posted by Jasyn Howes on 23rd November 2009
Ard (vocals and guitar): No worries man, it's the way forward. You didn't leave the other gear on did you? Ha Ha!
Ard: Yeah I Kite quite a bit and I bodyboarded my whole life on the bluff in Durban.
Brent (drums): I like to swim, don't know if that counts. Ha!
Ard: Who's that oke who used to be a sick bodyboarder? Alistair something man! Who's that oke? He was in some band or something, he wasn't the singer, I think him and the drummer were brothers and they both used to bodyboard. They were those bodyboarding brothers from Durban about 15 years ago man! They used to kill it man, I knew those okes... anyway! Ha!
Denholm (bass): Ja man, remember we used to hang out with that guy who knew that other guy! Ha Ha!
Brent: Exciting, we feel recharged. Living in LA for six years was tough. It's a tough city.
Denholm: It feels good to be back, we feel inspired, we feel the music is going to be inspired. It's a good time to be back. There's a big buzz in the country at the moment.
Ard: Well when we set out we never intended to call it home. We were there for a purpose and we ended up spending more time there than we thought we would. We were securing a deal with a record label and establishing our "business" to a point where we could decide where we wanted to call home. Up to that point we had to hustle to establish ourselves over there. We had to bite the bullet and make it work over there, we missed our family and friends but we knew what we wanted and we went for it. So now when we tour we leave from SA and we come back to SA.
Brent: Everyone struggles in LA you know. It's a tough town but you have to make it work. We made it work for over 6 years and that was hard enough.
Denholm: We made it happen man. We were lucky though; we had a pool of investors who invested in our band like a business. We were managed by some big names and had development deals with Capitol Records, but we still had to struggle and we definitely didn't live like we live here.
Brent: Ja man it's blooming over here now. Guys are selling lots of records, playing to big crowds. The festivals have grown like this one right here. It's exactly what we wanted to come home to.
Denholm: The music has expanded, there is a lot more of it now. There was always good music in SA but now there is a lot more of it. People will always say "It's nothing compared to overseas, there are so many good bands there" but there are also a lot of crap bands as well. The only difference is that there are so many good bands that the bad ones don't really get a chance to feature, whereas here the talent never got the recognition it deserved. The industry itself in SA is still a bit lacking, but hopefully with musicians and us coming back we can share what we've learnt and help it to grow. I watch MK and I'm blown away.
Brent: I like Zebra and Giraffe they're pretty cool.
Denim: aKing are kiff.
Ard: Ja, I like aKing, I think they got some great stuff. I went to their video launch the other night and I loved it I think the singers got sick pipes. There are a lot of other bands that I've heard that also sound great, I don't remember names that well.
Denholm: The Afrikaans scene has also grown, like those bands that spawned from Fokof and I've been out in Pretoria and to other festivals and heard people singing along to these songs and it's fantastic to see people supporting their own. It's about time there were some South African super stars.
Ard: It's actually been really cool, cause I'm living down in Cape Town and I've even signed some autographs for young guys, which tells me we're still relevant. We are concerned though, we actually headlined a gig a month ago at the GrandWest where we insisted on an earlier slot because we didn't want to miss out on all the kids who were going to be there. It is good to know that the parents and the generation before have handed the music down.
Denholm: When we played Aardklop festival in Potchefstroom we played Father and Father and not many people knew that one, but then when we played What It Means then all the lighters came out. It was rad to see it.
Brent: It's good to know that songs that we recorded 15 plus years ago are still relevant. Now that we are back we are going to make every effort to make sure we once more become a recognizable brand and not just a band. That's what SA music is becoming, a real commodity that we only got a taste of in the mid 90's with the Nude Girls and us.
Ard: We just finished recording it and it's the first time we've ever recorded as a 3 piece. We had 5 tracks recorded with 4 that we had recorded in LA, but we've just gotten into recording tracks as just the 3 of us and we were very impressed with the results. Naturally we think it's the best work we've done so far because your newest is always your best work. We've also got some stuff that is exclusive for SA audiences so they can tell us what they think before it goes into the new album.
Brent: It's beautiful.
Ard: The vibe is awesome...
Brent: How do you compare a festival in the Cape to anywhere else? Let's be honest.
Denholm: It's in the Cape, one of the finest places in the world. We had no idea what to expect from Daisies but from what we've seen it's awesome.
Brent: I recycle.
Denholm: Yeah, I don't leave the water running on when I brush my teeth and all that stuff.
Ard: Having lived in California we are super aware of all of that cause over there it's a serious issue and they are jacked up in that regard. We got into a lot of good habits because of it. What's good to know is that SA is in fact leading in a lot of ways. Our only downfall is how much we travel, we leave quite a footprint from that.
Ard: My Life Foundation with Lindy Promise is the founder, a very dear friend of ours. She has spent a lot of time in the streets rehabilitating street kids and has a remarkable success rate. We made a decision a long time ago that even though we were struggling in LA we were still really blessed and it was time for us to give back. We are aware that we can't always be doing stuff for our own gain. What's really cool is that the more we've given the more has come back to us.
Interviewed by Jasyn Howes at Rocking The Daisies 2009 for Sixty40 magazine.
Just Jinjer Tour - Just Jinjer will be on tour at various venues in South Africa throughout December 2009 - check out the dates for a gig near you.
Just Jinjer on iTunes - grab their latest single "What He Means" from iTunes.
Sixty40 Bodyboarding Magazine issue #10 will be available in early December, subscribe now and get your copy early.
972 views
 | Kobus Blom 25th November 2009 11:43 |
| Awesome oke's, awesome band!! | |
 | mac13 24th November 2009 08:56 |
| nice work guys!! | |