Interview: Isaac Klawansky from Shadowclub

Hey guys! Been a while...

A few weeks ago I tagged along with my friend Charles Mackenzie, who was going to catch up with Isaac, the drummer of South African rock stars Shadowclub. We asked him a few questions (before their show in Grahamstown) about being a musician in South Africa, Shadowclub's new album and about Shadowclub in general. Read the article here.

Photos taken by Charles Mackenzie

Charles: This is not your first time preforming in Grahamstown, could you describe your relationship with this town?

Isaac Klawansky: Grahamstown was one of the first places we got to play, we played at slipstream bar and we were so hangover. They had just installed a new deck and while we were preforming it almost broke… it was crazy. But Grahamstown was honestly one of the most fun performances we had.

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C: How do you feel post Guns and Money? Do you think the band has grown or changed in any way?

 I: No not really, we still try putting on the same mad performance we always do. On our new album there are going to be more ballad type songs (there we not any on Guns and Money). The style is also a bit grungier but it hasn’t strayed too far away from the blues/rock sound that we always go for. I also think we have just become better musicians. We have been playing non-stop pretty much.

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C: Gigging seems to be a very important factor in your band. How has gigging affected your sound, and influences? 


I: It’s the cornerstone of building any band; there is nothing without a live performance. It’s really made us better, and being on the road for so long builds a certain character within the band, it’s difficult to explain but it’s defiantly something you can only get from touring for long periods of time.  It comes with it’s ups and downs,  we go from playing really bad gigs in really bad places to getting to play amazing gigs at amazing venues.

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C: You record your albums live, why was this decision made and could you perhaps elaborate on this process of recording live?

I: There wasn’t a particular decision that we made, it was just the way we always did it and we have never done it any other way. It’s the most comfortable and natural way, we have tried other ways recording tracks and it never turns out the ways we want it. In the process of recording that album we booked 2 weeks days or something in a studio and we set up room with things that makes us comfortable like carpets and disco balls and we lived in there for 2 weeks, but it took nine days all in all to record it.

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C: The music industry in SA is still growing and evolving, how has your band coped with regard to attaining success and developing your sound?

 I: Our principle was to play more gigs then anyone. We just reach more people that way, we will play any small town and we will play to 5 people or we will play to 5000 people.

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C: What are your plans with regard to touring overseas and have you perhaps considered basing the band somewhere other than South Africa.

I: We haven’t considered basing the band anywhere else other than South Africa, we are trying to get our music out there but at the moment our main goal is working hard on our second album and getting that out there.

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C: Being one of the most successful bands in South Africa, how do you feel about putting all your time and energy into making the band work and having nothing to fall back on.

I: The two work hand in hand, I don’t think we would be where we are now if all three of us hadn’t made that decision. We quit our jobs, and we play music full time. It has made all the difference in the world, it meant that we could tour constantly, rehearse on the days we weren’t touring, and play a better show and thus just become better.

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C: When do you think the new album will be out?

I: There is no exact date, we have this ten-day tour starting with Grahamstown and then as soon as we have finished the tour we go into the studio literally the next day. Maybe in two three month’s time, it’s difficult to say.

Atoms For Peace Announce Amok Release Date

Atoms For Peace today announced their debut LP is to be released on the 25th of next February. The album, titled Amok, is also now available for pre-order off the band's site, which has undergone an eerie makeover for the announcement.

Atoms For Peace Site

Song Of The Week: City Calm Down - Sense Of Self (Ta-ku Remix)

Perth based producer Ta-ku dropped this free remix just over a week ago, in support of City Calm Down's recently released Movements EP. The track is fairly traditional Ta-ku with a brilliant rolling beat and stuttering synths sitting around skipping vocals.

Listen:
                                     

New Music Video: Flying Lotus - Tiny Tortures

After a number of interesting videos released in preview of the album, Tiny Tortures is our first music video off Until The Quiet Comes. Directed by David Lewandowski and starring Elijah Wood, the video follows a man that looks to have recently lost his arm through increasingly surreal adventures on his medication.

Watch said video:

The Genre Discussion

The idea of categorising media and creative output is almost as old human history itself. These days though, with barriers collapsing around genres and even mediums, there is a strong argument that any traditional ideas of genre categorisation do not work with modern media, and more specifically, music.

Genres are usually thought to have originated in Ancient Greece, as Plato and Aristotle came up with categories in which to group various types of theatre and poetry together. This made sense for traditional theatre and film later, as most productions had to hit on core themes or plot points that were unique to the genre they fell in. It also, to an extent, made sense when applied to music. Contrary to popular belief, the categorisation of music into genres is actually supposed to be done by musicologists rather than a listener with some time on their hands. The idea is that musicologists should have a great enough understanding of what characterises different types of music that they would be able to set up a system of categorisation that would funnel listeners towards more music that they would like, rather than have listeners trawl through huge amounts of music until they happen across something they enjoy. In fact, it could be argued that that is what genres really do; they just don’t work as well as we would like.

There are two main issues that seem to turn up with this idea of genres. The first one is that many people feel the system doesn’t actually work to begin with. When you do come across a genre it’s either been categorised by some kid with iTunes or at best via a group consensus on a forum. Even then most people will simply disagree with the definition put forward if it doesn’t fit with what they feel is important or distinctive about the genre. There seems to be little to no real input by anyone who is actually studied in the subject, meaning any idea that our genres have been set up to help us find more music simply doesn’t fit. The other argument is that, even when this system of genres does work, it’s too constrictive to both listeners and musicians. In many cases genres have become concrete, constricting development of the music and funnelling listeners away from anything new or different, instead directing them back to the small group of genres they’ve always listened to. Musicians too seem to be defined by how much they have conformed to certain genres, rather than the genres being defined by what music is being made.

Of course neither of these points are universally true and there is apparently a good deal of genuine musicology that goes into categorising music into the genres on online music stores such as iTunes or Bleep. One way or the other, genres do seem to still be a big factor in the way we interact with music and it is worth taking a look at their role in our listening.

New Music Video: Jakkals - Rum Trifle

Jakkals are an unsigned, three-piece, indie band from Cape Town. Their first single 'Woah! Nelly' was popular in the underground scene, but now they seem to be coming up in the world with their brand new music video for their song 'Rum Trifle'.

Taken from their first EP 'Trifle' the song has a "kwela- guitar" riff running through it, accompanied by a funky bass-line that, as Jakkals say, "nods your head". The music video is really well made and classy for a barely-known South African band (considering what more popular SA bands are doing) with a lesson of  “if he doesn't love you for who you are, leave him alone" displayed in a very artistic way.

Jakkals are a band to be watched, in no time at all they will be very popular in South Africa. If this EP is anything to go by, then we predict a bright future for these guys.

Watch the video right here:

New Music Video: The Plastics - Best Pretenders

One of the most anticipated videos from Cape Town based The Plastics. 'Best Pretenders' is the newest single off their second and latest studio album 'Pyramids'.

Although the song is not the best Plastics song, it is still pretty awesome and this is what makes The Plastics one of the best indie bands SA has to offer. They also have a knack for making funny and cute music videos- with Caves, Caroline and Stereo Kids. This is probably the cutest of all their music videos- a kid trying to find his lost imaginary (or not) friend, but finds something better instead.

SPOILER ALERT!

He finds interracial relationships...GO BOY!

The thing that really separates The Plastics from the rest of South African bands, is that they don't just play the same old popish/ Prime Circle-ish/ The Parlotones sounding music all the time. They have their own ways and styles. They give us some hope that maybe not all South African bands put together can just form one big crap sounding band.

Watch the video right here: