The Ocean is a Berlin-based Progressive/Post Metal band that has been around for 23 years. Robin, one of the founding members, is the band's guitarist. Here are some of the things he and Marcel talk about on our Ramfest special episode
The Collective
In the early days, The Ocean was organised more like a collective of different musicians playing together, rather than a normal band with a firm lineup, Robin says:
‘It was partially because all the good musicians were already taken by other bands, so availability was limited and at the same time we didn’t really have much to offer being a new band without a label deal or a booking agency, so it was just the necessity of the situation that we were in. We had to take whoever we could get for a while and that kinda became a concept.’
Endless Touring
It’s summer festival season in Europe right now, so The Ocean have been tearing it up across various stages that side of the world before their stop in South Africa for Ramfest.
‘We’ve been travelling a lot, we just got back from a weekend between Portugal and Romania and now we’re going to Brutal Assault Festival Czech Republic and then we’re flying to South Africa and after that we go to Australia, Malaysia then one week at home, then we’re going on tour in Europe. Ramfest is a festival that’s an intriguing mix of international and local bands and I think that’s pretty cool. We’re going to be there early to check out the bands, that’s for sure.’
Loadshedding
Marcel asks Robin if anyone has given him any funny warnings or tips on anything the band might encounter in South Africa, to which Robin says:
‘Someone told us about the energy crisis and that it’s actually quite serious over there. The power goes off during the day?’
Marcel bursts out in laughter and says, ‘It can be multiple times a day 2 hours at a time, but I can guarantee that Ramfest will be prepared for the possibility, it won’t affect the show. It’s something we’ve been dealing with for a couple of years, so we’re bitter but we’re used to it.’
The two chuckle, with Robin subsequently saying, ‘So there’s gonna be generators prepared I suppose then?’ Marcel responds, ‘Trust me, we are generally very prepared for this type of thing’
Both laugh about the situation, bringing this article to its conclusion. There’s way more where this came from btw, so stream the full episode here
Headlining Ramfest
Catch The Ocean and Enter Shikari headlining Ramfest 2023 supported by some of the country’s best bands: Peasant, Facing The Gallows, Sunken State, Middle Grounds, The Fallen Prophets, Human Nebula & more on the 1st of September in Stellenbosch and the 2nd of September in Pretoria. Get your tickets here
