Afro, as in African flavour. Funk would be a state of excitement gained from moving in rhythm and AlanFunk is a South African state of mind. Its a melting pot of African funk.
Couldn’t be better. Things are looking up. My songs have been playlisted on Capricorn FM, UJ FM, Radio 2000 and Bay FM. Hopefully it won’t stop there
How long have you been singing?
I have been singing ever since I can remember. I was that annoying little kid who sang at the top of my voice ALL THE TIME. But as I grew older the singing became a little softer and eventually had it drummed into my head that a smart girl like me would be wasting my time with music. So I pursued other options and found my way back to music. I did a demo in 2006 and started working on this EP this year. Next year I start work on a full length album.
Abavuki is a mash-up of different sounds, by the looks of it. What do you call your music?
We normally refer to it as African Jazz, but given your food reference, let’s make it Afro-fusion!
Where’d you all learn to play the trombone?
We have 4 brass players in the group. Thulani and Mwamadoda who play the trombone, were both taught at school, the Symphony orchestra did an outreach programme. Thando and Ndima were taught to play the trumpet by Simpiwe Matole from Amampondo
By now, it’s probably safe to say that producers, DJs and remixers have cottoned onto both the commodification of dance music and the ease of use for most music production platforms. But after frying our minds at Rocking the Daisies this weekend, we’re probably not in the mood for techno-babble, so let’s take a layman’s look at four things which make being a DJ/Producer in the Zeroes a cool hobby. Or job.
Ahead of the curve
Claude von Stroke: the perfect example of minimal techno popularised through Beatport.
Purple. That’s the colour of trip-hop. It’s a deep, muted purple sound that floats into the thick, velvet curtains of the theatre venue. And despite the pop-art stickers bearing the grainy lettering ‘Tapedeck Circuitry’ all over the sleek silver Macbook digital Line6 keyboard and synthesizer in the background, it’s an analogue sound. Cue neuvo trip-hop. It’s not the first time this stuff’s going down in Cape Town — we’re on party #5 here. Ripe.
Johnny Cradle: forefront of the emerging African trip-hop trend. SA Music Vids on Zoopy | YouTube | Facebook