Has Sean Joined Too Many Bands?

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Damn, it's a mic to really getting to a point where it's 12 people and 50 pants at the same time. Or just 12 sewans and 50 pants. Mind you, Sean was literally just like Alright.

SPEAKER_03 0:17

So guys, welcome back to a another ground up, another episode of Sludge Underground. We've been a little bit quiet this month. We just took our yearly September break to just catch up on our own thoughts and lives and to do things, you know, family men, I guess, and just catch up with life. So we're back with a another ground up, covering some news both locally and internationally, and things that have just been happening in the music space, predominantly within South Africa. It is myself, I am Marcel, and I have got Naz with me.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

How's it going, guys? So good to be back. And uh yeah, as Marcel said, we haven't uh we took a bit of a break. However, uh, we are trying to come back into the swing of things. And right off the bat, we've got some headlines for you guys uh in terms of basically recent events that happened and also upcoming events as well. Marcel, I know you have the lowdown on some of the stuff that happened. We can go in order of the arrangements, state of the nation. I know that you have some information on that there.

SPEAKER_03 1:24

Yeah, man, that was a show hosted by uh So Below Entertainment. And holy shit, man, what a fucking banger of a show. Liam and Robin outdid themselves in just every capacity. I mean, we went in the last round up, we went over kind of the the lineup of that show. We spoke a bit about like some of the bands that we're gonna be playing, and how do every band absolutely killed it. I got to see a couple of bands that I'd never seen before, obviously got to see a lot of the boys that we know very well. And I left with a a few new favorites, to be honest. Um, I mean, first off the bat, uh Walk these skies had to pull out just due to some health issues, but Tristan, I believe, was unfortunately sick, something to do with his throat. So uh performing a metal gig is not a good idea with any kind of flu or anything like that. So, not to uh disappoint anyone, with Walkie Skies having pulled out, uh Certus filled in for them, which was great. And you know, a last-minute gig is always enough to throw you off balance, but yeah, they fucking killed it as well. It was uh just really good turnout, really good vibe. They set up a stage outside in the parking lot, and again, Liam did a really good job in just how that stage was set up, how cool it looked. It was honestly, genuinely one of the coolest shows I'd been been at within just what it was the end of August, it was the 29th of August. Yeah. Uh, a couple of highlight bands for me was one called uh Among the Absence, which uh death core band Motherfucker. That band caught me so off guard. Had seen them around on socials, but never really interacted with them. I regret not having done that sooner, because holy shit, that band was dope. Uh, we had a bit of news though, within like the last two weeks, like the last week or so, the vocalist who I watched perform with the band actually left the band this week. They've just announced their new vocalist, and you're not gonna fucking believe who it is. Who? Jade Osner from Riddlebreak. Okay, that's an interesting one. When I saw the announcement that the the previous vocalist name was Ru, and I saw the geez, fuck. Um, when I saw the announcement that he had left, I just nearly fucked something off of my stage.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

What was that gong, bro? Is that that gong again?

SPEAKER_03 3:51

No, I I almost uh chucked my headphone stand off my desk because hands, you know, gonna fucking express myself. Um but yeah, I was like, holy shit, who's gonna replace this dude? Because fuck man, like he was a really good vocalist. Yeah, and then they were like two, three days later, like welcoming Jade on board. I'm like, I messaged them, I was like, I don't know, I didn't think I I wasn't sure who would replace him, but you guys couldn't have picked better. I hope there's no bad blood. Like, I know you know their social media posts said there's no bad blood with the band's with his departure from the band. But yeah, uh just moving on to other things. From what I understand, he's also quite young, so probably just a lot going on in life.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

While we're on departures, I obviously saw that uh Human Nebula had put up a post asking for like not really asking, but announcing that they're gonna be hosting auditions for a new drama. I know that that's been an ongoing thing. So it really seems like there's uh a lot of rotation going on. Well, not a lot. I mean, there's just two bands that we mentioned, but uh bands seem to be some of the bands seem to be shaking things up a bit. So it's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_03 5:00

Yeah, yeah. Um even at State of the Nation, uh Human Nebula was kind of playing at a bit of like a still a really, really good show. They I mean they always put on a damn good show, but they had Aiden on drums at State of the Nation. So that's that's the main change that I know of there. Another one, obviously, that stood out now is because was Freedom for Your Life, the the return. Man, there were a lot of people in that crowd who were unbelievably hyped for that. And a lot of them that obviously you can see were from the heyday, from the era that that band occupied uh within the scene. And like we had this conversation with last month's ground up that that band has to be good. Like we had listened to their music, we've heard stories about them, and yeah, nothing could have prepared me for how fucking good they actually were alive. It was unfucking believably good. They had a whole bunch of cameos. Uh, there was another dude who the whole time was just unbelievably hype. He kept jumping up onto stage, uh, and then eventually he just took over a whole song. Um, I think it was Piandler with like prior. Uh yeah, Estion did a collab, uh, he also did a feature. Uh Regan jumped up onto stage, which I think was a bit more spur of the moment because he had his phone trying to read lyrics, which was pretty funny.

SPEAKER_00 6:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:23

Uh, but overall, uh, your your question last month was how would that kind of vibe translate in this with where we are currently with our current music scenes? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Uh I'm happy to tell you that really fucking well, apparently. Uh it went down really well. Pretty much everyone I spoke to after their set was fucking blown away. A lot of them obviously having not been involved in the scene when that band was in its heyday. So very happy to say, fucking well done. Uh I don't think many people could have pulled off a comeback like that.

SPEAKER_00 7:09

It's so nice, man, when you see bands that were, as you mentioned, you know, back in the in the in the heyday sort of thing, you know, when they come back, especially because a lot of the bands you'll find that were active back then, the members, some of the members have gone overseas, some of the members just aren't doing music anymore. So getting the bands together, you know, getting everyone to sort of come back and and do this. And then on top of that, blending in so well with everyone who's sort of active right now, you know, to a point where you know they're making cameos on stage. I don't think they could have executed any executed it any better. Let's look at the the something that happened in Mozambique, man. I know you've got some information on that.

SPEAKER_03 7:49

Oh yeah, dude. I man, first of all off the bat, I would have loved to go and be a part of the show, to go and document it, to just have been there. Um, so basically, what this was is that Helica rounded up a couple of South African bands to go and play a show in Mozambique. So Helica, being Chelsea and Alec were, I think, the kind of the brain, the brain children behind this. And my my conversation with Chelsea, um, just asking for a bit more information with this, just asking how this even sort of came to be, was they've been building a relationship with Stino. And I don't know if you remember who Stino is. Yeah, I remember him, yeah. Uh they met Stino uh basically and quite a while back, and for the last year or so, they have been like fostering this relationship to try and build up this tour route, this relationship for South African bands to go and play in Mozambique. Because, much to many people's surprise, Mozambique has a very dedicated, albeit like small and niche metal community. Like, there are a lot of like extreme metal bands that come out of Mozambique, and the bands that they decided to take with them were uh Walk These Skies and Your Cynical Sanity. So they all missioned up to Mozambique. Uh Chelsea sent me a whole bunch of videos of what that show looked like, which we will it'll just be b-roll in the background of this conversation. I genuinely can't express just what an achievement this is because you know, we as South African bands tend to get one very sort of despondent about the the local scene itself, and a lot of guys get start to complain about the viability of touring overseas. And the point has been raised a couple of times of why are we not touring to our neighboring countries and Helica basically just brought Helica being Chelsea and Alec basically just proved that this is possible. I don't think I can properly just express the gravity of what that proves to local bands because I'm pretty sure this is something that Katie has brought up as well in one of his his controversial posts that piss people off. And you know, it's like, why are you not touring to your neighboring countries? And no one really has another a really good answer beyond just and yeah, they proved it, and it looked like it was a banger of a show. I genuinely hope that more bands take up that opportunity, more bands start looking at doing that, and honestly, genuinely grateful to Chelsea and Alec for showing that hey, this is viable, this is possible.

SPEAKER_00 10:47

Yeah, we should definitely get them on the show just to expand more on that, on whether it's going to be like an annual thing, a regular thing that they're gonna be doing and so on. It's really nice as well to just see that they brought, you know, a band from Durban, you know, uh in YCS and also walk these skies so that it's not just the same sort of you know expected lineups. Uh, they're mixing it up in that regard, and that's definitely appreciated. So, yeah, when you say other bands should enroll, I really feel like if it's something that's going to be happening on a regular basis, yeah, bands should definitely look at you know, tagging along to that there. As I say, we should definitely have them on the show just to get a bit more information and in terms of what the future plans are with that. Perhaps you can even expand, you know, from just you know, Mozambique to maybe some of the other countries. I know that we've had you know countries like Kenya and so on. You always see them when they come through here for Vakin. So considering that foundation is already there, it would really be epic to just continue building on it and expanding the network and so on.

SPEAKER_03 11:50

Yeah, I mean, like I don't think Chelsea and Alec are strangers to that either. Um if I'm not mistaken, they've played shows in Botswana as well, when there was that there was there used to be like a pretty like solid tour route between um South Africa and Botswana for metal bands. But yeah, I definitely think having them and kind of just giving a breakdown of you know how to build this kind of relationship. Uh definitely, definitely a good a good way to go forward. Sorry, whole fucking shutdown there.

SPEAKER_00 12:24

And just one last point as well. I think it's very important to have a variety or options rather when it comes to local bands traveling abroad. Because can you hear my boy? I can. Uh when no, I forgot what it was. No, I forgot what I was gonna say.

SPEAKER_03 12:49

I heard Zaire the background of mine as well a second ago.

SPEAKER_00 12:51

So I don't it it's it's good, it's good, it's good for South African bands to have options. I remember watching the Man Motels episode that you did, and they were speaking about you know, cons consistently touring overseas like Europe and all that there. But it's also like for some bands, well, some bands will look at that and be like, damn, that's a bit, you know, in terms like financially and so on, it might be a bit of a stretch. So maybe you know, a neighboring country would absolutely be a beautiful place to start, and expanding that network into other places in Africa as well would be absolutely amazing. Uh, because those countries also have active sort of scenes and so on. It would be nice to you know see how things go that side and for them to come back this side, you know, outside of the Vacan Metal battle as well. So absolutely brilliant. What the man motels are doing and what Hilika are doing, brilliant stuff.

SPEAKER_03 13:44

Yeah, 100%. Uh definitely, definitely agree with you there.

SPEAKER_00 13:49

What is this Marilyn Manson tribute controversy?

SPEAKER_03 13:52

Yeah, so there was a Marilyn Manson tribute show that happened down in Cape Town, and Marilyn Manson is a very, very divisive figure. Uh, you know, he's had multiple allegations of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse from uh a variety of from from multiple women. Uh yeah, so he's not exactly a very savory figure, and you know, there's always this, always this debate of um separate the art from the artist, and it gets uh in this case it's a little bit tricky. Not actually, it's not tricky. We in South Africa obviously have a huge problem with gender-based violence. We have a huge problem with femme femme side, and you know, we have a large, very prominent problem with this in the country, and doing a tribute show for an artist who is associated so heavily with these things is not a good look. Uh don't it's uh yeah, and a couple of people pointed this out, a couple of people pointed out and said, Hey, uh this is a terrible fucking idea. And uh I first of all, I don't know who's responsible for organizing the show. I actually did not dive that deep into it, but there is a creator on Instagram who went into quite a bit more detail, quite a bit more investigation, and I'm gonna kind of stick to the same reasons as to why I am not kind of publicly naming and shaming people here, uh purely because there's a lot of speculation and very, very heavy allegations against the person responsible for the show. And what ended up happening was they ended up deleting a lot of the comments of sort of criticism surrounding this event. And this person who started bringing up these issues, uh she got some really fucking nasty and hateful messages towards towards her. So that's something that's been a little bit like I don't even want to say a little bit, that's something that's been like a pretty big, like sore talking point within the Cape Town scene. If you guys are anyone watching this, is based in Cape Town, is kind of more familiar with that whole situation. Let us know in the comments, let us know what your thoughts are about. Naz and myself are pretty removed from the people involved, uh being directly in touch with them as far as we are aware. So let us know what your thoughts are. Let us know uh what your feelings are about the situation and how it relates to the current like social climate within South Africa.

SPEAKER_00 16:56

I don't think the the person should be crucified for having come up with the idea to actually do this tribute show. I think it rests on what they did after you know this issue was addressed, where people brought this up that now this isn't really the greatest idea because of XYZ. Initially, I think people can, you know, as you said, there's this whole debate about separating the the artist from the art, right? So for all we know, this person could have just been like listening to some music, and then a Marilyn Manson song comes on, he's like, ah, this is this is my favorite song. I want to let's do like a tribute or something, without having fully comprehended what that actually comes with, you know. So the message that the next thing, yeah, yeah, the message that it may, you know, so maybe they were coming from a position of just being a super fan of the music and they actually didn't think of you know the the baggage that actually comes with that. But like the moment people bring that up and they say, listen, dude, that's not a good idea, you know, what that person does with that information and what they decide to do in terms of whether they continue with the show or not, is where I feel like we can then start, you know, raising a few eyebrows. Once the people start saying, you know, bringing it to light that this is the situation, but the person continues with the show, then it is a bit sus, and there definitely should be something said about that. However, if people bring this to light and the person is like, actually, I did not think about that, you know, I'm definitely not proceeding, then we can look at it in a completely different light. But as Marcel said, leave it in the comments if you have uh full context of what uh went down. It's a very interesting one that you brought up there. Yeah, no, 100%. So on my side, bro, there's uh in Durban we had uh All This For Nothing who came down for their tour, and uh it was absolutely brilliant from some of the feedback that I got. Unfortunately, it was in line with the death in my family. So we I was all the way up in Underburg for the first two shows that that happened on the Friday and the Saturday. I did get feedback from you know Paul and uh Christine as well, and literally about the the first two shows. And yeah, they you know they were basically praising Durban, they were praising, you know, uh Bolito or that side of the world in terms of you know the people that came through to support. So it's really awesome just hearing about you know Durbanites actually going out and supporting these bands that come down. And obviously, the show that I saw uh on Sunday, they had uh Tapson basically there doing the set with them. It was mostly Paul and him, you know, doing like a duo type thing, but then uh Paul's sister then also joined in, and the rest of the band joined in. It was so lovely seeing sort of like a stripped back version uh of the band. Uh, even the drum sets, you know, that they were utilizing isn't your sort of like traditional, you know, it was very laid-back and stripped. It was a combination of uh covers that they were doing, uh, famous covers, and also then some originals that they had sort of you know done into like an acoustic sort of number. Uh, they were also selling some merch there, some really awesome merch. Uh I got the beanie that uh they gave me as a gift. I also got myself a t-shirt and also the C D, which is absolutely brilliant. Oh, that's fucking cool. Yeah, it's really amazing. It's it's brilliant. I've I've got it wrapped, I've not opened it up. Uh, so I have been resorting to like streaming you know the music instead. I don't think I'll ever open it up, I'll keep it as like you know, a piece of you know, something to hold on to all the servers crash.

SPEAKER_03 20:50

You have something.

SPEAKER_00 20:52

Exactly, bro. I've got something, and you'll remember, I think we are fortunate in that you know a lot of the bands over the years have been giving us sort of like CD. I don't even know how many of these we have now, all the way back to uh it was uh I don't know if it was it was the loose change EP by Medicine Dolls. You know, they gave us one of those. Yeah, they gave us it was uh under my camera. I can't. Yeah, it was the mitts gave us you know some CDs, like there's plenty more that we've gotten. So definitely something good to keep as like a memory and so on. But yeah, overall, all this for nothing, absolutely brilliant band. Check out the latest album, nothing is punk anymore. Uh, it's it's really doing well, it's doing you know good numbers as well. So excuse me, keep a lookout for that everywhere and the tour as well. Live, they're an exceptional band. And yeah, really good band to look out for.

SPEAKER_03 21:48

Yeah, 100%, dude. And just also just very wholesome people in general. One more show that I wanted to talk about that I was at uh this month was uh one of the by Pariah Studios. And that was reject the norm. And that was at Railways. I was filming with Dizzy Khaki. I was one of his uh second shooters. And uh I wanted well, I'm gonna be doing a full kind of deep dive video into the show because there's a lot of cool premises of what Everett is trying to achieve and what he is actually doing. So there is gonna be a whole dedicated video to the show and kind of what it means. But what I did get to see was uh a couple of Cape Town bands. I got to see Static Cat for the first time. Um Naz, have you seen Static Cat?

SPEAKER_00 22:32

Yeah, they used to uh play a lot of Durban shows quite some time back.

SPEAKER_03 22:37

So fucking cool. It's like what shoe gaze? I don't fucking know. I enjoyed that fucking thoroughly. Uh there was Sold Ash, which is one of uh Dolph's mini bands. So you you know, Dolph from Holvar, from Moonday Gun, dude. Sold Ash is one of the fucking coolest bands I've ever seen. Like, I I don't even know how to fucking describe what that band was. There was a band called The Frequency Thieves. Um, my favorite part about that band is not one person in that band looked like they belonged in a band together. If you had to see them together, like you'd you would never fucking assume that they were a band. It is the coolest shit. Um, yeah. I also didn't know what to expect musically. I was also thoroughly impressed by that. I got to see the boys from Mouse, who I have not seen since the Durban days. I think the last time I saw Mouse, they were playing at the Winston. That should tell you about how long ago that was. Um, really good to see Damon and Chris again. Holy shit. Uh Damon is actually in Soldash as well. Uh back.

SPEAKER_00 23:43

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 23:43

So, dude, it's just a it's a star-studded uh yeah, yeah, very eccentric group of musicians, but also incredibly talented musicians. Um, I'm forgetting someone. There was the Avery, which is one of Efra Sneyman's bands, uh, also just fucking wonderful to watch.

SPEAKER_00 24:02

So, with the just dropped, uh, I firstly want to sort of enter that segment by just uh basically sending a shout out to the bands that have been submitting their stuff on Sahara. It really is one of the sources that we utilize also just for announcing some of the stuff that is just dropped. So, shout out to that. Mostalasi, you've got two singles here that you're hyped about. Tell us a bit more about those.

SPEAKER_03 24:26

Yeah, dude, absolutely. Internet Girl are back out and dropping music again. Uh, they've released a song called All the Same. And yeah, listen, if you're familiar with Internet Girl, pretty much anything that they release is worth a listen. Go check it out. Uh, I believe there is a music video. Uh, knowing these guys, there is. Uh, I just want to make absolutely sure.

SPEAKER_00 24:49

Uh actually, with the they do, it's it's it's part of an upcoming album that they're dropping, I believe, in November called Yes. I I absolutely love these guys. And they dropped actually another single as well with uh I think it's like an American artist, bro. Oh, it's called The Business. Kenny Mason. So they dropped something with them, yeah. The business. And these two tracks apparently are from the upcoming album. So it's you are correct.

SPEAKER_03 25:19

It is Kenny Mason, yes.

SPEAKER_00 25:21

Yeah, so it's absolutely brilliant having a local band that's so like tapped in internationally. Like I think they're flying the flag high.

SPEAKER_03 25:29

100%. They've got just they've got such a I believe like a unique sound to them, and they just I think they just captulize like so many different aspects of like us as a people. I think they just merge some like interesting elements together, and yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:48

I saw a funny interaction on uh X the other day where uh the announcement was made, I think, of the single that you mentioned all the same, and you had a random okay. Let me not call them random. I'll I'll on X, this is another interaction. So a guy, a local guy says industry plants, right? And then someone else responds by saying, What industry in South Africa were they planted? You're embarrassing the country. You're embarrassing the country, and then this dude responds by saying, Name five internet girl songs. You're embarrassing the country. Nobody in the country knows about their existence, plus that song is garbage. But then the other guy's just like uh the music industry is way too small for industry plants here. I'm a piano's the only genre that's been popping in the country. Stop trying to be dumb or to be as dumb as the Americans. Lol, they're rock band, he just happens to rap. You know, it was like a back and forth. I found it quite funny. Yeah, uh, but like it's it's one of yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:50

What fucking yeah, I I agree with that guy 100%. What fucking industry? Like, yeah, it's sure. Like there is and I I I'm fucking flabbergasted, dude, because it's like it's at the at it at its core, internet girl is alternative music. I'm like, if they were an industry plant, you would be hearing them on radio stations. On they would like, does this person understand what an industry plant is and the resources that they have available to them? Yeah, like these are just what internet girl is three guys um who I do not doubt that they have connections, but they fucking worked for those connections. Okay, and they're very fucking good at what they do.

SPEAKER_00 27:39

I think it's one of those things, bro, where it's like it's it's also a sign that you're doing well when people start saying you're industry plans, and also it's like it's like that 2010 era where it's like every person who was successful was in the Illuminati. It's one of those like if you if you get in those Illuminati claims, you're in, bro. Like you're tapped in. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:59

You made it, you made it, you've made it. That's fucking amazing. I love that.

SPEAKER_00 28:04

Ill System, you mentioned Ill System, yeah, bro. What are they dropping?

SPEAKER_03 28:07

Yeah, Il System released a single called Opinions. If you're familiar with Ill System, pretty much on brand for them. Uh, just a interesting blend of music. Um like I don't even know how to fucking I'm always on the spot. Like, do I even know how to describe music? This song is pretty cool, if I'm not mistaken. Like, did they did they release a music video? Or am I just thinking of the TikToks that I saw for this? Um if I could spell system, that would be so great. Um I can't even spell opinions. That's actually fucking hilarious. Spell systematic. Oh, geez. Actually, I do know how to spell that one. It's C-I-S. That's not how you would normally spell systematic. I actually do know that one. Okay, yeah. So all I'm actually, there's no music video for this as of yet. I'm just thinking of all the the promo clips that they've done online. Promo stuff. I saw those as well. Yeah, like walking along, I think it's like the boardwalk uh in Cape Town. I don't know why this is coming to mind, but there was that band back in the day called 12 Foot Ninja. If you enjoy 12 Foot Ninja, I feel like you would enjoy Ill System. I that might seem like the Ill System guys might not agree with me in the slightest, but the moment I heard that song, I was like, I have to go listen to 12 Foot Ninja now. I I don't know why. It's just maybe my brain made that connection.

SPEAKER_00 29:34

I remember watching the Ill System interview that you did. I think the the homie's name is Art. Yeah, the the drummer, yeah. Shout out. I I have no words. Like, do we check out the Ill System interview that Marcel did? Because holy smokes, like he's so he can't, he's very you just need to watch that episode to understand how cool this guy is and how knowledgeable he is about what he's doing. Like, I got the impression he's one of the smartest people that we have in South Africa as a musician, and also he's also got an incredibly dry sense of humor, and he's just the game, he's and I've even seen I I think I've even seen like an there was even an interaction. Oh, remember that remember the Dwayne interview that we with the Dwayne one, the famous Dwayne interview. Um even his interaction, like he I think he's one of the people who commented against some of the people that had like some sort of backlash and so on, and his reasoning, you know, the things that he was saying was like on top of the ill system interview, plus the way that he engages with like sort of conflict and stuff. Just check out the ill system interview that Marcel did. You'll know what I'm saying. All around, dude. Incredible. So it's not surprising that ill system is as good as they are as well.

SPEAKER_03 30:53

Yeah, and you've also got some releases um that uh that you've got been that have been on your eye.

SPEAKER_00 30:59

Yes, uh, so obviously I've already mentioned uh all this for nothing. Uh they obviously dropped the album. I think it's it's public news now already. We did uh an interview with them as well, looking at the album. It was uh Paul and Christine, brother and sister Due there. And yeah, if you need more information or details regarding that album, uh check out that episode. It's uh it's jam-packed full of just information about the album. And also then the one that I was really excited about uh was Daisy Ars in Parasites, where they feature Red Helen. Uh obviously Brandon joined in, Eric joined in on that one. There's even a music video. I don't think there's any anything that Kaylee is part of is always gonna have an incredible music video, like international standard. So shout out to it.

SPEAKER_03 31:48

Can I tell you something? Can I tell you something about this release? I have known about this for like over a month. Wow. Okay. Kaylee just told me um when we shot, I think at July Jewel, um, where we should we shot some bands there, and she was also doing some camera works with some footage that we used for no closure. And she told me she's like, you can't tell anyone this. Red Helen is making a comeback. I've known for months that I've had to sit here and be like, fucking whenever I talk about Red Helen, I'm like, something's coming. Something I know. Oh god. I didn't even fucking tell you that I knew that's wild.

SPEAKER_00 32:33

That's so wild. How did you keep it inside for so long? Dude, dude. I it's it's an incredible music video. I don't know if you checked it out.

SPEAKER_03 32:44

I haven't seen the music video as a V8. No, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go check that out a little bit later. I don't know how they do it. Like, yeah, I almost fucking combusted when she told me. I was like, I done almost both of the flames. I was so fucking excited.

SPEAKER_00 33:01

So that's so that song, I even I sourced out the credits for that, composed, uh produced, mixed, and mastered by Eric uh Gerber, and also the video was produced by Nicole and uh Kaylee, obviously, and uh obviously it was directed by Mo Gangat and Kaylee as well, and filmed by Marco DuPlois and Estion Smith, as well as Kaylee, and it was edited by Kaylee and Marco. So, you know, whenever these people come together, man, it's always gonna be the cleanest music video to come out of South Africa, in my opinion. They have the equipment, they have the skills. It's yeah, it's just mind-blowing to me without failing, actually.

SPEAKER_03 33:46

I mean, because between the two of us, we're both amateur like videographers at this point, like you know, um, we're we're still very new to the game, and we just look at people like this and we're like a whole fucking inspiration. I've told Kaylee multiple times, dude. I look at your shit and I dream. Like you make me want to get better at what I'm doing.

SPEAKER_00 34:07

Like we need her to give us the the the the course, like you know, like give us the course. We must sign up.

SPEAKER_03 34:18

Also, she uh her and Estion recently got married. Congrats, guys. Uh just as a public yeah congratulations.

SPEAKER_00 34:28

It's so nice when we get those sort of like announcements because during the ATFN episode, Paul announced that he's having twins. No, yes, twins. Yeah, he said he's having twins. Oh what? And they're coming soon. Yeah. So fucking great. It's it's all this so good.

SPEAKER_03 34:43

Good fucking luck, dude. Good luck. Okay, so I want to take a moment to talk to you. Specifically, you. This episode is sponsored by us by Sludge Underground, and we need you to show some interest in our merch. We have a merch store online, we have a variety of cool things like that beanie that Naz is wearing, like this hat that I am wearing, and a couple of stick shirts. Naz, do we have hoodies? Yes, on the on the store, definitely. We have hoodies as well. So, what you're gonna do is you're gonna go to the Legend of Grand store online, which you can get to through our website. There will be a link to it in the description of this video. If you love us, if you love what we do, and you would like to represent outside of the internet in the real meetings, go and check out the store buy a shirt, buy a cat, buy a beanie. We'd love to see you guys identify. There has been a guy at Sho that I've never met or spoken to that I've been seeing wearing Slideshirt. Whoever you are, if you're watching this, you're a pretty tall, I think you're ginger. I fucking love you, dude. We've never spoken. But thank you for buying our shirt.

SPEAKER_00 35:57

And then now we're onto the global stage news. Uh so this is basically where we talk about recent global music-related news that could also affect the scene. I see you've uh okay. This one is actually me. Um I'm I'm on here for the first one. So yeah, so for for me, it would be the Slipknot uh single, Arsenal. Obviously, it's been a couple of weeks since uh it's really it's been released and it met some mixed reviews. Uh many people uh obviously, or some people thinking it's absolute dog shit, some people thinking it's not that bad. For me, it sounded like a whole lot of noise, but um, yeah, I don't know. Maybe it's like something that grows on you after some time. It's something that uh Mike uh Pocock definitely seems to think because I remember him doing a video on Instagram uh that he put up, and he was mentioning how you know it it took a couple of spins for him to sort of get used to it, and um, yeah, I mean it's it's something that's obviously. I don't know, man. What did you think of that single? I don't know if you gave it a listen, but um it's a bit different.

SPEAKER_03 37:05

For me, I feel like it doesn't have the things that I would listen to Slipknot for. Um I don't know, there there seems to be like uh a bit of like a hollowness to it in terms of sound, like in terms of like um it it feels a lot flatter and not there how the fuck do I explain this? Just get let me get it.

SPEAKER_00 37:33

You're making sense okay.

SPEAKER_03 37:35

So a a large part of the reasons that I enjoyed Slipknot is it was dark, it was muddy, yes, it was chaotic, but there was this a very like sense of organization layered under it, you know, because Slipknot was a band of like fucking 10-15 people. I can't remember the exact number off the top of my head, but it was a very organized chaos. And I agree with you in the sense of like the DJ stuff used to be very well layered. Here it just kind of feels thrown in, like for whatever. It feels like the song has very little no end, or very little to no low end compared to like what Slipknot used to be before, and obviously the memes about this are fucking great because you know a big part of the controversy with like Slipknot at the moment is that people just keep getting fucking fired. Um, more and more people keep getting kicked out of the fucking band. Um so look, I love my favorite is uh all band is gone, is my favorite, like one of my favorite things that I've been seeing about this. Uh if you look at the have you read any of the comments on the music video on YouTube? Not yet, bro. Not yet. Uh, one of them is I push my fingers into my ears.

SPEAKER_00 38:55

Uh, which is there's one that I sent to you now on on thing, bro, on your WhatsApp.

SPEAKER_03 39:02

Let me check. Let me check that out quickly. Yeah, this shit sounds like ass. Drop it. So you got all the memes out the way. Got more fucking memes coming, actually, because uh talking about the next uh release that also got uh which is also, but obviously by band that is always surrounded in controversy because of their front band Falling in Reverse uh released a song that uh on paper should be like super hype because it is falling in reverse featuring Corey Taylor of Slipknot and Serge Tankian of System of a Down. Now, like obviously, uh a teenage Marcel would have been fucking ecstatic about this. There's also been like a massively mixed reception about this. Uh, I personally don't listen to a lot of falling in reverse um anymore. Uh I just yeah, it doesn't necessarily appeal to me. Um, I know Ronnie Radke is just all permanently in some kind of internet beef. I know he lost his lawsuit against Fontano, which was a very entertaining saga. I don't know if you saw that. There was a lawsuit, yeah, dude. He fucking sued uh Ronnie Radke sued uh Fontano and lost. Damn. So that was uh that was great. Um obviously, like a lot of the complaints about this are like a big part of like the issues with Fortune Reverse is that it's it's corny. And like one of the memes that got made was like, why is this motherfucker always shooting laser beams out of his eyes in his music videos? And it was just a montage. I was like, Oh, that's all just for one music video, and I realized, wait a fucking minute, it is from every like recent music video, he's always like shooting laser beams, and like I gave the song like a couple of listens, and one of the main complaints was that it's the the instrumentals sound really bad for this song. And from my perspective, I don't know if that's just hating for the sake of hating, it sounds like a falling and reverse song for some people. That's enough for it to sound bad.

SPEAKER_00 41:17

Featuring Corey Taylor, nothing Slipknot seems to be touching is is good these days, apparently, dude.

SPEAKER_03 41:23

And you know, it's just a wonder, like it's just wondering, are your idols falling off? Is the landscape of the music changing, or are these guys just trying to or is it like a case of like your your idols trying to stick to trends or create trying to stay relevant and in turn losing what made them special in the first place? There's so many like debates, I mean, as to what could be the issue there. I think a big part of the problem with falling in reverse is just because of what a sort of uh divisor, like divisive figure Ronnie Radke herself himself is. I don't think the band would be nearly as much in the spotlight if it wasn't for his personality, you know. I fuck, fuck no dude. I but yeah, um I don't particularly like the song. It doesn't really like I said, on on paper with the people who are featuring on it, it should be fucking dope, but it's just I don't know, it's kind of it feels like forced hype to me. Um I don't think it's a particularly bad song. I don't think it's the worst thing that they've ever put out, but at the same time, it's just it doesn't really fucking appeal to me.

SPEAKER_00 42:40

You've got some Ed Sheeran news.

SPEAKER_03 42:42

Yeah, so like for anyone who is living under a rock and doesn't really know what the fuck's going on, aka me. Ed Sheeran is on a tour at the moment. He is or what uh yeah, he's still on tour, the the loop tour. And he part of that act had Macklemore opening up for the show. Now, for anyone who is a fan of Macklemore or just knows anything about Macklemore, he is very passionate about human rights, about a variety of he's just a pretty stand-up guy, to be honest, and he has been extremely vocal about what has been happening in Gaza and the sort of atrocities that have been committed to the people of Palestine. And this isn't news, this isn't fucking surprising. Okay, like this man has very publicly been extremely vocal about this, and of course, during the show or when he was opening for Ed Sheeran, he made the comment of Free Palestine, and that pissed a couple of people off. One of them being uh your favorite billionaire by a man of the name by a man of a man by the name of Robert Craft, who owns Gillette. At the stadium, uh, seemed to be really offended by those two words, and he basically reached out to Ed Sharon's team, which led to McLemore being dropped from the show. Now, shit like this has happened in the past, all right. And Ed Sharon is famously like known for saying he does not take sides politically, and that is there are a bunch of other creators out there who have gotten into significantly more detail about how that's not the case, and a lot more of the specifics about this. But at the end of the day, this turned out to be a massive fucking blunder for Ed. It has unfortunately not I wouldn't say unfortunately, but it has caused a massive public backlash against him for being a spineless fucking coward. Uh mainly because McLamore is supposed to be his friend. Uh like there is a from what I gather, they're apparently friends, and he instead of turning around and being like, uh yeah, fucking billionaire dude, I'm not gonna let you fuck kick my buddy off of my tour, uh, he just complied. And in solidarity, pretty much every other opening act also fucking ditched the tour, including the act that was serving as Ed's band. And then he made the most like PR sanitized a public apology uh on stage, where you could clearly see that he's uh reading off a teleprompter and all sorts of shit. Um, so yeah, let us know your thoughts on that drama.

SPEAKER_00 45:36

So recent local music-related news that could affect the scene. So, what I had here was about obviously Sean joining another band, Daisy Arsen, he's now a part of that. Him and Steven have joined that. And uh basically Marcel came and added he's also joined another band called Heelter. So yeah, so like, yeah, there's I think a lot of people have been sort of asking themselves, you know, whether this guy gets any sleep. I actually took some um extracted some of the comments there uh in the Daisy Arsene announcement. Uh Kim basically said, When do you sleep, dude? Uh a homie called him Ra and said, Damn, SA Metal really getting to a point where it's 12 people in 50 bands at the same time, or just 12 Sean's in 50 bands at the same time. Mind you, Sean was literally just like, Yes! Yes, yes, to each response. Yes. And then one last one from existential. Sean, not only carrying the scene, but at this point, bro, is the scene single-handedly. So this dude is in so many bands, it's absolutely crazy.

SPEAKER_03 46:44

At what point is he the bonny blue of South African music? Um, so yeah, Sean, good luck. Um, I don't know when Zany ever sees you. And like the the he's a yeah, the the man he'll turn. Do you want to know how I discovered that? I was scrolling through TikTok. I stumbled across the Railways Live. And I as I was scrolling past the Railways Live, because they've been doing a lot of TikTok lives of shows that have been happening at Railways, I had a sudden moment of who wait a second, I know that person. Wait a second, that's Sean. And I'm sitting here and I'm watching it, I'm like going through my mind of like that's does that's not sunken state, that's not Raptor Baby. And like, I was sort of like trying to process and like what fucking band is that? And then it was like, oh, it's Hilton, it's another band that he's drawing.

SPEAKER_00 47:35

We've got Jack White. Okay, so you you said Jack White's doing something, yeah, dude.

SPEAKER_03 47:39

So Jack White has announced South African tour dates for the first time. And obviously, if you were a fan of the White Stripes, uh beyond Seven Asian Army, uh, that's really fucking cool. Um, I think a lot of people, like especially from my age group, are huge fans of Jack White and kind of his contributions to music in general. So that is something I personally would love to fucking see. Um yeah, but it's just a big, a big thing. And I feel like a lot of these kind of announcements where it's it's a big artist, but also not necessarily a household name. We have a lot of these artists coming to the South to South Africa recently, and you just don't hear about it until it's over. So yeah, um, Jack White is coming to South Africa, which is fucking dope.

SPEAKER_00 48:29

Nice. I hope Durban is uh one of the dates, but obviously it won't be nope.

SPEAKER_03 48:35

It's Joe Burgen Cape Town. Get fucked.

SPEAKER_01 48:37

Hello, darkness male.

SPEAKER_03 48:41

Middle grounds is back. Uh they've got two new members. They have got Anton, who is on guitar, and they have got who the fuck was playing bass again? It's Corne. Cornet, who plays for Crash in the Void as well. Two incredibly talented musicians and have turned out to be absolutely great fits for middle ground. I unfortunately did not get to go out to the show. However, Alex, Alex Sweden, the drummer of Drunk Wizard and also a photographer with the most dashing mustache you have ever seen in your lives, uh, got some footage of that show for me and that was absolutely great. It was also the return of Le Focalordie with their new members. So that was also I pretty fucking bleak that I missed it. Uh Shanesseh, actually, who was on the show. Why am I Shanesh's name just triggered a whole triggered a he turned me into Mike Tyson, dude? Um anyway. Uh yeah, so Shanesh actually jumped onto stage for a surprise cameo with the boys, and I think that just further proves what Shanesh said in that episode that there is no bad blood between him and the rest of the LaForca Lordie boys, which is extremely, extremely wholesome to hear. Um, I'm low-key kind of glad I wasn't there because I'm gonna be honest, middle grounds and LaForca Lordie in the Irish sounds like a recipe for me to get my shit rocked while I'm holding a camera. Uh, the last time I was at the Irish, I got battered and fucking bruised because that was gallows, ghast, no closure. I just got the shit beaten out of me constantly. So I kind of like 50-50. However, someone unironically, unironically, got their shit rocked. Uh some dude decided it would be a great idea to inappropriately touch a woman at the show. And I ended up trying my process of trying to find out what happened, speaking to the victim directly. Oh, yes, and she basically explained to me what happened, what this guy did, uh, which was pretty, pretty fucked up. Um, I'm not gonna name her specifically because I don't think that's what you really want to be known for. Uh, you know, it's a pretty shitty experience in general. I also don't know. Yeah, so he let's see. Uh, this dude at the show last night, while me and my friend were talking, had walked past us and unconsensually grabbed and caressed me on a place he shouldn't have at my thigh while saying hello to my friend, and then walked away. Now, someone was very much unhappy with this behavior and rocked that dude's shit. They went and found him and they uh fucking took him out, to the best of my understanding. We had someone in the Discord saying that they were there, that they were standing behind the dude when they got his shit rocked, and that saying that he got his shit rocked was an understatement. So, yeah, just a heads up. Uh, don't fucking touch woman inappropriately at Chose. Just fucking ever. I hope you know, brother, that you were the poster, child for uh do not fucking touch woman at shows. But I also love the fact that you tried to do this at a middle ground show, at a LaFookalordi show. Two bands who are extremely outspoken against this kind of behavior.

SPEAKER_00 52:10

Talk about failing to read the room.

SPEAKER_03 52:13

Dude, dude, you like of all the places you could have chosen to fuck around, you chose the place where you were gonna find out the most. Because those are those are two bands who are again very, very publicly outspoken about this. And I'm glad that of all the places it could have happened, it happened at a show where people will not take that behavior lying down. So, brother, wherever you are, I hope you never come to a show again.

SPEAKER_00 52:40

Yeah, we've got uh yeah, so altfest uh is gonna be a thing that's gonna be coming up, and uh the homie's there basically did like a QA the other day. So it's something worth actually checking out because quite a few people have like questions regarding the events and what's happening. And basically, you know, one or two things that were actually covered on there, which I had noted down, is that uh basically the genres that are going to be there because someone asked what the genres are, they mentioned they're mentioned, they're mentioned, they mentioned it will be metal, drum and bass, and all things in between, and also that the first lineup will drop in October of 2026. So those are some of the questions that were answered, and I think just from those two, I think it sets the tone in terms of what people can expect. And yeah, also just to look forward to the month of October because yeah, the the more details will come up in terms of the lineup. From what I understand, they're releasing it in segments as well. So that's definitely something to look out for.

SPEAKER_03 53:45

I have no idea who the internationals are going to be as of yet.

SPEAKER_00 53:48

Are you sitting on another secret, dude? Are you sitting on another red helen thing here? Because you're full of surprises. It's not already you probably know who it is, but you just I actually I really, really don't.

SPEAKER_03 53:59

Um but like I am also deeply uh I don't know if you watched the live or if you got this information from the a the videos that they posted recently. Um I was in that and someone actually dropped a comment of they would love to see us there doing sludge quickies. Um that would be pretty dope. We will we will very likely see you there and ask you questions.

SPEAKER_00 54:25

Yeah, let's do it.

SPEAKER_03 54:26

But yeah, there was a there's a there's a few more like of those videos releasing, like with uh answering a couple of questions. Uh the people involved in this is obviously uh people who know what they're doing, they've been around for a while. It is their first festival. Um and I do like the idea that they are not being overly ambitious. They definitely are trying to do something cool, but they are not trying to do too much at once, if that makes sense. Uh, that is uh Sonage, it is Norwood, uh, it is uh church and Emilith events that are all kind of grouped together to make this happen.

SPEAKER_00 55:07

If you aren't a part of our Discord yet, uh this is an opportunity to do so. We have the links in the description, and yeah, it's basically a place where we have some conversations about anything that is happening in the scene. We get some very interesting opinions on there regarding just even some of the topics that we've had today on this episode, you know, what various people seem to think. Uh, and yeah, it's a safe space where no one is judged, and we all just chime in where we have an opportunity and where we can. So if you aren't following the Discord, do head on over to the link in our description and uh join that there. Marcel, I know you've got a scene shout-outs that you want to do. What's happening?

SPEAKER_03 55:46

Yeah, dude. So uh recently, uh Austin, uh he is one of my favorite people out there, and he used to be the well, yeah, Savage Lucy is no longer a band, they've called they've finally called it a day. But yeah, what Austin has been doing is he's been doing live streams and just getting people to submit their music, and he listens to it on stream and he gives his thoughts about your music. And I need to warn you in advance of doing this. Austin does not pull any punches. If what you have submitted is either cuck or he does not like it, he is going to very much tell you that. Um, if you are not ready to hear criticisms about your music, um maybe just lay off on that. But yeah, he's taking a little bit of a break at at the moment of it. If I'm not mistaken, he's recently moved and he's just kind of just settling into life at the moment. But I definitely recommend checking that out. He has moved the live streams over to YouTube, uh, just due to Facebook being super weird with live streams about a variety of reasons. And yeah, I highly recommend giving his channel a sub so when he does start doing it up again, you can learn about some new music as well as submit your own and get his thoughts. He is a very seasoned musician. Uh, he has, I would genuinely think there is a lot of value in what he has to say about your music. So if you're up for a little bit of criticism or him potentially loving it, give it a give it a go. Give it send it through to him.

SPEAKER_00 57:22

Yeah, as I mentioned earlier, uh, do also check out Sahara. That is a platform that we have where you can literally go there and submit any of the music that you have released this month. There are links straight to all the relevant sort of sites and platforms where your music is. It just helps centralize everything, you know, it helps people know exactly where to go to find absolutely all the releases that have you know that are out in this month and the previous months and so on and so forth. It doesn't disappear, it stays there forever for people to sort of access. So if you do have new music out, uh don't hesitate to go there and submit. You should have all the details and information in terms of how to submit the music on the page itself. Uh, we will leave the link to the Sahara page directly for you to be able to submit that as well.

SPEAKER_03 58:12

Yeah, guys, one of the best ways to keep the platform going and to just show your support in general is to grab some merch. We have a merch store online. You can go through either on our website and there are links to it pretty much on all of our socials. Doing a purchase of some merch is a great way to just help keep this platform going.

SPEAKER_00 58:33

Probably now the best way to keep the platform going would be our monthly subscription. So we essentially have a link that you can go and check out. And if you are a fan of what we are doing and would like to continue to see us do what we do at the rate that we do it, this does make things a lot easier. Uh so it's literally just a link that you go into and then you decide how much it is that you want to send through to us as a token of appreciation or support. And uh yeah, that basically uh takes care of the expenses that go into the podcast. Obviously, it's a labor of love, so it's something that we do literally from our own pockets. Uh, but yeah, having something like this does help in terms of just it being easier for this to keep being a thing for us where months may be a bit difficult financially. And yeah. Shout outs to the people that have already subscribed. I know you've got some names there, Marcel.

SPEAKER_03 59:25

Yeah, man, it is the one and only Mike Pacock as well as Renee. These are our two lifelines to this world. We absolutely love you guys to bits. Thank you so much for your continued support of this platform. I again, we cannot express how much we love you guys. It very much feels like that meme of we'd like to thank Bobby for coming out tonight. Um, you guys, you have our backs. We see you, we we love you always. So, yeah, that's it from me. Nice. So, how about you?

SPEAKER_00 59:56

Yeah, that's pretty much it from my side as well. Want to thank you, the audience, and who has tuned into this episode to listen to Marcel and I just rant and go on about the things that have been happening in the scene. And yeah, continue supporting the scene, continue supporting other bands. And uh, I suppose this is where it ends for today.