The chance to interview one of South Africa’s top rock bands of all time was a dream come true for this small town girl and it was with great anticipation that I arrived at Margate Main Beach to meet the five piece rock band known as Prime Circle.
The rain did not seem to dampen the mood as the guys performed their sound check in front of an already growing audience and as I sat backstage waiting to chat to Ross, Marco, Neil, Dale and Dirk my nerves seemed to disappear, largely due to the friendliness of all the crew. Ross Learmonth, the lead singer and guitarist, was the first one to come backstage to meet me and as he shook my hand his friendly and warm personality made me feel at ease. We sat down and were shortly joined by Marco Gomes, the very talented bass guitarist. I had a brief meeting with Neil, Dirk and Dale but my interview time was spent with Marco and Ross, two very down to earth and friendly guys, who honestly do not see just how famous they are.
When I questioned them about the moment they woke up and realised just how famous they were, Marco turned to me and said, “we are not famous, our music is”, and the sincerity was genuine and clear in both of them. They have been performing together for ten years and you can see the clear feeling of brotherhood between them.
I asked Marco and Ross if they found that life had changed much in terms of fame and they feel that they still live normal lives, they get approached by fans and when they do it is the ultimate compliment to them when people want to know more about their music. I loved what Ross said when he said how they feel extremely proud of their music and compared this to that of a parent being proud of their child for an achievement, their music is what they feel proud about not their fame and they have plenty to be proud of.
Prime Circle has recently been nominated for 6 SAMA’s (South African Music Awards), and this is no small deal. “It was completely unexpected”, said Ross and they are on top of this world. They were nominated in six categories, including;
Best Duo or Group,
Album of the Year (Jekyll and Hyde),
Record of the Year (for Breathing off of Jekyll and Hyde),
Best Rock Album in the English category (Jekyll and Hyde),
Best Producer (Theo Crous), and
Best Album Packaging (Jekyll and Hyde)
As you can see Prime Circle have really taken their music to another level and they will be leaving for a tour of Europe, which kicks off on the 20th of May 2011 and includes Germany, Netherlands and Norway. They will be returning home in June 2011 and I am sure the overseas reaction will be nothing short of phenomenal. The South African market has recently taken the Jekyll and Hyde album to Platinum status, which means sales of more than 40 000 albums and in a music market very much revolved around illegal downloads and copies this is an outstanding accomplishment for the five member band, who hail from a small town in Gauteng. They are clearly excited but they keep their down to earth demeanour and are only grateful for their millions of fans who appreciate what they love to do.
I asked them about their loyalty to South Africa if they crack the big time overseas and I used the band Seether (used to be Saron Gas) as an example of a SA band that since making it huge internationally seem to have forgotten their roots, but not these guys. Ross said that they realise if that happened they would have to be away from home for long periods of time but they are so deeply rooted in South Africa and proud to be so.
Prime Circle are genuine, salt of the earth people and as much as I gushed and professed my slightly obsessive fan status they just kept thanking me for loving their work.
They all complement each other and know their band mates strengths and weaknesses and this combination has proved to make this band one heck of a success and with more success soon to be coming their way, I can’t help but feeling extremely grateful to have had the chance to get a glimpse into the minds of these fantastic people.
Marco and Ross did not bat an eyelid when I asked for an autograph and Ross even hugged me and thanked me for a great interview. I was on top of the world and so were the thousands of people at Africa Bike Week who watched them perform their hits. To screams from fans they belted out all the tunes people love to love.
Prime Circle – you rock and I am sure many will join me in wishing you all the best for the upcoming international tour and we look forward to seeing you again on the South Coast.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
New Blogs coming Soon!
I am waiting for the go ahead from Just Jinjer, a well established SA rock band, and The December Streets, a new funky band from Pretoria. So keep checking for these articles. They going to rock!
Share this with all music lovers.
My next post will be the article I wrote when I interviewed Prime Circle a few months back. Read it, share it, love SA Music!
Share this with all music lovers.
My next post will be the article I wrote when I interviewed Prime Circle a few months back. Read it, share it, love SA Music!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
SA Music
Some call me a crazy fan but I like to think I just know great music and I do become a tad fanatical about it and I want everyone to like it as much as me.
I am massive fan of South African bands and those who know me well, will know Prime Circle and Just Jinjer are up there in the top. I don't think SA music gets enough exposure and this blog is for me to write about the music I love and in doing that, hopefully, expose more people to the abundance of awesomeness our music industry has to offer.
I had the honour of interviewing Prime Circle a while back and it was one of the greatest moments of my life, because these guys create music! Real, honest music. Not the studio created cr*p that so many artists call "music" these days.
If you are a band and think you have amazing music that I could write about send me a link, if you are like me and love REAL music, send me links to hear what you love and hopefully in doing that we can bring our South African artists more fame, the fame they deserve.
It doesn't have to be South African, although that is what my main focus is, but I just want to hear good real music, blood sweat and tears created music.
I know music taste is a personal choice and we all love different types of music, I know there are some songs I like that would make you cringe but I love hearing new music, and more often than not I find something that blows me away.
Music is what makes the world go around, so share it, let me know who you think deserves to be written about and let's make music!
I am massive fan of South African bands and those who know me well, will know Prime Circle and Just Jinjer are up there in the top. I don't think SA music gets enough exposure and this blog is for me to write about the music I love and in doing that, hopefully, expose more people to the abundance of awesomeness our music industry has to offer.
I had the honour of interviewing Prime Circle a while back and it was one of the greatest moments of my life, because these guys create music! Real, honest music. Not the studio created cr*p that so many artists call "music" these days.
If you are a band and think you have amazing music that I could write about send me a link, if you are like me and love REAL music, send me links to hear what you love and hopefully in doing that we can bring our South African artists more fame, the fame they deserve.
It doesn't have to be South African, although that is what my main focus is, but I just want to hear good real music, blood sweat and tears created music.
I know music taste is a personal choice and we all love different types of music, I know there are some songs I like that would make you cringe but I love hearing new music, and more often than not I find something that blows me away.
Music is what makes the world go around, so share it, let me know who you think deserves to be written about and let's make music!
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