Sock it to me

illustration by >>FURTHER>> (http://www.flyschooldesign.net/)

um. not since the real estate agents became a term for good, deep homegrown Electronica (rather than some flakey, fakely cheerful grey-blonde salesperson showing strangers your stuff ) have i heard a DIY guy who can fiddle the decks as well as he can diddle sets of instruments(and actually, come to think of it, they didn't really, they just made decks sound LIKE instruments). High time for a first time, then. Enter Sean Ou Tim - best known for his beat keeping with the buried (and annually resurrected) lustrous Lark.

Sean is more than a drummer. But then, drummers usually are. He's a DJ, a multi-dextrous muso, and a man with a vision. I was going to ask him what exactly that vision is, one night in the pit at Klein Lib a few weeks back, but the beats were so bad, and the energy so good, i danced the night away and forgot all about it. Not very professional of me. But then, this is no longer my profession.

Not sure why the man hasn't entered the scene with more of a bang. Maybe we're disillusioned by the braindrain of Electronica's brainchildren that seems to afflict our most manically talented men (case in point, paul ressel - Humanizer, relocated to the UK, and REA who only seem to play far away. REA's triple decker CD sold them successfully to the ad industry, and despite the occaisional show as REA, they've since morphed with cuzz Mathambo into some sweaty X's and a lot of Playdoe. dough. doh. both latter acts get lots more love from beyond our borders, and the former Humanizer seems to have dematerialised)

(ja, ja, sorry luca, for the lingual gymnastics and making you think an ol, but it won't hurt to bend your brain a bit now that you've got to be witty first thing in the morning on a breakfast show that helps earlybirds reach for their first cigarette, or coffee, or breast or.. not).

Anyhow, beside the point. Sean Ou Tim is not going to disappoint you, and if we're lucky, he's not going to desert you, either. He's as solid as they come, happily married, humble, quirky and one of the nicest guys on the scene. I say so because i know so, and you don't know the things i know. so. so he'll deliver. He'll play to his initially modest sect of underground fans one of which i am. He'll grow in stature (does it take longer for those straddling roles to be recognised than for those sticking to the poles of instrument or electronic, i wonder?). eventually he'll suddenly be the IT boy of let's call it local live DJing, and everyone will think they own him because they recognise the delicate syncopations in his sound moving under their skin.

his sound? it's a blend. but, ja, yawn, so is everything in a post post mod blob of electric earth, innit? nod, come on; you know you have to - you're a village kid - global village, i mean. no? villager? true, too. after all you're reading about music on a web page. (music : aural) + (web page : digital)= (you are : global.)

but but but. i'm getting ahead of myself and leaving you behind. Sean. sounds like... hrm. like himself and his identical twin. He mixes jazz riffs and rock beats and bits of funk and psy and soul and ooh some sounds i wouldn't put on a dance floor, but they work so well together under his light touch, and he even moves around the stage like that, like two twins, swiftly and gracefully from drums to decks, picking up and playing all manner of instruments along the way. He's always smiling, and enjoying it every bit as much as the people in the pit. whom he probably couldn't see the night i saw him because it is a well named hole in the wall.

we were smiling too, Mr Sakitumi...

ear to ear.

sounds like

something struck me

it's a common compulsion to identify 'influences' in music - even if they aren't there. 'sounds like artcic monkeys, ya. though she says she's never heard them even.'

it's even more common to dismiss music that seems to mimic other music. 'ohmygod. do they KNOW they're (insert trendy band) derivatives?'

my question is, isn't it more important whether someone is enjoying a sound than whether it's been done before, done better, or overdone?

you can't expect everyone to be a sound snob, you know.

(it's true that i might have written this in hopes of hiding the fact that i listened to Celine Dion on repeat when i was 17, or at least to absolve my deep sense of guilt about it, but actually, i just want us to stop a minute and think about the real beauty of music - it's not how' good' it is, it's how good it is for the listener. it's true of course that music is fighting to be heard and that the masses have managed to have pretty lame taste (and we're not too sure who's to blame, but we'll blame the media in the meantime), but next time you hear someone listening to what you think is a kak band or solo artist, maybe introduce them softly to your sonic heroes, instead of looking down your musically literate nose at them. (and use it for sniffing out new sound, too)

it brings to mind something that PASS says

that music is a meeting place...

tsk tsk

photo : mikael subotsky

tsk tsk, blk jks. four men of colour on the run (for doing what you please and giving everyone The Finger while you're at it...)

...sounds like the future...

click on blk jks tag below for more...

equal time

isochronous is the better way to spend a weekend.

inspired, intelligent, enthusiastic and sincere, they embody the many meanings of their band name. best of all, it's members are more articulate about their art than most and ready to rock along with the rest of us. They look good under flashing lights, and better in daylight, and their one-liners last a lifetime. in case you think they're beyond the blessings of bullshit, they talk as much kak as they do complex theory, and they know that the word play means 'fun' before it means 'refine'...

so until the content from a day's shoot and a night's shooters is ready for you, therefore, consider what could well turn out to be Marco's meme:

"we killed god the day we gave him a name"

(and behold franco and alex fingering other people's playthings below...

p.s. if anyone can tell me where those bruises, scratches and burns came from, i'll be grateful... it certainly wasn't from the silky soft beach sand or the easy night air...maybe it was the grass? i definitely don't remember how i got home, but i believe i owe it to Dom...

feeling clever? come back down to earth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isochronous

wit and whiskey - a chat with valiant Vernon Swart

Vernon Swart is a veteran of live music living life large in a small town. jezebel stole off to Stellenbosch to meet a man respected for hitting things with sticks and painting naked chicks.

No early fader, Mr. Swart shares a surname and a past with blues rock band Valiant Swart. While it was sometimes kak to give tannie her weekly dose of sokkie draai in a penguin suit, his live performances paid his way through university. You could say he’s has seen it all, at least, as much as you can see from behind a drum kit behind the guitarist and bassist behind the stage lights. He even remembers some of it through the haze, though it’s left him half deaf in one ear. I went over to find out about then and now, and ended up talking philosophy and the future. Normal, I suppose, when you start with whiskey at two pm. And anyway, what’s normal in the music industry? This man survived hecks, thugs, and shlock and droll to become a proud member of the Cloud Appreciation Society...

jezebel : Tell us something we didn’t know

Vernon : Valiant always introduces me on stage as his brother, but we’re not blood relatives. But when we fly, the plane ticket is in his real name, and I’m V.Swart, so sometimes I get upgraded to business class.

Your lad Lucas is the drummer for indie-blues-rock band The Pretty Blue Guns. Like father like son?

He started playing classical guitar at school when he was very young. Then Karen Zoid recognised his talent, and he started jamming with her. One day the local church up the road announced that they needed a drummer – it was Andre, Greg and Brandon. He borrowed my sticks and went up and played. He had grown up hearing blues. I didn’t think much of it until one day I listened to them play and I realised he could play.

Funny, the Guns’ roots, when you consider songs like Devil Do. Both your boys are musical –is it in the blood?

I think there’s a musical sensibility that came through me somehow (though it’s sure as hell not my musical knowledge). Reuben was actually the one that wanted to play the drums, in fact that he was the one that was persistent. There was a long hiatus when I didn’t play, and there were drums around. I gave it all up to and be married and mow lawns while I was a teacher in Cape Town. I had a lot of musical collections, and they listened to a lot of music. Ruben always wanted to play and my excuse was that he wasn’t big enough yet (for the drum kit). Until Rueben said, ‘you know dad, how long do my legs need to be?’

Do you think many of today’s young rockers will be making music when they’re past 30?

I would love to say yes, but the sad reality is that many give it up, for many reasons, for better or for worse. You just have to look around the top bar at Oppi Koppi where so many bands signed their names over the years, and then quietly faded away, or went out with a bang. It's a tough job, not for sissies.

You’ve seen your fair share of creativity and counter culture, commercial and corporate. But now what would you do if your son gave up music and wanted to become an accountant? Or a lawyer. Or a married, lawn-mowing man…

I would go out and buy a big hat and eat it if either of them did that, but the old cliché applies, they could do anything they wanted and daddy will always love them.

Valiant Swart shared a gig with the Guns really early on. What was it like?

Valiant was always very supportive of new talent that way. They were pretty bumpy. But Valiant immediately saw it – that Andre’s got it. They were there on time, and we were late as usual. Valiant looked at their instruments – we couldn’t’ believe what these kids had – strats and fenders - stuff we couldn’t afford. I’d give my left ball for a Strat…

What is the role of constructive criticism in the evolution of musical creativity?

I’m not sure that there are many people that are actually experienced and articulate enough to voice their criticism. The question is what is the criterion to be a music journalist?

Good question. I guess nobody likes to be told they’re kak, but musos do want the public to buy their (sometimes kak, sometimes superb) mp3s.

Criticism is essential for any creative process. As much as artists might say that they're creating for themselves and they don't give a shit what people think etc etc, they are still out there performing and peddling their wares for the people. Artists wear their hearts on their sleeves, and they all want positive strokes. Criticism can motivate or demoralize different bands. Unfortunately, the standards of commentary fluctuate immensely. As we know, there is no such thing as absolute objectivity, but some journalists, especially the more inexperienced ones, tend to glorify their favourite bands and knock the others, musically and personally, which doesn't do anyone any good.

Parting thoughts?

When I quit teaching art, the principal of the art centre took me aside and said, ‘do you realise what you’re letting yourself in for, you’re now surrounded by responsible people that will always support you, but now you’re letting yourself into this drug infested chaos.’ But you know, it’s those people who are in the chaos who stick by you, through it, after it.

Bless you, Vernon.