THE LAKE #027 by THE LAKE MAGAZINE

THE LAKE

THE LAKE WE ARE FOOLISHLY Ambitious

#27/ 150619

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go...” - Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You’ll Go!

CONTENTS REGULARS:

PUBLISHER

Advertising / MARKETING

News 04 Wax Junkie 74 Print Run 76 Plimsoll 78

THE LAKE MAGAZINE PTY LTD info@thelake.co

Brett Bellairs brett@thelake.co

Editor / Art DirectOR

ONLINE EDITOR

ART:

Stefan Naude’ stefan@thelake.co

Brett Bellairs brett@thelake.co

Submissions

SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

PHOTOGRAPHY:

info@thelake.co

Stalker 10 Quack Attack 28 Aberration 40

COPY EDITING

www.thelake.co.za @the_lake_magazine

MUSIC:

COVER

Diffusion Lab 22 Kay Faith 34 Peasant 62

Photography On the cover Creative Direction Hair Lighting / Studio Retouching

Stan Kaplan Kay Faith Stefan Naude

photography

contributors

Tatenda Chidora Oliver Kruger Tyrone Goss Ross Kelly Makropoulos Stan Kaplan Justin George Leslie Jacqui van Staden Jansen van Staden

Tim Gareth Leibbrandt Crystal Birch Dan Charles Rick De La Ray Jacqueline Flint Fred Spider

Dan Halter 16 Mary Sibande 56

LIFESTYLE: Dave De Witt 50 Strong Black Lead 68 cONTENTS PHOTO Jacqui van Staden

The views and opinions expressed within the editorial and advertisements of THE LAKE do not necessarily reflect those of its staff, nor any of its associates.THE LAKE and anything contained within is copyright. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form whatsoever, copied or stored electronically without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Christine Stewart

Big Time Studios Naomi E’camara

PRINTING Tandym print Tel: +27 21 505 4200 Email: print@tandym.co.za

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NEWS VANS / era & SK8-HI Stacked Blocked Pack - As a nod to the fashion world’s ongoing obsession with both Vans and significantly exaggerated sneaker designs, the Stacked Blocked Pack elevates two time-honored silhouettes with contemporary colorways and bold, platform styling. The two styles prominently feature multiple layers of our traditional gum sole with a well-well-pronounced sawtooth outsole. The Era Stacked will be available in an immediately recognizable white/checkerboard colorway, as well as a more vibrant (confetti) fairy wren/sea green colorway www.vans.com

ROASTIN RECORDS / PEASANT LP PEASANT return to ROASTIN’ RECORDS with their most concise, hard-hitting and diverse work yet, Unrest Eternal.Thrashing punk and metallic hardcore are bashed together to create a sonic onslaught rooted in aggression, terror and despair. Solos, synths, guitars and drums rapid fire through the record, while new vocalist Adri Jordaan brings a relentless vocal performance, bringing a hint of death metal into the mix. Our world is in unrest, and unrest is eternal! This LP is cut Loud at 45RPM and is available on Limited Edition SPLATTER VINYL & Black Vinyl www.instagram.com/peasant www.roastinrecords.com

Rotation 180 Panorama There’s no need to disrupt your creative momentum by removing this backpack to access your camera equipment. No more “on again, off again” with the rotation180° Panorama. Simply pull around the integrated beltpack to rapidly access your gear. The intuitive design lets you put on the pack and forget about it, yet everything is right there when you need it. Compact and lightweight, it holds your essential photo gear, as well as a tripod, clothing, your lunch and more. www.exposuregallery.co.za

SUPERDRY / AW19 JACKETS Whatever life throws at you this Autumn / Winter, Superdry has a range of jackets to ensure you are able to thrive and be at the top of your game. Featuring a multitude of styles and complementary fits, made to look both fresh yet be functional and keep you warm, Superdry has a jacket that will make you feel #InYourElement. Whatever the weather and wherever you are this winter, live everyday. @SuperdrySA #InYourElement 04

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A MOBILE OFFICE POD Need we say more?

workandco.co.za | 7 Bree Street, Cape Town

NEWS adidas / OZWEEGO silhouette This season, adidas Originals offers a new interpretation of the lightweight and comfortable 90s cushion runner, debuting a new silhouette for today, pushed so far from its original form it has become something new entirely. Inspired by the groundbreaking OZWEEGO 3 silhouette from 1998, today’s OZWEEGO model features defined midsole lines, elements of its original eye stay panel, and radically altered 90s details that are brought together by a translucent support tube. www.adidas.co.za

PERMANANT RECORD / new releases Permanent Record has 3 new vinyl releases coming up. In partnership with Shifty Records Koos Kombuis AKA André Letoit ‘Vêr van die ou Kalahari’ released for the first time on vinyl. Dream-Noise duo Medicine Boy’s debut release ‘More Knives’ with 2 additional tracks. Shoegazing Post-Punk band Dangerfields debut full length ‘Echoes & Pulses’.

www.permanentrecord.co.za

Fujifilm / Instax Mini 70 Designed for the selfie enthusiast, the island blue instax mini 70 from Fujifilm is a sleek camera characterized by a range of features for self-portraiture and sharing your instant credit card-sized prints. The camera’s design incorporates a retractable two-element Fujinon 60mm f/12.7 lens that permits focusing as closely as 11.8” in macro mode. The optical real image viewfinder has a 0.37x magnification along with a target spot to aid with composition, and the front of the lens incorporates a small mirror to also benefit more compositions. www.exposuregallery.co.za

CROCSXWANDA Welcome to the year 2019, a time where history was made and SA Design kicks it up a notch. The ugly shoe – everyone and anyone worth their salt in the fashion world has heard this term over the recent year, but CROCS are here to say, STOP. COLLABORATE AND LISTEN. They are here with a brand-new invention. The curtains open, the lights point up and we welcome the arrival of CROCSXWANDA, a curated Capsule Collection launched in May 2019. www.crocssa.co.za/CROCSxWANDA 06

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Bringing past silhouettes in to the present adidas Originals / the Home of THE Classics For over 50 years, adidas has led the way with white leather sneakers that transcend generations, style tribes, and cultures. Celebrating the enduring visual language of the adidas Originals court legacy, the Home of Classics collection pays tribute to its unmistakable heritage, bringing together essential silhouettes, both archival and contemporary, in one collection.

Originally created for the court, the adidas Originals icons of today started their journey as sporting innovations for the future. The Superstar sneaker, as the first low-top basketball shoe to feature an all-leather upper, was later adopted as a symbol of the rebellious spirit in hip-hop culture, each shoe in the Home of Classics offering has its own unique legacy. Similarly, with three lines of ventilation to provide the athlete with the highest level of comfort in premium white leather to align with the all-white tennis rules and regulations, the Stan Smith silhouette has evolved from a sport performance tennis shoe for top athletes, to a style staple in magazines, on the runways, and in countless closets around the world. Co-opted by a number of different cultures and groups, white leather adidas sneakers have taken on a life beyond the court appearing on the feet of b-boys, skaters, and in the hands of concert goers, all the while ingraining themselves in cultural moments and adopting new cultural meaning outside of sport. From the stage to the streets, global creatives have been drawn to the brandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s white leather sneakers and have used them as a blank canvas to carry them through their experiences. The story of the Home of Classics collection is not shaped by adidas Originals but by the athletes, musicians, designers, style icons, and youth cultures that have re-interpreted the iconic silhouettes for themselves. Embracing how far people have taken, and will take, the brandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s timeless designs, the Home of Classics collection sees cultural heritage brought to the present for a new generation. The collectionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s distinct silhouettes all have direct ties to the court - Featuring the SC Premiere, AR Trainer and Supercourt.

www.adidas.co.za @adidasZA #HomeofClassics THE LAKE

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> WORDS - RICK DE LA RAY

PHOTOGRAPHY - Tatenda Chidora

STALKER Tatenda Chidora

I am a person that conceptualizes a lot of the time especially with portraiture. I am constantly looking for subjects. What drives me to capture an image is the kind of subject I would have found. I adore natural light. At any time of the day the sun works for me. As long as I connect with the subject, that creates the situation that I need.

Where are you from and how do you feel it has influenced the way you look at the world? I was born and bred in Zimbabwe. I have been residing in South Africa for just over a decade. Growing up in Zimbabwe definitely had an impact on how I see the world. I was of the young generation that went through the tough economic situations. So I understand what it means to have and not to have as well. There wasn’t that much exposure to visual art especially photographic material. There is a special signature that my country has placed inside of me and it subliminally shapes my imagery. When and how did photography become a part of your life? In 2010 I bought myself a DSLR. At that time I wasn’t aware that people could actually study photography. Growing up I used to spend a lot on magazines. I had a huge fascination with magazines. When I bought my camera I was looking to execute the kind of images that I was seeing in the magazines. I started taking images but I wasn’t happy with how it was going until a friend of mine took me to his university, which had a Photo School. When I entered the department I saw images similar to the ones I had been seeing in magazines. I was so convinced that I was in the right place. In 2012 I started my diploma in Photography.

and friends that dream are constantly showing me something beautiful around me. I love being around people and in different spaces. I draw different energy as I walk in different spaces. Coffee and travelling and exploring Africa’s roots inspire me as well. Do you feel it’s important for creatives to be open about their experiences? I definitely feel it’s important for creatives to be open about their experiences. One can read in history books how early photographers were very authentic in their work and mostly very open about their lives and experiences. In this day and age people tend to hide behind followers on social media and there is this picture that is being portrayed but not actually real. Sadly no-one really talks about how they went about losing, or winning, or any true experiences and challenges that they face. In this non-conventional industry that is mostly entrepreneurial, I think these experiences are required because you never know who you are helping through.

What inspires the subject matter in your images or do you allow it to happen spontaneously? I am still trying to figure out why I mostly photograph men. If you look closely most of my subjects are male figures in my portraiture. I easily connect with them because I am also a male and they don’t need a lot of work before photographing them. I have had a few spontaneous moments but most of the time it’s controlled. What inspires me the most is the beauty in skin. I am still exploring the richness, texture and contrasts of black skin. Do you see photography becoming a full-time thing for you in the future or how do you see yourself evolving? I am doing photography full-time. I have been earning my stripes in the industry. I was trained in commercial photography. In future I will be doing a lot of advertising photography. I would love to build my fine-art work a bit further, building up a complete body of work for exhibitions and even publications.

HIGH FIVES Sun-El Musician

Hillsong United

Gallant

Laura Mvula

Africa to the World

Wonder

Ology

The Dreaming Room

2018

2017

2016

EL World Music

Capitol CMG

Mind of a Genius

RCA Victor

Mandisi Dyantyis Somandla

2018 Not On Label

What inspires you and influences you and your work? There are a few things that inspire me daily, such as light falling on people in spaces; my community inspires me by the richness in diversity and by experiencing life every day. I look around a lot THE LAKE

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You used to be a chef. Do you still enjoy cooking and have you considered styling and shooting food as part of your photographic skills? I wasn’t a chef lol, but I was in the process of becoming a chef and had a strong passion for food. I think Photoshop took all my love for food. I enjoy cooking. I don’t get to do it as much as I would love to. I believe someone inherited the skill away from me. I have had a fair share of involvement in food shoots. I think for now I will step aside. I love still-life photography but I will focus on objects and other things, but not food. What medium do you prefer shooting in and what camera are you using at the moment? I love film. I honestly love film. I don’t get to shoot as much as I would like to. I shoot both film and digital. I am currently shooting with a Nikon D800e, a Minolta 35mm and my iPhone. What drives you to capture an image? What type of situation appeals to you? I am a person that conceptualizes a lot of the time especially with portraiture. I am constantly looking for subjects. What drives me to capture an image is the kind of subject I would have found. I adore natural light. At any time of the day the sun works for me. As long as I connect with the subject, that creates the situation that I need. What is the most uncomfortable moment you have encountered while shooting? Nothing too hectic has happened to me on set, but my most uncomfortable moment is when I have to approach someone so that I can photograph him or her. I don’t know how many people that I have let pass me by without me saying anything, but they could have been the best subjects. Whose work do you admire locally and why? I adore Ross Garrett and Travys Owen’s portraiture. I have had my eye on them from the earliest stages of my photography. Their approach to photography is one of self-articulation. There is a personal and prescribed style that they show in their work. Do you have any future projects in the pipeline that you would like to share with us? I have a few personal projects that I am working on. Let me execute them first and then I will share. @tatendachidora 14

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> WORDS - Tim Gareth Leibbrandt

PHOTOGRAPHY - OLIVER KRUGER

Material Representation Dan Halter If one were to pinpoint the defining qualities of artist Dan Halter’s practice, it would surely be the fusion of language and materiality. Zimbabwean-born Halter is particularly adept at distilling complex sociopolitical ideas through local proverbs and region-specific crafting processes, synthesizing these into unique and compelling artworks. His practice comments on the plight of migrants, national identity, economic stability, and the lingering whiplash of historical oppression. For much of his professional career, Halter’s signature material has been cheap Chinese-made plastic-weave bags. “I became aware of these bags around 2007/2008, when xenophobic tensions in South Africa were mounting against Zimbabwean and other African immigrants,” he relates. “The bag seemed like an obvious metaphor for the situation and the fact that they were woven fitted in nicely with my art practice.” What became key for Halter was that while these bags could be found all over the world, they were almost always disparagingly named after the immigrant demographics in any given region. Examples include: ‘Ghana Must Go’ bags in Nigeria, ‘Türken-Koffer’ or ‘Polen-Tasche’ in Germany, ‘Chinatown Tote’ in the US, ‘Guyanese Samsonite’ in the Caribbean, ‘Bangladeshi Bag’ in the UK, and ‘Zimbabwe Bag’ in South Africa. Using the bags to represent individual pixels, Halter famously recreated the design of the Space Invaders from the iconic Taito arcade game in locations

such as taxi ranks, creating a darkly satirical commentary on the hostile and derogatory attitudes directed at these migrant groups. Initially using brand new bags, Dan Halter began swapping these for used ones with migrant traders in markets such as Greenmarket Square in Cape Town, and Marabastad near Pretoria. These wornout bags come with their own unique, charged histories and, in Halter’s words, “carry the record of travel in their grimy patina.” It is these bags that are at front and center of the artist’s latest exhibition ‘Cross the River in a Crowd’ at WHATIFTHEWORLD in Cape Town; most notably anthropomorphized as a desperate figure attempting to drag itself to safety in the striking KuzvuvaDumbu(meaning to drag one’s stomach). The gallery’s darkened first room is metaphorically transformed into the Limpopo River in a keenly crafted immersive sculptural installation entitled Mai Mabag. The viewer is pulled into accompanying a maternal figure, carved from Black Ser-

HIGH FIVES Girl Talk

Rozalla

Milli Vanilli

Paul Simon

The KLF

Night Ripper

Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good)

All or Nothing

Graceland

The White Room

2006

1991

1988

1986

1991

Illegal Art

Epic Records

BMG

Warner Bros

KLF Communications

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left - DAN HALTER - “Mai MaBag” Used plastic weave bags and wire frames - 2019 // Image Hayden Phipps TOP RIGHT - DAN HALTER - “Cross the river in a crowd and the crocodile won’t eat you (Black)” Used plastic weave bags and wire frames - 2019 // Image Hayden Phipps Bottom right - DAN HALTER - “Cross the river in a crowd and the crocodile won’t eat you (Blue)” Used plastic weave bags and wire frames - 2019 // Image Hayden Phipps (Wire work by Kuda Kuimba. Pattern making and stitching by Sibongile Tete)

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left - DAN HALTER - “Kuzvuva Dumbu” Used plastic weave bags and wire frames - 2019 // Image Matthew Bradley (Wire work by Kuda Kuimba. Pattern making and stitching by Sibongile Tete)

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DAN HALTER - “Clothes of the Dead White Man / Where All Problems End” Bales of aid clothings - 2018 //

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left - DAN HALTER - “US$1” Hand-woven archival ink-jet printss - 2017 // Image Hayden Phipps TOP RIGHT - DAN HALTER - “Send Lawyers, Guns and Money ” Glass beads and wire - 2019 // Image Hayden Phipps Bottom right - DAN HALTER - “Forex US$1 ” Glass beads and wire - 2018 // Image Hayden Phipps

pentine stone, as she attempts to navigate these hostile, crocodile-infested waters, infant child and bagged worldly possessions in tow. Taking inspiration from a Madagascan proverb “Cross the river in a crowd and the crocodile won’t eat you” - the installation thematically deals with collective cohesion as the only way to overcome injustice and hardship. It is intended to express solidarity with the continuing struggle to survive in post-Mugabe Zimbabwe. “The current Zimbabwean president Emmerson Mnangagwa is actually known as the Crocodile,” Halter explains, “his brutal guerrilla unit in the 1960s was known as the Crocodiles, and his political followers are called the Lacostes (after the clothing company).” Another work in the exhibition, The Oppressor as a Child, Heroin as a Flower plays into the language of West and Central African colon statues. Taking inspiration from a graffiti text piece by LA street artist SEK – “as if the oppressor was never a child, as if heroin was never a flower” – the work comically depicts Cecil John Rhodes in his more innocuous days as a uniform-clad schoolboy. Sporting a decidedly mopey demeanor (the “Donald Trump pout” as Halter refers to it) young Cecil skulks in front of Footsack Empire, a Union Jack helmed from the plastic weave bags. ‘Ceciltjie’ awkwardly hides a pre-opiate poppy behind his back as if

to conceal it and profess innocence, hinting at the later adult for whom British Imperialism would be the drug of choice. In Dan Halter’s work, careful attention is always paid to the materiality and the quality of craftsmanship. Together with his studio assistant Bienco Ikete, the pair have perfected a method for hand-weaving incredibly complex paper artworks. Reaching up to 3 meters in length, they have successfully woven complete texts such as Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, and the full South African and Zimbabwean constitutions, in addition to oversized bank notes and large-scale maps. For an exhibition entitled ‘Please Call Me’ in 2018, Halter collaborated with Zimbabwean beading artist Kuda Kuimba to produce a series of beaded recreations of old-school Nokia cellphone screens. Referencing Nkosana Makate’s (the inventor of the Please Call Me text message) ongoing legal battle with Vodacom for appropriate financial compensation for his idea, the series is a succinct, humorous, and frequently poignant glimpse into the peculiar ways in which cellphone technology has shaped life in Southern Africa. Halter’s penchant for wry intertextuality is epitomized by his 2015 work V for Vendetta. Here, the Guy Fawkes-inspired mask from Alan Moore’s iconic graphic novel is reimagined as five archetypal THE LAKE

African masks from different regions of the continent. These include one in the style of a Malawi ebony mask, a beaded Cameroonian mask, a Benin bronze, an Ndebele mask, and a mask from the Ivory Coast. In one fell swoop, the work simultaneously speaks to decolonial liberation movements and the commodification and mass-production of both African masks and the V for Vendetta mask itself (appropriated by pseudo-anarchist movements such as Anonymous). For this writer at least, the outstanding Exchange from his debut solo exhibition at the João Ferreira Gallery in 2006 will probably always be Halter’s most endearing piece. The interactive installation took the form of a pool table with only the black and white balls, and then a scattered cluster of 10 000 Zimbabwean 20c coins, which at the time had an approximate monetary value of R2. The kicker was that each of these coins had the same weight and dimensions as a R2 coin, and would work in South African pool table coin slots. A standout piece of contemporary conceptualism, Exchange was an exceptionally smart fusion of themes and execution. It’s probably safe now to confess to having pinched a few of the coins at the time as souvenirs. Sorry, Dan. www.danhalter.com www.whatiftheworld.com 21

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> WORDS - RICK DE LA RAY

PHOTOGRAPHY - Tyrone Goss Ross

DIFFUSION LAB CHRIS BUBENZER

“The music industry in Ireland is going through a really exciting time at the moment. When I first arrived it was pretty much band-driven but in the last four years it has become a melting pot of new sounds. Pop, Rap, Neo Soul, RnB and lots of cool stuff...”

Where are you from and how do you feel it has influenced the work that you are doing today? I’m from Johannesburg originally. I guess growing up in Jozi was pretty diverse musically and culturally. Most of my time was spent at 206, Reallty and Places in Newtown. Skate punk by day and Drum and Bass head by night. I was part of a collective called Inishi8, promoting, producing and playing Drum and Bass, so that played a large part in shaping me. How long has the Diffusion Lab journey been now for you and how did it finally come to be the recording studio it is today? We’ve been going for about 4 years now I think. We didn’t really start with the idea to have a production and management company. It all kind of happened organically and now here we are. What were you doing before the label materialized? Working in a shit retail job..ha You have two business partners (Ivan Klucka and Marcin Ciszczon). How did you cross paths with them and what are their roles within the studio?

the day-to-day business in Diffusion Lab. Serious operator. Marcin I met through a mutual friend that I used to produce with. He’s a jack of all trades really. One of the best mixing engineers in the country, producer and a great keys player…his dad’s jokes are on point too. Are you guys strictly a recording studio or do you see yourselves becoming a record label in the near future? Nope…we are in production and artist management, and our record label (DFL Records) is where we release all our artists through.

We realised after a while that we were meeting some amazing talent and making some ok music, and that there was an opportunity to try and turn it into something. Is there a type of music that the studio specializes in or do you take in any type of artist that needs to get some recording done? We have kind of made a name for ourselves with Rap, RnB, Pop and Electric stuff, but we dont limit ourselves, if possible.

Having settled in Dublin over 13 years ago, when did you realize that there is a opportunity to start up a recording studio in Dublin?

The studio has worked with some of Ireland’s most anticipated acts. Which of them has been the most successful and has this led to a lot more interest for the studio?

The idea was never to start a recording studio to be honest. It was more of a space to meet up after work, make some music and have a beer.

We have been extremely fortunate to work with Soulé, Jafaris and Rushes. Their success to date has definitely driven lots of work our way.

HIGH FIVES De La Soul

A Tribe Called Quest

the Cinematic Orchestra

Ed Rush & Optical

Midnight Marauders

Every Day

Wormhole

1996

1993

2002

1998

1992

Tommy Boy

Jive

Ninja Tune

Virus Recordings

Capitol

Stakes Is High

Beastie Boys Check Your Head

Yes…two of the most driven, talented people I’ve ever met. Ivan I met through the drum ‘n bass scene in Dublin. He was a promoter and dj and we would meet to work on some music every now and then. Ivan is an amazing manager. He looks after three artists and takes care of THE LAKE

Soulé Soulé is the leading force in a new wave of emerging Irish music. The Dublin based electronic pop artist is here to make her mark with her bass heavy sound and soft – soulful vocals. Born in London and raised in Dublin seaside town of Balbriggan, the singer songwriter’s innate charisma, natural talent and electronic pop influenced tunes have garnered her a cool, three million streams on Spotify. Music is like an extra language in Soulé’s family, one which everyone speaks. Born Samantha Kay, her musical calling came from an early age singing with her Mother and Aunts and becoming the youngest lead singer in their local gospel choir. The close-knit community of Balbriggan allowed young Soulé to grow and eventually thrive as an artist. With the help of her local youth club Foróige, at just 16 years old, Soulé and her buddies organised a televised music festival, ‘Nitrogen’ at which well-known Irish band ‘The Coronas’ performed. A huge success, the festival promoted positive mental health for young people, a subject close to Soulé heart. (From www.souleofficial.com) @souleofficial

Jafaris Based in Dublin the singer/rapper/song writer/actor has only been doing music for about 3 years now with a healthy list of achievements to show. Dublin hip hop artist Jafaris is one of the rising talents poised to make that leap. He has also just been chosen alongside Saint Sister and Kormac for Three Ireland’s Made by Music campaign, which is creating visually arresting music videos for songs about connection. Jafaris is one of several up-and-coming artists (Soulé and Hare Squead are just two others) who have teamed up with Diffusion Lab, a Dublin based production and artist development collective focusing on Neo Soul, RnB, and hip hop. (From www.independent.ie) @jafarismusic 24

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Which of the artists you have worked with do you feel we should be on the lookout for in the future? Well I hate to keep mentioning our artists but they are all top shelf. I would definitely keep an eye out for all of them. We also work with some other artists that are not affiliated with DFL that I would recommend: Tim Chadwick, True Tides, Mnago xMathman, and Saint Sister, to name a few. What do you feel led to these artists using your studio and expertise? I guess we try to make the experience as fun as possible. Marcin and I complement each other well as a production team. We try to achieve the vision of the artist and do what we can to serve the music. How much has the music industry changed in Dublin since you first moved there and what do you think has led to this transformation? The music industry in Ireland is going through a really exciting time at the moment. When I first arrived it was pretty much band-driven but in the last four years it has become a melting pot of new sounds. Pop, Rap, Neo Soul, RnB and lots of cool stuff. How does the studio go about marketing itself or has it been a lot of word-ofmouth through the music scene? It’s all word-of-mouth. We try and let the music speak for itself. Do you still make any music of your own like in the past or do you only work on other artists’ work right now?

RUSHES Sean Walsh - otherwise known as Rushes - left Skibbereen, County Cork in search of something more. Given that Walsh sounds like he was born out of Diffusion Labs as a fully formed artist, it’s slightly hard to believe - an image of him hunched over the computer, endlessly YouTube-ing Pharrell tracks. This is someone who, recently, found one of his tracks, Wave, included in Spotify UK’s New Music Friday playlist, fitting in among mainstream heavy weights. His work with Diffusion came about after a stint studying music production in Dublin. When he felt that he wasn’t progressing to where he wanted to be, and was struggling to express himself creatively, he put his studies on hold. (From www.goldenplec.com)

I don’t get much time to work on my own stuff anymore but I’m cool with that. I love making music with and for other artists. What can we expect from the studio in the future or are there any other projects we should be on the lookout for in the future? We are always on the lookout for new artists to work with. We are currently working on a project with an artist called Sven and another artist called UNQ.

@iamrushes

www.diffusionlab.ie

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> PHOTOGRAPHY - Kelly Makropoulos

QUACK ATTACK

Make Up - Gareth Coleman @herocreativemanagement / Duck Fat Pin - Kirsten Goss @kirsten___goss Models - ZoĂŤ, Wanda and Hana @myfriendned / Concept - Hat collection - Crystal Birch www.therealcrystalbirch.com THE LAKE

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> WORDS - DAN CHARLES

PHOTOGRAPHY - STAN KAPLAN

GRAND SCHEME KAY FAITH “I understand that being this Afrikaans kid from a small town, and being female on top of that, people don’t necessarily have you in mind as this hip hopper that makes super crazy beats. So I’ve always kind of loved those little moments of scepticism because they give me a bit of a secret weapon where people are curious to hear my beats as opposed to them thinking:‘Oh, there’s just another beat-maker in the room.’”

Sometimes music journalists get it right. With the limited vocabulary at our disposal to succinctly describe sounds, the feelings derived from them and the people who make it their business to conjure them up, the job can sometimes be tricky. But every now and then someone manages to pull a sentence from the ether that just makes sense. Jon Landau did such a thing when he called Bruce Springsteen the future of rock ’n roll (well, the future as far as he could see it in 1974) and so did Angela Weickl when she defined Kay Faith as the antithesis of the hyperbolic and braggadocious culture typically associated with hip hop.

Over the years, Kay Faith (the enigmatic engineer/producer born Karien Barnard) has cemented herself as a staple in the liner notes of the South African hip hop scene. Since circumstantially enrolling in a course at Cape Audio College and finding herself behind the desk for a session with Yasiin Bey during one of her studio internships, Kay’s technical finesse has been sought after by the likes of Nasty C, Da Les, Kwesta, and a list that just keeps on extending. But it was after finding inspiration from working in the studio with production legend Tweezy and then seeing her friends knocked out of the preliminary round of VUZU’s The Hustle - a televised platform to uncover the most skilled undiscovered MCs in the country that Kay decided to start putting her name at the forefront of her work.

Town artists in the first round. And that just made this fire burn in me that made me want to do something that’s bigger and greater than what I’m currently doing and do it as a Capetonian artist so that when people go,‘This is a great artist!’ I can go, ‘And I’m from Cape Town.’” Kay has been fighting for Kaapstad hip hop ever since. But she understands that, being a white girl from Knysna operating in a historically male-dominated industry, she may seem like an unlikely candidate to commandeer such a cause. However, Kay has weaponised that unlikeliness and has put it at the forefront of her identity and the concepts of her current works. “Having that element of otherness has always put me in interesting situations so I was like, fuck it, I’m going to make a whole project titled Antithesis and play with this concept of otherness. So the EP is going to be a development and a maturation of that concept, by working with artists and putting them in spaces that you wouldn’t expect to hear them. This is

also just me kind of cementing that identity of: ‘Yeah, I know that I look different and you wouldn’t expect me to do this but I am doing this and I’m going to do it in a really big way. So stop being shocked by it.’” Antithesis, scheduled for release in early 2020, will be the follow-up to her previous EP In Good Faith, where Kay first started finding her knack for pairing artists with tracks that you wouldn’t expect to hear them on, with features such as Oh Gooch, Dope Saint Jude and one of SA hip hop’s godfathers, Ready D. “Meeting Ready D and working with him was a big moment for me. I tell people that working with him was as big a moment for me as working with Mos Def (Yasiin Bey) because I grew up checking this guy’s music and knowing that he’s like the grandmaster of South African hip hop.” Her reverence for the likes of Ready D shows that, apart from advocating her own sense of otherness, Kay is also set on championing the history and future of Cape Town’s significance in the world of South Af-

HIGH FIVES Nate Dogg & Warren G

Dr. Dre

Missy Elliott

Stormzy

Kwesta

Compton

Supa Dupa Fly

Gang Signs & Prayer

Vur Vai

1994

2015

1997

2017

2018

Death Row

Aftermath

Elektra

ADA

Sony Music

Above the Rim (REGULATE)

“I messaged this one guy to ask if it went well and he replied saying that they kicked out all of the Cape THE LAKE

At this point, Kay Faith has well surpassed the role of a humble studio engineer. At this point she’s been called in to do executive production on albums and A&R for some labels around Cape Town and South Africa as well - all while still honing her vision as one of the country’s most reputable producers. With all of this in mind, it wouldn’t be unprecedented to borrow some of the audacity of Jon Landau and say this: we have seen the future of Cape Town hip hop and her name is Kay Faith.

SOUNDCLOUD PASSING BREEZE TWO Bop Flip by Kay Faith 2019 Soundcloud

Asifunu Lala feat Phreshclique 2018 Soundcloud

Feelings and Stuff feat Zaya & Dope Saint Jude 2017 Soundcloud

Waya Waya feat Ginger Trill and OhGooch 2017 Soundcloud

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DISCOGRAPHY Kay Faith In Good Faith/ EP 2017 Soundcloud

rican hip hop. This is evident in her substantial contribution to YoungstaCPT’s latest album 3T - an album that she produced two tracks for, and contributed backing vocals to, as well as recording, mixing and mastering the entire thing. “We don’t see an album like that coming out of Cape Town every day. And I felt like, as this person who’s trying to make this change for this music scene in this city, how could I not step up and do this?”

“Meeting Ready D and working with him was a big moment for me. I tell people that working with him was as big a moment for me as working with Mos Def (Yasiin Bey) because I grew up checking this guy’s music and knowing that he’s like the grandmaster of South African hip hop.”

As well as working with the heavy hitters of the scene, Kay is also invested in developing the future of local hip hop by giving time to every demo submitted to her in order to hopefully give a bit of guidance to the next wave of greats. “My thing is like, if I can feature them on my songs and the song goes somewhere and then they become a bit more reputable, that’s cool. But I also want to give young artists the chance to go through the process of a proper production so that they learn from the experience. I learn from them and they learn from me - that collaborative energy is what I’m about. I feel like collaboration is really the thing that’s going to unlock amazing music in the future.” At this point, Kay Faith has well surpassed the role of a humble studio engineer. At this point she’s been called in to do executive production on albums and A&R for some labels around Cape Town and South Africa as well - all while still honing her vision as one of the country’s most reputable producers. With all of this in mind, it wouldn’t be unprecedented to borrow some of the audacity of Jon Landau and say this: we have seen the future of Cape Town hip hop and her name is Kay Faith. “It’s just about putting it out there in a way that makes people catch onto it and makes people realise that it’s dope and it deserves the credit that it’s due. I don’t think that Cape Town is at any kind of disadvantage at this point, I just feel like Cape Town doesn’t have the same kind of gatekeepers as Joburg right now.Ultimately, the goal is to become that gatekeeper for the city in a few years time.” www.soundcloud.com/kayfaith @kay_faith_sa

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PHOTOGRAPHY - Justin George Leslie

WORDS - Justin George Leslie

ABERRATION capture the complete attention of (someone); transfix

While researching catch light, I discovered that it’s possible to get a logo as a specular highlight in a subject’s eyes. As it was something I wanted done in camera and in the middle of the iris, I tested out different techniques and, after some trial and error, managed to get the correct size logo to work at 50mm focal length. I produced a custom light box which emitted enough light to shoot at f/4 and not too high an ISO. Using the Baseline logo, I shot some portraits of the people who I have met through my connection with Baseline and skateboarding over the years. Warwick Herholdt kept the store open after hours for me to set up and shoot and the portraits turned out great.

@justingeorgeleslie THE LAKE

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ComfyCush Era Vans Continues Focus on Comfort and Style All in One with ComfyCush Vans kicks off the season with new offerings from the ComfyCush collection, the brand’s latest product innovation that transforms one of Vans’ most iconic and classic silhouettes, the Era, with Vans’ latest consumer-driven comfort technology.

The ComfyCush Era showcases Vans’ intention to adapt to the evolving needs of consumers all while keeping comfort as the goal. TheComfyCush Era applies a one-piece constructed interior including tongue tie-downs for improved fit and feel, added arch support and a co-molded construction of foam and rubber to create the perfect combination of cushion and grip for lasting comfort. This season, Vans introduces new colorways and prints in the style, focusing on bright, classic takes on the silhouette. “We are constantly playing with new ways to incorporate the iconic checkerboard into style evolutions and this primary pallet felt like a subtle ode to the heritage of the Era,” shares Matthew Pino, Global Product Merchandising Manager. “The best thing about the ComfyCush Era is that it is truly a classic and there is no sacrifice of iconic style for added comfort.”

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The very first iteration of the Era silhouette launched in 1976 following skate legends Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta asking Vans for more function in their shoes for skateboarding. Decades later, Vans has continued to listen to creative communities to launch the ComfyCush Era as consumers began asking for more comfort, all while keeping the shoe’s iconic style. By leveraging the brand’s long history, design experience and employing in-depth consumer feedback, the ComfyCush Era perfectly merges classic styling and innovative comfort technology without sacrificing one for the other. This season, Vans highlights visual artists, Alfonso Gonzalez and Ellen Rutt, as well as musician Christopher Allan to showcase how the ComfyCush Era allows them to do what they love all day.

www.vans.com 48

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> WORDS - BELLA KLAVA

PHOTOGRAPHY Portrait - OLIVER KRUGER PHOTOGRAPHY skate - JANSEN VAN STADEN

FRUIT OF THE LOOM Dave De Witt

Dave De Witt’s objects bear residual traces of earlier times and actions. They represent a path marked by forms and footprints and of something consumed in an earlier act – that of a carefree young boy that picked up his first skateboard in 1987 and cut his teeth at the old Sanlam Center Skatepark in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. “My father skated in the 70’s in Kimberley before he went to the army. He made me my first skateboard which basically was a roller-skate sawn in half and screwed to a plank. He said if you can skate this then I’ll buy you a Skika from Game and gave me shit when I took off the tail block and nose guard.” But by 1991 the skatepark closed down and sadly he could no longer skate with friends. On turning eighteen he left home and whiled away the time surfing a few couches. He was trying to figure out what he wanted to do with his life when he managed to secure a position as a loom tuner at one of the local mills. “A friend of mine’s dad got me to try out an apprenticeship so I ended up at the mill and it was a really good experience as it taught me how to take machines apart and put them back together. As an apprentice you get to do a lot of courses which taught me skills that I am still using to this day. The hours were a bit hectic but I ended doing a solid 4 years there.” At this time the Wave House opened up in Durban and Dave decided to head down there even though it meant having to take a salary cut. It was worth it as it allowed him to skate again and be around more like-minded people. At this point he started working at the FlowRiders and became an instructor at the artificial indoor surf machines which allowed surfers to practice in a safer more controlled environment. Over time the skatepark started rotting away and he applied himself to taking it apart and fixing it up. As his father had a workshop and was a bit of a general handy man around the house he had access to tools and whatever he needed to work with.

At the same time as the FlowRider gig he also started building skateparks and bowls on the side. “I ended up in Italy doing demos. It opened up a lot of doors for me as it lead to me being an instructor on a few cruise ships. So the plan was to try and get into the States while I was working on board the cruise liners and maybe start building parks over there through the connections I made at Wave House, but unfortunately because of my visa I could only work offshore and it never materialized.”

gone... I searched for like an hour. I had those glasses for ages, they were part of my face.“

Upon returning to South Africa he had some savings. He had to weigh up his options on what he would do next. He ended up working at a Skate shop in Durban and running the skatepark. It was during this time that a little bit of misfortune followed by a series of serendipitous events resulted in something truly unique.

After some initial research he realized that there was nothing on how to make your own pair of wooden glasses online. He remembered that he had a curved piece of wood outside - an old skateboard with some nice colours on it and some graphics lying in his cut off box in his workshop.

“So I am a carpenter and handy man and I always need my shades and the one day I pulled out of my driveway and the screw fell out of my pair of wire frame Aviators and it’s in my car, behind the seat and there is no way I’m gonna find it. That thing is

A friend of his lent him a crappy pair for a while but he realized he needed his lenses back. At that time he had seen some wooden sunglasses at a local market and decided to take a closer look. So he figured - “I am a carpenter type of dude. I can maybe figure that out. It’s gonna be a mission but let’s see what happens.”

“Guys online were using Walnut and all kinds of exotic woods, cutting veneers and laminating it themselves and I did not have any tools to do that. So I was like fuck it, I got a piece of a skateboard with a curve in it that should work. So I took a drill, jigsaw and belt sander and hit the driveway.”

HIGH FIVES Jimi Hendrix

Beastie Boys

Nirvana

Wu-Tang

Metallica

The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Licensed to Ill

Nevermind

(36 Chambers)

The Black Album

1970

1986

1991

1993

1991

MCA

Def Jam

DGC

Loud

Elektra

“I was always interested in how certain joins and things were put together. So at Wave House they would get carpenters in but at the end to save costs we got asked to help fix up the ramps and to do general maintenance.” THE LAKE

DDD / SK8SHADES - Layback

DDD / SK8SHADES - 5-0

DDD / SK8SHADES - Hurricane

DDD / SK8SHADES - Thruster

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With the first pair he shaped it to roughly a Wayfarer kind of style and took the lenses from his old Aviators and sanded and grinded them down. ”I had to window putty that shit in there!” he laughs. He melted the hinges from an old pair of his mom’s plastic sunglasses and just DIY’d it all together. Dave started wearing them around and there was an immediate interest in them. He then posted a few pictures online and within three months he had already sold his first pair. A few local and international blogs picked up on it and the orders started rolling in. After that he realized that he had to start getting more quality lenses and after a long search acquired an old lens cutter. This turned out to be an essential part of his business going forward.

“I needed lighting for a show that I was doing and after the first one I realized that I needed good lighting and good display stands for it to stand out a bit more. So I started playing round with some of the offcuts. So it just kind of happened, I had an idea and it just evolved over about a week with adding more pieces and it just grew from there and ended up in a Protea shape.” In addition to focusing on new functional and formal possibilities around discarded materials and expanding their life cycles Dave has also been a prominent figure in the South African skateboarding community. His objects could be seen as byproducts of the social and environmental factors that drive our patterns of consumption within contemporary material culture.

To date Dave has produced almost two thousand pairs of sunglasses in between doing carpentry, shop fitting and skatepark building. Almost everything is used from the old boards with some of the final offcuts even going into the resin for surfboard fins.

But Dave’s craftsmanship is in stark contrast with the carelessness in which we use and dispose of everyday objects. They seem to vie against the ramifications of consumerism. In the hands of Dave De Witt the collective material memory of the skatepark is finding new pathways.

Now settled in Cape Town he has also started producing amazing lightshades made from the remaining offcuts from the old boards.

@sk8shades www.sk8shades.com

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> WORDS - Jacqueline Flint

PHOTOGRAPHY - SMAC Gallery, copyright Mary Sibande

MARY SIBANDE Angry gets shit done

“A hundred years later, you’re fucked. A hundred years after that: fucked. And all for what? For a fuckin’ purple shirt. This guy gets it, I like him: he’s gettin’ angry. Angry is good. Angry gets shit done.” – Mr. Nancy The first thing Mary Sibande ever made was a dog; a small clay dog like the ceramic dog ornaments cherished by her grandmother, who raised her in the small town of Barberton, Mpumalanga. Every day on her walk through town Sibande encountered another dog, a statue of Jock of the Bushveld outside the Barberton Town Hall. Jock was a good boy, everybody knows that. Well-liked and well-behaved, loyal to the end, which unfortunately saw him shot by his master in the middle of the night, after being mistaken for an intruding, chicken-killing kraal dog. Fast-forward a few decades and Sibande is making more dogs. A pack of vicious red dogs, in the likeness of Jock, follow the command of a powerful woman dressed in flowing purple attire in Cry Havoc, and Let Slip the Dogs of War – the title echoing a line from Sun Tzu’s tome dedicated to

combat. It’s a spine-chilling work, but less so than the history of colonial conquest that stretches back a few hundred years and still lingers today, like the stain that won’t wash out. Mr. Nancy hits the nail on the head, in his gut-wrenching speech to a group of slaves bound for America in the belly of a ship. In the press release for her new show, I came apart at the seams, Sibande refers to “the power of imagination and constructive anger in shaping identities and personal narratives in a post-colonial world.” The power of imagination is a conceptual hallmark of Sibande’s work, via the life-sized figure of Sophie, a domestic worker who dreams herself out of her blue maid’s uniform and into various positions of power and prestige – riding a rearing stallion, con-

HIGH FIVES Frantz Fanon

Credo Mutwa

Nina Simone

The Wretched of the Earth

Indaba, my children

Little Girl Blue

Mary Sibande - “In the midst of chaos, there is opportunit” - 2017

1961 Grove Press

“The Wretched of the Earth is a 1961 book by Frantz Fanon, the chapter that drew my attention to the book was concerning violence “

1963 Grove Press

“Indaba, my children by Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa. A fantastical story that is rooted in African mythology. “

1958 Bethlehem Records

“Nina Simone’s “You’ll never walk alone”, from the Little Girl Blue Album it an abstract song , It presents solitude as something beautiful. And the piano sends the listener into a melodic trance. All the elements that make a song to be beautiful are on this track, ie the melody and title.”

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Thandiswa Mazwai

Caiphus Semenya

Zabalaza

Streams Today, Rivers Tomorrow

2004 La Escondida

“Thandiswa Mazwai’s “Zabala”, it’s a lyrical meditation on the need or necessity of rebelling / resisting/protest/ revolting. Using the revolution-airs as foundation and reference. “

1984 Warner Bros

“Caiphus Semenya’s “Nomalanga” . He is lamenting on leaving his wife, children and home behind as he head to the Transvaal to become a migrant labourer.”

Mary Sibande - “I put a spell on me” - 2009

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Mary Sibande - “They Don’t Make Them Like They Used To” - 2008

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Mary Sibande - “A terrible beauty is born” - 2013

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Mary Sibande - “Silent Symphony” - 2010

ducting an orchestra or commanding her kingdom. In this early work, Sibande explores her own history, and her connection to her mother and grandmother and countless other ancestors forced into servitude by colonial and apartheid systems. These women travelled into the hearts of white suburbs, straight past the guard dogs, to scrub the floors and wipe the snotty noses of rosy-cheeked children. These women are Sibande’s superheroes, with complex identities and legacies. The next chapter of Sibande’s work, beginning around 2013, saw a shift from blue to purple. In The Purple Shall Govern, which spans a few years of Sibande’s career, Sophie begins the process of her transformation. Purple has been socially significant as a colour for clergy and royalty in Europe owing to the high cost – economic and human – of producing the dye. In South Africa, purple also gained significance in 1989 when a water cannon containing purple dye was turned on anti-apartheid protesters in the streets of Cape Town. Hundreds of people stained purple were arrested and graffiti sprung up in the city days later, asserting that “The purple shall govern” – a play on the 1955 Free-

dom Charter declaration “The people shall govern”. In this work, Sophie dives down into a shadowy realm, filled with twisted umbilical cord-like creatures. In a key bridging work, A Reversed Retrogress, Scene 1, two figures – Sophie in blue and her purple counterpart – are in the throes of a dramatic engagement. Part dance, part skirmish, the sculpture feels like capoeira, the Brazilian dance that has its roots in slavery, a dance designed to hide the fact that slaves were practicing martial arts. Sophie faces her transformation, which culminates in Sibande’s immersive VR artwork, A Crescendo of Ecstasy, which is entirely the domain of the purple figure and her attendant monsters.

work in relation to the world outside the studio. What she sees out there is a lingering anger that has never been truly expressed. For years the people oppressed under apartheid prepared themselves for a civil war that never happened. Kissing and making up did not sate the anger that had built up, and neither did the outpourings of the TRC. Suppressed for so long, it’s time for that rage to be productively engaged. For Sibande, this means vast cinematic investigations along the lines of Gregory Crewdson and Jeff Wall – surreal and dramatic, unfolding the multi-disciplinary tendencies that she has touched on in previous bodies of work.

There is a common proverb in the Nguni languages – ie ukwatile uphenduke inja ebomvu – which means “he is angry, he has turned into a red dog”. The implication is that an angry person is like an animal; in short, they aren’t in their right mind. This may be true, but what is truer, perhaps, is that anger is the spark that lights the fire of action. Rage enables boundaries. A recent break from making art gave Sibande the opportunity to reflect on her oeuvre, to weigh up her

Just like her dogs of war, the colour for this new chapter is red, the colour of blood and blood-curdling. Preliminary explorations have begun for I came apart at the seams, which is set to show at the 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair in October this year. It aims to shine a light on all the emotion that has so far been kept in the dark.

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www.smacgallery.com 61

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> WORDS - Dan Charles

PHOTOGRAPHY - jacque van staden

UPROAR Peasant

“People always like to talk about the good old days and the past to try to get to this utopian view of the world and I think that part of the theme of this record is the idea that shit’s just going to be fucked up forever - that’s being human. And I think that the music kind of celebrates that cycle of unrest.”

There’s a quote from a lecture given by JeanPaul Sartre in 1946 entitled “Existentialism is a Humanism” - a lecture given in defence of the concept of existentialism against a series of critiques given against it - wherein he states “we are reproached for having underlined all that is ignominious in the human situation, for depicting what is mean, sordid or base, to the neglect of certain things that possess charm and beauty and belong to the brighter side of human nature: for example… we forget how an infant smiles.” And indeed, Sartre and his ilk can be guilty of such morbidity. More blatantly, so can Cape Town-based hardcore vanguards, Peasant. But, in both cases, that’s only half the story. To keep a successful and relevant band alive within the ever-fluctuating South African alternative music scene - particularly within the marginalised world of metal and hardcore - is a commendable feat. It’s something that requires an incomprehensible amount of hard work, sacrifice and sheer optimism that can easily waver. But, since 2014, guitarist and chief songwriter Pieter Jordaan has seen his band through 4 EPs, several lineup changes and countless live shows across the country - including support slots for international heavyweights such as Godmother, Magrudergrind and Slander. Now - after taking a break to refocus on writing material with new members Adri Jordaan (vocals) and Immanuel Bester (guitar) joining Keagan Van Rooyen (bass), Graham Pitout (drums) and Pieter - Peasant have reemerged with a 9-track album containing some of their most meticulous and mature work to date.

ing with ominous-sounding synth intros that beckon the narrative of an almost prophetic sense of doom within the record. The tracks are longer than the blistering minute-and-a-half barrages that are expected of a classic hardcore Peasant song but this only serves to mark a more considered era of the band’s sound.

“I think it sounds a lot like everything that we’ve done before but it sounds a bit more fully-realised. We’ve been doing this for a long time so we’re not second-guessing too much when we’re doing it. I didn’t think too hard about writing the songs this time so they came out more naturally - and my natural style is actually slower and a bit groovier. But I still love writing fast shit.”

Apart from Peasant’s own personal growth, the maturation of this sound is also owed to the band pursuing a more well-rounded production style with the assistance of Matthew Dickinson and James Pereira at Mt. Wave Studios, which allowed a more experimental air to the process. “With heavier stuff, I think that a lot of people - especially in a recording environment - have their way of doing things. Like, they think that heavy music should sound a certain way. But James - who has recorded tons of stuff like jazz and pop - was just like ‘let’s get a tone and fuck around.’” The progression of Peasant’s sound and their approach to production is testament to the band’s driving ambition that has been key to their endurance and, arguably, what has set them apart from their contemporaries within the local hardcore community that have dissolved over the years due

HIGH FIVES Sepultura

Harm’s Way

ILL NATURED

the Offspring

Thy Art Is Murder

Chaos A.D.

Posthuman

Depths Of Despair

Conspiracy of One

Holy War

1993

2018

2015

2000

2015

Roadrunner

Metal Blade

Bandcamp

Columbia

Nuclear Blast

Unrest Eternal is an audible onslaught that gushes with Peasant’s signature blend of thrashing punk and metal-tinged hardcore, as well as experimentTHE LAKE

“With heavier stuff, I think that a lot of people - especially in a recording environment - have their way of doing things. Like, they think that heavy music should sound a certain way. But James - who has recorded tons of stuff like jazz and pop - was just like ‘let’s get a tone and fuck around.’

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“I think milestones are important,” says Pieter. “Like, we always wanted to put out an EP and we always wanted to tour and we always wanted to put out a music video - if you’re in a band, it’s expected that you do that shit. If you want to do it, you’ve got to make time for it.”

to the fatigue that easily comes with trying to operate within a marginalised music scene. “Because Piet writes all of the shit and does all of the art, he’s got a strong vision for everything and a lot of bands don’t have that vision,” says Keagan. “I’m not saying that they don’t have the talent or the fucking drive or the capacity to do whatever they want to do but maybe they lack that sort of vision. Piet has a very solid idea of what he wants this band to be and where he wants it to go and, when you know that, it’s a lot easier to make it happen.” “I think milestones are important,” says Pieter. “Like, we always wanted to put out an EP and we always wanted to tour and we always wanted to put out a music video - if you’re in a band, it’s expected that you do that shit. If you want to do it, you’ve got to make time for it.” All of that time and vision has ultimately culminated into this phase of Peasant’s career: a new record out, music videos being released and a debut European tour that they’re about to embark on. Despite the bleak outlook of the future portrayed within Unrest Eternal, the band has taken it upon themselves to ensure their own sense of fulfilment is reached in this often dismal existence and maybe even ensure that those who go to the shows reach theirs.

DISCOGRAPHY PEASANT Unrest Eternal 2019 Roastin’ Records

PEASANT IV: Peak Fear 2017 Bandcamp

PEASANT III: No Love 2016 Bandcamp

PEASANT Circles

“It’s almost like you have this duty to do this shit if you can do it,” says Immanuel. “Because, especially in the hardcore and metal communities, people really get a sense of release and a bit of help from it when they can relate to people dealing with similar issues like depression, anxiety or whatever they’re dealing with in their lives and homes. And when you start to realise that this shit has purpose, that keeps you going.”

2015

www.facebook.com/peasant www.instagram.com/peasant www.roastinrecords.com

Roastin’ Records

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Bandcamp

PEASANT Dead Hand 2014

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Strong Black Lead illustrators share their views on the latest Strong Black Lead content on Netflix If you regularly flex your streaming muscle, you’ll know that Netflix is home to tons of great black content. Moreso, the platform brings the Strong Black Lead movement to life, both on and behind the screen.

Point in case are three recent releases: When They See Us, a four-part limited series from director Ava DuVernay that explores the criminal justice system through the true story of the Central Park Five; She’s Gotta Have It, a comedy-drama series created by Spike Lee following artist Nola Darling’s romantic life in gentrified Brooklyn; and Good Girls, a crime comedy-drama series, now in its second season, about three suburban moms who orchestrate a local grocery store heist to escape financial ruin.” Netflix South Africa partnered with three creatives from our shores, Karabo Poppy Moletsane, Delmaine Donson and Sinomonde Ngwane, to illustrate what these shows mean to them. Through their creations, the local artists further highlighted the importance of being a Strong Black Lead - shedding light on the trials and tribulations of the strong, black South African female while at the same time highlighting the important work of the black creatives who brought us stories of inclusion and representation on Netflix. These brilliant South African illustrators - our very own pioneers, who are speaking truth to the status quo, were shot by the Concept 254 team (who also shot for Global Citizen), sharing thought-provoking insights about being a Strong Black Lead as well as the hardships that women in South Africa face. THE LAKE

“It means being able to pioneer and make things that are seen as unconventional the new normal.” She added that for her the term means “to achieve excellence, despite the push back and obstacles we as black people may encounter”. Karabo Poppy Moletsane

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“Strong Black Lead, to me, means someone who can inspire change, someone who is strong enough to take the first step to create change and someone who is able to influence the minds of others while giving them a different perspective”. Delmaine Donson

“I am a Strong Black Lead” The creatives explained how the shows they illustrated for resonated with them, with Delmaine saying that Nola Darling, of She’s Gotta Have It, is her own person who is bold, who makes her own rules and doesn’t live under the laws of patriarchy. Delmaine thinks of herself in the same way. Karabo, who illustrated for When They See Us, said that after 30 years we would think that progress made would be more substantial, however, she called out that we aren’t seeing a regression in progress, but rather a lack of moving forward. This resonated deeply with her in that she recognised that this lack of moving forward isn’t a third-world problem, but rather a global black problem.

“A Strong Black Lead is someone who is not afraid to challenge the status quo, someone who is strong, takes control of their life and is a great leader in their field.” Sinomonde Ngwane Sinomonde said that Ruby, from Good Girls, resonated with her in that she entered a male-dominated industry and took on a role that is redefining, challenging and dominating, which inspired Sinomonde to have a little more Ruby in her.

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WORDS - FRED SPIDER

PHOTOGRAPHY - OLIVER KRUGER

WAX JUNKIE FRED SPIDER / voom voom Records & Vintage Originally from Lyon (France), living in Cape Town since 2009, Fred “Spider” is the owner of VoomVoom Records & Vintage Shop in Observatory. DJ, musician and music producer since 1984, he has played all around the world in over 40 countries with some of the most famous DJs such as Gilles Peterson, Mr. Scruff, Jazzanova, Daft Punk, Massive Attack and Dimitri from Paris. Kumasi I know you feel it Kongas - 1983 / Smiling C - 2019

GyeduBlay Ambolley Ambolley WEA - 1982 / Mr Bongo - 2019

An amazing South African record, somewhere between funk and soul with a touch of jazz. We can tell it’s a really wanted one! Very rare. I also contributed to this reissue/compilation with the label Smiling C. As they couldn’t find the original, I sent my copy to Australia for the mastering. All tracks are good! A killer record with the notorious local singer Paul Ndlovu (Street Kids) and the famous Ray Phiri (The Cannibals, Stimela, Street Kids), who passed away in July 2017. I also have some copies for sale at the shop.

Originally from Ghana, he was part of the fantastic band Osibisa. This is a very rare album which has recently been reissued by Mr Bongo. I’m happy to say I contributed to this reissue as we are the only couple of guys having the original. I sent my copy to London for the mastering. It’s an Afro-funk/Highlife record with an amazing break and percussions on Side B. It has just come out now in June. I have some copies for sale at my shop VoomVoom :)

Soul Spectrum Various Compiled by Dr. Bob Jones & Ked Darge 1998 / BBE

The Jivers Do what 2011 / Jazz & Milk

In 1980, a friend came back from London with a tape, Best Mod Classics. It was an instant revelation. For the first time in my life I was listening to some Motown, Chess or Stax...I couldn’t believe it! That’s exactly what I was looking for. What music! What class! Rhythm ‘n’ Blues, Blues, Soul and Northern Soul. Those beats and voices... since then I have been addicted! This music was very popular in the UK in the late 70s and 80s and also with the huge worldwide Mod revival in 1979. Then I became a Mod in 1980 and very soon I started to travel all over Europe to go to some Mod runs and parties; I was already music addicted. I remember going to some Northern Soul all-nighters at the 100 Club in London, from 8pm to 8am. It was amazing.

This was my last production on vinyl. I met the French music producer Don Pascal and the great Norwegian singer Anqui when I was living in Barcelona. We recorded this 12” in 2009, let’s say it’s a “Nu-Jazz” track, a real floor-filler. Unfortunately we haven’t been able to do many more tracks but we have been filming a video between Cape Town and Barcelona and it was quite fun. Please check on Youtube, over 38000 hits, it’s not too bad. You will certainly recognize Sea Point or Greenmarket Square, and the wonderful Gaudi’s architecture from Spain. This maxi contains a couple of nice remixes (one from DJ Moodz aka The Reflex) and another track called “Move on girl”. I made the Cape Town Bossa remix in my room.

John Coltrane A love supreme 1965 / Impulse

Serge Gainsbourg Histoire de Melody Nelson 1971 / Philips

A masterpiece, a ‘must have’ in a jazz collection. I’m a big Coltrane fan with almost 50 albums in my collection. At this time Coltrane had one of the best jazz bands ever, with Elvin Jones, Jimmy Garrison and McCoy Tyner. Those guys were so creative, always trying to find a new way to play jazz, far away from any commercial formats or trends, not like Miles Davis who wanted to be a star. Coltrane never wanted to become a star, he just wanted to play his own music.The track “A love supreme” is so pure, for so long I dreamed about having the first US press, to be closer to the reality, closer to the moment this genius music was recorded, closer to the source. I’m not usually like that but for this record it was different and what is unbelievable, I found the original in South Africa!

Of course I had to list a French record and not just any record! I’m talking of the best French poet we ever had, namely Serge Gainsbourg. A genius who played with the French language as no one else ever did. It’s a concept album where Serge is telling a story, the kind of album you have to listen to from A to Z, otherwise there is no meaning. Recorded between London and Paris, it features a heavy bass line and drum, and has influenced artists like Portishead, Tricky, Beck, Pulp and Air. The sexy Melody Nelson, aka Jane Birkin (she was one of his wives), is on the cover.This record has been sampled by several producers - Tribe Called Quest and Massive Attack, to name a couple.

PRINT RUN REVIEWS - XAVIER NAGEL

LAG-LAG2 Anton Kannemeyer en Conrad Botes van Bitterkomix het onlangs LAG-LAG2 (R150) gepubliseer in ‘n beperkte oplaag van 150 eksemplare. Die eerste Lag-Lag het in 1996 verskyn. Slegs vir volwassenes dit sluit werk van so vroeg as 1995. Langs ‘n tekening van ‘n Voortrekker wat salueer staan “Hou fokken koers Boetman – Dis weer tyd vir ‘n groot trek” en op die volgende bladsy loop Jesus op die water en ‘n man wat besig is om te verdrink roep: “Lord! I’m drowning!” Waarop Jesus antwoord: “Nice to meet, you, drowning!” Dus geen heilige koeie word gespaar nie inteendeel hulle word geslag en gespitbraai! (R150)

SUPPLIED BY - BIBLIOPHILIA

Last Days of Beautiful

Machines Like Me

Between Rock & a Hard Place

The Buckfever Underground’s Last Days of Beautiful by Toast Coetzer is a companion piece to the double album of the same name that was recently released. Alice Inggs handled the design and layout and took some of the photographs. Coetzer’s day job as senior writer at Go! and Weg gives him the opportunity to travel the back roads of South Africa, ample inspiration that filters through his lyrics. the last days of beautiful / have galloped from far away / and now rest by the valley’s rim / lungs quietly working life / back into stretched limbs / to watch as we lock the door / on our most precious things / one last time (R125)

Machines Like Me takes place in an alternative 1980s London. Charlie, drifting through life and dodging full-time employment, is in love with Miranda, a bright student who lives with a terrible secret. When Charlie comes into money, he buys Adam, one of the first synthetic humans and—with Miranda’s help—he designs Adam’s personality. The near-perfect human that emerges is beautiful, strong, and clever. It isn’t long before a love triangle soon forms, and these three beings confront a profound moral dilemma. Ian McEwan asks whether a machine can understand the human heart—or whether we are the ones who lack understanding. (R290)

The ‘80s in South Africa was a schmangled clusterfuck of a decade. Resistance against the apartheid government was mounting while violence swamped the beleaguered land. Change was undeniably in the air. Veering between lucid moments of desperate innovation and psychotic adventures on the rim of sanity, all the time riding roughshod at delirious speeds over the potholes of ‘culture’, Carsten Rasch’s Between Rock & a Hard Place introduces half-forgotten heroes, now fast disappearing into the fog of time, and the band of misfits who attempted to disrupt the system.. (R240)

Prufrock

Acts of Transgression

After six years and 15 issues the latest edition of Prufrock will be the last one. Between the striking collaged covers (of current and previous contributors, friends and booksellers) is the usual mix of short stories and poems. Andre Sales shares his “never-fails dinner party menu”, Phil Kramer “finish things off and put a neat little bow on it all” with the midcentury cocktail The Grasshopper. There’s also The Death of the One is the Life of the Other - graphic fiction from Su Opperman. As editor Helen Sullivan writes in her final editorial: “We hope that you will miss reading Prufrock too – maybe even enough to start your own literary magazine.”(R60)

In Acts of Transgression: Contemporary live art in South Africa the experimental, interdisciplinary and radically transgressive field is explored. Probing live art’s intersection with crisis and socio-political turbulence, shifting notions of identity and belonging, embodied trauma and loss, questions of archive, memory and the troubling of colonial systems of knowing, as well as interrogation of narratives of the past and visions for the future. Analysing the work of more than 25 contemporary South African artists and accompanied by a striking visual record of more than 50 photo-graphs, represent the first major critical study of contemporary live art in South Africa. (R480)

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