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Editor’s letter

And so New Year’s Eve has come and gone and here we are, back to the grinding stone and only left with memories, blurry photos and bad tan lines. You might have noticed that this month’s magazine came out a few days late. That was partially because we were still recovering from the festivities of the holiday season, but mostly because we wanted this edition to cover the awesomeness that was Rock the River. The new venue proved to be a great success and more than just a few people left on Monday morning with smiles on their faces. A start of a new year inevitably means the end of some things, so whether you have just started university, finished your degree, finished school or started a new job, all the best. Every year has its own ups and downs, but as long as you face the good times and the bad times with your friends by your side, a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other, I’m sure you’ll be just fine. Ciska PS. One of our regular reviewers, Andriques du Che, is leaving us for greener fields (Johannesburg) after having been awarded an internship at the Times newspaper for three months. While he’s away he’ll be covering some of the live music events up there. Congratulations dude, make us proud!

Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect when I arrived at the gates to Rock The River. The only music festivals I’ve been to before were F-Rock, which wasn’t really a music fest but more a showcase for the Parlotones; and Synergy Live, which was the first I’d enjoyed. At this fest however, not only was I attending with my friends and girlfriend, the band I’m in would be performing on the main stage. Upon arrival, there was already a festive feeling running through the air, it was New Year’s after all and everyone seemed in a jolly way. So happy and gregarious even that twenty minutes after we got there a boy, I say boy because he didn’t look a day over 17, was being manhandled by security for his over-exuberant behaviour. I’d expected to see the kinds of people that I was used to seeing at the fests I’d been to: the hipster types and the trendies. I was happy, excuse me, for not seeing many of them in sight. Instead, this festival from the onset felt like an extension of a party that might take place in Obz, in the gloomy, moody confines of Gandalf’s and R.O.A.R., which sat well with me. Camped next to what seemed like the Niva Records colony, we had our own segregated, password only, Fingers In The Sky colony. With the help of supplies given by our buddies in My Friend’s Bread, the weekend was off. Strolling over to the electro tent was the first order of business. Second order of business was simple: party, and party hard. By nightfall I was familiar with the sights and sounds of the Cape Ostrich Farm, dusty, hot, and the only place to cool off: a swampy looking dam that I was not going to go near for fear of typhoid or something of the like. It was the perfect location for a dangerously fun weekend. I loved that I couldn’t walk anywhere without hearing music or some form of sound wherever I walked. Despite all of this there were a few low points to my weekend. I missed out on Hog Hoggidy Hog because I was too “wasted”, the band I’d been so excited to see all weekend was a sore disappointment: Fokofpolisiekar looked tired and it came through in their performance on-stage, looking as if they were going through a rehearsed set of moves. Despite the fact that I was able to interview Jaco Venter afterwards, I was left with a bad aftertaste after seeing one of my favourite bands dish out a mediocre performance. I’ve heard a lot of complaints about the shower/toilet situation, but

honestly it didn’t affect me. Wet wipes from a friend did the trick in the morning. There were a few extremely high moments over the weekend though, excuse the pun, and these include, and in no specific order whatsoever: 1. Being able to skank out to dubstep and

drum ‘n bass all weekend: my chest was rattling, and that there is a good thing.

2. Being high-fived by strangers, one example is a girl I’d gone to primary school with high-fiving me at the electro stage. The next day she couldn’t remember she did it.

3. Playing on the main stage: It was our first festival gig ever, and hearing the crowd singing back the lyrics to a song we’d written a week prior was the greatest feeling ever.

4. The drunkenness: the levels of inebriation surrounding us was catastrophic, yet everything stayed intact, no fights that I could see.

5. Being able to go home to party another day: festivals are scary things, and you never know what might happen.

A weekend away from the city, almost in the city. Three days of non-stop disco, noisy, rowdy partying. It was all worth it, the empty wallet and the broken body on the drive home. Rock the River: a damn fine idea.

- Andriques du Che

Rock The River

Photos by Stop&Watch Photography

Heaviest weight lifted by tongue

Thomas Blackthorne

United Kingdom 12.5kg

Longest female legs Svetlana Pankratova Spain 132 cm

Longest tongue

Stephen Taylor United Kingdom

9.8 cm from tip to lip

Widest mouth Francisco Domin-gos Joaquim Angola 17cm

Smallest waist

Cathie Jung United States

38.1cm

Heaviest weight lifted by nipples

Sage Werbock United States 31.9kg

Most body piercings in one session

Chris Elliott

United States 3900 in 7 hours, 46 min

Largest natural breasts

Annie Hawkins United States 177.8cm

The Beatles

1 billion units

Best selling

musicians

Elvis Presley

1 billion units

Madonna

300 million units

Led Zeppelin

300 million units

Michael Jackson

750 million units

Elton John

300 million units

sound? Jesse: It’s kind of by accident really, the accordion is the big one though. Dylan: We have a lot of instruments just laying around in studio, and when something’s not working we just pick something else up and keep on trying. Johnny: It was really on a song that Jessie wrote on the first album called The Way we were stuck. We were trying to get a guitar solo, or a keyboard solo and nothing wanted to work. I hadn’t really played much accordion at the time, because it’s pretty difficult and I’m a quitter! [But] I picked it up for that song. Your dad is pretty well known, not only in South Africa but in the States and in the UK too. As a song-writer, as a musician, he’s quite an influential figure. Has his influence and iconic status ever cast a shadow over what you guys do, or get in the way of what you’re trying to achieve? Jesse: Well, I wouldn’t call it a shadow but I mean, definitely because of all of his experience and everything he’s done there’s no escaping it, he’s a big influence on us musically and personally. I mean it’s all good! How does it feel being back in South Africa? A part of your time growing up was spent here wasn’t it? Dylan: Yeah, we spent about eight years here, although our dad was born and raised here. We moved back in 1988? I think it was, it’s pretty wild to be back, actually crazy, we’re staying with friends that lived like four houses away.

How different is it though? Jesse: Danny and I were quite young when we came here, I was eleven or so and my life revolved around my friends and rugby, it didn’t really click. Most of it still looks familiar to me, though, so many changes

have happened though, in terms of infrastructure. And things have gone well racially, economically. It just seems like the country’s opening up so much more. Danny: It always seems like such a miracle when

Arizona-based four piece KONGOS have recently been heating up our native airwaves with their somewhere-in-between-everything sound, deciding to embark on a month long tour across one of their past home countries. On a hellishly warm Cape Town afternoon: after many hastily smoked cigarettes, a few beers to keep the heat at bay, I sat down with the band before their show at Assembly to talk about their travels, their famous dad, their sound and the U.S. blowing up the world for freedom’s sake. I only heard about your band two months ago, and I was intrigued by the unique sound that you guys put out. Every band has a plan when they’re constructing or creating their sound, what’s the idea behind the shape of KONGOS’s sound? Jesse: Obviously there’s a lot of familiarity in our sound, we’re influenced by people like the Beatles and older music as well. We try to do things differently, there’s the familiarity, but we always try and keep things different to what’s already been done. And in the way that you use instrumentation, how do you go about getting that unique

you think about what South Africa went from to where it is now. I mean we always joke they did it without America bombing them. Dylan: Did it without any civil war, Jesse: America’s bombed so many people into “freedom”. You guys were born in SA and then moved to England right? Jessie: Actually most of us were born in England and then we moved to S.A. where we spent most of our childhood, Alright, now those experiences of moving and travelling, does that help you on the road when you’re touring? Jesse: We’re based in the States, and that experience has definitely helped us. Most of the people there don’t know anything outside of their country or where they live, in that sense it’s helped us a lot because we’ve been exposed to a few different cultures already; but touring in South Africa is a luxury because we know so many people here. Does it feel like a homecoming? [The whole band breaks out in an emphatic “Yes!”] Haha! Okay, everything you do when you’re touring is for promotional purposes, right, but besides that, what would you like to get out of this tour? Dylan: We wanna come back! We’re definitely going to be back, maybe next year [2012] or at the end of next year? But we are definitely coming back. Jesse: It all fits perfectly with the radio play, all of a sudden South African fans are flooding in. There’s

quite a lot of hype attached to us now, but we hope to deliver. What’s the plan for the next year? Not just in S.A., but would you guys like to break into the international mainstream? Or do you want to stay in that category of band that becomes cult classics? Jesse: As long as we don’t have to change our music or how we make it, I think we all like the idea of breaking onto the mainstream. Dylan: As long as we’re doing what we want to be

doing, doing what we love, I suppose. - Andriques du Che

Kongos - Lunatic album review. When listening to an album by a band you’re not

that familiar with, you always tend to be over critical

at first. Upon your first listen you’ll find which tracks

are the gems and which the band put in as fillers, as

musical fodder to fatten up the album. This album

has none of that. Each track is a well worked piece

of song writing in its own right. From the social

anxiety displayed in Sex On The Radio to the

homage to the band’s history of travelling in

Travelling On, not one moment will it leave you

bored. These sons of seminal South African singer-

songwriter John Kongos perhaps have a lot to live

up to, but do so diligently. The album has a sense of

vigour and purpose permeating through it. I’ve met

the guys and by listening to them one can hear that

they made this, released through their own

Tokoloshe Records label, the songs on here have

an inherent South African flavour. With the

accordion and at times almost masqanda styled

bass riffing. The various styles they plug into is

perfectly balanced and displayed in opening track

Come With Me Now, an alterna-rock-masqanda

anthem of note. These guys are going to go big if

they keep this up. Leave an out and open your ears

to them when they come a-knocking.

- Andriques du Che

reviews Six, six, six band jam at ObzFest

Six bands, six hours and six chances to mosh your

chops off, or so they say. The hype surrounding the

R.O.A.R, Gandalfs leg of ObzFest looked

promising but was met with a dismal turnout. This

however didn’t stop the six bands jamming from

holding back the annihilation of the few who were all

pleasantly surprised.

Opening act Cryptosis kicked off the jam around

8:30pm. Quite early, considering the turnouts for

R.O.A.R usually pick up round 10pm onwards.

Nevertheless these boys ripped through a set of

hard-hitting tracks that would have had a more

capacity filled audience jostling their heads to a wel-

put together set.

Sindulgence was up next and ready; they duly took

their chance to slice into a slow growing yet amped

audience. They proved themselves worthy with the

emphasis on their outstanding vocals by front man

Muller van Niekerk. Their set closer was a cover of

the SOAD track “Toxicity”, which was met with much

appreciation and awe.

Almost mid way through the lineup saw the long

awaited return to the live circuit that is the thrash

group Ing. Vocalist, Bryan Villain diligently threw

their politically charged ambitions out on to a crowd

of guttural screaming ladies voicing their approval.

They had a great show and a tight set.

With Dawn, Kevin Rules latest installment took up

the 4th slot with a more melancholic yet provocative

performance really encompassing the light and

shade dynamic of their music. Their great

performance was played out to the biggest turnout

of the evening, (makes me think).

Second to last saw hardcore thrashers Bulletscript

bring their signature groove to a head and when I

say bring it, they brought it. The crowd had

somewhat waned, but the few who enjoyed

snapping their heads duly did with Bulletscript’s

somber performance.

The final slot was taken up by Stillborn Society,

unfortunately for them this reviewer was long gone

as their set started, but from the sounds of it, these

boys were sure enough proving themselves worthy

to stand up to the last 5 performances.

Well it was in a nutshell a solid lineup of 6 bands all

well put together and equipped to play a well-

organized festival. The only downer being the lax

turnout of patrons although it was a good night out

to get a little wasted and head bang the stiffness out

those tight necks.

Slippery Lyzard

Kongos, machineri and

Saintfearless: 17 December.

I’d had an interview with KONGOS earlier in the

day, and I liked them, a lot. That wasn’t enough for

me to be able to predict how their show would be,

after all I’d only heard two of the tracks off their

latest album and had only heard of them a month

before from a friend. After the interview and a

quick snack at Neighbourhood, we returned to

Assembly to see what’s what. I’d heard stories

about Assembly, that it was the home of all the

hipsters in Cape Town, that it was a pretentious

place to go, and me being openly anti-hipster, I was

more than a little wary about hanging out there.

Beers were ordered and I was ordered to move by a

giant of a bouncer for smoking in a non smoking

area. My bad.

Saintfearless were up first. I’d seen them before at

Purple Turtle and I was not impressed, not in the

least. Tonight, though, there was something

different going on. Although their sound was

nowhere near fresh and original, they added a nice

dash of sex appeal to their Subways-cum-Bloc Party

garage rock styled party songs. They had the crowd

eating out of their hands and in my eyes that’s

commendable. I do wish one could actually hear the

keyboard player though, at times it seems like he’s

an accessory on stage, with cues to back up the

lead singer now and then. They worked up the

crowd into a dancing frenzy, an energy that was

only to be slowed down and dissipated by

machineri. Perhaps I’m biased, but machinery on

stage is not the machineri one hears on MK or on

local radio. Their released work creates an image of

an energetic show, a live rollercoaster so to speak.

In truth, they were droning through their set, with

little, almost no, interaction with the crowd

whatsoever more than the announcement of song

titles. Sannie Fox’s singing is not to my liking, some

would say it’s bluesy, sultry even, I call it simply

annoying. I couldn’t hear a word she was singing. At

one point she piped up and said something along

the lines of “if you can’t hear what I’m singing

because of my diction, buy our album [and] read the

lyrics”. I fail to see the point of writing lyrics then if

nobody can hear them, and I don’t think I was the

only one that thought this, three-quarters into their

set, half the crowd that was there for Saintfearless

had removed themselves and got busy with other

activities.

Needless to say, when KONGOS took to the stage,

there was an air of expectation waffling around.

They nailed it though, from their opening track

Come With Me Now to their hip hop styled remake

of The Beatles’ Come Together, complete with early

90’s Snoop Doggy Dog interpolation, the crowd was

back and loving it. I was loving it. They reminded me

of what Juluka may have sounded like if they’d

taken up an indie rock edge, Johnny Kongos was a

demon on the accordion and surely that was the

stand-out instrument for me on the night. They play

lyrically complex high energy anthems, and even in

the slower moments of songs like As We Are,

reminiscent of Coldplay’s Fix You, they did not once

lose the crowd’s attention. A show I’d love to see

again. And a band I’d love to meet again. Killer

evening with Kongos.

Andriques du Che

CrashCarBurn, When Karma Sleeps

and City of Heroes at Nameless

Pub, 20 December

Although a Tuesday night is not exactly known as

party night, during December weekdays and

weekends seem to all merge into one long day. On

this particular Tuesday night CrashCarBurn was in

Somerset West as part of their December tour and

supporting them was When Karma Sleeps and City

of Heroes.

City of Heroes, from Pretoria, was up first and

although most of the crowd had blank stares when

they started, they quickly impressed with fast beats

and a tight set. I only found out later that the reason

the entire road crew was wearing Hope is my Hero

shirts was because on of the band members

founded the company. Second on stage was When

Karma Sleeps. I’ve seen this band a few times

before and this was by far the best set I’ve seen

them do. Bassist Gerard owned the stage and once

or twice almost knocked vocalist Megan off the

stage. Although his moves impressed, they didn’t

leave much room on the stage for the other band

members to manoeuvre.

Lastly, CrashCarBurn took to the stage,

accompanied by a brand new lighting rig made by

drummer Brendan. Once again they proved why

they’ve been such a big part of the South African

music scene for so many years. Although the band

members do not move around on stage much, the

music that they give us more than make up for any

lack of movement that one might perceive. Every

member in the crowd was singing along

wholeheartedly (myself in the front row included)

and vocalist Garth made everyone’s night when he

announced that they could all come to the Mercury

show for free the next night. Great guys, great band,

great music. What’s not to love?

Bertie’s Mooring Harbour Island, Gordon’s Bay Tel: 021 856 3343 1st - Jesse Jordan Band 6th - Piet Botha and the Lizard Kings 8th - Blues Broers 13th - Pebble Man Projects 15th - Boulevard Blues Band 20th - Bed on Bricks 22th - Albert Frost Trio 27th - Skallabrak 29th - Boulevard Blues Band

&Union 110 Bree Street, Cape Town Tel: 021422 2770 4th - Joshua Grierson 10th - Tombstone Pete 11th - Bed on Bricks 17th - Tailor 18th - Holiday Murray 24th - Like Knives

Cape Town +27 83 774 3404 tyronmunnik@pointblanc.co.za

Kirstenbosch Gardens Rhodes Drive, Newlands Tel: 021 79 8783 8th - Plush and The Graeme Watkins Project 15th - Johnny Clegg 22nd - Dan Patlansky and Natasha Meister 29th - Zahara and Claire Phillips

The Waiting Room 273 Long Street, Cape Town Tel: 021 422 4536 3rd - Andrew James 10th - Janie Bay 17th - Sixgun Gospel 24th - Miles Sievwright 31st - Beach Party

Perigators 381 Crescent Road, Pringle Bay Tel: 082 457 9403 6th - Blue Moon Rhythm 7th - Cherry Vinyl Band 14th - The Lentil Collective

Nameless Pub Main Road, Somerset West Tel: 5th - The Rites 8th - Pik Swart 12th - The Rites 15th - Pik Swart 19th - The Rites 22nd - Pik Swart 26th - The Rites 29th - Akelian Circus

Mercury Live and Lounge 43 De Villiers Street, Zonnebloem Tel: 021 465 2106 2nd - Playing with Reason, CY.STR, Someday Rush 5th - Classics feat DJ’s Azhul & Falko 6th - Sublime Tribute show 7th - Homegrown Drum & Bass 9th - The Summer Underground 12th - BluesTown Sessions 13th - Hog Hoggidy Hog & Friends 14th - Rub a Dub 18th - If 6 was 9 (JHB) 20th - Sabretooth launch 23rd - Junkyard Lipstick 26th - BluesTown Sessions 27th - Mark Haze, When Karma Sleeps 28th - Kill City Blues Studio Event feat The Plastics, Kombass, Dead Lucky 30th - My Flawless Ending, The Mysticcs, My Friends Bread Every Monday student night and Sixgun SessionsEvery Tuesday (from the 10th January) LMG quiz night Other 5th - The Curious Incident (UK) at Zula Bar 6th - Natasha Meister Band at Pakalolo 13th - Koos Kombuis at Die Boer 20th - Dans Dans Lisa, 3rd World Spectator and Obsessie Met Als at Meerhof, Tygerberg medical campus 26th - aKING and Band Wackoff finalists at ROAR Observatory 28th - Sixgun Gospel at Brass Bell 29th - Die Tuin Dwergies and Southern Gypsey Queen at Backsberg Wine Estate

JANUARY 2012

www.nivarecords.com

The Melting Pot 15 Church Street, Muizenberg Tel 021 788 9791 7th - Janine Blaq Pearl 13th - Derren English 14th - Manouche 20th - Steve Newman 21st - Umthwakazi 29th - David Knowles Every Wednesday - Open Mic Every Thursday - Reggae Nite

Cape Farmhouse Junction of M66 & M65, Bottom of Redhill Road, Tel: 021 780 1246 7th - Jampara and the Batalion (Reggae/Burundi drummers) 21st - Hot Water 28th - Little Kings

The Assembly 61 Harrington Street, Cape Town Tel: 021 465 7286 7th - Jack Parow and Friends Every Wednesday - See You Next Wednesday Every Friday - Discotheque

With a click of the play button,

after waiting patiently for this CD

to arrive in my postbox, I was

instantly greeted by a raw guitar

that shouted Fokofpolisiekar, and

by the time the vocals and drums

kicked in, I knew I wasnt going to

make use of the ‘skip’ button for

the next hour or so.

The album varies nicely

throughout in terms of the general

mood and vibe, one appearance

that was probably unexpected was

that of Jack Parow. The hair on my back pretty much fell off at first,

but after a few listens it started to grow on me and become one of my

favourites on the album.

The sounds and ideas that shun through were definitely fresh, keeping

me very entertained and pretty much comfortable to keep the album

on repeat for a couple of days...That’s saying a lot considering my

Afrikaans is pretty bad and I couldn’t understand half of WTF

Francois was singing about. I rate this album a perfect 5/5.

When Jack Parow got his bundle

of ‘kommon-ness’ at birth, I’m

pretty sure he kept most of it aside

for this album.

The tracks are very well produced

with exciting guest appearances

from Francois Van Coke, Gazelle

and P.H.Fat, who definitely

assisted in getting my head

moving as the songs moved on.

I had a good few laughs and pretty

much enjoyed the album, with my

favourite song being track 1, ‘Eksie Ou’. I rate this album 4/5.

When I grow up I want to be a booking agent

As a band, your main priority should be to make

good music, not worry about booking gigs and

interviews. That’s why many solo musicians and

bands seek out the services of a booking agent. The

booking agent must find work for his clients by

getting them into bars and shows and convincing

venue owners and event organisers that the band

will generate ticket sales. The booking agent

negotiates with the promoters on behalf of the band

and their management. He reserved dates and slots

at venues and shows and also negotiates the band’s

set fee or percentage of door takings.

A booking agent’s entire day consists of

communicating with managers, venue owners,

promoters and other bands, booking gigs for their

artists. The booking agent will be responsible for

organising shows in the band’s area as well as

organising tours. He will also have to constantly be

on the lookout for new acts to sign. New talent can

come from friend’s referrals, demo cds, Facebook,

local shows or from other people working in the

music industry. At the end of the day he will have to

trust his instinct in figuring out which bands have the

best potential to make it big and try to book them the

best shows, with the best bands, for the best pay.

Booking agents can work either independently or for

a larger booking agency. For a new band, there is a

definite advantage in being signed to a booking

agent that works for a large company. You have a

much better chance of getting an opening slot for a

bigger band if your booking agent works at the same

office as theirs. Booking agents get to know their

local venues and promoters really well and build up

good relationships with many of them, helping them

to secure good dates and slots.

Mike Pocock is a band manager and booking

agent at Southern Pulse, one of South Africa’s

largest artist management agencies. Mike works

with Dance, You’re on Fire, Wrestlerish, 3rd

World Spectator, Newtown Knife Gang, Southern

Gypsey Queen and The Newspapers.

Q: Mike, tell us how you became a band manager

and booking agent.

A: I kind of just fell into it. I started my musical career

at The David Gresham Record Company as a PR

and A&R and decided that I wanted to go into the

live sector of the industry. I started working with

Chromium and things started happening and then I

got in touch with Leon Retief (MD of Southern Pulse)

and he offered me the position of Music Manager at

Southern Pulse. I am also the label manager at the

company and we’re responsible for the release and

marketing of albums with artists such as Dance,

You’re On Fire, Southern Gypsey Queen, Not My

Dog, Tidal Waves and Catlike Thieves.

Q: Is there a certain degree or diploma that a

person should get before they start working as a

booking agent?

A: Well I have a qualification from the IMM and I

definitely feel this has given me an insight into

principles of marketing and business to get your

brand out there and have an edge over competitors.

All in all, it’s not a necessity I feel because you learn

things that no varsity can teach you as you go along,

so having an understanding of basic principles of

business, willingness to learn, an open mind and a

hard work ethic is enough.

Q: Are there many job opportunities for people

who want to be booking agents in South Africa?

A: There are all over the show. Bands are always

looking for managers and booking agents. It’s about

starting off with the right act to learn and hopefully

take them to the top. This industry is tiny here in

South Africa so knowing the right people in the right

positions is always a plus to take your act you

represent and yourself to the next level.

Q: So, if I’m just finishing school now and I want

to be a booking agent, what are my first steps?

Go out to shows, meet the bands, meet the

promoters and venue owners. Get to know them and

get an understanding on how the system works. It’s

not about what or who you know anymore, it’s about

who knows you and what you’re capable of.

Q: What does a typical day look like for you? Do

you often work weekends and public holidays

too?

A: All the time! If there’s a show I’m working on, I’m

there no matter what day it is. Sometimes it’s really

hard as you can have a night where you have five or

more shows on and you can only be at a few of them

if it’s possible. There is no such thing as typical day

in this industry! Everyday is different as the music

industry is constantly changing and keeping up and

setting the trends is the main challenge. Keeping

constant communication between your acts,

promoters and venues is an everyday occurrence.

Q: How does a booking agent make sure that

both they and the artists they represent have a

steady stream of income each month?

A: It’s challenging because, as we all know, the

industry is extremely tight on cash. There are only a

handful of acts that can make a living off their music.

Most bands have day jobs and you have to take this

into account when organising their musical lives.

Keeping a steady amount of decent paying and high

profile shows each month is the key. Some months

are dead in terms of shows for bands, that’s where

you have to try make up in other more popular

months to make up for this loss. I believe in more

quality shows than the quantity of shows for my acts.

Q: How many bands can a booking agent handle

at one time?

A: It’s different for everyone. Some bands take more

time than others to book and manage. Time

management is the key here. If your time

management skills aren’t up to scratch, then you

can’t take more than you can handle for the sake of

your acts and yourself.

Q: What’s more important in this job, a sense of

business or a love and understanding of music?

A: Both are just as important. You, as the booking

agent or manager, need to make sure you have the

artist’s best interests at hand. You need to

understand certain aspects of business to make a

success but you also need a passion for the music

industry as a whole. You have to be willing to work

with any genre of music even if you personally don’t

enjoy it.

Q: Is this something that you can make a career

of, or do you need to switch jobs when you get

older?

A: You can definitely make a career of it. Yes, times

do get tough like it does with any job, but you need

to have perseverance and a drive to make a success

of it. You are the only one who can determine this.

Q: Best part of the job?

A: There are too many to choose from. I think the

one thing that stands out is that you meet so many

great people that become friends for life and if your

artist becomes a massive success, knowing that you

were a part of that is the probably the most satisfying

feeling in the world.

Visit Southern Pulse’s website

www.southernpulse.co.za for band bios and tour

schedules for artists like aKing, Zebra & Giraffe,

Wrestlerish and Karen Zoid or find them on

Facebook.

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