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Sludge Underground Podcast

Your number one portal to South Africa’s most must-see emerging bands & creatives. We host super chilled interviews with local musicians in a bid to help you discover the best of them before anyone else. We also occasionally chat to established musos for music industry insights. Join us on this riveting journey highlighting the gritty and alternative musical corners of South Africa

THE RAMFEST 2025 REVIEW YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR!

Marcel was at Ramfest Johannesburg a few weeks ago, here’s everything you need to know!

RECENT EPISODES

Nov. 19, 2025

Is This The Rise Of Afrikaans Alternative?

Marcel sits down with Dierbaar, an alternative Afrikaans band from Stellenbosch, to dig into what drives their unique sound and message. We talk about why they chose to make alternative music in Afrikaans, the themes most art...
Nov. 13, 2025

The Ramfest 2025 Experience

Ramfest 2025 was everything we’ve been waiting for. From Bongloard’s wild energy and Sunken State’s chaos (gorilla suit included), to Jack Parow proving he absolutely belongs on a heavy lineup, this festival was a full-on cel...
Oct. 26, 2025

A Crash Course In Joining The South African Alt/Metal Scene

From small dive bars and underground venues to the people keeping the alternative flame alive, this video dives into the heart of South Africa’s alternative and metal scene. We explore the venues, promoters, content creators,...
Oct. 18, 2025

What No One Tells You About Running Live Sound in South Africa

This week we're catching up with Savannah Vermaak, A live sound engineer based in Cape Town South Africa. She Goes over experiences working within the scene, the educational content she's creating on her platform, and a behind the scenes look at one of the most important factors in live music, the …
Oct. 7, 2025

Punks Put On Music For Palestine

This week we're chatting to Kavesh Vello, The organizer of Music For Palestine, Joined by Berty of the band Necklace. We dive into the motivations behind the event, the bands playing, and the organizations involved. #punkrock...
Sept. 25, 2025

The Capetonian Metalcore Band Taking ZA By Storm

n this episode of Sludge Underground Marcel has a chat with Ken of D oomTrigger, one of Cape Towns most promising Metalcore bands. They dive into the bands formation, the impressive ground they've covered over the bands short...

Reviews

Awesome pod about creatives!

"Really fun and joyous listen!"

Mxsandy12 | April 6, 2022

Love it

"I love finding and discovering new talent and I’m so glad I found this show. 10/10 would recommend for finding new artists out of the norm."

The bustinator | March 9, 2022

Awesomeness

"Best podcast in Durban. They’ve been consistent!!"

Zamarati | May 4, 2022

Great

"Great content. The best in Durban without a doubt!"

Nhla👣 | Nov. 3, 2020

Incredible

"Thoroughly enjoy tuning in & learning all about the artists & creatives that make up the global music scene. Stoked they also get some of South Africa’s best to tell their stories as well, especially…"

Tee🐝 | Sept. 8, 2020

Thank you

"Thank you Sir for Holding South Africa down, it might not show, but the streets are listening"

L Zuma | May 20, 2020

Rad rad rad.

"I dove deep into this podcast the last few weeks. I learn something new each time and I’m so delighted to hear the passion for the local music scene in each episode. You guys have a seamless blen…"

Herm Cronje | July 4, 2022

Top tier

"It's great! In-depth discussions with artists while keeping things chill and friendly. Kinda like being a fly on the wall when a couple of mates get together to discuss music. I never used to engage …"

Archer | Sept. 9, 2022

Werner Bekker

"I love it. The whole concept is great. I loved that I could speak my mind and felt really comfortable to say anything I felt like. The hosts also did a stellar job with their research and asked quest…"

Werner Bekker | Sept. 9, 2022

Review of my podcast with Sludge Underground

"It was an honour to do my first ever podcast with the special Sludge Underground team . I was interviewed by Nasiphi in his car and it was an amazing moment for me , just talking about everything fro…"

Pegg | Sept. 9, 2022

10/10

"100% authentic.. great content!👌🏾 Keep up the amazing work guys!"

Sibonelo Shange | Sept. 15, 2022

Wonderful Experience

"I love how well prepared and passionate the hosts are. It feels like they really did their homework before entering the interview. Allowing for incredible insights, chats and laughs."

Yabo | July 28, 2023

Best alternative music podcast in the country

"Sludge Underground really sets the standard for intellectual podcasts in South Africa. The brand is strong and the content has steadily improved with no signs of slowing down. The diverse array of ar…"

The Big Manooza | July 30, 2023

KZN Gatecrashers tour quickies

"extremely professional work done from the sludge crew! Brynn brought the vibes with his exceptional interview skills, the editing on the quickies was just the best thing! Hanging with the crew was g…"

Ruan du Preez - Handpicked Heathens | Jan. 27, 2025

About the Hosts

Nasiphi Zwane Profile Photo

Nasiphi Zwane

Founder

Nasiphi is the founder of Sludge Underground. He started the podcast in 2016. He hosts, edits & mixes the majority of the episodes, shoots & edits any visual content, designs & manages all Sludge social media pages & more

Meagan King Profile Photo

Meagan King

Host

Meagan is one half of reclusive duo from Johannesburg, Lemon Dove & she jumped on the show during lockdown 2020. In addition to hosting & curating episodes like WOMANITY, 5 Years of Sludge, Goodbye 2021/Hello 2022 & more, she also edits episodes, co-produces some of the music you hear within our content, structures the annual schedule & more. She also made these beautiful illustrations of us

Marcel Smuts Profile Photo

Marcel Smuts

Host

Marcel has been involved from the very first episode back in 2016. He is the guitarist of Thorns Of Ivory and has a booming YouTube channel. He generally hosts and edits some of the band/alt episodes

Andile Lunathi Phila Mathonsi Profile Photo

Andile Lunathi Phila Mathonsi

Host

Lunathi joined Sludge in 2018 and he is a rap artist under The Remedy. He’s also a language practitioner by profession & hosts some of the Hip-Hop episodes

John Allen Marks [Jeronimoh] Profile Photo

John Allen Marks [Jeronimoh]

Musician

Musician, Composer, Audio Mixing Engineer

Recent Blog Posts

Nov. 14, 2025

IN REVIEW: AMBER LIGHT CHOICES - ‘Stitches’ Singles

Amber Light Choices spike the punch with a triple shot of teen spirit to quell our Alt-Rock jitters, after a decade of distilling the good stuff - their debut album. Produced by Neil Ferreira at Sound Owl Studios, and mastered by Tim Lengfeld, these…

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Oct. 23, 2025

A Crash Course In Joining The South African Alt/Metal Scene

Have you ever asked yourself: “Why is there no Alternative scene in South Africa?”  Well, there is one, and I’m going to show you where to find it.   FIRST TASTE We’ve all been there at some point, discover…

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May 29, 2025

Central Cee Set to Headline Hey Neighbour Festival In South Africa!

Big news! If you thought Hey Neighbour couldn’t get any hotter, think again. The festival has officially locked in UK rap royalty, Central Cee, as the Saturday headliner, and it’s about to be legendary! Hey Neighbour Goes All-In for a T…

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