South African Music?
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Music genres originate from specific times and places. The genres have always been directly associated with the people and places that were responsible for creating and shaping them. South Africa’s pop/rock music scene is not surprisingly abundant with identity crises and musical contradictions. Some of these creations are interesting but most of them are expected and sometimes painful to endure.
Taxi Violence could easily be mistaken for an American rock band on first and second listen. The Dirty Skirts could easily be mistaken for a British rock band (playing Bloc Party covers live make it that much easier to draw comparison). Prime Circle sounds exactly like a more advert-ready version of the Americanized Seether. The all black South African rockers BLK JKS have been inaccurately dubbed the African version TV on the Radio by American music press.
These are the better-known examples of successful South African rock bands with identity issues. Then there are the Afrikaans Christian Punks Straatligkinders collaborating with Hip Hop group Kold-Produkt. Does singing a genre in a different language automatically make it your own? American style Hip Hop sung in Xhosa might still be American Hip Hop in the same way Punk Rock sung in Afrikaans might still just be Punk Rock. The most juicy and complex genre blending/appropriating however is found on the (for lack of a better word) ‘underground’ scene. Johannesburg based Desmond & the Tutus incorporate Qwela Pop into their danceable indie tunes. New Cape Town poppers Beatenberg grab some suspiciously direct influence from Paul Simon’s African music inspired masterpiece 'Graceland' (1986). In the South African context these fusions all just gets even more complex, ironic, exciting and sometimes funny.
Where can you draw the line on the authenticity of a group’s sound? Are music genres exclusive in any way? Should there be any guilt associated with playing a style of music that so obviously came from a place far removed from where you are? No. There is nothing wrong with it. The British and American accents that South African singers put on can be tasteless and it is always disappointing to hear the same sound again and again. The truth is that you can’t fault a band/musician for not sounding South African enough (similarly with artistic practice), especially when the globalization of the Music and Art industries makes ‘where you come from’ increasingly irrelevant. Honestly though, in a place so diverse in culture as South Africa it is a shame not to draw on local influence even just on a superficial level. South Africa is so hot right now.
posted by Hugh Upsher at 11:22 AM
13 Comments:
Ok. This is quite a long response.
Rock music has been a way for a predominantly white South African youth to dissociate themselves from our apartheid past and certain elements of white guilt and all that jazz. That's not to say that all rock listeners in South Africa are understanding liberals who'll fight for freedom etc. What you do have is a demographic avoiding any debate or dissection of our collective past whatsoever.
A band is mostly driven by it's audiences' tastes. People going out to a club to watch a band don't want to wrestle with issues of racism while gulping down 4 Hunter's Dry's after a long day at work. But it also says a lot about the people making this music. Especially lyricists and lead singers. The 'accent' is a subconcsious thing mostly, but it speaks volumes; (pun: shameful) but I have been in recording studios where the engineer insisted on using an american 'can't' instead of our flatter South African inflection - and those of you who think we're the only ones with this problem listen to the great Radiohead or the new wave of American bands copying British accents like... um I can't think of any right now, but I have heard it, I swear. There are exceptions though, bands like Fokofpolisiekar have approached the idea of Afrikaner identity for a new generation, and many others are slowly but surely starting to wrestle with identity. But certain Afrikaans bands I know sing in English because they hope that it will open foreign doors for them. Fair enough.
Is there an authentic sound? No. I don't think so. Does it matter? Not really.
South Africa IS so hot right now. And I do believe identity should be an integral part of whatever art you produce, nobody wants to listen to a copy of a copy of a copy. I'd rather listen to a serial killer black metal band than listen to another bloody remix of sweet dreams.
I agree with much of what you're saying, Simon. And those yank bands that fake Brit accents: try Hot Hot Heat and Green Day on for size as the most obvious recent examples...
The weird thing is, re your first paragraph, is that historically rock in SA was more liberal than anything else: think Cherry-Faced Lurchers (Phillips in general), Bright Blue, Koos, the whole Shifty Records phenomenon... It was vehemently anti-state. Something shifted when we emerged from apartheid, and bar Nude Girls and Fokof, there has been little exciting or original to emerge from SA since then.
I think since then, white rock has been hamstrung by two predominating forces: 1. Corporatizing the rock experience: events like Oppikoppi, which used to be quite counterculture and nice have now acquired these massive booze sponsorships, and the rock becomes the loss leader to sell beer. The result is hardly groundbreaking.
2. Warehouse-sized evangelical religion, which acts as a crucible for 60-70% of young musicianship, at least up here: i live in JHB, and the amount of times my musical ambitions have been thwarted by the fact that I'm not from Rhema when the other three okes standing staring at me in the band room are, is actually astounding. Not that I'm an anti-religious bigot, but I DO believe that one's capacity for adventurousness is hampered by staunch Christianity's social strictures. If your emphasis is praise and worship, the chances that you're going to push any boundaries, social, aesthetic or otherwise, are minimal.
This is why Fokof are such an important band: their nihilism (Kan iemand dalk n God bel, and se vir hom ons het hom nie meer nodig nie?), in the vein of their predecessors the Nude Girls, seems to be connected with their confidence in marking out some new aesthetic territory, where most of their contemporaries, as Hugh rightly says, are happy to ape styles they hear on the radio and see on MTV.
Ultimately, tho, i think we need to start producing smarter bands, bands that have one or two ideas in their heads AND can write decent melodies and catchy chord progressions. Enough of these one-trick pony cardboard cut-outs of rock stars: own it, you wannabes, and contribute something genuinely fresh!
that should be 'vir hom se': sorry.
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I guess my entry was more of a plea to encourage musicians not to isolate themselves. It is not surprising that the most successful SA rock bands (excluding Fokofpolisiekar) play a more international type of sound but its to their detriment if they intend to be anything more than just another rock band that happens to be located in South Africa. Some positive examples that get me personally excited are:
The few Aerosmith/RUN DMC moments like Danny K & Mandoza or Straatligkinders & Kold Produkt. I predict many more in the future. Lets hope they are all for the sake of creating good music and not failed crossover appeal attempts in Danny K's case.
When bands like Taxi Violence and The Slashdogs make an effort use South African imagery in their artwork and videos.
When The Dirty Skirts drop a lyric about Long Street or the streets of Cape Town it just gives the song a sense of logic.
When Desmond & The Tutus release an EP with over 90 different names derived from local and international celebrities (The image attached to the original article is an example. Others include Derek & The Watts, Bobby & The Skinstads, Shabir & The Shaiks)
Even though there is limited penetration into the sound of the bands it always helps to be self aware. I hesitate to say it gives me a little bit of nation pride.
But to return to your point, generic schlock that mentions Long Street instead of Sunset Boulevard is still generic schlock.
This whole argument is really interesting, and it's something that visual artists deal with all the time too, are we obliged to make our work '(South) African' because we work in a supposed periphery that needs to define us, and who gets to say what 'African' means anyway, a US record label?
Certainly, there is a lot of incredibly generic, vapid music around in South Africa at the moment. The insipidness of the lineup at Rocking the Daisies was a perfect testament to that - where the only act I was really impressed by was Dan Patlansky (who is also about as un-South African as they come, but can REALLY play guitar). And I still get tears in my eyes every time I see Chris Chameleon strumming an acoustic guitar in a field (what happened to the pencil moustache and glitter hotpants and original sound)
Anyway, what I found really interesting re. anonymous is that you'd see the Nudies as Fokof's predecessors, as opposed to looking to the Voelvry movement of the 80s (Johannes Kerkorrel and his Gereformeerde Blues Band,Koos Kombuis etc.) who were absolutely anti-state and politically aware - an instance where,Hugh, language was at the very centre of their production, as it is with Fokofpolisiekar.
That said, I don't think that a band needs to be overtly political or completely counter-cultural to be good, but it would be great if SA bands tried a little more honesty (I'm trying to avoid the word integrity here) in their sound and lyrics, instead of just appealing to the Truworths Indies and Cockhard Cap-wearing MDMA Jocks that frequent 'rock' festivals at the moment and, well, The Assembly.
At least schlock that mentions Long St. implies band members aware enough to remember where it is that they're playing.
i have to admit, i totally forgot about the 80's, as i have no experience of the industry or the 'scene' (god i hate that word). but i think this topic ties in quite nicely with the video julie donald posted below, the ted talk by Nigerian writer,Chimamanda Adichie. She questions too, exactly what is an "African" story. Very interesting. Anonymous, there's a large contingent of religious rock in the cape too, and they always get funding from their churches and parents, and (like Adichie says) it's dangerous to support only one narrative.
ps. can we maybe stop this whole anonymous thing on the blog?
Re: Simon.
Anonymity is one of the reasons that we launched ArtHeat in the first place, because we didn't feel we had the freedom to say what we wanted to within the SA artworld. So, though blatant Anonymity isn't necisarily encouraged (pseudonyms, for example,make for easier reading & referencing), it will never be banned. I do agree that some kind of name makes things easier though.
HI Simon,
Anonymous 3.31 form above is Michael Smith: I'm not shy, just too dumb to learn how to use the Google account thing to get a legit identity here.
Yes, Linda, you make a good point about Voelvry. I suppose by mentioning James Philips I was referring to that whole phenomenon.
I think more than any kind of geopgraphical/flavour authenticity, i would be interested in contemporary sa music that at least tells genuine stories, or expresses with some honesty the experiences that the writers have had. As i implied, most stuff emering from here adopts a pose of rock rebellion, like Linda's Truworths indie kids, and just seems like what it is: privileged varsity kids toying with this fame notion. Reminds me a bit of the art world...
I also suppose the same is true of the states and britain: nickelback, staind, keane etc are not that different from prime circle, eden and that ilk...
yeah linda, i mean pseudonyms, i believe people should retain their true identity/gender/face/place... but at least make a name up or something. i don't want to feel like i'm talking to the same 'anonymous' through each thread. maybe i'll write a post about it.
and yes michael. the nail has on the head been hit. i'm pretty sure that cultural producers have the same problem with nickelback/busted overseas.
What do you think would happen if you or your band played a gig in the townships?
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