surprise as the 27-year-old Nirvana front man had a long history with bipolar disorder, depression, and drug abuse.

After local DJs shared their memories with the crowd, a tape recorded by Courtney Love was played. She had recorded it the night before and everyone fell silent as she started reading parts of the suicide note Cobain left behind.

She spoke freely and made no attempt to hide the frustration, anger and disappointment she felt.

Love met Cobain in 1991 and in less than a year the couple got married on Waikiki Beach in Hawaii. Six months after the ceremony the couple’s daughter Frances Bean Cobain was born. Kurt passed out minutes before the birth. Not even his daughter could save him from the personal demons he faced.

Heavier Than Heaven explores the life of Cobain in incredible detail. The young boy from Aberdeen who grew up to be the face of grunge music. And even though he was loved by thousands of people, he didn’t love himself enough to break free from the destructive life he chose to lead.

Charles R. Cross conducted 400 interviews, read through numerous file cabinets of documents and listened to hundreds of musical recordings when researching the life of Kurt Cobain. With the help of Cobain’s closest friends and family he was able to tell the story of his life without passing any judgment. This book is definitely worth a read – even if you are not really a fan.

Welcome to March issue of Fanbase Music Magazines Full Metal Panic.

This month I am going to be reeling you into the Rock the River experience one last time before taking you into the heavy metal worlds of Durban's Divine Affliction and Cape Town's Bulletscript both an in-depth look into the bands music careers and what they bring to the South African metal table. Added to Full Metal Panic is our new Full Metal Community section packed with some of South Africa's premier metal events and other interesting metal content.

Get your fill inside.

Ryno de Lange

Interviewed by : Ryno de Lange Durbanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Divine Affliction arose in 2012 from former metal bands Conclave and The Terrorkings forming a tornado of heavy, melodic and attitude driven music. Full Metal Panic pulls back the shades to shine some light upon this gruesome five some and some of their recent and future projects, music talk and some info of their up-coming battle for The Wacken Open Air Battle South Africa for a spot on the world renown W.O.A. 2013 stage in Germany.

Can you give our metal readers a short background of how Divine Affliction formed?

We formed in March of last year at a house party funnily enough. We'd just made the decision to take our music in a new direction after a few member changes in Conclave, and were on the hunt for a front man. We managed to get Wes (vox) liquored up enough to get him to accept to a jam session, and once he had we just never gave him the option of backing out! We'd written the beginnings of some new material at the time, trying out our new heavier style and technical feel, and had Wes come through for a try out at our practice rooms. It felt pretty natural right from the beginning, and yeah we've just kept on trucking from there!

Can you shed some light on who the band members are and how their personalities contribute to Divine Affliction's writing process and music?

Deven Phillips is on lead axe duties, Grant Scrooby is the chunk behind the funk on rhythm, Matthew Allen slaps the thick strings on bass, Wesley Price handles the vocals and I (Robin Topping) sit in the corner and hit things.

Essentially our writing process is we get in a room together and have a fight, hahahahaha! Dev or Grant usually brings a riff or two in, and then they have a nice freak over the phrasing for a while. Dev really enjoys the technical time-changey stuff, while Grant brings the more solid, driving pieces to the table. Once they've got a general idea of things, the rest of us will give our input on the positioning of things and try hammering out the feel and dynamic changes to get things sounding the best they can. Wes prefers to write lyrics to a piece once it's basically finished and polished so he can get the best out of his melodies, accenting and timing transitions.

All in all we just try to write what we like listening to hey, and enjoy playing on stage. We figure if we enjoy it then at least a few other people are going to dig it, hahaha!

What local or international artist has been an influence to Divine Affliction's music?

We all enjoy a variety of heavy music, but the biggest influences on our style to date would have to be The Black Dahlia Murder, Revocation, Thy Art Is Murder, All Shall Perish, Noctem, and Behemoth, as well as a ton of others.

We enjoy pulling elements from all our influences to try creating something that we think is our own sound.

Musically we were aiming for something fast, drifting, and solid that could raise interest in the music by getting some material up. Lyrically, the track is about releasing pent up emotions rather than carrying them around with you.

I came across a post on Divine Affliction's facebook fan page asking fans where they would like the band to play during their upcoming 2013 tour; how has the organization and planning of the tour come along thus far, and what cities and towns have you been invited to play during the tour?

It's been coming along in fits and starts! We started planning in earnest at the beginning of the year. Recently we've been confirmed for two major battle shows, one for a spot at Splashy Fen (should be over by the time this is out, hope we won!), the other the Battle for Wacken Open Air. Since then we've been focusing mainly on our new material, and getting things as tight as a ducks ass for those battle shows.

Divine Affliction consists of former members from Conclave and The Terrorkings; how did the two bands merge into Divine Affliction?

Well at the beginning of last year Conclave was going through a few philosophical changes in terms of the sound. A few of the members had been wanting to try moving towards a more technical and heavier feel, moving away from the metalcore side of things and more towards melodic death and black metal in terms of our writing. We split on good terms with our then vocalist Jared Jack, and we'd been without a bassist for a while already with the departure of Andrew Topping to pursue studies. The Terrorkings had been winding down for a little while, and had been talking about calling it a day for a while. It was just perfect timing hey. We found Matt, who'd just got back from New Zealand, and who had jammed in a few punk projects in the area, and was keen to try out the metal thing. Wes had been a good friend of ours, and we'd been blown away by his sound and energy on stage a number of times.

Divine Affliction has recently released the self produced single "Thorns and Fire".

Can you tell the readers about the recording of the single and what the Thorns and Fire concept is all about?

The recording has been a totally DIY project, one that we've really enjoyed. It's been awesome learning about a whole new side to creating music that previously we never really knew too much about. Rob basically just went and spoke to a few people who knew about that side of things, bought some gear, and then kept hammering on, learning as much as he could as he went. The guitars were tracked with his m-audio setup, and then we tracked the drums through his interface at the practice rooms. He did all the mixing and mastering, the works. We plan on recording our debut EP soon in the same DIY fashion, this time with a fair bit more knowledge so hopefully we can get the quality up!

We plan on heading to as many places as possible this year and jamming as many stages a possible. To date we've got a confirmed date in Richard's Bay, and are currently working on dates in Margate, Port Elizabeth, Grahamstown, Jozi, Pretoria, and Bloemfontein. We also want to head out to Mpumalanga, East London, basically anywhere that we can! If there's any bands that want to hit up a show trade, call us!

How did the band come across the name Divine Affliction?

Wesley actually came up with the idea for the band name hey. We were kicking around a few ideas, and that was the one we all agreed on the most. Basically it can mean a number of things, and has a few different interpretations, all of which we like in terms of representing the band.

You supported Shajol from South America on their recent nationwide SA tour with Boargazm. How was the experience joining the tour, and what was it like being able to share your music with a band from another continent?

The Shajol tour was awesome! Working with Sash from Emalyth was a treat for us, and something we definitely want to do again in the future. Partying with Boargazm was definitely not something we'll forget soon, those guys go hard! Getting to watch and hang out with the guys in Shajol was definitely eye opening, as they were getting to do something that we would kill to get the chance to

Give us an idea what it is like to be involved in the SA Music Scene as a heavy metal band?

It's the tits! Metal is something we all love. Yeah we don't get the commercial support and easy time that musicians in other genres get by a long shot. But to be honest, I'd much rather play metal and love every second of it than be sitting behind a kit bored out of my mind smiling as I tapped out a 4-4 shuffle. Metal challenges us to be the best at what we do. Metal isn't easy music to play.

And we'd never have it any other way.

do; tour internationally. Sharing a stage with them was definitely an honour.

Apart from the Shajol tour, what other major tours and events has Divine Affliction taken part in?

To date we've played with pretty much every metal act in the province hey, hahahaha! We won the battle to play the Friends and Foes tour earlier this year, supporting The Dead Will Tell, Facing the Gallows and Show and Tell on their Durban leg at Live the Venue.

We've also played both the Dead Weight Metal Massacre gigs at Live, which have been awesome.

Can you name a few other SA bands that you would suggest your fans to go out and support?

We definitely suggest checking out Iraqi Death Police, Desolation, Theatre Runs Red, In the Mouth of Madness, Darkest Age, Balyios, Beseech The Enemy, Diabolous Incarnate (absolutely amazing!),

Bile Of Man, Bleeding Spawn, Boargazm and Stellawood Dcapitation. All awesome local metal acts that will blow your mind!

How is the music industry and overall scene like in Durban side compared to what you may have experienced in other parts of SA? We have a growing scene here in Durban, one that is a lot more tight knit than in other parts of the country from what I've seen. We've recently had a few new bands come onto the stages that are bringing the thunder, plus Theatre Runs Red reforming and bringing back the black!

Which is Divine Affliction's favourite gig venue in SA? It's actually rather hard to say, because we've had awesome shows at a number of places! All in all we've really enjoyed jamming at Live The Venue, that stage is amazing, plus the people and the gear setup is just next level.

What are your expectations for Divine Affliction's future in the SA metal industry?

Well that plan right now is to continue growing as much as we can, and to make as much music as we can, playing to as many damn people as will listen. We've just finished the writing for all the tracks on our planned debut EP, the recording for which should have started by the time this interview is put out, so look out for updates and such. After that, we're just going to tour the shit out of the EP, hahahahaha! We played around 20 gigs last year because we only got firing in march, the aim this year is to get at least 30 dates in, and to try and hit as many different provinces as possible.

Who would Divine Affliction like to thank?

Every person who comes to our gigs and pits, our friends all over the country who have been helping us to plan out of town shows, all the bands we've jammed with and are going to be jamming with, and Fanbase for giving us the space to say stuff about our music!

Bulletscript Performed at Rock the River New Years Eve festival 2012/2013; how was the bands experience at the festival?

We enjoyed the show although the festival attendance could have been better it was still a good experience for us.

What projects and other plans are in the pipe for 2013?

We are currently finalising a few tracks and are planning to record them for an EP within the next couple of months.

After that we are discussing wether to do a national tour or possibly going back to Namibia once again.

Bulletscript members are all from well known and respected bands that have been active in the local metal community for a while such as Pothole, Half Price, The WarInsane and A Walk with the Wicked; does each of these bands different sub-genres slip into Bulletscripts music?

I would say it is not so much a conscious influence but more a subconcious affect it has on our songwriting, while playing in our previous bands has certainly taught us how to run this band properly.

Give us an idea of what it is like to be involved in the SA heavy metal industry as a heavy metal band?

Industry is a strong word! It’s a labour of love with almost no monetary benefits. We all do it because we were bitten by the metal bug ages ago and have been addicted ever since. Playing metal live is an awesome experience. The SA scene specifically has been extremely secular in the past but it seems to be drawing together slowly. There are a lot of extremely talented bands on the scene at the moment.

Exciting times for SA metal!

What kind of changes has Bulletscript seen the South African metal industry go through?

Who were the founding members of Bulletscript and how did the founding members come across each other’s paths?

Jacques Hugo was the founding member. Kyle came via an ad on Gumtree for the drumming postion, JJ was through word of mouth and we knew Matt through A Walk with the Wicked. George and Jacques go way back to the Pothole and Sachraphyx days.

When did Bulletscript first start to perform live as a professional band?

30th October 2010 - The Halloween Slaughter.

What genres of music influence Bulletscripts music?

Early 90’s groove, thrash and death metal.

The Cape Town metal community is notorious for being quite cliquey however it seems to be pulling together in the last couple of years which is great. Also the bar as far as musical competence and quality has been raised significantly over the last few years and consequently the scene is far less tolerant towards mediocrity, at the moment we have some phenomenal bands and muso’s coming out of the local metal scene, and it is only going to get better.

Can you name a few other South African bands that you would suggest your fans to go out and support?

Sabretooth, Megalodon, Zombies ate my girlfriend, Infanteria, Wildernessking and a few others…

Bulletscript’s songs are packed with aggression, attitude and a good amount of groove; what is Bulletscript all about, what is the message and what sort of subjects are tackled by the band?

There really is no specific formula or specific topic when it comes to what we are about, every day offers new topics, challenges and viewpoints, I’m sure all of those have a part to play in who and what Bulletscript is all about.

If you take a look back into the history of metal old genres such as classical and blues plays an important role in the evolution of heavy metal.

Have any of these rooted genres influenced Bulletscript?

By default blues has influenced all forms of heavy metal in one way or another so I suppose yet again it’s a subconcious thing whereby, yes we are influenced but its not like we go home at night and listen to the blues.

How did the band come across the name Bulletscript?

With great difficulty.

What sort of daily lives does the band members from Bulletscript lead when not thrashing the metal stages of Western Cape?

We all have full time jobs unfortunately, gotta pay the bills!

Jacques is in the printing industry, Kyle is in the property industry while George is a dentist and Matt is in the film industry specializing in prosthetics and JJ runs a gay mens car wash.

Can you tell the Fan Base readers a short story about something crazy a fan may have done during one of your performances?

Probably when we played at Metal4Africa Winterfest in 2011, a couple of guys jumped up on stage during our set and lit up a joint and started head banging. This enticed quite a few others and next thing the stage was pretty much full of fans getting high and rocking out to our songs.

Who would Bulletscript like to thank?

Those that make the effort to support local metal.

Dameena is a post-grunge/alternative rock band from Brisbane, Australia. The band formed in mid 2009, consisting of vocalist and rhythm guitarist Shane Jamieson and two school friends.

After a series of line-up changes over the course of a few years, the band finally arrived at its current line-up with Jamieson continuing on vocals and guitar, Yelo Fink on bass and backing vocals, and Fletcher Horne on drums. Combined with their in-depth lyrics, Dameenaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sound gives off vibes reminiscent of the post-grunge era, with its heavy guitars, catchy melodies and vocal harmonies. With an EP underway, Dameena is set to bring its heavy choruses and unique spin on alternative rock to the music scene!

Thank you so much for doing this interview, where did it all start as a band, did you all come from a musical background?

Dameena was formed in mid 2009 consisting of myself and a couple of high school friends. The band kind of struggled for a few years. You know, constant line-up changes, having to find rehearsal spaces, stuff like that. By late 2011 I had started talking with Yelo who was in another local band at the time. I convinced her to join Dameena and the two of us started looking for a drummer right away. A few months went by before we landed Fletcher, he had played with Yelo in her previous band, so it seemed right for him to join. And that brings us to now. - Shane We’ve all been listening to music and playing instruments from a young age. Music was played all the time in our households growing up. So that kind of influenced all of us.

What can you tell us about each member of the band?

Well, Fletcher’s the drummer, so any drummer traits that popped into your head just then?

That’s him. He’s the crazy comic relief. We’re all a little crazy. Shane’s the singer and does most of the songwriting. He's really driven and passionate about the band. And Yelo is a bass and harmony machine who never shuts up about punk bands.

What genre of music do you classify yourself in?

It’s hard to define our music so early on in our career, but our music has a very Post-Grunge/ Alternative rock vibe to it.

You are about to release an EP, what can you tell us about this EP, what is it called and where will we be able to get hold of it?

The EP is called Overture and was recorded in early December 2012. It features 5 new tracks from the band and people will be able to download the songs or buy the EP off our page on Bandcamp.com!

Where do you get your song writing inspiration from?

I tend to get inspired by live music. It doesn't necessarily have to be loud and aggressive either, it just has to move me. - Shane Who are your main influences?

We all have bands that influence us, but we don’t particularly sound like them. We’re really influenced by bands like Nirvana, Green Day, Foo Fighters, Metallica and Evanescence.

“we all have bands that influence us”

You are Australian; it is so cool to be featuring an Aussie band in Fanbase music mag, what can you tell us about the Aussie music scene? In your opinion, is it as hard as it is for South Africa to get your music noticed?

The music scene here is mostly Hardcore dominated, at least in Brisbane anyway.

And there's no question that America is, and has been for a very long time, the main exporter of popular music. So with that being the case, it is quite difficult for a band from Australia or even South Africa to get the recognition and publicity they require to become successful at what they do.

If I have never been to one of your gigs, what could I expect?

I guess what you can expect if you come to a Dameena show is excitement, loud music and to see four people on stage with just a complete passion for what they're doing. Because that's what it really is, a passion. - Shane Do you still get nervous when you go on stage?

There are the occasional nerves, but they tend to disappear as soon as we step on stage.

Do you have any rituals before you go on stage?

Shane threatens us to not screw up. Just kidding! We don’t really have any rituals… that we’re aware of.

Can you list some of your achievements so far?

Getting radio play in Mexico was pretty mind blowing.

How can people get hold of you? Social media?

You can find us on facebook at https:// www.facebook.com/Dameena Or Triple J Unearthed http:// www.triplejunearthed./Dameena And check out our EP at http:// dameena.bandcamp.com/ And now, probably the most important question of this interview, who is better at sports, South Africa or Australia?

None of the band members follow any sport! But… we’ll go with Australia ;) Hahah.

Interviewed by : Duwyne Clayton Photography by : Sophia Cao-Nguyen

March metal at Boston Lounge To end of March month at Boston Lounge a night of pure Metal has been set out with seven hard hitting metal bands. R50 entrance at Boston lounge at 19 Van Riebeeck Ave, 1610 Edenvale, Gauteng on the 30th of March 2013.

The line up includes; Death Pegasus, Thee Untitled, Instrametal, Mizera, MiZeRaMadne, State Dependency, Wrust : All the way from Botswana and Boargazm.

Contact information: Fabian O Flaherty: 0714265140 or email fabianflahert@yahoo.com.

The time has come for the 3rd Dead Weight Metal Massacre held at non other than Live - The Venue!

This time around we have some sick acts joining us as well as a relatively new Durban band.

Beseech The Enemy will joining us from JHB. These lads have sick talent and some heavy ass tunes to bang ya pips to! You really cannot miss this act! The next band does not need any introduction to the Durban scene. Blackened death debauchery metalers Theatre Runs Red will once again be gracing the stage with their sick performance and darkened songs to get you pitting. The 3rd band is new kids on the block Domain8 who will be bringing their sweet style of Heavy Metal with an insane stage performance!

Time slots to follow Entrance R60 Bands start at 9pm Sponsors and other surprises TBA! Doors open at 8pm

Contact info â&#x20AC;&#x201C; stellawooddecapitation@yahoo.com stephenbagwell@live.co.za www.facebook.com/LiveTheVenue Cell - Shannon Rice - 0788004207 Cell - Stephen Bagwell - 0713650336

Junkyard Lipstick are officially launching their debut album “Hellbent” which will be held on Good Friday 29 March 2013 at R.O.A.R (above Gandalf’s), Lower Main Road, Observatory. Supporting acts includes …ING, Sindulgence and The Summer Underground. Cover R30.

“Hellbent”features songs with a punk/thrash metal cross over feel and the vocals add diversity with a power metal edge. “Hellbent” is recurring theme in all the songs but with a different interpretation for each. Ranging from local politics and social conditions, serial killers and criminals, antics from Hollywood stars and gore, the content of the album is diverse and witty at times.

The album was recorded, produced, mixed and mastered by Bryan Villain, owner of Jihad Studios. Guitar amps & drums were recorded acoustically and no programmatic drum replacement was done. This was done to give the album a human feel.

As a band Junkyard Lipstick are Hellbent on doing what they love, playing music.

Official Event link: www.facebook.com/events/489499744442110/ Hellbent album and merchandise will be for sale at all of Junkyard Lipsticks events Official website: www.junkyardlipstick.com.

For more information contact: Lucinda Villain (Drummer/Manager) Junkyard Lipstick +27 72 175 8165 junkyard.lipstick@gmail.com www.junkyardlipstick.com

US Christian Metal Band Seeks Return to S.A. U.S. Based Christian Metal band “Becoming The Archetype”, who are currently touring their 5th studio album “I AM” are seeking to return to South Africa. They came to South Africa in the latter half of 2010, playing powerful shows at various venues throughout the country. With thunderous guitars, interesting solos, full of undeniable energy and immense passion, right down to beautiful, melodic keyboard interludes, the music they play is sure to appeal to fans of metal in any form. After shows, they could be found simply relaxing on couches chatting with fans and local musicians, enjoying the atmosphere, taking photographs with fans and handing out autographs. A true reflection of a band who appreciates those who make it possible for them to make a career of the music they enjoy… – THE FANS! The band has set up a Kickstarter to help fund their tour to South Africa.

How it works is simple…. By going to the website, one can make a pledge (from as little as $1 US) towards the campaign using their credit card, and only once the full amount has been pledged, will the money be drawn from the cardholder’s account. They have also added some amazing rewards to sweeten the deal, including cd’s, tickets, T-shirts, signed and printed vinyl albums, right up to 2 limited edition custom “BEARDSKULL” guitars!

From as little as $20 per pledge, you will be receiving 1 free ticket to your nearest BTA show, so it works out just the same as making an online booking, and works out considerably cheaper in many cases.

Local Durban based Christian metal band THRONE have pulled out all the stops in regards to seeing these mighty giants return. With fundraiser shows, ticket giveaways, and even song download donations, they are appealing to everybody who wishes to see Becoming The Archetype return to our beautiful country to get involved and show their support.

With the economy being what it is, for an international band (a metal band in particular) to WANT to return to South Africa is a major credit to both the metal community and the country as a whole.

So let’s get behind a good cause! Let’s bring international metal to our shores!

For more info on the kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1881063465/becoming-thearchetype-south-african-tour-2013 For more info on the fundraiser shows: www.facebook.com/THRONEMETALSA http://www.facebook.com/events/491743714216391/?ref=22 http://www.facebook.com/events/433600873386422/?ref=22 For more info on the song download donations: www.thronebandsa.bandcamp.com

Article by: Bryann Reed (Drummer of Throne)

REVIEW

by Camella Reed

The highly anticipated Skrillex gig for Joburg took place at Wild Waters in Boksburg on the 2 nd March, and it was absolutely legendary.

With the gates opening at 12pm, we pitched up at 1pm to find a chilled vibe and no hectic lines to combat at the entrance. Just enough time to catch a drink in the parking lot before heading into the venue. I must just say that I was extremely impressed at the turn out for this H²0 in particular, with Skrillex being the main attraction, I wasn’t sure what to expect since the dubstep scene in South Africa is relatively limited. Dubstep which is a genre of music with roots in Jamaican origin is either loved or hated and whether people were there for the love of dubstep, out of curiosity or simply for the party, the place was packed.

Being privileged to have secured VIP tickets, my friends and I still soaked up the atmosphere in general admission, with the festivities starting early. The Hip Hop floor was a hit, as always it was energised and chaotic but in the best way possible. Food stalls were buzzing and the bars were packed with a wild mix of people. Everyone tolerated the early drizzle very well, and there was a definite mood boost when the sun came out.

To be honest I wasn’t aware of the official line-up, I was there for Sonny John Moore aka ‘Skrillex’, the 25 year old Dubstep Prodigy!

12th Planet who played before Skrillex is definitely worth a mention, playing some first-class dubstep and getting the crowd in the mood for the most insane set that followed. We were treated to some Reggae hits just before the main act, which was well received by most.

Just as we grew tired of the delay, a digital clock display counted down 5 minutes on the big screen, building the anticipation levels beyond belief.

And then the moment I was waiting for, opening with ‘Right In’ and setting the bar from the start, Skrillex was unbelievable. We jammed to tracks like ‘Bangarang’, ‘Ruffneck’ ,’ Nero Promises Remix’, ‘Benny Benassi Cinema Remix’, ‘Knife Party Remix’, ‘Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites’ and ‘My Name is Skrillex’, to mention a few. It was pure unadulterated madness for an hour and a half. My friends and I as well as most of our fellow party people, were on our toes the entire set. Ending off with an epic speech, giving praise for us crazy South Africans, the night ended on a high.

When you’re still stiff three days later, you know that the memory of such a night won’t fade quickly. Thank you to the entire main stage line up including: Ricardo Da Costa, DJ Euphonik, DJ Fresh, Roger Goode, Alvin Risk, 12 th Planet and of course SKRILLEX. Well done to the sponsors Samsung Mobile, Electric, 5FM and MK!

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL RETURNS TO SOUTH AFRICA WITH DRALION In Cape Town from March 5, 2013 and Johannesburg from March 21, 2013 Exclusive tickets offers available now for Cirque Club members Tickets available to the general public on Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Embargoed until Monday 19th November at 9am South Africa, November 19, 2012 - Cirque du Soleil is pleased to announce its return to South Africa with Dralion performing from March 5, 2013 at Grand Arena, GrandWest, Cape Town and March 21, 2013 at Coca-Cola Dome, Johannesburg. Since its debut in 1999, Dralion has wowed over 2.5 million people worldwide. Presented by 567 CapeTalk, 94.7 Highveld Stereo and M-Net. Exclusive tickets offer for Dralion are available now online to Cirque Club members. Cirque Club membership is free and benefits includes access to advance tickets, special offers and exclusive behind the scenes information. To join, go to www.cirqueclub.com.

Tickets for the general public will be available nationwide starting Tuesday, November 20 at www.bigconcerts.co.za and Computicket.

About the show Fusing the 3000 year-old tradition of Chinese acrobatic arts with the multidisciplinary approach of Cirque du Soleil, Dralion (pronounced “Dra-lee-on”) draws its inspiration from Eastern philosophy and its never-ending quest for harmony between humans and nature. The show’s name is derived from its two emblematic creatures: the dragon, symbolizing the East, and the lion, symbolizing the West.

In Dralion, the four elements that govern the natural order take on a human form. Thus embodied, each element is represented by its own evocative colour: air is blue; water is green; fire is red; earth is ochre. In the world of Dralion, cultures blend, Man and Nature are one, and balance is achieved.

Show Schedule Cape Town Tuesday, March 5, 2013 at 8pm Wednesday, March 6, 2013 at 8pm Thursday, March 7, 2013 at 8pm Friday, March 8, 2013 at 8pm Saturday, March 9, 2013 at 4pm and 8pm Sunday, March 10, 2013 at 1pm and 5pm Cape Town: R330 – R495. Plus off peak shows on 5th March/6th March, 7th March and 10th March (5pm only) priced R275 – R440 Johannesburg Thursday, March 21, 2013 at 8pm Friday, March 22, 2013 at 8pm Saturday, March 23, 2013 at 4pm and 8pm Sunday, March 24, 2013 at 1pm and 5pm Johannesburg: R365 – R515. Plus an off peak show on 24th March at 5pm priced R340 – R490.

A limited number of Premium and Front Row tickets are also available for all performances. Tickets are available nationwide at www.bigconcerts.co.za and Computicket.

Group bookings are available through Computicket For show and ticket information, please visit www.cirquedusoleil.com/dralion.

Cirque du Soleil From a group of 20 street performers at its beginnings in 1984, Cirque du Soleil is now a major Quebec-based organization providing high-quality artistic entertainment. The company has 5,000 employees, including more than 1,300 performing artists from close to 50 different countries.

Cirque du Soleil has brought wonder and delight to more than 100 million spectators in more than 300 cities in over forty countries on six continents.

For more information about Cirque du Soleil, visit www.cirquedusoleil.com.

To find out more about the ONE DROP Foundation, visit www.onedrop.org.

BON JOVI BECAUSE WE CAN – THE TOUR **** BAND TO BLAZE A TRAIL ACROSS THE GLOBE IN 2013 *** South African Stadium Dates for May 2013 Presented by 94.5 KFM, 94.7 Highveld Stereo and MNET October 29, 2012 – The best just got bigger. Bringing their signature brand of rock ‘n’ roll back to the people, Bon Jovi will hit the road in 2013 to fill stadiums and arenas worldwide with “BON JOVI Because We Can – The Tour.” Blazing a trail across the globe, the tour will kick off in North America in February, just in time for Valentine’s Day, and travel throughout Europe, the Far East, Africa, Latin America and Australia. The band’s return to the road in 2013 will cap an incredible run which has secured Bon Jovi’s status as the essential live rock band – having performed more than 2,700 concerts in over 50 countries for more than 35 million fans, and earning the #1 grossing worldwide tour twice in just three years.

“Because We Can – The Tour” will also debut brand new songs from new album What About Now, due out in Spring 2013, loading even more ammunition into the band’s huge arsenal of hits including “Livin’ on a Prayer,” “You Give Love a Bad Name,” “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” “It’s My Life,” and many more.

With one of the greatest catalogues of songs in the history of rock n’ roll, Bon Jovi has sold more than 125 million albums and racked up a stellar resume of career accomplishments.

South African Tour Dates: Tuesday 7th May 2013 – Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town Presented by 94.5 KFM and MNET Saturday 11th May 2013 – FNB Stadium, Soccer City Complex, Johannesburg Presented by 94.7 Highveld Stereo and MNET For more information on all things Bon Jovi, visit www.BonJovi.com.

Ticketing Information: Tickets go on sale for the Johannesburg show (web, outlets and call centers) – Thursday 1st November 2012 (09:00 – local time SAST) Tickets go on sale for the Cape Town show (web, outlets and call centers) – Friday 2nd November 2012 (09:00 – local time SAST) Tickets available online from www.bigconcerts.co.za, or Computicket.

A limited quantity of exclusive pre-sale tickets opportunities are available beginning Monday 29th October 2012 from www.BonJovi.com, www.bigconcerts.co.za and Computicket.

Pre-sale tickets are limited to 35% of the available stadium inventory and will be available strictly while stocks last!

About BIG Concerts: BIG Concerts (Pty) Ltd., founded in 1989 by Attie van Wyk, is South Africa’s premier live entertainment company and consistently rated as one of the best in the world according to Pollstar magazine’s annual list of global music promoter’s (Big Concerts was rated #20 at the end of 2011).

Amongst many past accomplishments, Big Concerts staged the first international concert held in celebration of the lifting of the cultural boycott of South Africa in 1992 featuring Paul Simon. Since then, Big Concerts has been involved in almost every significant international live music event promoted in South Africa during the last two decades and have promoted over two hundred major international tours, featuring more than 500 artists (including The Killers, U2, Michael Jackson, Robbie Williams, Metallica, Elton John, The Eagles, Whitney Houston, Lionel Richie, Usher, Coldplay, Neil Diamond, Sting, Kings of Leon, and Bon Jovi), as well as major international theatre productions such as Mamma Mia!, Lord of The Dance and Tap Dogs, and various other global live entertainment events, including Live Earth, World Wrestling Entertainment and Dunhill Symphony of Fire. Over the past two decades, Big Concerts has entertained more than 10 million people.

CONTACTS Dionne Domyan (Johannesburg, and National publicity) +27 (0) 833261776, prwork@iafrica.com Gwen Ironsi (Cape Town publicity) +27 (0) 726561906, gwen@pamberi-communications.co.za Wendy Verwey Bekker (Universal Music - International Rock & Pop Product Manager) +27 (0) 8444 22216, wendy.verwey@umusic.com

Quote of the Month …..

“You can't win 'til you're not afraid to lose”

GIGG REVIEW

The day had finally arrived; it had been a few months back since Big Concerts announced that Red Hot Chili Peppers would be touring South Africa as part of their world tour. We thought the 2nd of Feb would never arrive but it finally did.

The sun was shining boiling hot on us as we got to the FNB Stadium, we got there at about 3pm to make sure we get a front row position in the queue but even at that time there were a lot of people already lining up waiting for the gates to open.

Finally the gates opened and we started to make our way into the stadium. A lot of people have been dissing Big Concerts because of the organization of the event, and although I too thought that the Linkin Park Concert ran smoother than this gig, I wouldn’t say it was not as bad as some comments made Facebook etc. For a crowd of over 65 000 people I think they did really well.

After getting through at least 6 sets of different security guards/ ticket officials in our quest to find the Golden Circle area, we finally reached the field and made our way to the stage. We tried to get a front position but there were already quite a lot of people taking up their spots right by the railings so we opted to settle and sit right behind them, still an awesome view of the stage as we could see the crew working hard to set up for the first act to take the stage.

Finally The Muffinz took to the stage. There is absolutely nothing bad that I can say about this bands performance as they absolutely blew me away. Their humble stage presence and tight sound made me a fan of their music. My only one complaint about having this band open up at a RHCP gig is, maybe they weren’t the best choice to open up for Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and I don’t mean that in a bad way, because they really were awesome. It just wasn’t the best choice for this type of gig. Although they did make me a fan and many others I’m sure, so they did accomplish that.

After The Muffinz performance, the crew worked hard to set up for the next act.

I must congratulate the crew of the evening, as they never really get enough credit for the hard work they put in, so from Fanbase Music Mag – well done to everyone involved!

Die Antwoord took to the stage - I must say I’ve never really been a big fan of this band even though I always found myself singing along to their catchy tunes when I hear them on the radio. They have a really, in your face attitude, and from the moment they took the stage, it was like a big bang had just happened. They ran on the stage swearing at the crowd and I suppose there is maybe a market for such an act but it wasn’t my cup of tea. I just don’t see the need to swear and pull the middle finger to everyone whilst swearing everyone’s Mothers through almost every song, but they seem to have rocked the show. It probably wasn’t a good idea though to let DJ Hi Teck DJing skills shout the lyrics “We going to F**k all you punk rockers in the a*s”, considering the band they were opening up for, but I don’t think many people even noticed that. I must say the female member of the band YO-LANDI was much clearer than that of band member Ninja, I was just able to hear her raps and lyrics more than his, in my opinion. My highlight of their whole performance was when “Money Mark” from the Beastie Boys joined them on stage. You don’t just get to perform with a legend like that every day. Not only did he join them on stage, but also during the same song, Red Hot Chili Pepper’s own, Flea also joined them on stage with his bass and jammed along with them. That was something special to watch. Their set ended weirdly because some little boy

walked on the stage with his middle finger pointing to the crowd and it looked like he was part of their set, he tried to talk in his mic but the mic was turned off and the stage crew all ran on the stage and got the stage ready for the next act, leaving the little boy looking very foolish as he ran off the stage.

Anyway as we waited for the crew to get the stage ready for the main act Red Hot Chili Peppers, we took our own breather and got ready for the main act. By this time the stadium was packed to capacity and as I looked back there were a sea of people to be seen.

Then, the moment we all been waiting for, RHCP take to the stage, first new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer gets on the stage, then drummer Chad Smith and bassist, Flea follow suit. The crowd raw with excitement and appreciation as they start jamming, but nothing could compare to load roar when the band’s lead singer Anthony Kiedis ran on stage. He ran on dancing and jumping around as the band began to play the first song.

The first song on the set list was Monarchy of Roses which sounded so cool and it sounded like Anthony’s voice had a wah-wah peddle for this track. The band has already made an impact, and it’s only the first song.

As the night went on Anthony looked tired and he even said on stage that the altitude was so bad and made him want to throw up in his mouth. He then had a word with the rest of his band members and told them to have a little jam session as he went off stage, probably to get a drink of water and take a breather. Watching him on the side of the stage it was cute to see him pick up his 5 year old son. Not long after he took a breather, he came back on stage jumping around and dancing with all the evidence of him looking under the weather going away as he proceeded to rock our socks off. For a 50 year old that guy can rock out… After the song ended he said his little boy on the side of the stage wanted a glow stick so if anyone in the crowd is willing to part with their glow sticks then they were to please throw it on the stage, which at that moment the stage was bombarded with at least 20 people throwing glow sticks from the crowd.

Red Hot Chili Peppers rocked Johannesburg, playing all their old and latest songs. The only complaint about their set list was that they didn’t play one of their biggest hits “Scar tissue” or even “Road trippin” but even with those songs they still rocked the crowd and having every audience member of the 65 000 capacity crowd singing to their songs.

I must congratulate new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer for being so awesome, after ex guitarist John Frusciante left the band in 2009 I was wondering if anyone could ever fill those huge shoes and take on the guitar skills for RHCP. I must say he nailed that gig. It does help that he looks a bit like John Frusciante but he is no copy of the ex-guitarist. He bought his own flava on to the stage but also not taking away the attitude of RHCP that we have all come to love. I would say he has defo settled into the band and rocks the crowd like any other member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Drummer Chad Smith is just so cool and humble. He plays those drums with so much ease and even at one stage threw his drum sticks into the crowd well picking up another pair and carried on playing all during the song and didn’t even miss a beat. He’s got to be one of the all-time fave drummers and he didn’t disappoint. I did notice when he came onto the stage he looked at the packed crowd and was just taking it in. I don’t think he realized RHCP had so many fans in South Africa.

Flea, is one of my all-time fave bassists and is probably my fave member in the band, being a struggling bassist myself it was really fun and inspiring to watch him jam and slap his bass. His funny dance moves while rocking out really makes the band awesome performance even better. He also spoke to the crowd a lot and one thing that stood out for me was when he said, he doesn’t know why the RHCP took so many years to come to South Africa because we are such an amazing rocking crowd. I think most international bands don’t know that about us, but hopefully with all the international acts that Big Concerts is bringing to us, more International bands will know that South Africa is an awesome destination to add to their World Tour and we know how to rock out!!!

Gigg Review

Ard Matthews

Interview by: Tania Meyer Photography by: Chantell van der Walt

Love was lurking around every bush and tree at this year’s Valentines concert at the Durban Botanical Gardens. South African artist and song writer Ard Matthews was the highlight of the night with the sweet sounds of the Durban City Orchestra.

The Durban city orchestra started off with a lovely musical song. The man of the hour arrived on staged all handsomely dressed and a smile to die for. He started his valentine’s day with some old song's, “She knows” is still a leading love song from the Just Jinjer days. Between him and the orchestra they had a one for one song play listed. Ard is definitely one of our rising solo artists, just knowing how to wow the crowd with his grace of his songs and I quote " I'm a hopeless romantic writer".

With His love of pure soul good music and the interaction with all young and old, I'm sure we can expect the best always As the rain started to fall harder and it seemed that Ard and the orchestra where just about to give up. He impressed us all by going on.

What a night to remember. Ard even blesses us with a new song of the remake ."When I Fall in Love" is a popular song, Ard's take on an old classic by Doris Day/Nat King Cole - Just cos it's Valentine's Day and even played it for us whiles running through the crowd and singing his love song.

Ard ended the evening by singing a warm up song they had practice on staged for a sound check earlier that evening.

Hallelujah. o and o it was so beautiful when both Ard and Durban city orchestra combined their love for music and perform to a very happy Durban crowd who stood in the rain just to hear there S.A Legend sing.

Peace, love, hope, tolerance. The words of our legend

Up the Creek Gig Review

I think it’s ironic that I turned my back for a few minutes and missed the butt naked flame-throwing streaker who invaded the stage at the end of The Black Cat Bones’ monster set just around midnight on Saturday. I’ve since seen video of that scene (thanks Rolling Stone!) and it must count as one of the few truly rock and roll moments of Up The Creek - rock and roll in the traditional sense of not giving a shit.

Given that this was my first music festival I may secretly have harbored a wish to see some serious stage antics - what’s a burnt guitar between friends?

But as it turns out I’m glad I missed those few minutes, because I came away from Up The Creek with the view that was a seriously well organized, carefully curated musical line-up attended by some of the nicest people you could hope to meet. Perhaps it’s the final 13km of dirt road that squeezes the city stress out of your veins, but by the time you come over the last rise and down towards the sign-in tent you can definitely see the world slow down and smiles grow on people’s faces.

I announced myself as “media” (check one more thing off the bucket list) and had my pink arm identification, map of the festival and directions to the campsite in less than a minute. On the long drive to the festival I’d been mulling whether to pitch the tent I’d borrowed or try to squeeze into the backseat of the car when I finally crawled into bed later than night. As I drove past the jam-packed campsite and up, up, up the hill to find a free parking space my hand was basically played for me and I resolved there and then to sleep in the backseat.

Swellendam in early February is hotter than a Piet Botha blues lick so I lathered on two layers of sunblock and made my way towards the epicenter of the festival. As I passed the tent village a mini-tornado picked up steam and literally left a trail of tents, towels and surprised campers in its wake, cutting a path straight through the campsite. The programmer had showed me that there wouldn’t be any acts on the main stage until 6pm so I didn’t even turn right, instead I followed the procession of sunglasses, lilos, plastic craft beer bottles (no glass allowed!) and bikinis down the steep rocky path to the river itself. I was greeted with the sight of a river full of pretty much anything that floats supporting pretty much anyone who drinks. Grassy Spark were entertaining the river goers from the MK river stage which was built in the middle of the river (I did take my hat off to the sound guys who had to cart expensive sound kit on makeshift barges in between giant inflatable dinosaurs and raucous games of throw-my-mate-off-his-lilo).

The overall mood was incredibly chilled and people were going out of their way to greet and help each other. We were then treated to a “wedding”, officiated by none other than “Pastor” Piet Botha who seemed rather bemused by his role in this fake ceremony. It felt like one of those skits you have to prepare in small groups as school kid at some remote camp location in Grade 7.

A Red Bull sponsored DJ (didn’t catch his name) then hit the MK river stage and I was completely immersed in his set and my plastic bottled craft beer when the speakers started playing up. It was a pity because the DJ set was a good way to see out the afternoon before the main acts started at 6pm. The sound issues made me walk up to my car to get ready for what I’d been waiting for, the acts on the main stage. I looked at the tent packed safely in its carry case, remembered the earlier tornado, and confirmed my decision to sleep in the car later.

The weather on this late Saturday afternoon was absolutely perfect - windless, warm and blue skied. The main stage is fronted by grass and the excellent food stalls form an amphitheatre around the outside of the grassed off area. Before taking my place for Yoav I heard some seriously rhythmic guitar playing coming from the Rolling Stone stage - I walked across and found Tombstone Pete and Redeye Riaan jamming for a growing crowd of awed festival goers. They were joined completely ad hoc by an unknown guy who I later saw on the main stage with Jeremy Loops (Motheo Moleko is his name) - this cat had the most natural rap flow I’ve heard in a long time and he earned fist bumps from Pete and Redeye for the way he laid rap over their percussive guitar improvs.

I made my way to the front of the grass as Yoav was setting up his complex pedal layout. Relying on loop pedal technology as an integral part of your musical expression is a double-edged sword - you can produce sublime moments of rhythmic genius or it can come across as musical masturbation, often lacking typical bridge structures of songs because it’s difficult to change the chords you’ve initially layered down in the first 20 seconds or so.

So I was very keen to see how Yoav and also Jeremy Loops would perform since they are both loop monsters.

Yoav started tentatively and in his first two songs he had some issues with the mix which saw him needing to shout to his left at the front of house desk to correct things. But once he got going it became clear why his reputation has grown so much over the past few years.

He’s a charming, intense man on stage and his songs have incredible depth. He had the crowd screaming out when they heard the digitally delayed opening chords of his 5FM number one hit “We are all dancing”. It was also a treat to hear Tailor join him for a duet on one song.

There’s a tension between them that you could cut with a knife.

Peachy Keen took to the stage next with their high energy rockabilly set. I am partial to the style of music they’re reviving and I though their set was excellent - tight, upbeat, danceable and above all fun. Although it would seem obvious to focus all the attention on their highly talented female vocal duo, their guitarist, Greg Abrahams, is incredible.

Next up was Jeremy Loops. The sky was beginning to get dark and the stage lighting was coming into its own. By now the grassed area was full and standing-room only.

Review by : Matt Roux Photography : Michael Ellis

The MC informed us that a large group of Herzlia school girls were basically champing at the bit to watch Jeremy perform and on the strength of his performance over the next 45 minutes I predict he’ll have an ever increasing female fan base in the coming years. His set was stellar and I’m not surprised

joined Mr Loops but unfortunately his vocal mic was completely off for 5 minutes of a 6 minute song. I also want to call out a guy named Jamie Faull who absolutely killed it on saxophone.

December Streets hit the stage and the throbbing crowd enjoyed their highly polished pop-rock set which even saw the band throw in a very good Mumford and Sons cover. My ears didn’t hear too many hooks but I have no doubt they can convert their serious talent into some amazing songs in the coming months.

Desmond and The Tutus, it’s not you it’s my stomach. I needed to braai my boerewors so I wasn’t in the throng of the crowd for The Tutu’s set. Perhaps being on the outer ring was actually a good way to experience them because it gave me a chance to listen more deeply.

Every time I’ve turned on the radio for the past few weeks I’ve been confronted with Zim Zala Bim which is seriously catchy but I’m not a huge fan of the

he has been nominated for an MK “best live performer” award this year. He is relaxed, focused, switched-on and a consummate performer and entertainer. My only niggle is that it takes a while for him to prepare each song with his loop pedal and I think he’d be well served to start putting a band of humans together so that he can hit his tunes hard from the beginning. I also think his songwriting is limited to verse and chorus largely because of the complex loop layering - it’s hard for him to break out into a different key structure for bridges because of the layers of loops.But this man knows how to write a massive sing-a-long chorus, and if you need an example search for his song “Power” on Youtube. Motheo (the previously nameless rapper from the Tombstone Pete and RedEye Riaan jam)

telephone frequency EQ effect on vocals which that song is littered with. But live it is a brilliant tune and their set was a massive crowd pleaser. Their set has had me trawling YouTube this week for more.

And then came the night’s headliners. It was as if all the acts that had come before (as good as they were) were school kids and finally the adults had arrived at the party. The Black Cat Bones are a take-no-prisoners old school rock band with an incredibly tight set of songs. Being in the middle of the seething crowd was amazing, and the Americans next to me seemed suitably damned impressed with this band from Pretoria sounding like something out of Detroit. Their front man Kobus de Kock Jr. is a true showman and between songs couldn’t stop expressing his genuine appreciation for the audience’s love. To cap off an incredible headline set, the Bones were joined by Piet Botha who paired his trademark gravelly voice and tasty blues licks with the Bones’ heavier sound. Ending off with Neil Young’s Rocking In The Free World was a masterstroke. Somewhere during this song I wandered off to the toilets and missed the flame -assed streaker that invaded the main stage.

I was dead keen to see Woodstock Mafia and I wasn’t disappointed - they’re loud and heavy in a controlled way and it was cool to see them in the smaller confines of the Rolling Stone stage. I didn’t stay for Taxi and Friends but I didn’t actually miss their set because they were completely audible up, up, up the hill as I lay in my tent (I tried the back seat for two minutes) downloading a brilliant day’s music into the deeper parts of

my brain. The Up The Creek organizers created a world class experience overall and I’ll be back next year for more. And one more thing. Normally you could expect some dodgy mixes, dead spots and muddy vocals in more than 6 hours of music, but I heard almost none of that - the sound quality was excellent, just like the festival.

Just Music Sessions New Artists gig review I would just like to start off by pointing out how honoured I am to be writing this, my very first article for Fanbase Music Magazine.

Setting out to cover the Just Music Sessions at World of Yamaha in Woodmead, I had my camera bag and a pack of (cheap) smokes. Neither flash photography, nor smoking was allowed inside the theatre, so I was pretty sure it would be a difficult event to cover. Nevertheless, I approached it head on.

As I arrived, before getting out of my car, the first person I saw was Isaac Klawansky. You all might not know exactly who he is, but I know him as the incredibly talented drummer and manager of our favourite local rock ’n roll band ‘Shadowclub’.

Heading up to the Yamaha building, I ran into half of The Anti Retro Vinyls. Typically Durban, Greg Allan (leather-jacket and skinny-jean wearing frontman) and Chris Van Reenen (lover first – drummer second) were hanging outside waiting for the show to start, with their free dessert bowl sized gin and cranberry. This was a short lived happy reunion, as I quickly learned that Harry (lead guitarist and over-all nice guy in the band) was absent, sick with the measles, crossing the exDurban indie rock ‘n roll band off the bill. Was I still looking forward to seeing Matthew Mole and Nakhane Toure perform? Hell yes!

Review and photography by: Matt Williams

I’ll be honest with you. Circle of trust time here, guys. Until the day before, I had no idea who either of these fine young gentlemen were. A quick Googling, and a few terrible quality Youtube videos later, I was a freshly educated man.

We headed inside at 8PM sharp. The theatre was completely void of any seating, but sardine-packed full of people. I could tell this would be a good show. One thing I found disconcerting was a lack of light inside. Taking photos would prove difficult in these conditions. Not long after that, we heard the voice of Mr Gary Cool, and the lights came on.

First to be introduced to the stage was the moustached man, Mr Matthew Mole. I hate to stereotype but, before he opened his mouth, I could tell he was Capetonian. The loafers, the rolled up jeans and light blue denim shirt with rolled up sleeves pretty much gave it away. The dress sense, mixed with what came out of his mouth as soon as he opened it, proved I wasn’t wrong. What a great sense of humour he’s got. The way he interacted with the crowd while setting up and tuning his guitar, I definitely felt I had known him since before I could walk. His musical style is definitely unique. His backing tracks are suited perfectly to his smooth voice. He brings in the bass drum and keeps a beat while he strums the guitar. His full vocal range pushes through with each song he sings, lyrics wrapping themselves around your heart, pulling hard at the strings of your happiest memories and emotions. If you combine this with his vibrant stage presence, you immediately feel as though you’re watching an international artist fully experienced in the art of performing.

As much as I enjoyed Matthew’s set, I was extremely anxious to see Nakhane Toure.

As an axe-man myself, I found his spellbinding guitar work a treat to my ears. The ethnic undertones and groovy melodies grab your attention and force you to dance. Shimmy.

Whatever it is that you do. With such a diverse source of inspiration behind his songs and style, it almost seems like he has intentionally thrown us off his scent. I can definitely pick up on the Marvin Gaye and Radiohead vibe, though. His execution is on point. I do feel that maybe he would have felt more at home on his own guitar, as both artists played on Yamaha equipment. There were a few missed notes and wrongly plucked strings, but all in all, I reckon it added even more authenticity and emotion to his set. His voice and emotion were felt, rather than heard throughout the theatre. We laughed at his jokes, and his mannerisms. Not because we had to, but instead because he also has a natural ability to interact with the crowd and make us feel at home.

The atmosphere was overwhelming as we exited the theatre. There was no denying that every single person at the show had thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. I chatted to Nakhane for a few seconds, and could tell that he was completely unaffected by any of his new found fame.

Both of these talented young gentlemen have very promising careers ahead of them, provided they keep doing exactly what they’re doing right now.

I urge you all to hunt these guys down and force them to play you a song or two. By that, of course I mean search for them on Youtube and force your finger to click on the play button. The first option is considered stalking and that’s a felony, kids!!

Review by: Duwyne Clayton

Gigg Review

Rodriguez

Ladies and Gentleman let me introduce you to a legend named Rodriguez. He is a man that doesn’t need any introduction but really deserves one. Just like the standing ovation he got at this gig I am about to tell you about, but more about that later.

Rodriguez has come to visit our shores again. I was lucky enough to get front row seats thanks to my awesome girlfriend, Crystal who tricked me in thinking we had upper back seats but much to my surprise when we got there, we were sat down right in the front, inches away from the stage.

Not having a press pass for this gig made it very hard to take pictures as security didn’t even allow pics be taken with cell phones and they had to stop me and a few other members of the crowd trying to take pics, but we managed to sneak in a few shots here and there which you can see in this gig review.

I made my way to the merchandise table after we settled down at our seats. I really wanted a T-shirt before they all sold out. With me running around trying to draw money and buy my Rodriguez shirt I managed to miss the first song of the support act Newton’s second law. Not to worry, I thought to myself as I sat down at my seat, there is still loads of songs still to come. I hadn’t seen this band live before so it was nice to see some fresh new talent opening up for a legend like Rodriguez. They rocked the show. It was also nice seeing a black lead singer who I thought is a perfect front man for this unique band. He has such an awesome voice and stage presence. The bassist though is the most energetic and if I had any complaints about the lead singer I would say he doesn’t move around enough on stage as much as the bassist did who kept jumping around, but having said that Rodriguez did not move around much on stage either.

I was still intrigued by this opening act called Newton’s Second Law. They introduced a song called Fact of life which they announced is doing pretty well on 5Fm and I must say I heard it before so it was good to be familiar with at least one of their songs. If you ask me if I enjoyed their set, I would answer with a big , yes I did very much. The only thing I had a problem with is their set was too short. I don’t know if it was planned like that and they were only given a certain amount of time to play but I would have defo liked to see them play for a bit longer. But never the less they still blew me away and I am defo going to look them up on Facebook and try organise an interview with them. So watch this space.

After their set we were left wanting more. The crowd was hungry and waiting in anticipation for the legend to take to the stage. The crew put a red curtain in front of the stage so you couldn’t see what was going on as they set up. Well at least the people in front row couldn’t see on the stage yet but if you were seated on the side of the stage, you would also be one of the fans roaring and clapping as only I think the legend himself has walked on the stage. Kind of made me jealous that I missed out on that as I would have liked to see him walk on and start getting the stage ready for his performance.

Then finally a voice came from behind the curtain, the announcer told us all to put our hands together and make some noise for the Legend… RODRIGUEZ!!!

The curtain lifted, and there he was standing, the man himself, in leather pants and a done up shirt and sporting a black hat and black shades. Come to think of it, I don’t think I have ever seen a picture where he doesn’t wear dark glasses and seeing him in real life was no exception. With all the speculation of the Searching for Sugarman movie, I myself was amped to see if this was the real Rodriguez. I mean after all he was supposed to be rumored as dead a few years back. But yes this was defo him, a much older version of the Rodriguez we all grew up listening to, but after he opened up his mouth and uttered the first words of the first song, You can defo hear it is him. The legend is here singing and busting his heart out for all of us to witness.

Rodriguez played all the well-known tracks; you must be saying of course he played all his well-known tracks because he only ever got to release 2 albums in his music career. But when I say his well-known tracks I am referring to the songs from his first album called Cold Facts, which is probably the more well-known album of the two. He performed songs such as Sugarman, I Wonder and Establishment Blues. He even did a few covers including a song written by Elvis.

Rodriguez is a legend, yes he is getting old and his voice is a bit thinner than usual, but none of that matters when you in his presence and you hear the passion behind his song writing and performing. I did notice a few times that Rodriguez would turn his guitar volume to low and he would just go through all the chords first before playing each song. But once he tuned the sound back up and he started playing then he was back in action and playing his songs with all he had.

His band that accompanied him on this tour was also awesome. It was great to see Graham Gillot on guitar and it just so happens I get to interview this unique guy in this same issue of Fanbase Music mag. They did a great job seeing they were performing as session musicians and they don’t always get to perform with Rodriguez on a more frequent basis. Although Graham Gillot has been involved in a project called The Rodriguez tribute band, so he knows all the songs, hehe, I did notice a few times the band would get lost in the song and they would somehow have to find each other again but they all handled it awesomely, and getting to jam with a legend like Sixto himself is an honor and big task in itself.

This gig was amazing, Rodriguez was amazing. I just wish he had more time in his life to perform and not work as a construction worker, which he has been doing for 35 years. It’s sad once you get to hear his story that this guy was robbed of his musical talent, and the money he was supposed to earn from all the records he didn’t even know he sold in South Africa which, went to some rich business man who took him for a ride. Had he been looked after in his prime time and had he carried on seriously with his music instead of being taken for a ride by his then record company. Who knows how big he would have been. Some even say that in South Africa he is bigger than Elvis and Bob Dylan, and I would of loved to see him break it in America had he had the chance to get that far.

I urge everyone who doesn’t appreciate a musician like Rodriguez to watch the movie called “Searching for Sugarman” Just knowing this man’s life story and how humble he is, makes it all the worthwhile and privilege to have been able to see this man perform live.

Justin Serrao and friends

Valentine â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day gig review

So what does a single 27 year old white male do on Valentine's Day? He goes to Rumours in Weltevreden Park, of course. The opportunity to see so many great talents in one evening is more romantic and spell-binding than a candle-lit dinner on the beach. Well, I tell myself that, purely because i'm nowhere near a beach. But I digress. The likes of Wonderboom frontman Martin 'Cito' Otto, Justin Serrao, Michael Naranjo, Cameron Bruce, Lizban and JustAdamm to name just a few, all at one great venue, is definitely worth checking out.

Naturally, I found myself there far too early, but it gave me a chance to take in the vibe, see the late lunchers leaving and find myself a good spot. I started off outside, seated near the bar. The new addition to the venue looks and feels amazing, by the way. So intimate, so ambient.

You really feel like you belong there. There are a few things I probably would have done differently, such as put the bar in a different position, maybe move the stage to the other side, but I had nothing to do with the design, and therefore had no understanding of any limitations or restrictions to how it all needed to be done. So basically, the new addition is fantastic.

Coke (a-Cola) was on the menu for me. Driving laws and a tight budget generally manage to keep me on the straight and narrow.

The outside area filled up pretty quickly. Uncomfortably quickly. At one point, I could hardly move, let alone lift my camera to get a decent photo of anything, let alone one of the acts.

Not too long after that, the first act took the stage. A young lady by the name of Elrene. From what I could hear, there is an amazing talent buried inside her. I could tell the crowd loved her, and that's what it's all about. Unfortunately, I couldn't understand what she was singing about, because much like with any sport, I am USELESS when it comes to Afrikaans. Also, where a lot of Afrikaans music is concerned â&#x20AC;&#x201C; unless it sounds like Fokofpolisiekar or Straatligkinders â&#x20AC;&#x201C; I tend to switch off. Which I know isn't fair, especially considering how well that white lace dress wrapped around her. This meant that halfway through Elrene's set, I decided I had to go and check out the inside stage, where Toni 'Lizban' McMurray had the audience in awe with her hauntingly beautiful renditions of Adele's 'Someone Like You', Alanis Morissette's 'Ironic' and The Cranberries' infamous 'Zombie'. I have to say that everyone was blown away by her original stuff too. I regret to tell you that I am unable to name any specific song, but I can strongly recommend you go and check her out. There shall be no disappointment. The acoustic guitar was designed to accompany Lizban's voice.

I did manage to rush back and catch a few minutes of the Woodstock era inspired 'Fine n Dandy', but couldn't comfortably stand anywhere near the stage, so had to hear the muffled voices of Donna Riley and Neil Bennett from right at the back. These two have appeared on the South African 'Balcony TV' and secured a few other gigs around the Jozi vicinity. I can't really tell you too much more about them, except that if you're a fan of bands such as Wrestlerish and The One Night Stands, and other feel-good music with great guitar melodies and extremely well rehearsed vocal harmonies.

It was a night of great internal fisticuffs, as yet again, I had to tear myself away from great entertainment to see even more great entertainment. I had heard Cameron's name mentioned before, but never been able to hear him, let alone see him caressing his guitar, while belting out (in my opinion) Jack Johnson and John Mayer inspired lyrical works of art. This guy has the look, the voice, the talent and the effect on the female species to take his career to heights most South African artists have never dreamed of reaching. Even Justin Serrao was urging the audience to miss the beginning of his set, and catch the rest of Cameron's performance. With the backing lead played by someone who's name I neglected to remember, this performance was one of the defining moments of the evening. There were a few free CDs handed out during his set, but I get the feeling I just wasn't pretty enough to earn myself one.

Back outside to see Justin Serrao. The man of the hour. What a guy. His songs are well written, well rehearsed, and amazingly executed. I could tell that the following was there. I lost count of all the breasts heaving within a metre of the stage. This man is so natural and infinitely amusing, it's no wonder his career is picking up the way it is. Again, there were free CDs by the bundle, and yes, I did manage to get my grubby little paws on one of them. Justin is the only man I know personally who has had his own lyrics sung back to him during almost every single one of his tracks. With upcoming gigs lined up in Cape Town for a couple of weeks, Jozi is missing him. He will return. He will continue to impress. Ladies will continue to undress. Alright, I said that just because it rhymes, but honestly, stranger things have happened. Let's just hope that it all works out for him.

Naturally, by the end of Justin's set, people were tired and starting to feel the effects of the very reasonably priced alcohol on tap. Nevertheless, there was more to come. A lot more. The afore-mentioned Cito Otto of Wonderboom appeared on stage as if by sorcery. He oozes style and confidence. He brings forth a message of undying passion and drive. Also, he sings really really high. I really should have paid more attention, but it was difficult. He performed at least one Spanish song. Where did that come from? Who knew he was a foreigner? Well, i'm guessing a lot of you did, but I certainly didn't. Cito took us to a villa on the shore of a golden beach. Mojitos and umbrellas. I had no words then, and I have no words now. This man is full of surprises and great vibes. Definitely a man with a lot to offer, he is the founder of 'Peace Starts', an initiative aimed at raising awareness and promoting peace and solidarity amongst the citizens of Jozi. Teaming up with renowned publicist Collett Dawson, the two are planning huge things for the 011. Check page â&#x20AC;Ś for the full story. Duwyne, put a page reference to the Collett Dawson event review here

Next, manifesting on stage in the shape of a South American Afrikaner from the City of Gold, Michael Paul Naranjo, the ex-One Day Remains front-man, and super nice guy succeeds at stealing our hearts. There is no other way to say it. It just had to be felt. The smooth voice, the natural stage charisma, and the lightning fast fingers teamed up to give us something no-one in the room expected. A peacefulness. I could tell I wasn't the only one who had this feeling as I looked around the seating area. But this was all a warm up. A teaser. Once Michael was done with his collective seduction, he joined Graham Gillot on stage, where he proceeded to climb on top of what he had just so gently and calmly laid down, and stomp all over it with the impromptu lead guitar over a very funky Graham Gillot Band rendition of Rodriguez' 'Sugarman'. Of course, Graham and his band were touring with Rodriguez at the time, during his 'Searching for Sugarman' homecoming tour. There is no denying that he was the man for the job. I do have to say, as this is a completely unbiased review, that I am not a fan of Mr Gillot's voice, but was undeniably in awe of his attention to detail with every single one of his carefully chosen tracks. I could swear to you right now that Graham was playing a tiny little fetus sized guitar in his mother's womb. The guitar is merely a mutated limb. There is no other way to explain to you the mastery and control he has over this wooden, string instrument. Mr Graham Gillot is a mastermind.

I did manage to catch the last two of Adam van Veen's songs. Again, this kid has no problem with entertaining a crowd. Especially a predominantly female crowd. They wouldn't let him get off the stage. Awkwardly cool is how I'd describe his demeanour. He knows he's great at what he does, but he gives off a humble, and almost overwhelmed expression as he calmly serenades with his Bruno Mars and Jimmy Nevis jams. Another one worthy of a close eye. Adam van Veen is destined for brightly lit venues and hordes of groupies.

The memory of this evening is one that will stick with me for the rest of my life. There was not one moment I did not enjoy. The energy and love coming from the audience during every single artist's performance made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. The personal connection is what made the difference. Every single one of the artists was your friend. Someone you had known since preschool.

I'd like to personally thank Justin for putting the whole shindig together, and all the other artists for giving me a reason to support independent local music again. If we keep working together like this, there's really no reason for our music industry not to outgrow that of the Americas and Europe.

High fives all around!!

Review and photography by: Matt Williams

FOKOFPOLISIEKAR 10 YEARS DOUBLE CD COMPILATION

Fokofpolisiekar will be 10 years old on 1 March 2013. To celebrate this milestone, they have just released a double disc offering with a decade of Fokofpolisiekar Rock-‘n-Roll music and videos.

The double album consists of songs which fans consider to be their personal favourites, as well as all FPK music videos, official and previously unreleased bootleg stuff. This is the ideal must have for those who have lost their original FPK CD copies, the younger brothers and sisters of the original followers who were still in the lower school grades when Fokof first broke the mould and those who are curious to see some unreleased video material of the band in their early days.

A decade ago in March 2003 the legendary 5-piece Rock outfit, originally from Bellville, penned down cult classics like ‘’Hemel op Die Platteland’’ and ‘’Fokofpolisiekar’’ and made a massive imprint on the local music scene with their first musical offering, As jy met vuur speel sal jy brand, released in February 2003. Since then Fokofpolisiekar has had a controversial, exciting and successful career to date.

Nine years later and a month away from their ten year anniversary as one of South Africa’s most celebrated bands, Fokofpolisiekar still exudes the same magnetic pulling power at their shows . The band’s show at OppiKoppi Sweet/Thing 2012 drew one of the largest crowds at this festival.

Media quotes from OppiKoppi Sweet/Thing: “The area was packed and the energy was amazing. I’ve heard guestimates of 15 000 people, which could be correct. Either way, the people came to see the boys they love so much. Men were crying. Everyone was singing along. Next year is their ten year anniversary.

It’s going to be hard to top what we saw at midnight two Saturdays ago.” – Dan Nash http://www.bangersandnash.com/ nash/cape-to-oppikoppi-2012/

Double disc :  Audio CD 23 Songs,  DVD 12 Music Video’s, including previously unrelease material.

Track list : Audio CD : 1. Hemel op die platteland ( 2:41) 2. Maak of braak (2:26) 3. Vernietig jouself (2:00) 4. Tygerberg vliegtuig (2:53) 5. Fokofpolisiekar (2:38) 6. Tevrede? (4:20) 7. Angs aanval (3:01) 8. Tiny Town (2:11) 9. Die illusie van veiligheid (4:14) 10. Ek dink aan jou as dit reën (3:41) 11. Monoloog in stereo (4:03) 12. Brand Suid-Afrika (3:22) 13. Tiener Aksie Einde (4:02) 14. Klipgooi glashuis (3:25) 15. Prioritiseer (3:42) 16. Ek Skyn (Heilig) (3:50) 17. Swanesang (3:31) 18. Bel vir Middelvinger ( 4:03) 19. Vasbeslot Korporasie (Deel 2) (3:51) 20. Tussen die krake (3:15) 21. Kyk Noord (3:04) 22. Antibiotika (2:54) 23. Hemel op die platteland (Akoesties) (3:17)

DVD Disc : 1. Tussen Die Krake (unreleased) 2. Hemel Op Die Platteland 3. Tevrede?

4. Hemel Op Die Platteland (Akoestiese Weergawe) 5. Die Illusie Van Veiligheid 6. Tiener Aksie Einde 7. Brand Suid-Afika 8. Ek Skyn (Heilig) 9. Antibiotika 10. Maak Of Braak (unauthorised) 11. Tygerberg Vliegtuig (unauthorised) After a sold out tour in December 2012, Fokopolisiekar is back by popular demand and will be celebrating their ence with the following upcoming shows: Date: 26 January 2013 Line up: Fokofpolisiekar Venue: Memphis Rock, Potchefstroom Address: 102 Steve Biko Ave, Potchefstroom Contact: Hannes du Plessis:memphisrock@live.co.za / 079 796 2491

10-year exist-

Tickets: R60 p/p at the door

Date: 6 March 2013 Line up: Fokofpolisiekar Venue: Neetlinghof, Stellenbosch Address: Neethlingshof, Polkadraai Pad Contact :0218082019 Time:20:30 Entrance:R60 studentekaart, R90 Pre Sold: R60 studentekaart, R90, Computicket

Date: 27 February 2013 Line up: Fokofpolisiekar Venue: Rio Casino, Klerksdorp Adress: Rio Boulevard, Meiringspark, Extension 8, Klerksdorp, 2570 Contact : +27(18)469 9116 / mdutoit@riocasino.co.za

Date: 28 March 2013 Line up: Fokofpolisiekar Venue: The Assembly, Cape Town Address: 61 Harrington Street, Cape Town Contact: Pierre Coetzee - info@theassembly.co.za / +27 21 465 7286

Time: Doors open18h30 / Start 20h00 Entrance: R120 pp

Time: Doors open at 21:00 Entrance: R100 p/p at the door Pre Sold: R80 p/p (only 200 available) from http:// www.webtickets.co.za

Date: 28 February 2013 Line up: Fokofpolisiekar Venue: Barnyard Theatre, Cresta Adress: Shop L205, Cresta Mall Contact : 011 478 5300 / iris@barnyardtheatres.co.za Time: Doors open18h30 / Start 20h00 Entrance: R150 pp Pre Sold: 011 478 5300 / Date: 1 March 2013 Line up: Fokofpolisiekar Venue: Firkin Pub Centurion Address: cnr Hendrik Verwoerd & Embankment drive

Early Bird: R60 p/p (only 100 available) from http:// www.webtickets.co.za

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Fokofpoliskiekar Twitter: @fokofband Web: fokofpolisiekar.co.za

Interviewed by: Duwyne Clayton

Hi Rikus, I can’t believe it has taken this long to interview you in Fanbase Music mag. For everyone who doesn’t know who you are can you explain to us who you are and what band you are from?

Thanx Duwyne! Yes, it’s been a while in the making.

Fanbase was the first South African publication to review the Enter Angels album in 2012 so I’m very happy to do this.

Thank you for having me and for the mag’s continuous support.

Who are some of the musicians that you have collaborated with?

The Skies Between: Leon van der Westhuizen (bass), Sarah Hill (vocals), Riaan Nieuwenhuis (piano) The Skies Beyond: Kevin Rule (vocals) Enter Angels: Jesse Jordan, Rudolph Keown (vocals), Jurgen von Wechmar and Melissa van der Spuy (piano/vocals)

I am Rikus Nieuwenhuis from Karmic Kick, the brand and vehicle for some of my thoughts and music.

With you having so many people collaborating on Karmic Kick, is it safe to say Karmic Kick isn’t a live band and it is only a recording project?

Can you explain who is Karmic Kick, who is the band, you are the mastermind behind Karmic Kick but can you clarify who and what is Karmic Kick?

At this point in time, absolutely; that does not exclude the possibility of a live band in the future. Stay tuned.

That is a question I’ve been asked a bit of late so here goes.

Karmic Kick is a musical project designed and directed by myself. It is the result of songs and ideas I’ve written over the last few years. Karmic Kick does not represent a band as much as it does an interchanging, flowing caravan of collaborators. It may be my little monster but I think it would be an injustice to refer to it solely as a solo project. I do write the songs but I’ve been privileged enough to call on key team players to fulfill specific roles during the recording process. These musicians are all professional artists in their own right and one can hear their own styles and personalities surface on their assigned songs. So there you go; Karmic Kick is not a band in the normal sense of the word.

From a recording perspective I guess I am the only permanent member. I know things will be different once the right team gravitates towards each other for the purposes of playing live.

How many albums does Karmic Kick have out?

Three.

The Skies Between and The Skies Beyond were released during 2010, and 2012 saw the arrival of Enter Angels. The Skies Between hosted a collection of stories, female vocals and experiments with acoustic sounds, pianos and brass instruments. Things got a bit more edgy on The Skies Beyond with in-your-face riffs and intense lyrics. Enter Angels is an out-and -out hard rock album. Some say it’s heavy metal. There are still acoustic elements present, the odd piano and strange sound to be found but it is an album straight from the heavens. Heavy, loud, intense and melodic.

Then there is a single out called Angels’ Playground; a sweet folk and feel-good track.

“music and art are part of my family”

Where can we find Karmic Kick's music online, and where can the album Enter Angels be downloaded?

The Skies are available on iTunes. Enter Angels will also be out there soon but for the purpose of this Fanbase edition let’s make it available right now, right here, free https://dl.dropbox.com/u/58474603/KARMIC%20KICK-Enter% 20Angels.zip To all Fanbase readers, download this album and share it with your mates!

You play a lot of the instruments on Enter Angels, what are all the instruments you can actually play?

What kind of music has been and still is an influence to you?

You’re kidding…ready for the cliché answer? All good music.

Really. It depends on the mood. But it is true that I tend to dive back into either the 60’s or the 90’s. If I had to pack for that fabled desert island right now you’ll find me scrambling Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash, Depeche Mode, Alice in Chains, Metallica and AC/DC…amongst others.

One of my fave songs of Karmic Kick is “One more horn” and it is all about Saving the Rhino, just how important is that campaign to you?

Very important. We all know the facts and we’ve all seen the consequences. It is beyond comprehension and something that we seem unable to control. I really don’t need to preach to anyone about the harsh realities of humans killing off a special species.

I’m glad you like the song; I felt that its attitude and aggressive vibe was conducive to touching on this subject. I hope that in 10 years time One More Horn will just be a good rock song and not a lament to our collective failure.

I play the guitar, bass and drums. I also hit percussion instruments, blow on bottles, bend trees, scrape craters and do things that generate sounds.

The vocalists on Enter Angels are Rudolph Keown and Jesse Jordan.

You will also hear guest artists Melissa van der Spuy, Andre Nieuwenhuis and Jurgen von Wechmar.

Let’s find out a bit more about you now, where are you from and where are you based at the moment?

I grew up in Stellenbosch. Post bands and university I moved around the globe for quite a while. I spent the last 6 years in lovely Cape Town and upon completion of Enter Angels I moved to Maastricht in the south of Holland, where I’m currently engaged with another passion of mine, philanthropy and development.

Did you come from a musical background; I see your brothers are also artists?

That’s right. Music and art are a part of my family. Both my brothers Riaan and Andre are accomplished artists.

Do you ever collaborate?

We’ve worked together on a number of projects over the years since we started jamming in the garage as kids. Riaan plays on The Skies, I played on his Mediator album and Andre features as the Latin monk on Sedes Sapientiae (Enter Angels). We’ve been pretty busy with our individual efforts of late but I know that we will work together again in the near future. It is so much fun to share a creative environment with your brothers and best friends.

Where do you get your inspiration from for your song writing?

From a lyrical perspective I enjoy observing activities around me on a daily basis. I am also not afraid to dig around inside myself for a reflection of light or a handful of dirt. Musically things happen by themselves when I pick up the guitar in my basement for a jam.

Jams turn out riffs and riffs progress into songs.

Do you have any way for people to get hold of you, what are your social media addresses?

I encourage people to connect and share with me. Please do so on Facebook/Karmic Kick, karmickick@gmail.com

Twitter,

Soundcloud

or

Thank you so much for doing this interview with us Rikus.

Thank you for supporting Karmic Kick and the local music industry!

JUSTIN BIEBER LIVE IN SOUTH AFRICA Big Concerts have officially confirmed the Justin Bieber tour dates for South Africa. Justin Bieber will be performing live for town stadium shows on Wednesday 8th May at Cape Town Stadium and Sunday 12th May at FNB Stadium Johannesburg.

May 2013

Justin Bieber became the first artist to have seven songs from a debut record to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 when he released ‘My World’ in 2009. His first full-length album ‘My World 2.0’ (2010) was certified platinum in the United States and spawned hit singles "Baby" ‘Somebody to Love’ and ‘U Smile’. His most recent release ‘Believe’ (2012) became his fourth chart topper in the United States, debuting at number-one on the Billboard 200 and went to number one in 30 other countries. With hit singles ‘Boyfriend’, ‘All Around the World’, ‘Die in Your Arms’ and ‘As Long as You Love Me’ which all placed in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100.

He has received numerous awards including Artist of the Year at the 2011 and 2012 American Music Awards and was nominated for Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album at the 53rd Grammy Awards.

He also recently won 3 MTV Europe music video awards including ‘Best World Stage Performance’.

With worldwide album sales in excess of 15 million units, Bieber has dominated pop culture and social media for more than three years. He has more than 44 million Facebook fans, more than 23 million Twitter followers, and more than three billion YouTube views, making him the most popular YouTube artist of all time. Now he performs live in South Africa for the first time with two stadium shows.

South African Tour Dates: Wednesday 8th May 2013 – Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town Sunday 12th May 2013 – FNB Stadium, Johannesburg Ticketing Information: Tickets go on sale for the Johannesburg show (web, outlets and call centers) – Monday 10th December 2012 (09:00 – local time SAST). Price from R315 – R750.

Tickets go on sale for the Cape Town show (web, outlets and call centers) – Tuesday 11th December 2012 (09:00 – local time SAST). Price from R315 - R700.

Tickets available online from www.bigconcerts.co.za, or Computicket.

Important Information All minors must have a valid ticket. Children 14 years and under must be accompanied by a legal guardian.

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JOHN CLEESE LIVE in SOUTH AFRICA

JUNE 2013

Back by popular demand! Comedy legend John Cleese returns to South Africa after the sold out success of his 2011 tour. Returning with his uniquely entertaining show ‘John Cleese Live’ on the 15 th and 16th June at Feather Market, Port Elizabeth, 18th and 19th June at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, 21 st, 22nd and 23rd June at the Teatro at Montecasino Johannesburg and 25th and 26th June at the ICC Hall 1AB Durban. John Cleese live is Another Big Concerts Experience, presented by Algoa FM, 567 CapeTalk, Talk Radio 702, East Coast Radio and SABC3.

Best known for his idiosyncratic turns in Monty Python's Flying Circus and Fawlty Towers, John Cleese will once again bring his unique comedy perspective to audiences across South Africa. Cleese has done it all, and now it’s time for him to tell you about his jam-packed life. The show will be split into two halves. The first will be a conversation session hosted by local radio celebrity John Maytham from 567 CapeTalk, who will be chatting to John Cleese in more detail about life up to and including his Monty Python career. And, the second half will be John talking about Fawlty Towers, A Fish Called Wanda and other controversial and hilarious matters as well as answering questions from the audience.

Cleese has achieved a lot in his career, which started as a sketch writer for BBC Radio’s Dick Emery Show and then The Frost Report. After this stardom beckoned, and Monty Python was created, with Cleese co-writing and starring in four series and three films. He went on to achieve further great success as the neurotic hotel manager Basil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers, which he co-wrote with his then wife Connie Booth. After huge UK success John went on to crack the USA with A Fish Called Wanda (which he wrote and starred in with Jamie Lee Curtis). The late 1990s saw the unstoppable Mr Cleese appear in the James Bond movie The World is not Enough and later Die Another Day. His latest film role was none other than the ‘The Guv’ in the popular South African film ‘Spud’. From writing to starring in plays, musicals, theatrical and comedy productions, to films and sitcoms.

If you didn’t manage to catch john Cleese last time, now’s your chance. For those who did… prepare to be entertained all over again with his hugely successful show ‘John Cleese Live’

Port Elizabeth – Presented by Algoa FM and SABC3

Johannesburg – presented by Talk Radio 702 and SABC3

Saturday 15th June

Friday 21st June

Sunday 16th June

Saturday 22nd June

Feather Market

Sunday 23rd June

Tickets on sale now from Computicket

Teatro at Montecasino

Priced R395 – R510

Tickets on sale bigconcerts.co.za

Cape Town – presented by 567 CapeTalk and SABC3 Tuesday 18th June

now

from

Computicket

and

Priced R380 – R510

Wednesday 19 June

Durban – presented by East Coast Radio and SABC3

CTICC

Tuesday 25th June

th

Tickets on sale now from Computicket and bigconcerts.co.za

Wednesday 26 June

Priced R395 - R510

Tickets on sale 13th February from Computicket

ICC Hall 1AB Durban Priced R340 – R510

Where do you see you’re self in five years, in terms of your photography?

Well for starters, not doing free work for people anymore. People expecting work for free and the excessive amount of less experienced photographers calling themselves professionals are really killing our industry.

Other than that, I hope to be further up the ladder and closer to being professional, shooting more assignments for bigger publications.

Who is your favorite photographer and why?

There are many, but if there is one person in particular, the amazing Ansel Adams. The work he created back then will stay around for a long time; it will probably even out live the majority of today’s digital work. He was a true pioneer of the art.

Describe a day in the life of a photographer?

A typical day in the life of a photographer is actually very boring, you wake check you email, respond to emails and then edit until the end of the day. The exciting days of being a photographer are really fun and make up for the rest. Flying off to Bloemfontein for the afternoon on assignment to shoot a car collector and then flying back the evening. That’s fun.

What advice do you have for upcoming photographers?

Advice is something you give after you have been around for long enough to gain it. Advice from anyone else is an opinion. My opinion would be to keep developing your skill; you’re never good enough and are always able to improve.

How did you get into photography?

Photography has always fascinated me. It started as a hobby with a point-and-shoot and the urge to know more. Now it has grown into a career.

What camera are you currently using?

I have a variety of camera. For my digital work I use a Nikon D600. A lot of my personal work is shot on film with cameras ranging from cheap mik-and-druks, a Pentax K1000, a Nikon F3 and a few others as well.

What do you like about Photography?

I like how simple and complex it is. Photography is as complicated as you make it.

What style of Photography do you like?

I wouldn’t say I like a specific style. I have my way of taking a photograph with techniques I’ve have thought up myself or developed based on others. If you lock yourself into a specific “style” you end up not seeing or doing other things, you stop growing and developing and in the end that is all you’ll be able to shoot.

How can people get hold of you?

The best place would be to email me: michael@michaelellis.co.za Phoning me is another option: 083 547 9868 Other than that, have a look at my blog www.snapkamera.com

Splashy Fen honours top SA violinist Anton Cawthorn-Blazeby, a classically trained violinist and one of South Africa’s most respected musicians, has been confirmed as the featured act for this year’s Splashy Fen Music Festival, which takes place on a farm by the same name near Underberg over the Easter long weekend from 28 March to 1 April.

With 20 festivals under his belt so far, Cawthorn-Blazeby is a true Splashy Fen legend. Well-known for his role in celebrated instrumental band Landscape Prayers (which he co-founded with guitar maestro Nibs van der Spuy), he has also worked and collaborated with many other top artists and groups. These include Steve Newman, Guy Buttery, Greg Georgiades, Squeal, Robin Auld and, more recently, Celtis – a project with flautist Keri Povall and guitarist Ron Uken that sees him expressing his passion for Celtic music with a quirky feel.

On being offered the Splashy Fen 2013 featured act billing, Cawthorn-Blazeby said he felt “humbled and very grateful for the opportunity and proud to have been chosen”. He added that he had already started planning his set, which would include a number of guest artists and promised to be “one for the books”.

Described as “inadvertently funny and fond of a pint”, this dad, husband and musician is also, interestingly, a qualified geologist. Working for Richards Bay Minerals, he last year completed his honours degree in geology at UKZN. In the early 1990s, he also spent 14 months at the research station on Marion Island, where part of his time was dedicated to monitoring bird life.

Based in Durban, where he lives with his wife and six-year-old daughter, Cawthorn-Blazeby’s ‘bucket list’ includes trips to both Antarctica and Marrakech, a gig with Sting, and he wouldn’t mind having a go at running the Comrades, and finishing… (something he admits is sadly not very likely at this stage).

Meanwhile, this year, he gets to fulfil another wish: the featured act slot at Splashy Fen, where he’ll share the bill with the likes of Mi Casa, Gazelle and inviZAble, The Muffinz, Desmond & The Tutus, Gangs of Ballet, Ard Matthews, December Streets, ISO, Matthew Mole, City Bowl Mizers, Dave Ferguson, Veranda Panda and Dan Patlansky, among many others.

Supported by Tourism KwaZulu-Natal, Splashy Fen has been going strong since 1990 and is one of the premier live music showcases in the country.

Advance tickets cost R575 at Computicket, which includes camping for the entire four-night, five-day festival. For more information, visit www.splashyfen.co.za or contact 031 563 0824.

Come Together Tour featuring Shannon Hope & Dividable Grand (Tour includes performances in Durban, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Stellenbosch, Cape Town, Melkbos, Jeffreysbay, East London, PE.)

Award-winning pianist and vocal artist Shannon Hope joins forces with the energetic and relatively new on the SA music scene Dividable Grand for Come Together – a show featuring a collaborative approach to their respective original songs and some songs they wish they wrote. Imagine the vocal power of Adele backed by the pop sensibilities of The Beatles – throw in a cello, some percussion and appearances by a couple of well-known guest artists, and Come Together will be a performance to remember.

Shannon Hope is described as “a thrilling, enthralling, endearing and awe-inspiring performer”, and with two full studio albums, radio play on various stations across the country, and a reputation as one of the hardest-touring artists in South Africa, she has graced esteemed stages such as the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town and The Metro Theatre in Chicago, and almost every major festival on the national circuit. In 2011 she was awarded a Standard Bank Ovation Award by the National Arts Festival in recognition of “artistic innovation, excellence, the exploitation of new performance styles and the courage to open new conversations in the arts.” And opening new conversations is exactly what Shannon Hope has in mind for 2013.

Come Together also features the musical talents of Dividable Grand. Their debut album “The Buzz” was released in October 2012 and has received extensive airplay on stations like KFM, RSG, ECR and numerous campus radio stations in South Africa.

They have shared stages with the likes of Prime Circle, Karen Zoid, Die Heuwels Fantasties and Ard Matthews – much to the crowd’s delight. Genevieve Vieira of The Citizen had this to say about the band: “For a band made up solely of 18-year-olds, The Buzz is what many would consider well above average as far as debut albums are concerned. The album is altogether enjoyable and distinguished, with an impressive sense of creativity oozing through the music. Excitement builds knowing that any future offerings hold great potential.”

Friday, 22 February 2013 Seabrooke’s Theatre at DHS, Durban (255 St Thomas Road, Musgrave, Durban.

Tel: 031 277 1570) Tickets are R70 Doors 7.30pm for 8pm

Thursday, 07 March 2013 Café Barcelona, Pretoria (Elardus Park Shopping Centre, Corner of Delmas and Barnard Street, Elardus Park, Pretoria – Tel: 012 345 3602) Tickets are R60

Saturday, 02 March 2013 Gingko Restaurant, Johannesburg (61 Dundalk Ave, cnr Roscommon Ave, Parkview.

Tel: 011 486 3361) Tickets are R125 Doors 2.30pm for 3pm

Friday, 08 March 2013 Aasvoelklub, Bloemfontein (GPS Coordinates: S29 9.099, E26 5.594 – Bloemfontein.

Tel: 084 559 8991) Tickets are R40 pre-sale and R50 at the door

Sunday, 03 March 2013 House Concert, Johannesburg (10 Santa Fe, corner of During Street and Paul Kruger Road, Honeydew Manor) Tickets are R50 (Tel: 083 289 4616)

Thursday, 14 March 2013 Dorpstreet Theatre, Stellenbosch (Summerhill Farm, The Shed, R44 to Klapmuts, Stellenbosch. Tel: 021 889 9158) Tickets are R70 Wednesday, 20 March 2013 Alexander Theatre, Cape Town (76 Strand Street, Cape Town. Tel: 021 300 1652) Tickets are R80 Thursday, 21 March 2013 Seaside Blues Restaurant, Melkbosstrand (Cnr of 6th Avenue and Beach Road, Melkbosstrand. Tel: 021 553 2615) Tickets are R80 Friday, 22 March 2013 Potters Place, Jeffreys Bay (18 Oosterland Street, Jeffreys Bay. Tel: 042 293 2500) Tickets are R70 Doors 6.30pm for 8pm Saturday, 23 March 2013 Music Kitchen, Port Elizabeth (69 Mangold Street, Newton Park, Port Elizabeth.

Tel: 041 364 1964) Tickets are R70 Doors 7pm for 8.30pm Sunday, 24 March 2013 Murambi Country Kitchen, East London (Sunrise Drive, Sunrise-On-Sea, East London.

Tel: 084 600 5716) Tickets are R60 (cash bar, bring your own picnic or order from the venue) Doors 2pm for 3pm

For more information: www.shannonhope.co.za or www.dividablegrand.com

Say-Et Event Management Arhlene Engelbrecht is an event organizer and has been in the business for many years. She has recently branched out on her own under the name of “Say-Et Event Management”.

We catch up with her and find out just exactly what it is her job entails. Enjoy this interview and feature.

How long have you been doing this kind of job?

32 years to be exact – and still loving it!!

After matriculating from West Ridge High School in 1978, my first job was at Santam Bank as a loan clerk, I then moved to Ned Equity Insurance as a secretary to the sales team.

On 11 May 1981, I began my awesome and exciting career in advertising as a receptionist at Design Unit under the leadership of Don Hill, a small and dynamic advertising agency in Braamfontein. I politely got more involved with the creative and before I knew it, I was in studio assisting with presentations!

After eight and a half years with Design Unit, I pursued a career in advertising as an Account Executive with Blue Chip Images, Headlines Advertising and Mortimer, Harvey. After a stunt as Production Manager at Mortimer, Harvey I joined friend and ex-colleague Mandy Labuschagne at Masque Creations and brought into the fold my customer base which included Avis Rent a Car and Avis Fleet Services.

In 1994, I took the plunge and opened my own business called “SAY-ET” – specializing in event management, promotional gifts and below-the-line advertising.

I was very fortunate that my business relationship with Avis Fleet Services and Avis Rent a Car continued to flourish and in November 1999, Avis Rent a Car asked me to join them and I closed “SAY-ET” to join this leading international brand as Marketing Events and Promotions Manager.

Wow, what the next 10 years lay in store for me was one of excitement, brand building, unforgettable events and trying harder!

After leaving Avis Rent a Car in November 2010, I continued with freelance and contract projects.

We hear you have just started your own event company, what can you tell us about that?

In December 2012, I was given the opportunity by two close friends to once again start up my old, tried and tested company “SAY-ET”!

And so the rebirth of “SAY-ET” has begun and I am looking forward to this new chapter!

I will once again focus on event management and promotional gifts with new inspiration, energy and great enthusiasm. I am fortunate to have the fantastic backing of two established and renowned catering companies, one that specializes in Halaal and the other in corporate, sport stadium and outdoor catering.

Edith and Graeme stand out from the rest, but here are some other personalities whom either were invited as a guest, an entertainer, assisted in sponsorship or who I can call a friend:

My journey is going to be one of exciting achievements, continuous learning’s and treasured moments!

Leanne Manas (TV Presenter, Morning Live)

The cherry on my choc-nut sundae is that I have my excellent Suppliers – some of which I have a 32 year working relationship together with their unconditional support!

I firmly believe that your Supplier makes the end result look good, so you need to treasure these relationships!!

Jeremy & Jacqui Mansfield Dr Billy Gallagher (Renown SA Chef) John Walland Chef Martin Kobald

What sort of event planning do you specialize in?

Nicole Flint (ex Miss South Africa)

I co-ordinate all elements pertaining to an event - from concept to the final product - a corporate Conference, Awards Dinner, sponsored event, Exhibition, Golf Day, Executive Getaway, Product Launch, Family Day, a personal special celebration – Just “SAY-ET” and I will do it!

Gareth Cliff

Who are some of the big names you have worked with in the past?

Over the years and under the superb leadership of Lance Smith and the brilliant marketing guru and my Mentor, Nic Griffin at Avis Rent a Car, I was privilege to meet and work with some of South Africa’s well known personalities.

Keith Kirsten Sally Little Jacques Terre’blanche (Singer) Lorna Potgieter (ex Miss South Africa) Sarah Cangley (Journalist – The Citizen)

Edith Venter – a special friend who I admire and respect!

Duane Rockwell (Entertainer)

Edith and I have worked closely on various Avis corporate and sponsored functions from the Avis Derby, the Avis Travelbags luncheon, the Avis Ladies International Polo, the Nedbank Golf Challenge, the Women’s World Cup of Golf, the Presidents Cup, Cansa Ladies Qolf Day and in return on many of her functions where Avis was the preferred car rental transport solution!

Brumilda van Rensburg (Actor)

In Edith’s personal capacity, she has given her time unconditionally to my chosen charity and the children of St Laurence’s Children’s Haven in Florida and to my family, friends and anyone who needs a helping hand to raise funds – I am truly blessed!

A winning team and a special friend, we both still continue to give each other support to ensure an event is a huge success!!!

Graeme Joffe (Joffers of 94.7 fame) – what started off as a business relationship turned very quickly into friendship!

Joffers became my Avis “Master of Ceremonies” for the Avis Golf Day and the Avis Travelbags luncheon and even played Action Netball for the Avis Ladies team! So professional in what he is commissioned to do at a function, he even had his “own” Avis uniform!

The annual St Laurence’s Children’s Haven Day Ladies Luncheon which attracts over 500 ladies and raises funds for the children is one of my highlights. Joffers sacrifices his Saturday afternoon to MC this function and the Ladies love him! Over and above the Ladies Luncheon, the Haven hosts a Race Day at Turffontein and Graeme has given his time to MC and predict the winners (well, hopefully)!

A friend who during his busy schedule still has the time to support me!

Ronnie Lawrence (Avis SA Derby Champion) Tracy Klaas (Comedian) Wolfgang Riebe (Entertainer) What exactly does it entail to be an event organizer and just how hard is it to plan these kind of events?

Firstly, listen to your Client, ensure you get a written brief, stick to the Budget, hold meetings, continuously update your Status Report and Function Sheet, trust your Suppliers and attention to detail is imperative ….

Be prepared for hard work, for unforeseen circumstances, long hours as it is no “Party” but all worth it in the end when your Customer says “Thank You” for a successful event!!!

How can people get hold of you if they wanted you to help them with their event planning?

On my mobile 082 560 9801 or via e-mail Arhlene.Engelbrecht@gmail.com I am based in Johannesburg, however, no city or town is too far away for me to travel to co-ordinate an event!

Once again ….. Just “SAY-ET” and I will do it!!

Southern Xposure tattoo convention "The Convention of Cool" The popularity of tattoos and body art has grown significantly over the past few decades, bringing it back into popular culture and transforming its negative associations of gangsterism, prison hood, nasty bikers and licentious sailors into one of aesthetic beauty, art and undeniable modern cool.

The Cape Town tattoo convention is that very bastion of an art form thousands of years old and with every buzz of its guns, gets more and more desirable. It is a place where like minded people can come together and celebrate tattoos as a way of life as well as a rite of passage.

This year, its fifth year of existence, the convention was held at the Town Hall in the Cape Town City center whose Victorian architecture formed the perfect backdrop to such an event.

Tattoo conventions nowadays are not only about having pieces done by famous international artists but also make it a lifestyle expo of sorts celebrating the retro roots of this art form. Many quirky products are sold on stands such as make up and wigs, jewellery, t-shirts, artwork and various tattoo paraphernalia. There is no corner of popular culture that this tattoo expo does not penetrate and take over. Fashion, music, accessories, art, movies, dance, it’s all adopted tattoo culture with open arms, collaborating and culminating in a spectacular three day event that sees enthusiasts marking the date in their calendars a year in advance.

For Tattoo artists it’s a great boost to their careers giving them an opportunity to meet and spend time with foreign artists, attract new clients or bring back past clients. Derek Baker from Metal Machine is one such an artist, an icon of the Cape Town Tattoo community, he also sets up shop every year and is literally booked back to back for three days solid.

Ross Turpin also South African artist and co owner of Star Crossed Tattoo Studio residing and running his studio together with Rich Phipson in Hong Kong says that he enjoys coming to conventions because it’s simply good for business. The prices of pieces do go up considerably but is justified when you consider how much hard work it takes.

“You will only find the best of the best at these things so if you are planning to get something this would be the place to do it. I also love travelling and so these conventions are great because I get to travel a lot.”

When asked why the move to Hong Kong for ex Durnabite his answer was, “It’s such a vibrant city and culture, such an exciting futuristic place and has a very cool artistic vibe that inspires us to be creative.”

This years’ convention was jam-packed with great entertainment showcasing many genres of performing arts with acts from Lady Magnolia burlesque dance studio, Rhythm Nuveau tribal belly dance, and a stellar showcasing of local bands such as rockabilly sensation Them Tornadoes, the dizzyingly brilliant Shadow Club, The Dolphins and The Pits. This year’s event also saw the exclusive sneak preview of the film documentary Tattoo Nation which highlights the talent of a group of ex criminal Latino gangster tattoo artists from LA and how they revolutionised tattoo art from dodgy backstreet practice to the cool mainstream aesthetic that it is today.

Gig Review and photographs by : Simone S Factor

Sadly tattoos are pricey and having not budgeted accordingly, I took my uninked and un-cool, but extremely inspired self home after two days of rocking entertainment, schmoozing with musos, artists and the hipster set and nursed a major sensory overload. I can assure you though, I’ve already marked next years event down in my calendar, in bold no less. This time I plan on getting a rather considerably larger piggy bank ... or two and won’t be missing out on the pain or the pleasure again.

FAN BASE music mag

@fanbasemusicmg Email address : fanbasemusicmag@gmail.com