One day I was sitting alone in my room facing away from the door.
While playing my “first”song a friend sneaked up behind me and heard it.
Once I had finished, he tapped me on my shoulder and said that my talents
were wasted and told me to go into music full time. This prompted
me into going out to a fancy restaurant and asking for the opportunity
as a background-music keyboard player. Seeing that I still sounded
like
a child and did not have much of a voice, this was only an instrumental
gig. I had to quit this gig after about two weeks because minors
weren’t
allowed to play in a place where hard liquor was sold. Following that
I played with a couple of small garage bands as a keyboard player. As
a member of these bands we never had the opportunity of playing any
gigs but, a couple of months later one of the bands was approached
for a try-out for a gig on a teen night at a local pizza place.
As we got to the audition, I started messing around with a couple of songs
while
the rest of the band was setting up. The manager immediately
walked up to me, gave me the gig, and sent the rest of the band home. And
I got the job as a solo artist.
I had everything ready, the words, the music, the PA system was
set-up by the restaurant. There was however one thing I had not thought
of ..
Stage-fright! As I got on the stage my voice started trembling
and my hands started shaking.. I sounded horrible!
The manager came to me after the first song and told me to get out
of his place, and not to come back till I had my act together. I was crushed,
devastated. That was it for me, never in my life was I ever going to
pick up another musical instrument for as long as I lived.
As I was walking out the door I was approached by the owner of the
local Mikes Kitchen, who told me that he saw potential in me and that
I should come and play for him on Sunday nights for a starting fee
of only R15 a night .. so I grabbed the opportunity with both hands.
I started off playing my keyboard through a hi-fi amp, while my microphone
was taped to a criss-cross broomstick tied to a table I was playing on.
A couple of weeks playing there taught me how to handle crowds of up
to three people a night and gave me the opportunity of trying out some
of my own songs. Soon the crowd of three grew to about 50 a night,
consisting of some friends and a couple of other people.
I became a rebel at heart and nearly drove my parents into their graves.
Thinking that I was going to be a big rock-and-roll star, I started
getting frustrated with school. I left school in the last term of
standard nine,
got into my Beetle, that I had bought with the help of my father and
with some money that I earned as a waiter and a side line singer,
and
decided to go out and see the world. I made it as far as the
Cape. Looking back on the past I still see Cape town as one of the
most
inspiring times in the development of my music career. Although as
a child I had gotten my inspiration from groups like The Smiths, The
Cure and even Simon and Garfunkel, it was my stay in the Cape that
gave me the insight into the soul of music. I had to do more for
this strange mystic world I had just entered, than in the
small town I had been in. This caused me to work much harder than before.
With no place to stay I slept in the street with my gear safely
stored in my car. Having done this for a couple of days I was forced
to
go to a club in Stellenbosch and ask the manager if they wanted an
act. He told me that they were fully booked except for Sundays and
that there was no market for live music on Sunday nights in Stellenbosch.
I was not going to give up that easily, so after the manager left
I went to the barman and told him that the manager said, It was OK
to set-up for a tryout. So without the managers knowledge, I set up
my gear and started playing. By the time the manager got back
a large crowd had gathered and they were all having a great time. This
meant that I became the fist musician to be allowed to play in Stellenbosch
on a Sunday night. The money that I earned doing these gigs,
allowed me to return to school, and later to enroll in a local college
where I completed courses in catering and computers.
Music however was still my main goal in life.
When it came to my music I knew that I could not succeed purely as a
keyboard player, and that my one-fingered style of playing guitar
would not be sufficient if I wanted to become a true musician, so I
decided to buy a book on guitar chords. Within two weeks I taught
myself the proper way of playing guitar, which expanded my instrument
ability to string instruments (guitar and bass). Later
that year I
also taught myself to play the harmonica.
I booked myself into a caravan park and stayed in a room that was no
bigger than a toilet. After about three weeks the turnover of the
club doubled, and I was offered two more nights at R100 a night, so
I moved into my first flat.
From there I was offered many gigs at other clubs and soon made a name
for myself.
At that time I was approached by a club that was on the verge of closing
its doors, to come and help them build up their business. I thought
that this would be a good challenge, so I took them up on their offer.
After a period of time in which I was offered a management position
I decided to change the whole concept of the club. We knocked down
walls and built a new stage and started getting in good bands with
some well known names such as Koos Kombuis and Valiant Swart who I
later ended up playing backup for. Having played with them I
realised that I had to develop my own style of music and stand up for
the things I believed in.
I created a night for myself where I was going to play only original
music under the name, The Blackrose. I then invited other musicians
to come
and join me, so they could do some of their own stuff. Some of
these musicians later went on to start bands like, Springbok Nude Girls
and The Dolly Rockers.
Soon it became a haven for every musician that wanted their own songs
to be heard.
Some were good and some were bad, but nobody cared, it was just so
good to hear some new original stuff for a change. I hand- picked
a few of the musicians who I thought had talent and we started a band
called, The Blackrose Band
One month later we entered the Battle of the Bands and won the prize
for the best upcoming band in the Cape. I also walked away with
the prize for the best overall musician.
Once the battle of the bands was behind us we were invited to come
and play at the opening of a new club in JHB. It was a nightmare!
Nobody in JHB was interested in original music, they just wanted to
hear covers. So the rest of the band went back to good old
original
Cape town and I stayed behind and played a one-man show singing a couple
of covers. Later I played a few pubs and clubs around the
JHB and Pretoria area but there was still something missing.. I was
getting nowhere.
Luck and the influence from the Cape were once again on my side.
I got a call from Koos Kombuis telling me that he was coming up to
JHB for a few shows, and that he wanted me to be his opening act.
This gave me the chance to play some of my original songs. I got
onto the stage and started playing, and the crowd loved it. I
landed a gig at the club, and I was allowed to do my own thing.
I was
back in business!
Once again the turnover of the club doubled in a couple of months and
I was offered another night. The owner and I started to become
good friends, and one night out of the blue, he asked me what I wanted
out of life. I told him that it would be nice to have a CD
of my
songs to sell to the people who had been bugging for tapes of my own
music. He told me to come and see him about it the next
day.
The next day we went to a couple of studios to see how much it would
cost to make a CD. One month later I was in the studio recording
my own CD! The budget was so low, that I ended up doing almost
all the instruments as well as the backup singing myself.
The copies I had printed got sold out in a matter of two months.
Thanks to a good friend of mine who took the CD to a couple of radio
stations I was fortunate enough to be heard on radio. Radio Jacaranda
decided to call BMG records who called me a few months later
and asked me to sign a recording contract with them.
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