En en jy (is lank reeds verby) is ’n intieme, akoestieke versameling van liedjies hoofsaaklik geïnspireerd deur die idees van konflik en kontras, sowel as die erkenning van die einde van ’n verhouding en ’n terugblik daarna na dit wat goed was.
Hunted Women is an electric guitar-driven shade of full-band folk-rock, with hints of bluesy and gospel influences, about people who are trying to escape the ghosts of the past. The EP is self produced by frontman Floris Groenewald with the main band being Hewie Becker on bass, Tebatso Rampedi on drums, and Nina Kajee providing backing vocals.
These songs are the first previews from our upcoming DOUBLE EP release, Hunted Women and Ek en jy (is lank reeds verby), both dropping on 12 November.
Picture by Christelle Duvenage
“HUNTED WOMAN is about getting to know someone, but realising they have a past that haunts them. Nobody is baggage-free, manic pixie dream girls don’t exist, and sometimes you just need to take comfort in a one-night stand or a glass of whiskey.”
Frontman Floris Groenewald
HUNTED WOMAN is a little darker than most KABAAL KLANKBAAN songs, with organ and pounding drums adding a somewhat theatrical element to an imperfect love story of a woman who’s looking for an escape, and a man who is trying but failing to help her. The single features a punchy energy and instrumentation that neatly underscores the narrative, but also thematically gives a great preview of what the full EP is about.
Picture by Floris Groenewald
“SOMS gaan oor die wonde van die verlede wat ons soms saam met ons dra, wat nie regtig welkom is in nuwe verhoudings nie, maar onvermydelik ‘n invloed daarop het. Dit word aangebied uit die oogpunt van iemand wat wonder oor hul minnaar se verlede.”
Liedjieskrywer Floris GRoenewald
Die enkelsnit is ‘n energieke, tradisionele Afrikaanse folk-rocklied wat kontrasteer met die liriese inhoud – die klassieke ‘sad song, with a beat‘. Die energieke akoestiese klank van hierdie liedjie is ‘n lekker inleiding tot wat volg, en hopelik ‘n toeganklike storie met emosionele relevante lirieke wat aan die gevoelige kant van verhoudings raak, maar nie te swaarmoedig is nie.
The video for NOT TONIGHT, JOSEPHINE was shot over the course of two days in late October and early November, around the band’s home base in the Pretoria’s Moot area. Directed by frontman Floris Groenewald, who together with photographer extraordinaire, friend of the band and lead actor in the video, Marnus Strydom, took turns shooting. The video stars Adél Swanepoel, aka cosplayer Avelyn Swan, as the female lead.
With a simple concept featuring a run-and-gun guerilla shooting style, the video was inspired by French New Wave film director Jean-Luc Godard. In 1960, he released a film called A Bout de Soufflé (aka Breathless), and KABAAL KLANKBAAN‘s video is very much a homage to, or a mini-remake of the film. They decided that doing this kind of visual tribute not only enables them to retell a fun little story in their own style, but also borrow some of the built-in 60’s French ‘cool factor‘, and reference a classic for any cinephiles who happen to see it.
“We definitely wanted to do something that’s somewhat out-of-the-box and a music video that we haven’t seen before. I have a serious soft spot for French New Wave films in general, and specifically for Breathless, and since the movie already addresses similar themes to the song, features an unconventional will-they/won’t-they relationship, and practically welcomes homage through leading by example, it felt like the perfect fit.” – Floris Groenewald.
Fans can look forward to a black-and-white mini-movie about a guy who’s on the run, who meets up with a woman and hides out with her. The band tried to mimic the French New Wave style that inspired the video through using jumpcuts, handheld cameras, documentary-style production values, and very lightly touching on the existential themes presented in the original film. But of course, they have also included their signature tongue-in-cheek sense of humour.
Today is kinda officially Kabaal klankbaan’s 10th birthday. And it’s been a weird ten years. On 2 October 2010 I played my first show as “Kabaal klankbaan”. Before that I released a couple of (badly) home-recorded songs on the internet, but I can’t remember when the first one dropped, so I guess 2 October is as officialy of a birthday as possible.
I’m pretty sure we were waiting for the Venga Bus to come. Bus stop photos by Christelle Duvenage.
To mark the occasion, I thought it would be cool to release a song (in the form of a lyric video, for now). I wrote The Flogsta Scream a couple of years ago when I first found out about the phenomenon of students in Sweden communicating via the ritual of a 10PM anonymous and long-distance screaming session. I watched this video on YouTube and the concept fascinated me. There’s something beautiful about the primal connection with another human being made simply through sound. You know, almost like with music. But for whatever reason, I didn’t really know what to do with the song, so I just recorded a demo on my phone and left it.
Then lockdown happened.
Suddenly, there was something super relatable about being stuck somewhere, with a constant sense of anxiety, and being cut off from most everyday forms of communication and connection with other people. The time had come to record the song. Even better, I found the idea of doing it remotely, via the internet, super appropriate. I got some drum tracks recorded via email, and put out a call on social media for people to sing along with the final chorus. I’m very happy with how it all came out, but judge for yourself:
Okay but we also did stuff as a band.
Lockdown threw a spanner in the works, but we managed to postpone our recording plans to August. We went to High Seas Studios in Joburg, and recorded a new version of Not Tonight, Josephine. Look out for it wherever songs are found end of October.
Lastly, we’ve got a real-life show coming up
WOOHOO PLAYING REAL INSTRUMENTS IN FRONT OF REAL PEOPLE IN THE REAL SUNSHINE. We’re playing at Park Acoustics on 25 October. Also on the lineup is Matthew Mole, Bye Beneco, and The Great Yawn. Get your tickets for R150 at https://bit.ly/3illoMe – due to regulations, there’s only 500 tickets available, so act fast!
Okay here’s your summary if you skipped all the words to just get to the juice:
It’s our 10th birthday today. If you wanna eat cake, that’s cool.
Kabaal klankbaan is proud to announce a brand new cover album, Ricky Martin.
Featuring Kabaal klankbaan’s recreations of the 14 songs from Ricky Martin’s eponymous 1999 album, we decided that 19 years is the perfect gestation period for this album — in 2018, the world might finally be ready to appreciate its artistic merit.
Tracks:
1. Livin’ la Vida Loca
2. Spanish Eyes
3. She’s All I Ever Had
4. Shake Your Bon-Bon
5. Be Careful (Cuidado Con Mi Corazón) (featuring Madonna)
6. I Am Made of You
7. Love You for a Day
8. Private Emotion
9. The Cup of Life
10. You Stay with Me
11. Livin’ la Vida Loca (Afrikaans version)
12. I Count the Minutes
13. Bella (She’s All I Ever Had)
14. Maria
Die Hard, Jaws, Michael Myers, The Sith – and even Freddy Krueger had their revenge. Now it’s our turn, with
The Bride of Halloween 2:
Plan B from Outer Space
And this time, it’s personal.
[LOL j/k]
Yes, it’s the unnecessary but very-much desired sequel to last year’s Kabaal klankbaan-hosted Halloween gig. Taking place on 28 October at The Good Luck Bar in Johannesburg, and featuring The Fake Leather Blues Band, Wolfgang Marrow, and The Black Cat Bones – all putting their best skeletal foot forward to bring you something completely different..
Questions?
What is The Bride of Halloween? The Bride of Halloween is the culmination of Kabaal klankbaan frontman Floris’ obsession with Halloween. It’s a gig where Kabaal klankbaan does a one-night-only Halloween-themed show full of songs about ghosts, robots, mad scientists, creepy stalkers, voodoo dolls, and supernatural things.
You can think of it as a tribute concert. But instead of a tribute to The Beatles or Pearl Jam or Alien Ant Farm, it’s a tribute night to Halloween itself – focusing on a love for movie tropes from Hollywood’s Horror and science-fiction cinema of the 1930’s to 50’s.
We’ll aim to transport you to a late-night double feature celebration of everything strange, theatrical, musical and Halloweeny. Throw back to a bygone era where stories were bold, scares were legit, and the chances of survival were slim…
Wait, did you say “one night only”?
Indeed. Contrary to popular wisdom and advice to just keep doing the same show over and over again, Kabaal klankbaan likes things special and exclusive. Most of last year’s show ended up on YouTube, but this year’s won’t, so you’ll have to be there, or stay in the metaphorical dark forever!
I missed the first The Bride of Halloween – will I be confused?
Not at all. Though the name contains the number 2 and a subtitle, in proper B-movie style there’s nothing to catch up, or no real plot to miss out on. It’s one-night, self-contained fun!
Will The Bride of Halloween be bigger/better/cheaper than another show on the same night?
Obviously. R50 (if you’re dressed for Halloween, R60 otherwise) is pretty amazing value for money! It’s the cheapest Halloween gig in Gauteng that I know of, PLUS it’s the only one that’s as thoroughly Halloween-themed featuring some special just-for-one-night covers.
Why aren’t there any international acts on the lineup?
Because they’re expensive. If you want international, catch Alien Ant Farm at The Good Luck Bar on the previous night – Friday 27 October!
Did you say “Halloween band”?
Actually I didn’t. But now that you mention it – Kabaal klankbaan has once again assembled a full band to do the Halloweening with. ALL THIS STILL FOR ONLY R50!
Nope, this has nothing to do with my song of the same name – I guess I now have to apologise for using such a terrible click-bait subject line.
Sorry
But sometimes, when you really want people to get your message, you have to trick them into opening your emails. Here’s what I think is important to know: (If you hate all this support-your-local-musician nonsense, skip to the bottom of the post where there’s a new YouTube video and gig listing)
How to easily and cheaply support a musician or band
Numbers are important, as much as they suck. Not only to the band, but often also to anyone looking from the outside and judging the band (to maybe book them for an event or festival, for example). I’ve always dreamt of being one of those more-than-1000-Facebook-likes bands, but trends change and growth plateaus and you end up stuck on 600-and-something for more time than you’d like to admit:
So here’s some things you can do about it:
(Not only for Kabaal klankbaan, but for all bands or musicians you like)
On all these platforms, also interact with the band. Comments, likes, downloads, retweets, including a song in a playlist, watch videos, etc, are all probably way more valuable than you think. Not only to make it look like the band has fans, but also to get more people noticing things.
And old-school, but not least
Request their songs on your favourite radio station (Kabaal klankbaan’s Robot Girlfriend has been playlisted on MixFM, KovsieFM, MFM, PUK FM, Radio Active Rock, Red Cap Radio, IFM, The Grind Radio, and maybe even one or two I’m not aware of)
Open the emails they send you so they don’t feel like lonely and worthless spammers
Tell your friends, and/or share links
And for those with a few bucks to spare, remember to
I almost forgot to tell you about our new YouTube video
It’s from our (soon-to-be annual) Halloween show, The Bride of Halloween (mark your calenders for 29 October). Here’s Kabaal klankbaan’s cover of the werewolfy Eels song, Fresh Blood:
Also, did I ever tell you about my creepy Chris Chameleon cover that went online last month? (see, that’s why you should subscribe on YouTube)
Or our rendition of Dammit Janet (from The Rocky Horror Picture Show)?
Here are some upcoming shows for the winter (but check Facebook or our website for updates)
