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.
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