Monday 22 April 2024

MatraK AttaKK South African Tour And Interview

Poster art by Angry Little Crayon

Crustcore and anarchist band MatraK AttakK are headed to South Africa this year with performances in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Soweto, and Cape Town. In line with their sound, their lyrics express extreme rage towards the many injustices in the world - from feminism and  human rights to femicide, anti-fascism, decolonisation, and other deeply political and social themes. With lyrics like “histories of annihilation, coercion and abuse, are just a mirror of what governments told men about women's rights” in the song “No One Step Back” and “non c'e' fine alla sottomissione della donna e sangue odio umiliazione e 'peccati' che portano violenza!” (there is no end to the subjugation of women and blood hate humiliation and 'sins' that bring violence!) in “E Poi Sei Tu La Stronza”, the European based band consists of a fearless group of members that hold no reservation when expressing their anarchist views.

I’ve had the pleasure of putting together a few questions for the band members in hopes that through their answers, we can get a small view into the mind(s) of MatraK AttakK.

Punk is more than just a music genre, it’s a movement. What does punk mean to you?

Cristina: A tough one to start, :)

Each punk has probably a different definition of what punk means. For us, it's something that is linked with how we see the world, being aware of all the injustices, trying to do something to change this, or at least ourselves.

To us it's even more than a movement, it's a lifestyle, it's difficult to put this in words as it's who we are. Every aspect of our lives could be considered as "punk" and we don't even think about it.

Who did the art for the “Herstory Untold” cover?

Cristina: This drawing is supposed to show the symptom of hysterical contraction according to the studies of Charcot, in the 19th century in the Salpêtrière, the hospital made to clean the streets of Paris. Where the alienated and the outcast were locked up and where the first studies about Hysteria were made.

Where did you guys meet and how did the band start?

Cristina: Depends who with whom! :)

The band is 9 years old but only me ( Cristina ) is there since the beginning. I met Py in 2017 in Belgium in another city where I decided to reform the band, when I asked him to join us at the bass. After he went to the guitar and then the drums. Depending of who was going away eheh. Not a lot of people can commit with a band playing this much!

We met Migou, that was bass player at the time in France when we were living with our ex guitar player. Last year he switched to guitar as our 4 years service guitarist left us :)

We met Roman in Tournai, Belgium long time ago and he asked me a lot about the lyrics and the band after our gig. He seemed really interested. We saw him at shows from time to time, but we met him back at a show in Britanny, France after Migou asked him to join us at the bass last year.

Can you describe your creative process? From writing the songs to recording them.

Cristina: Writing songs takes really long now, cause we don't want to do songs that look like each other and we start to have a age!

As now we don't live together we need to work more home and practice one or 2 days before touring! 

Mostly one of us has a riff, makes the rest listen, then we decide if we keep it or change it.

After, we need to put breaks and bridges and we do this together changing a lot of stuff.

About the lyrics, I like the Saxon way of making lyrics: I just sing no words or almost no words just to fit the melody.

Then I sit and listen : the words appear with the sound of the words and the full text is there. Mostly coming from one word I fantasise during the practice.

Are the issues addressed in your music things you are going through? Real life experiences?

Cristina: The lyrics are mainly political, but of course nothing can be perfectly cleaned of own life experience and life! I hate talking about personal problems and sadness, it makes it so teenager-ish. I prefer to write about what goes on in the world. Of course with the point of view of me born where I am born with the life I had and with the background of the places where I lived and the lifestyle I had! You cannot totally erase the personal from what you write. That's why feminist lyrics come out so easily :) it's something that I cultivate since I was a child.

A lot of “Herstory Untold” focusses on feminism and feminist issues like abortion, femicide, and living in a patriarchal society. In the first song, Riappropriamoci, when translated by DeepLtranslator, a part of the song says “reinventing and destroying herself by rebuilding on the symptom, frustrations and traumas, paranoia, anxieties, sublimated in the sea of home forwarded flaming words on a silver platter, unheard by many and seized by few'' (I hope it’s been translated correctly). In your view, has society reached a point where women have full autonomy over their bodies or do you feel that it appears to be that way, but isn't?

Cristina: The translation is almost correct, as you got what it says!

No we don't feel autonomy over our bodies enough, but we are trying!

But it's true that society and politicians make it looks like we reached autonomy, and it's even worse, because it makes us appears hysterical, angry, like "you got what you wanted, you're too extremist".

That's like a hymn to feel autonomy and to be what we want to be despise what society tells us about what it means to be a woman in the place where you live.

Taking back as own all words used by sexists to make us feel bad, while those words could be ours. And be our richness, our powers, our strength to survive patriarchy.

In the song “Herstory Untold” you sing “How many of us, preaching equality and freedom, go out of our way to help people far away, but behave badly with those around us.” How do you feel social justice issues should be approached in a world with so much inequality? Many say we should focus on what’s in front of us, while others say we should tackle larger issues first. For example saying people in Africa should focus on African related social justice issues and people nearest to Palestine focus on Palestine. Do you think there is a way to manage both without overstretching yourself?

Cristina: I think we should all stretch ourselves a bit more..I mean, with those words I mean people making huge benefit for wherever and whatever, feeling great to help people they don't know because they do believe in their issue ex : Rojava, Palestina, Yemen 

But then they ignore the problem of their sister, their dog, their family or close friends, covering their eyes with a veil not wanting to know that people need love and attention.

It's not easy to try to help or at least care about worldwide issues, as there are so many problems that you can't really get Into all of them and often just know the surface of these issues and with your point of view, defending where you live. But just focusing on your own issues could make us become selfish, self centered in a way, and could bring this racism, "my people, my country"

In that same song, you say “Chased through the centuries you haven't finished telling your story” How did you discover that music is how you want to tell your story? Did you have any musicians or musical influences in your life while growing up?

Cristina: Well this song concerns all women, trans, and not binary people whose point of view was never included in history books nor in the mainstream pop culture. Everything children use to learn on school has been written with the point of view of a hetero cis man.

But of course you got me, my story is inside all my lyrics, fragment by fragment in years of lyrics even with different bands!

I grew up mainly with metal, starting only around 18yo to go deeper into punk/HC crust and grind, just cause it seemed more open to women and the lyrics where way more interesting.

My favourite singers all time are Wendy o Williams and Dawn Crosby. 

In a previous album, “What the Fuck is Under the Spotlight?” You have a song that mentions capitalism and psychiatry. Do you think capitalism has a direct link to our mental state and psychological disposition as people living in the 21st century?

Cristina: Sure it does. Capitalism is so inside us that we are getting sick of it. They should cut all the disorders of the DSM and make a only section capitalist mood disorder to talk about mankind.

We cannot stop thinking about consuming, we cannot stop thinking about competing, we cannot stop thinking about collecting, we cannot stop thinking about the fear of loosing our privileges.... And so on.

Fascism around the world is on the rise again. Do you think fascism has a direct link to capitalism and the patriarchy?

Cristina: Fascism, Patriarchy and Capitalism is a nice trio. They go hand in hand and of course they are related, but they are 3 entities apart.

Mostly conservative minds are into all 3 of them. Fascism and Patriarchy are even more strictly correlated than Patriarchy and Capitalism, this last one, became so huge that fakes artistically to embrace LGBTQI+ values, so that more people, even minorities, can work their asses off for them, so that minorities think they have been accepted by societies and keep on serving capitalism getting the illusion of acceptance…

And Fascism and Capitalism are holding hands, Colonialism is the expression of Racism, and we know that the main reason of invading other countries is to steal and exploit resources. It's all linked.

What would you say your political influences are? What introduced you to politics, feminism, and anarchical thought systems?
Are there people whose work also broadens your political views and shapes your writing?

Cristina: The first feminist books I read were for children. I come from a one -never-married-woman family with one grandmother and one aunt only.

I grew up with 60s and 70s white European feminism as I grew up in Italy and my mom was interested in this when she was young. I knew that in Italy we were reaching goals of equality just before I was born and as I was going to kindergarten and school, as the end of "the crime of Honor" was banned in 1981 what means that it's wasn't legal anymore to kill a woman because she commits adultery, and law pursuits against rapist were reinforced only in 1998... 

So I grew up that feminism was normal, needed and legit, and who though differently was sick and not my friend.

Some authors I was familiar to in my tender years were Dacia Maraini, Virginia Wolf, Simone de Beauvoir . Later on I discovered Angela Davis, Emma Goldman and feminist fanzines of authors worldwide, that I was consulting on the internet.

When I was 15 I was a lot into anarchy and trying to get the academic differentiations, failing to understand some of them, I just realised that there's no anarchy without feminism. 

Later on, And I started to read about  the Stonewall revolts and discovering trans and non cis women authors  loving immediately authors like Julia Serrano and Leslie Feinberg.

Of course all I read made who I am and how I write, but especially the fact of knowing what is sexism and misogyny on my own skin.

What do you say to people who say they are uninterested in politics? Who says it has nothing to do with them?

Cristina: Actually nothing. They do what they want. I mind my own business :P
It's too exhausting to talk with these people, they're too selfish and blind.

Of course politics has an impact on everybody's life, but a lot of people prefer to ignore it and live in a hypocrite world trying to reach a hypothetical happiness.

Who are your favourite artists in Europe right now?

Cristina: We're four individuals with different tastes and interests, so the list would be too long. From listening to music every day, to read a lot of books, fanzines, watching movies, architectures, paintings, …

Social justice and human rights issues are prominent in South Africa. In coming here, do you hope your lyrics/music will connect with South Africans and the issues we face as a country? From being the rape capital of the world to the extremely high femicide and gender based violence statistics.

Cristina: I just hope I'll meet people that have to tell me their story about what goes on in South Africa and how they feel living there and how and if they experience all those things you mentioned, but I am sure I'll reach some people also if they didn't read my lyrics. 

Feminism is wide and not only from a country. We need to share our stories to grow stronger.

What are you looking forward to when you come to South Africa?

Cristina: To meet you all, and you that made such a good interview!

Of course we want to know everything about being born and living there and see your beautiful and also less beautiful places . Just sharing with the local alternative scene and discover what we don't know yet even if we'll just see a really small part of South Africa.

Article and interview by: Moon Mokgoro


24 May - Armchair (CT)

Friday 3 December 2021

Waxed Scene Mixtape: A South African Food Relief Fundraiser by We Did This Records

This mixtape was made in support for Food Not Bombs Jozi, and Locked Out! who will split the proceeds equally.

These food relief programs operate in Johannesburg and provide much needed support for people in dire situations, all made worse through the pandemic and recent unrest.

We deeply thank each artist who contributed material for this project.

And thank you for donating to this initiative, or sharing it online!

Food Not Bombs Jozi operates in Durban Deep- a region cut off from water and electricity for more than 10 years. We prepare delicious healthy meals for the community every Saturday, and conduct mobile runs to the homeless, and suffering communities. We try to answer the call for aid and solidarity where we can, but we need supplies, brave and committed volunteers, and spare cash for petrol and vehicle maintenance in order to keep this operation going. - www.facebook.com/groups/foodnotbombs.jozi

Locked Out began during the Covid19 lockdown to assist the homeless facing both police brutality and starvation. We are committed to providing food to these vulnerable individuals, to tell their stories, and to inspire you to do the same. - www.facebook.com/lockedoutjhb/

Cover illustrations by Sandy Little

Featuring:

Shameless Band SA / FUZIGISH / haunts / Her Stems Spiral / The Dumpies / Julia Robert / Seru / Hated Related / Monday Morning Justice / Guilty Survivor / THEE SMØGS / Fake-bit PoZeurs / Laserchrist / All These Wasted Nuts / Omen Harm / Doom Scroll / Virtual Bird / Contort / Make-Overs / Apostles / Soundz of the South / Aragorn23 / SNOWFLAKE / Return to Worm Mountain / Jon Shaban / Da Beach Boyz / Write Off / Brickface / The Lebowski / Ugly Boyfriend / Gassfella / Vampire Slumber Party / Wolfgang Marrow / A Reptile Dysfunction / Matt Vend and the Tender Ten / 2 Cardigans & Bowtie / The Loose Ends / Colour Bone Black / Crumbs / isadora​:​dustmite

This mixtape features mostly local artists, but with significant support and solidarity from abroad!

Saturday 14 August 2021

Some Pandemic Synth-Punk from Johannesburg: Stuck by Fake-bit PoZeurs


In the not so distant future of the year 2021, the Blade Runner landscape fades into fiction while the fear of destruction at the hands of our corporate overlords is solidified into reality by the IPCC Global Warming Report. A pandemic rages into its second year with no sign of stopping. A pandemic that has killed countless people, ripped away livelihoods, devastated arts an culture, fragmented communities, while aiding the rich and powerful in their monopoly game for control.

Insignificant to all of this, somewhere in Johannesburg, stuck in a small room, someone makes a retro synth inspired punk rock album.

Stuck by Fake-bit PoZeurs releases August 20, 2021
A full album preview is below:
"Music from the loser corner of the Myspace disco party"


Monday 8 February 2021

Her Stems Spiral - HALLUCINATION CHRISTMAS (LP) & Lights Drip II (EP)


"Her Stems Spiral is an experimental solo project created by Johannesburg/Cape Town-based non-binary musician and composer Shannon Lawlor (they/them) to escape conventional songwriting and structure. Obsessed and hellbent on blending together genres and sounds akin to post-rock, math-rock, shoegaze, ambient, mathcore and abstract influence- Her Stems Spiral embraces change and contrast with each output."

The past few months have been a very productive release period for Shannon. While enduring hard times, change, and lost recordings they have still managed two solo releases, under their moniker Her Stems Spiral, in quick succession. After years of patience we now have the new Hallucination Christmas LP and Lights Drip II EP. Both new releases are very ghostly. The LP is suffused with haunting vocals while the EP envelops the listener in a trio of angular and atmospheric instrumental tracks.

by Her Stems Spiral (released October 31, 2020)


"Appropriately released on the eve of Halloween, 'HALLUCINATION CHRISTMAS' is the debut full length LP by South African experimental post-rock artist Her Stems Spiral. Compiled and recorded over a 3 year period, the album was initially shelved for quite some time due to a devastating harddrive failure containing all tracks, stems and demos, with the addition of various lost tracks never to be recovered. Luckily, after the resurrection of thirteen unfinished demo tracks, 'HALLUCINATION CHRISTMAS' finally gets to see the light of day. Unavoidably heading towards a lo-fi aesthetic; this could arguably be considered some of Her Stems Spiral's most reflective work to date; blending together post-rock, math-rock, electronica, shoegaze, metal, glitch, noise and a plethora of experimental jargon.

Due to the unavailability of the original album files, unfortunately there was no room for final mix, monitoring, extensive editing, mastering and most importantly - vocal retakes. This vulnerable and undeniably raw body of work encompasses the turmoil and frustration surrounding the "what could have beens" - alas, it is what it is, and that's alright.

They say that the closing of one door leads to the keys of many, and that will certainly show in future as evolution inevitably takes hold."

by Her Stems Spiral (released January 25, 2021)


"Following off from 2014's first entry into the realm of Her Stems Spiral's gleaming 'Lights Drip' EP series, the second installment is in no way a departure of the intended sound, but is most definitely an ambitious delve into the forays of progression. Flowing with crushing post-rock, wall-of-sound shoegaze sections and of course, jittery math-rock flares - 'Lights Drip II' also manages to breathe new.. well, light (for lack of a better term) into the series as a whole. Now weaving between swirling synth melodies, unnerving metal and noisy nods proceeding 2020's experimental-whirlwind of a debut LP, "HALLUCINATION CHRISTMAS", at this point it's always kinda uncertain where Her Stems Spiral will go next - but we only can assume things can get weirder."

Sunday 9 August 2020

South African DIY Punk Rock Touring with We Did This Records and The Dumpies in RaZorcake #117 / Covid-19 Lockdown and Folk Punk Tour Meltdowns in South Africa with Brett Newski and Jon Shaban

Kevin Dunn [author of Global Punk] interviews The Dumpies and Sacia [drummer of The Dumpies] interviews WDTR in RaZorcake #117 [a prolific non-profit DIY punk zine]. The article photos are from The Dumpies South African tour. Top: The Dumpies at Zoolake Bowls, Johannesburg by Christelle Duvenage. Bottom: Shaun & Conley representing We Did This Records and performing as All These Wasted Nuts [folk punk] at Pool City, PE by Pitts Holli.

We Did This Records had the amazing opportunity to be included in an article for the new issue of RaZorcake magazine. RaZorcake is a total institution in D.I.Y punk. This was all thanks to The Dumpies, a punk rock band from Texas. The article as a whole is Kevin Dunn, the author of Global Punk, interviewing The Dumpies (Joel, Mark, and Tim... minus Sacia, because she was busy working in the ER) about their various back water tours, and then Sacia, asking us some questions. Below you can read an excerpt from the article, followed by a podcast chat between Cape Town folk punk musician Jon Shaban and Brett Newski from Milwaukee.

Kevin: That's hilarious. You mentioned South Africa, which you guys just got back from a couple of weeks ago. How was that different from the rest of the tours?
Mark: It was racially the most intense place I've ever been because Apartheid only ended in 1994. You could pretty much feel it everywhere we went. They always say, "It's touchy." Before I went, I was like, "You just don't want to talk about it. That's your cop-out." After I went there and we went to the Apartheid Museum, we talked to so many people at length about it. I was like, "Wow, this is touchy, Holy shit."
Tim: That's why Shaun and Conley were great. They're very cognizant of that. They will point that out, even little things you'd see on the street. They would connect things, showing us where apartheid is still continuing, but it's more of a financial racism now. It was definitely something which seemed much more prominent than in all the other countries.
Joel: I'm still trying to wrap my head around why it felt so drastically different. Tim was talking about income inequality. It's not that dissimilar to what the situation is here, but there is a different flavor. There's something different about the situation there. It was a really intense learning experience being there.
Tim: In America, we got this picture of, "Apartheid's gone. Everything's great. Everybody loves each other. We're past that." You go there and it's still raw, and it's still very much a part of the country.

Kevin: Can you just say who those two people are that you were talking about?
Tim: Shaun and Conley from We Did This Records which is a D.I.Y collective throughout the whole country. They put out a lot of politically motivated music, playing in a couple of bands. (All These Wasted Nuts, Monday Morning Justice, Sloppy Folk, and so on.)

Kevin: I've been there many times and it's probably my least favorite country to visit because of that income inequality and the institutionalized racism. It's just so in your face and it's so hard to navigate coming from the outside. How is the D.I.Y punk scene dealing with that in South Africa, based on what you guys saw?

Joel:
They're just as affected as the rest of the country. In fact, it was a big point of contention. On all these bills we're showing up on, we realized ninety percent of the bands were white. We were talking to Shaun and Conley about it and it's a very segregated scene. There's the Soweto scene and then there's the white scene. Once we realized that was happening, we tried to reach out to a bunch of bands and try to get the shows more integrated - with varying degrees of success - but it was noticeable. I can't imagine living and booking shows in a scene like that.
Tim: The openness is what's different in the U.S. In every show there'd be one or two black musicians and people would be, "Oh, there aren't enough black people here," or, "These bands are all white." In the U.S., you don't really say that. We did have a show in Soweto, but we realized that the bill was all white bands. Shaun was saying, "This really isn't that cool. We can't do this."

Kevin: You didn't play the show?
Joel: No.
...

Sacia: How did you guys get into punk?
Conley: Local ‘zines had a massive impact on exposing us to punk rock, both local and international. Me, growing up in a rural area, even I got a chance and went to my first show when I was fourteen just because of a local zine called Blunt that used to put out comps and list gig guides. It changed my life forever! It made everything I loved tangible and attainable.
Shaun: My cousin Kim was a metal head and when I got my first Walkman at the start of middle school she copied some Nirvana, Green day, and Face To Face albums for me. The chain stores Look and Listen, and CD Warehouse would also stock Epitaph and other biggish label releases. After going to some of my first local shows I learned about Croak Room Records, that was stationed in Pretoria, which used to do mail orders for some local punk records as well as some bands from Canada. Some kids at my high school were also doing distribution for Profane Existence magazine.

Sacia: how connected is the South African punk scene to the rest of Africa?
Conley: Numerous bands from the southern parts of Africa do frequent South Africa. Some festivals hosted in neighbouring countries like Mozambique and Swaziland have South Africans involved in the organizing as well. Most of the African underground scene is dominated by metal, which we aren’t that involved with so I can’t offer much more, unfortunately.
Shaun: There was a film produced called Punk In Africa that focused on some of the apartheid-era punk bands, then took a massive leap to the big names in early 2000s ska punk, and ended with a few minutes about bands in the rest of Africa. I don't know if any of those bands mentioned are still going or if new ones have popped up. I haven't heard of any since.
From my introduction to the local scene, there has been some sort of a connection with American, European, and Australian scenes. We've had numerous bands tour here on there own steam, from hardcore to crust and garage rock. Many bigger bands tour here with support from festivals like OppieKoppi or from groups like Punk Safari, who existed in the early 2000s and were all about bringing Fat Wreck Chords bands over. When i was in high school in Cape Town christian hardcore was massive and church groups were helping little local and overseas bands tour churches and high schools. We even had Underoath here. Though it's debatable weather any of that is "punk", it was probably the height of people being involved in the scene, whether that be with gig attendance or people making zines and stuff. A number of local punk bands have done European and Southeast Asia tours.

Sacia: can you explain the split between the Soweto scene and the rest of the country?
Conley: The rest of the scene had a huge jump start on the Soweto punk scene, or at least the one we are familiar with. This established scene enjoy privileges such as fully equipped venues, accessible location, and active booking agents, to name but a few . In our involvement in Soweto shows, it's amazing to see how any effort for a show or rehearsal always involves family member, neighbours, and friends regardless of the genre which is unfamiliar to the big city scenes. Racism and fear does play a role and keeping these scenes apart, but we have been actively trying to combat that by playing each other’s venues and houses.
Shaun: A few years ago some friends of ours helped start up Soweto Rock Revolution, after hearing about and chatting to folks in Soweto who were into punk and metal. This resulted in the first punk gigs at a skate park by Dube Station. The shows were a mix of acts from Soweto, Joburg, and the addition of some touring bands. There was quite a bit of publicity surrounding these shows from the get go, with numerous videos and articles being produced.
 Not long after the first handful of shows did we hear about interest in the Soweto scene from the likes of Afro-Punk, and later Red Bull Music, Vans, and Converse. For a little while we had another collaborative effort in Maboneng, a gentrified arts street in town, called Punk Fridays. Unfortunately the last few Soweto Rock Revolution shows have been a white invasion of Soweto, as the sponsors and corporate interests had made it difficult for the Soweto scene to represent itself there.
As of recently, there's been a bigger fallout between Soweto Skate Society, who manage the prominent Soweto bands, and Soweto Rock Revolution. Currently, we're finding it difficult to collaborate with the Soweto scene due to not wanting to cross battle lines and due to our shows being DIY unsponsored shows where we split the cash made at the door between the bands, with no guarantee or pre-payments.

Sacia: Is there a presence of white nationalists within the South African punk scene, like we see elsewhere like Eastern Europe?
Conley: Yes there is, but I wouldn’t say it’s proud and in the open. Most people get called out or get ostracized by the scene, so they don’t have much of a presence at shows or in bands, but every now and again a right-wing nationalist punk band would show its ugly face. In the '80s, we had quite a few bands that would wave the flag of the white nationalist party, but I’m proud to say that venues, agents, and bands are all on the same front when it comes to getting rid of this kinda trash.
Shaun: I had the unfortunate experience of playing a show once with a band from Pretoria called Chaos Christ, who i did not know at the time. They turned out to be a Christian chaos punk band who were LARPing as members of the SS. Aside from that, a globally known anarchist author (Michael Schmidt) from Johannesburg, who had books published by AK Press, and who had frequented shows, was exposed for being an undercover white nationalist and having a Stormfront account in 2015.

Sacia: What are some of the things bands and punks in the U.S. and Europe can do to help out scenes like theirs?
Conley: Just come and visit us! Folks are always welcoming and excited to do things with touring acts or fans. Download our mixtapes and open up to what we have going on down here. There's so much talent and unique and interesting expressions of art and music.
Shaun: I think that for many people overseas, there's some aversion towards the idea of a South African punk scene, outside of the resent popularity online regarding the Soweto scene. Leftover Crack, for instance, were flooded with comments like, "why are you going to white Africa?" when they came here. It's kind of a tricky thing and i think many white people in bands here, especially punk bands, struggle with being white and South African. The legacy of apartheid is still very visible and a lot is unchanged due to the post-apartheid government's devotion to neoliberal capitalism over and above societal and structural change.

Sacia: You guys have a very DIY ethos that seems to intertwine with every aspect of your life, music, and label. Where did this come from?
Conley: South Africa has a very small music scene mostly dominated by country and goslpel music punted by Sony and BMG, so the alternative scene was forced to establish itself by means of  DIY. this sprouted into zines, independent labels, and a lot of groundwork . This being intertwined with skateboarding, surfing and so on.
Shaun: While I do think we do DIY out of principle, it's also the reality of the alternative music scene in South Africa.

Copies of RaZorcake issue 117, featuring the full article, will be available at shows post pandemic. Alternatively you can book one in the comments section and we can send one to you... if things don't get better...

Strangely enough, Brett Newski was on tour here at the same time that The Dumpies were. We helped him out with one of his first shows in Johannesburg years ago, but this time, The Dumpies and Brett had a show booked the same day, in Melville, just a street apart, and we missed each other. Jon Shaban and the Shabs, as usual, did some shows with Brett, and while The Dumpies and Brett both finished their tours here, and made it back home, the Shabs finished up with Brett and went to Europe for a tour that got pulled out from under them by COVID-19

Brett Newski's podcast.
SOUTH AFRICA part one | full lockdown, tour meltdowns in S Africa, life of an artist in Cape Town

Jul 28, 2020

Jon Shaban (the SHABS) sits in to discuss the intense lockdown in Cape Town, as well as what it's like to tour and make a living as a South African indie artist. 
More on the SHABS: https://theshabs.com/

If you would like to do something to help out the South African punk and alternative scene during this pandemic please follow, stream and share our new Spotify playlist

Friday 7 August 2020

Late Stage Dream With Julia Robert


We interviewed Julia Robert about ‘Late Stage Dream’, their latest EP, released 10 July, during COVID-19 lockdown.

Julia Robert is a female-fronted, female-drummed, boy-guitared, boy-bassed four piece DIY punky / psychy / grungey / glittery / disco-y band from Cape Town.

Their sound incorporates riot grrrl snark, krautrocky passages, bubblegum pop sensibilities and all the stacked fifths. The bass is heavy, the guitars are jagged, the drums are pounding and the vocals are urgent. They love non-linear song structures, linear song structures, anxiety, earnestness and some unashamedly emotional outpourings.

More band info: https://www.nownowjustnow.com/julia-robert-epk

Is Late Stage Dream a reference to late stage capitalism?

Ines: Yes, but also a reference to all late stages. I like to think of it referring to the late-stage dream of us being in a band while maintaining jobs and normal lives and hanging out with other musicians who are all much younger. And yeah, kinda reminding people that late stage is ok, and that you can do unconventional things at all points in your life.

Joao: Yeah! It’s like still playing cops and robbers when you’re in your mid-30s.

Tara: So, I often feel like I look at my life in stages and constantly feel like I am in a late stage/end of an era. This makes me reflect on my own life and compare it to others. This makes me depressed and anxious because I am not where I am told to be (in my life). This way of thinking is stupid. For me, late stage dream is a reminder that it's all in your head, in your subconscious, nothing makes sense, therefore you are allowed to do and feel what you want whenever you want! I think the songs on the EP reflect this way of thinking.

Roderick: I see it as less about capitalism and more about the overall feeling that there is always An Ending. You know? Like for the last two decades we keep being told we're at the end of an era. End of the 90's, the 2000's, end of an era, rock is dead, third wave feminism is over, the fourth industrial revolution is no longer upon us- it is here now, and it's almost over... Every time we get told shit like this it becomes more absurd, and now in the current media-dense environment where ideologies and personal conflicts are rammed down our throats every day, every hour, the whole point of existence seems totally random and uncontrollable. Even though time and eras are becoming less and less relevant we still try think of things in a straight line, that things have a beginning, an early stage, a middle, a late stage and an end; when really everything is more of a cloudy doughnut of confusion.... All our ideologies, beliefs and systems are just dreams concocted in the minds of evil and good people that swirl around us. So calling something late stage is absurd, and that’s ok, so long as you embrace it.

On Late Stage Dreams there is a song with German lyrics that sonically comes out of left field. Would you mind talking a bit about the song? I also understand that Ines worked on the animation for the lyric video.

Ines: The song was written by us as a band in hopes of tapping into some sort of 80s music, since we are quite a 90’s driven band, going into a different sonic era is always fun. So that was the basis of the song. The structure was already there when I added lyrics, which were initially in English but eventually felt better suited to the music, in German. I wrote a lot of the lyrics in Austria, which, now that I think about it, almost definitely influenced the language choice.

The lyrics were written while there were GBV protests and Women's marches all around South Africa in August/September 2019. I felt helpless in Europe because I wasn’t there to be part of something I felt strongly about, so the lyrics were how I tried to connect to that moment.

The rotoscoped videos was an idea the band had. We wanted to create a translated lyric video for our audiences that didn’t speak German. So we got in touch with a bunch of our bestest womxn friends and fam and got them to submit footage of them doing anything they wanted to do. Myself and the super amazing Caitlin Barraclough animated these 1 - 5 second clips of just over 40 womxn for the video.

Does the band have any recurring themes in the song writing?

Ines: It appears we do. Often the concepts and themes of being a normal human put into everyday situations with a twist come to the surface, like being a shopkeeper, wanting to have sex with your best friend, going to an awkward dinner party, believing in aliens, not having anxiety while everyone around you does etc.

Roderick: We do often touch on themes of anxiousness and nervousness, but it's not often framed in a completely negative way. There's furtive energy running through much of our music and the way we write is a bit frenzied so that's probably got a lot to do with it. We do, as much as possible, try to offer people hope and encouragement, but it's usually coming from a place of "well things are pretty messed up, and so are you, but that's ok because we're all just lil spots on a lil speck of matter floating through a vast empty space”.

Is there a favourite Julia Robert song and what have you all been listening to recently while the world is turning upside down?

Joao: I kinda tend to just be really smitten with whatever is our most recent effort. So, as lame as it might sound, the latest EP. It's like new children!

Outside of our own music I’ve been listening to a lot of Synthwave. Went through a Joni Mitchell bit. Lots of our fellow musicians' new work like: The loose ends, Runaway Nuns, Fay Lamour, and Ruff Majik.

Tara: I also tend to like our latest stuff most!

During lockdown I’ve found myself finding a lot of comfort in some pretty deep songwriters stuff like Father John Misty, Bill Callahan, Kurt Vile and Nick Cave - there’s a lot of Bad Seed TeeVee playing in our house.

Otherwise I find myself listening to alot of 80's new wave playlists as well.

Roderick: For me it’s Fuzzy Feelings. I can’t explain why. Don’t tell the other songs!

I've been listening to a LOT of cheesey ambient housey loungey type stuff recently. I made a playlist of it, I’m sure your readers will love it. So my lockdown soundtrack has been that, or Sun Kil Moon's Tiny Cities, which is a bunch of Modest Mouse covers by a grumpy folk crooner. It's a mixed bag.

Ines: Yes, Sugar, POW, Sick Day and Starkes Mädchen… That’s a lot more than one!

Recently I’ve been listening to: Agar Agar, Metronomy, John Maus, ShitKid, Smashing Pumpkins and Billie Holiday.

How are you all currently holding up under the COVID-19 pandemic and how has it affected you individually and as a band?

Roderick: The band has largely been on hold. We were lucky that we had an EP to release during this time. But mostly we're in a state of hibernation. We are going to be playing some shows at the end of August. One show is an international punk festival called Bandemic run by these crazy Aussie chaps. The other is a StoorSession which will be us looking just about as fancy as we’ve ever looked.

But I think mostly over the last 100-odd days everyone is just taking some time to reflect on their own missions and struggles. People, at the start of lockdown, kept on going on about how lockdown was the perfect time to spend time on all your creative projects, but that's stupid. Lockdown is time you need to spend staying sane, not putting pressure on yourself to be more productive and creative than ever. Plus, if everyone writes a whole bunch of music in lockdown we're going to have 6,000 songs about lockdown in three months time, and who the fuck wants to listen to that shit? I heard a song the other day praising lockdown as a beautiful time in which everyone can reconnect with their spirituality. That was pretty wildly insensitive when peeps are struggling to eat and family members are dying. I digress. In summary: We’re taking it squeezy and looking after ourselves.

Ines: Yeah we are super fortunate to be working from home and have all kept our jobs. “The band” was totally more affected by this than us personally, as we had a rather busy April and May planned. We had to cancel loads of shows and a trip to Joburg. We also had to cancel a potential tour to Europe planned for September / October.

From your perspective, how are things looking for the Cape Town music scene post COVID-19?

Tara: I think bands are going to be forced to reflect on themselves, the quality of their music and who their audience is in this new more digital situation we’re all in. Bands will have to work harder on their digital presence and release tactics. If they don’t they’re gonna be in a kak situation where 10 people are listening to their live streams that get put out for free.

Ines: Perhaps a re-look at the scene was necessary in the first place? It's hard to say. It doesn’t look like live shows will happen this year, but the online live show presence and people's ability to continue recording and releasing music might keep the scene thriving, regardless of live sweaty shows.

Roderick: I am way less optimistic than that. Venues will be shut down, artists will be broke. It's going to be a hard thing to get back on its feet. It may come round again, but it ain't gonna be pretty in the meantime. And maybe Ines is right on there, perhaps the scene in this country needs a total reimagining. Clinging to live shows as the be-all and end-all of a scene may actually be holding us back in this country more than it’s pulling us forward.

What does punk rock mean to you?

Joao: It's ok to be ungly and angry, even if you don't know why.

Tara: Yeah! It’s like doing, saying and standing up for what you believe in.

Julia Robert are:
Joao - bass
Ines - vox, keys, guitar
Roderick - guitar
Tara - drums

Julia Robert - You Talk With Control live at EVOL

Saturday 4 July 2020

New Cape Town Punk: Colour Bone Black - Different


When Rockwell – of Fuzigish fame – moved to Cape Town, he never expected he would meet a couple o' booze-loving punks with an inkling of talent. The Pissups, on hiatus while drummer Marc drank warm beer in Vietnam, had some spare creativity.

They teamed up with the bassist-turned-singer to create something characterised by constant change. In a strange time for the world, the musicians bled their expressionist impulse into good ol' Punk Rock. The sort you could hear ringing out of a late-90's garage over the sound of kickflips. Thus born Colour Bone Black. Inspired by true events.

Their first single: Different, was written apart, through screens, across African and Asian continents, with rusty strings and old microphones. But the essence of the band is the raw emotion and simple expression of ideas. Stripped down, loud, and real.

The band is signed to Red Ambulance, and will be working hard through these uncertain times to keep bringing the noise. New single, and album coming soon.

Spotify, Apple, Itunes etc: https://colourboneblack.hearnow.com/different
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lganBzSV7eg