Welcome the Foreigners!

Raise your glass. We’re being invaded and the war cry is "SHUT UP AND DANCE".

In a beautifully irreverent display of honesty and attitude, Alexei, Kelly and Junior (and Lewes and Martin and Vicky) make an art of making a noise all the way from the UK.

What do we know about Birmingham? Not much. It was once the seat of the industrial revolution but that’s hardly sexy in a post-ozone age. The scorched skies have cleared now and biotech is on its way to integrate everything the same way those pipes are on their way down the coast of endless Africa to put the broad into band - slowly.

Figuratively speaking, the broad is already IN the band if you’re talking Birmingham music. Birthplace of British blues, its backwaters were the amniotic food that gave us the Moody Blues. And while its canals are not quite flowing with red, red wine either, popular reggae rulers, UB40, probably took some notes on its dole, seeing as they lived (and looked for work) there. Birmingham was home also to the eminence of Judas Priest, the pale faces of Black Sabbath and 2 lads of Led Zeppelin. Think hair and hair raising melodies.

Then think haircut, and rousing melodies. The Brummies have been given a bit of a makeover since the internet was porn. I mean born. And would you believe the new export is “Melodramatic Popular Song”? At least, it is, according to Johnny Foreigner.

Visually they’re a doodle pad gone bonkers, aurally they’re a mix n match patchwork of punk pop and indie rock (insert comma @ will). It's noisy, but it’s nice. It’s silly, with spice. It’ll go well with crushes and ice, and some of their one-liners are pop cult slogans in disguise. They sound like The Killers on ketamine and The Artic Monkeys on mandrax arguing with instruments (and each other) in a mosh pit. Thing is, they're totally into it, making their music all the more (irritatingly) infectious.

In Europe, the pick-up line for a band that wants to put their album in your pants is “come over to MySpace”. Nobody does anything without a profile on the proud, buggy music host, because that’s where everybody meets – industry, public, other ( i suspect, somehow, thatJO Fo falls into all of those categories). Perhaps it’s because the brassy city hosts the largest international jazz fest in the UK, perhaps they just got bored with the long, dark winter, but we invited them to our space (you know, the ones with bare breasted women and wild beasts in the backyard) and they said yes. Of course they’ll get here before those pipes do; they’ve got Rams and Larks urging them on, ushering them in for their slot at Nekkies. And what better way to say there’s more to Cape Town (or South Africa, for that matter) than a number you’re not allowed to print for profit? Summer 2010 at thirty four degrees south this Saturday (and next Wednesday) is already exploding with the twisted glytchers and their giggly guitars. In fact, seeing as they came so far, they decided to do a national tour to learn how to eat pHutu with their hands and pronounce "kak" properly ("drop your jaw") while they teach us grace and the bigger picture.

While we're on the subject, how about a bit of name dropping? Their debut album, ‘Waited Up Till It Was Light’, was produced by Machine, who also worked with King Crimson.

You’ll sulk if you miss out. Besides a banging dose of brit junk pop, Kidofdoom, She Man Lion, Yesterday’s Pupil, Bruce Willis, Sassquatch and Moe Joe are going to be there. Also, bopping and hopping and getting all sweaty while you smile is a much sexier way to say happy valentine’s day than you think. (Sunday is the 14^th, and believe me, you’ll probably still be in the belly of the ass when the clock strikes mistletoe time.) (and this way it doesn’t matter if you don’t have someone to die for. Yet.)

Already busy that night? It's anyway going to be more fun next week in the 'bosch with Ashtray Electric, The Pretty Blue Guns, The Revelators, The Lottery Tickets, Bruce Willis, Sassquatch, El Gordo and the Fourie bros @ Klein Libertas (which is not actually so small). This gig is kissed with kismet. How do you know? Well, The Revelators cream a crowd, and The Guns already have a solution to any party problem which the Foreigners will probably agree with - 'all you got to do is .. dance.'

wherever you see them, buy them a drink, they’re human : lead vocalist and guitarist, Alexei, went to court in Birmingham a year ago exactly for unpaid Council Tax that had accumulated over 3 years.

What I like about Jo Fo : they’re gutsy (or garrulous) enough to post what must be one of the more desultory critical comments on http://www.myspace.com/johnnyforeigner. Hey, they probably came up with it themselves after one of their relatives reacted. And their album art suits their sound.

It’s true that : when the girl sings, it sounds like Avril with PMS.

It’s also true that : it’d sound more authentic in their own accent.

But : so what, jezebel? It’s the kind of party music that brings the background and the underground into the same shiny, happy space. Which is.. in your face.

13^th FEB – The Assembly, Cape Town www.webtickets.co.za/assembly - R80

dress code : bubblegum and wife beaters

bottom line : put on your uniform and face the music.

(and prove to our bipolar friends

that Africa is indeed teeming with wild life.)

tour deets for party peeps

13th FEB – Assembly - CAPE TOWN with Kidofdoom, yesterday’s Pupil, She Man Lion, Sassquatch, Bruce Willis and MoeJoe

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=307429286280&ref=mf

17th FEB – Klein Libertas – STELLENBOSCH with Ashtray Electric, The Pretty Blue Guns, The Revelators, The Lottery Tickets, Bruce Willis, Sassquatch and El Gordo

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=283796950201&ref=mf

19th FEB – Hotbox Studios – PRETORIA with Isochronous, Wrestlerish, Sticky Antlers, MoeJoe, Sassquatch, Nathan Scott Phillips and Kodiac

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=279017281239&ref=mf

20th FEB – DYNAMO JOFO ”Attack of the Electric Ghosts” - JOHANNESBURG with Desmond & The Tutus, Yesterday’s Pupil, Us Kids Know, Eyes Like Mirrors, Sassquatch, Data Takashi, MoeJoe, Nathan Scott Phillips, Kodiac and That Girl

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=256534772098&ref=mf

26th FEB - RAMFEST - MAIN STAGE - 21:00

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=80072657682&index=1

p.s. hospitality is high on the list of “clever things to do in life” because you never know when you’ll be mucking around in the UK trying to find work, friends, a home, a party, a scene…

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.

The Lua Union - an ethereal mix

Unlike a beer boep, balance in a band is not something affected by training or straining. It's personal, it's professional, and it's mystical.

Balance in a band is not something that can easily be pinpointed, either. I'm talking about that place where things work - the x-factor that gets things going. It may not be anything tangible, this mix of personal relationships, inspiration and hard work, but it reveals itself in the mix, on the stage, and behind the scenes.

With the imminent release of an evidently synergistic single with Flash Republic, the members of Foto Na Dans are starting to enjoy a certain 'same page'ness, making the build-up to their second album release in Feburary 2010 rather phat. The Lua Union, it seems, was born with this balance.

The Lua Union doesn't sound like a band that have only been playing for a little under eleven months. Yes, its members are still settling into their onstage skin; yes, lead vocalist Dean hasn't been a frontman for very long; and yes, bassist Jonathan (who prefers the mandolin) hasn't been in the country for very long, either. But they strike you neither as first timers, nor as amateurs. In effect, they're not really first timers or amateurs at all, at least not in a 'My First Guitar' kind of way though i'm sure some of them still insist on playing theirs. Their drummer, Francios, is a former Springbok Nude Girl. Their lead guitarist, Lucas, is the drummer of The increasingly Pretty Blue Guns. Still, previous experience is only one element in the synergy of a collective sound and it certainly isn't a guarantee of good music (just as four accomplished musos might not necessarily produce good material together). There's something else that makes a band work interpersonally and musically, something that makes it manageable and magical. That something is a mystical balance of bodies, minds and souls that lets others swallow the songs whole, and The Lua Union is a great example. Break it down, jezebel...

Drummer Francios is unphased - the root, the rhythm. Calm and warm, he keeps time with increasing sensitivity to the complexity in the songs, and syncopates its overall sound with sublime simplicity. Bassist Jonathan keeps the troubled artist cliché at bay with taut mood swings and tight strings; he is, in turn, inspired or indifferent, and by turns brilliant or bad (and i mean bad in the best sense), throwing his weight around like he doesn't have to hang on to poles when the South Easter blows. Dean is the dirty clown - bewhiskered and bewhiskeyed, he's inhumanly at ease on stage (it's almost like he doesn't realise he's on stage at all), and his bassy vocals are bottomless and his banter between songs an extenstion of his tigger spirit. While none of his characteristics seem to match each other, his velskoene and dress shirt often do. It's good for a front man to be a bit of a maverick, methinks; keeps 'em guessing. The one who keeps 'em guessing the most is the one with the least to say and hopefully lot more to sing in the near future. Lucas is the introvert, the essence, the intensity of The Lua Union. Dreamy yet undivided, his is a subtle stage presence that often surprises those who bother to work out who's doing what in a song. Watch those fingers fly, watch the room invert. If you catch his eye between shy golden locks rocking during a set, just smile - he'll get it... because he's got it. Together, these musicans are a torrent of melody that moves the cynical to joy, the criminal to change, and the minimal to main. Last night they were superb under Kunskafee's a new look and lights (and somehow still kak sound rig.)

You could feel it far beyond the front row - all four settled right into the rhythm despite a very late and undeservedly unprofessional sound check (Kunskafee, are your systems in check?). Despite that, it was pure sound channelled through flesh and blood and bone. Their unusual vocal harmonies swell with the same mood and intensity as the soaring, snapping strings do. The seamless, invisible bass blends in beautifully, backing everything, giving it substance you can't see, and the drums are intelligent enough to spar with the melodic attacks and crashes, but never beat them. Overall it's beautiful, powerful, poignant stuff that either stops you in your tracks or rips them right out righteously.

"They often remind me of Radiohead," yelled Adam Innuendo during a swell and swoosh from the guitars. I suspect Adam wasn't comparing The Lua Union to Radiohead aurally, per se, but talking about an overall dexterity and diversity; a demeanour, rather than a musical aesthetic. The next song came on, and I leaned over and yelled back at him cockily "but they don't remind you of Radiohead NOW." That's the thing about The Lua Union - their riffs and rises often recall some or other expert band, but their compositions sound nothing at all like anyone else. This is what has me so excited about them. God knows what or where it is, but they've got the muse.

They've also got the musicality and the unaffected magic to make it.

taste it

http://www.channel24.co.za/Content/Music/Player/760/be57331e4162494ea1c2e202874b626c/23-04-2009-11-01/Lua_Union_-_A_Thousand_Lights_

touch it

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=61743986998

and tell others about it

(want more? ask nicely)

postcard for zinkplaat

Alette arrives unanounced at my door. the correct number four, this time. last time she went to the wrong house, and it ended very well with The Pretty Blue Guns being booked for Up The Creek. gherard at the other number four is a blues fan with his own custom built basement recording studio. he's also a friend of the Creek peeps. He listened to Cutting Heads, was well impressed, and made a call. Of course it's a good thing the Guns had already impressed the organisers somewhere else in the country, but it just goes to show that mistakes can make magic, sometimes... though not too many times, DPK; guns and daisies should be seen together, after all.

anyway, she hands me an advance of Zinkplaat's new album, and a self-addressed, stamped postcard to send back with thoughts, and watches as the cat pisses on my only copy of HAT. "you act just like Bertie with his puppy," she says as i yell about disprespect and what am i going to do that was my only copy. what did i do? i pressed play, obviously. there's not much that music can't fix (and what it can't fix, probably can't BE fixed). here's the postcard, sans snailmail...

Zinkplaat! ai - i'm back on avontoer listening to this. to your disadvantage, i recently saw veterans valiant swart and chris chameleon live, and liked and loved them respectively; to your advantage i just heard "oorlog frankenstein" (and nearly puked.) This album is somewhere inbetween, in a class of its own, though.

like a grown-up, it's more laid back and self-confident; like a young 'un, it's fresh and uncomplicated. It's seems you've finally got the balance, and you remain a blessing to your brothers and sisters. well done!

jezebel

p.s. it's like my childhood soundtrack... in Afrikaans!

what i didn't have space to add is these 3 thoughts:

• very crosby stills, nash and young.
• next album, suggest slightly more variation in the vocal melody and range - that well worn ascent and descent is going to exhaust our ears if they continue to invest in it with so much loyalty!
• and just how do they put sad and happy into every song? it makes joy poignant, and melancholy bright. Mooi besoedeling, indeed.

baby steps

it's almost time.



for a dirge to Dirt




The Pretty Blue Guns are busy with their first album,




and it's not the last time i'm going to say




that these gentle men understand






the measure and madness in music.

www.theguns.co.za

Up The Creek with Dan Patlansky

From Dan to Dirty, this year is good news for Blues…

Scenario: a weekend in the country, a winding river and good music. add the cream of the dop and a dirge of dirty musicians making clean sounds, and you’re Up The Creek

It's 2009 and the river rats are on a role – it’s their twenty fifth rapid and things are more real than rough.

Jezebel chatted to a talented blues boy who’s tweaked his tent on more than one friendly fest. Pretty prodigy Dan Patlansky tells about the Creek, skinny Blues and natural disasters.

jezebel : you’re an Up The Creek regular – what’s it like?

Dan : I did Up The Creek just in 2005 just before they lost their sponsorship and now I’m back this year. Oppi Koppi is huge, and Splashy Fen is, too. This festival is far smaller, it’s nicer. Oppi is impersonal. While it’s great playing in front of so many people, there’s an intimacy at up the creek.

jezebel : at bigger fests, there’s quite a separation between media, musicians and the audience. You can hang out with fans Up The Creek

Dan: Hundred percent it’s nice to be able to do that.

jezebel : Will you stick around at the fest?

Dan : Normally we’d like to chill for the weekend, but we have a show in Durbs the Friday and then the Sunday again, so we’re flying in and out.

jezebel : How do you cope with all this commuting between countries?

Dan : When I first started touring it was different. At 21, 22 you treated every night like a party on the road, coz it’s a new thing. But the older you get, well, your body doesn’t handle that so well. So when I hit the road now, I don’t drink hard every night, and I cut back on the smokes, and try to get to bed as early as possible. If you hit it hard in the first week, that two weeks feels like two years.

jezebel : How’s this year looking for you in terms of touring?

Dan : We tour extensively, I pretty much spend the entire year in the car. I’ve got a European tour June / July (their summer), which is going to be really cool. Before that national tours and surrounding countries - Swaziland etc.. Then maybe back to the states for the last half of the year. I used to live in new Orleans in 2005 but then I was involved in hurricane Katrina, so haven’t been back and with work permits being so costly, it’s not easy.

jezebel : How did Katrina affect you, and your music?

Dan : It was a complete shock; in SA you don’t see any natural disasters. I woke up one morning and my entire city had been evacuated and I was the last to know. There was nothing happening on the streets; that for me was the most terrifying for me. A bit of an ‘I am legend’ experience. There were tumbleweeds in the road and cars lying on the side of the road, doors open, keys in the ignition. So I went through the hurricane. I went to Mobile Alabama, it’s like Boksberg. I camped out there with no electricity and baked beans to eat. A cell phone yes, but you got through for every hundred times you dialed. My family in SA had no idea if I was alive. Eventually I got out, and flew to

LA where I have family. I realized that life is a short, fragile thing.

jezebel : you tend to move between Solos and drops.

Dan: yeah, when I’m doing a solo, or writing a song, I like to write everything with an extreme dynamic to it. Like yin and yang - really soft at one point of the song, then really loud. It creates interest in a song and interest in the solos. I try to play like a conversation – animated, then whispers, - that gets attention.

jezebel: Did you start singing when you started playing?

Dan: I put my first blues band together when I was sixteen, and couldn’t find someone to sing, so I started singing.

jezebel : blues is getting bigger. Upstart rockers, The Pretty blue Guns are starting to fuse indie sounds with blues. Getting the trendies to listen to something with a bit more soul.

Dan: That’s good news for blues, and just music in general. SA is a sad place sometimes when Bump 13 is the best selling album. There are really good bands out there, whether blues or not, it’s about human beings making music, not machines.

jezebel : And if the Pretty Blue Guns bring that, it’ll help fans grow with them

Dan: I’m experiencing that with our crowds. Years ago it used to be just our established fan base, and because we’re playing student towns like Potch, there are a lot of young people at our gigs. It’s great.

* * *

Dan Patlanksy will make his guitar cry, sing and swoon at six o’ clock on Saturday 7^th February @ Up The Creek fest.

The Pretty Blue Guns. Armed, disarming, and dangerous.

what happens when two precocious musicians get together to jam about the good and evil in us all? Dirt, baby; a project becomes a living dream and hearts burn up to the smoky, home-grown blues rising out of leafy Stellenbosch...

“Lose your dream / you will lose your mind.”- Rolling Stones, Ruby Tuesday

Who are The Pretty Blue Guns? They’re trouble wrapped up in a whole lot of sense and sensuality. They’re what you get when you put drummer Lucas, son of the legendary Vernon Swart (of Valiant Valiant Swart fame - also a drummer) with an avid, avo-eating Rolling Stones fan (André Leo), throw sticks and strings and a mic in the mix, add Greg Thompson on bass and Brandon Visser on guitar. They’re grounded, genuine guys and their music has gravitas – it’s genius without the god complex.

Besides being the freshest blues rock band in a none horse town and having more charisma than tutu in a madiba T, their slow, surging songs are giving Indie enthusiasts a deeper musical perspective without skimping on the exigencies of emotional indulgence quinessential to the movement (yes, it's a movement, not a genre. but we can argue about that another time. after Avontoer, maybe!).

The four typically twist time around their baby fingers - going to gigs from age 7, finishing school at 16, taking 36 hour drives from Kwazulu folk fests to Coke fests for a once in a lifetime Muse. And through it all, love and learning are on repeat. Obviously we want to know more. Jezebel and a few Jacks looked into the depth of their beings. Or was that their lager?

The first thing that happens when you start a conversation with The Pretty Blue Guns is that the waiter hits you with doubles because your sign language sucks, and you lose track of time. The second thing is this : Lucas, Andre and Jezebel swapping notes somewhere in beneath the leaves on a sleepy (sozzled) Sunday afternoon...

*

Jezebel: Why Blues? Is it because you're black?
Lucas: Sometimes.
Andre : It's the greatest music I've ever heard. I like the honesty and simplicity of it. The Blues is our back-bone, almost like a canvas, and we play around with it to suit our style.

*

Jezebel: New bands like noise. Ani Difranco likes saying 'half of learning how to play is learning what not to play.' Are you finding that the spaces between notes have their own thing to say?

Andre : Oh yeah! Keith Richards always said that the day he found his own style (circa '68) was when he learnt to play less. You gotta give songs space to breath. Also, with spaces in songs, you have the possibility of improvising and keeping it fresh. I'd hate to play the same songs the same way every night!

*

Jezebel: You sing about angels, devils, whores and kids with power tools. These are your friends?

Andre: haha... I guess they're my friends from my imagination. I've always liked lyrics as a narrative of some kind. People like Tom Waits got me hooked on that idea. I love making up stories to try bring across what I'm trying to say with a song. Sometimes you don’t know where the hell these words come from, but that's often when they come out the best.

*

Jezebel: in track 2 of Dirt (debut EP) you sing about someone with flowers in her hair. Who is Mary?

Andre: She's pretty much every girl that feels there's something seriously twisted and fucked up about looking up to people like Paris or the Playboy bitches.

*

Jezebel: There's a lot about love in the lyrics, but the lesson is often a simple truth (or a subtle threat). So which is more powerful? Metaphor or romance?

Andre : Love will always be main focus of music. I mean, who doesn’t feel love? I think looking at love (and its sister, Lust) from different angles is when interesting things start happening.

*

Jezebel: And in music, which is more powerful - rhythm or melody?

Andre: Rhythm. It's a feel thing. Melody is what comes after. The more worked-out part of the song writing process. But rhythm isn't something that comes from your head. It's in your bones.

*

Jezebel: Who left school at 16? And how? On earth? (and why didn't I? sigh…)

Andre: I did. I went to a private school and worked a bit harder than some people so I could get out. I wouldn’t have made it another 2 years. It was like this elephant in the road and just wanted out of the way ASAP. Without dropping out of course... it wasn’t really that difficult to tell the truth.

*

Jezebel: Imagine Brandon's been abducted by aliens, and you're due on stage. Do you :

a) borrow a violinist and hope there are a lot of country fans in the crowd

b) do a gumboot dance and wish everyone happy diversity day before mooning them and running away

c) cry

d) do an impromptu acoustic set

Lucas: I would pick A, while Greg does B and Andre does C,
because that's how we roll.

Andre: Yeah, an acoustic set probably (d). Just an improvisation vibe maybe.

Jezebel: why?

Andre: a) I don't own a pair of gumboots

b) Our acoustic stuff is much better than our dancing.

*

Jezebel: If you woke up one morning in a perfect world, would you still make music?

Lucas : Yeah. It would probably be pretty boring music, though. We would have to screw things up a bit just to make the world a bit more interesting...

Andre: Of course [I’d still make music]. It wouldn’t be perfect in my eyes if I didn’t play.

*

Jezebel: Describe your perfect world.

Andre: A world where people just respected each other would be great. And if people didn’t agree with each other, they just stayed out of their hair. In the words of one of my good friends : 'less religion. More good karma.'

*

Jezebel: You have young and old fans. That begs for a(nother) road trip. Tell us about the one that starts 18 Dec and finishes in 2009...

Andre: This all started with the idea of just playing a show or 2 at the time of the Matric holidays. It's kinda boomed! The Avontoer is something we've been waiting for a long while. 2 weeks with some of the best bands and best people we know. It's gonna be interesting to see how the country takes us in...

*

Jezebel: Would you do a tour of totally derelict and out-of-the-way towns just for the hell of it? (To test your music on bokkies and boere in the bundus?)

Andre: No, don't think those cats would go for it. Remember that guy the other night saying we're going to Hell? Imagine those in a herd!! Ouch.

Lucas : I would totally be amped for something like that. Also maybe a township tour and a few shows on a ship. Yeah, I want to play gigs on a ship.

*

Jezebel : George (Taxi Violence), I think, once mumbled something about Blues being the basis of all modern music. Agree? Undecided? Indifferent? What's Blues for you?

Andre: Definitely. It's music (well, modern music) in it's purest from. I could go on about how it affects everything, but I think people should read a book on it, or watch a film. Scorsese did a great series of 7 films about the significance and origin of the Blues. Well worth checking out.

*

Jezebel: Who would you like to invite on stage to perform with you?

Andre: Locally, I'd love to see The Guns and Taxi do collaboration. Also, Gerald Clark. A friend of ours who is hands down the best blues singer in SA.

Lucas : Tom Waits or Jack White would be nice, thank you.

*

Jezebel : A band. Is more than a project. It's a family. It's a four-way relationship. So how do you keep the peace?

Andre : We're best friends. So it's pretty easy. We dont really have to try. If we didn’t get along, we wouldn’t be friends.

Lucas : We have been doing this thing for a few years now, so we know one another well enough to know when to shut up and when to pass the salt.

*

Jezebel: whiskey or wine?

Andre: Wine is fine, but whiskey is quicker... haha. Who said that again?

*

Jezebel: What are your favourite Stones' lyrics?

Andre: Today? "Diamond rings, Vaseline, you give me disease! I lost a lotta love over you..."

Blues for believers? Amen.

Pretty Blue Guns Website

Face them:

Myspace them

or catch them sleeping on the beach somewhere along the coast on Avontoer oh nine

Avontoer is over, now. A few bullets about the blues boys on the bus and/or butt naked here(no, ok, we didn't cover their asses)