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What's brewing, Freshlyground?
02/11/2007 12:43 - (SA)
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| Freshlyground. (Photo supplied) |
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Birgit Ottermann
Cape Town - Freshlyground are kicking off their first South African summer tour this Friday with a concert in Cape Town, followed by concerts in Port Elizabeth, Durban and Johannesburg.
The Cape Town based seven-piece band will entertain fans with their greatest hits as well as songs off their latest album Ma Cheri, which was released in September and has already earned Platinum plus sales status.
Freshlyground is nothing short of a music sensation, earning an MTV Europe Music Award, racking up huge radio airplay and performing live before a massive number of people.
The band has toured extensively over the last two years across Southern Africa and Europe, and they have plans to tackle Australia and the US over the next couple of years.
News24 caught up with Freshlyground for a quick Q&A before their concert at Grand West in Cape Town. News24 asked a selection of questions submitted by News24 users.
What advice would you give to young people in South Africa who would like to start out a career in the music industry?
The most important thing is to have an original voice and be completely committed to sweating for a few years to get "out there". It takes time and a lot of hard work!
Just be strong and sure of yourself and try to educate yourself in all the areas of the industry - especially the business side.
Would you consider going on tour in African countries like Zambia? Have you got any plans for the near future?
We would definitely be interested in touring in Africa and are just waiting for some invitations from other African countries to have us come and perform there.
Where do you see yourselves in five years? Some of you have ventured into doing some solo acts with much success. Do you want to be known as international artists or a South African band making it big only South Africa?
We don't have a detailed plan for the next five years yet, but we would like to record some more albums together and branch out a bit by working with other producers both here in South Africa and overseas.
We want to be known as both international artists and make it big here at home. We want to continue making music and making a living of it.
I love your new album, but why did you not leave it to 12 songs? There are at least 3 to 4 weaker songs on the album. Without them you probably would have a much better chance of success. Many bands make this mistake because the CD format allows it.
Send us your ultimate track listing and perhaps we can give you more insight into why some of the "weaker" songs are on there.
I just love your latest song Pot Belly. What is the story behind the song, what inspired it? And, what inspired the title Ma Cheri of your latest CD?
Zolani wrote the lyrics for Pot Belly. The lyrics are inspired by the way that many people have negative perceptions of their bodies, especially women. And it is just a positive message to say that the shape of you is not really what matters - we all have a lot of love to give from within.
Ma'cheri is a bit of a play on words. A lot of the songs on the album are inspired by love. And, "Ma'cheri" is an endearing term for your significant other - even in our local lingo.
When will your new album be released abroad? I'm in Washington, DC and listening to your CD over and over again. I'm also introducing it to my friends here so that they can listen to real music!
We are trying our utmost to secure a release abroad, hopefully very soon.
Don't you think that, though you waited two odd years or so before releasing your next album, it was slightly premature and you should have perhaps waited longer? (Many SA groups end up killing their musical careers by releasing another album, before dust has gathered on the last.)
It's been almost three years since our last release. Do you not think it was worth the wait?
Where does your daily inspiration come from?
We are all inspired by just living our lives, seeing the hustle and bustle of every day. The inspiration is merely our reflection of what we see.
How are you going to emulate your previous album, seeing that the current one seems to be low on radio airplay and perhaps low on sales? And, are we going to see the group performing in black townships sometime (where probably 50% of your market is)?
We think that our new album is doing pretty well. We have sold 40 000 copies in less than two months of its release - it's early days still.
We would definitely love to play in more black townships around the country but in terms of our production costs we are really struggling to find suppliers and promoters who would make it viable for us to do those gigs.
Even if we could break even, we would love to come and do the shows but at the moment it would cost us money to do it and we just can't afford it.
We realise that many of our fans are in the townships and when we do play there we always receive an overwhelmingly positive response.
Are there any lovers or couples within the group?
No, sorry!
How did you all meet? You've got quite a big band with seven members from different backgrounds. How do you manage the dynamics within the band. And, what would you say is your recipe for success?
We all met in Cape Town through fate and a bit of luck - the details are not really that interesting. What matters, though, is that we are here now. Our recipe for success is simple: there is no recipe!
News24 winner: Sipho Mokobane of Johannesburg has won Freshlyground's latest CD Ma Cheri by sending in the best question for our Q&A.
- News24
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