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TATTOO (con) ARTISTS TAKE TO THE SCREEN

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 11:43:43 +0100

Discovery and TLC have the worldwide tattoo community up in arms over the launch of the new TV series “Tattoo School”. Cleo Black takes a closer look at what’s going on behind the scenes...

From an outside perspective, the world of tattooing and those who collect body art work has been one full of the unaccomplished dregs of society. Drug addicts, thieves and generally people one would not want at one’s high tea party or ladies’ luncheon. We start bar fights, have dirty fingernails and NO work ethic, and want to marry your innocent sons and daughters and turn them into wayward hussies and brawlers with our tattooed charms. At long last, a feeling has begun to inch its way into the corner of my mind that this unfair stereotype is beginning to change. Society as a whole was is starting to accept permanent body art work for what it is: art. Tattoo culture has been around longer than most of the great painters we all base our perceptions of art on, and tattoo artists study for years to perfect their technique before even being allowed near their canvas of human skin. For centuries this art form has been evolving into what it is today, and we as a community are fiercely protective of what it has become and its proud history across the world.

As one such fiercely protective tattoo collector, I feel it’s my personal responsibility to promote safe tattooing by talented, experienced and well trained artists. Nobody likes being parted with a few grand for a huge back piece, only to have it look like the kids spilled paint on your back in five years time, not to mention risking possible infection by blood borne pathogens, or an infected and puss covered ink job. And this is why an extremely large portion of the tattoo community worldwide was outraged to hear that TLC would be launching a new show on July 14 this year at 9pm, called “Tattoo School”.

“Rookie students, models risking their skin to first time body artists, a rebellious instructor and unconventional training… who will bear the drama of competition and survive?”

Now I can’t speak for the entire body of tattoo artists and collectors worldwide, but personally there’s not a snowballs chance in HELL that I would let anybody from a “school” with a slogan like that anywhere near my skin with a needle. Lisa Fasulo, owner and “teacher” at the tattoo school in the states claims on her blog that she’s been receiving hate mail for years now, but that the amount has flared up drastically with the news of the upcoming TV show...maybe that’s a hint honey. “How dare I teach someone how to do this ancient art form? How dare I give someone the chance to support themselves doing an honest and fulfilling job? How dare I teach people how to tattoo safely and responsibly instead of kitchen sink scratching? And on and on they went.....I never took it personally though, since these people never met me or my family. The notion of tattoo school has never been a popular idea, so I guess my partner and I are sort of pioneers.” In this collector’s opinion, Lisa Fasulo needs to get her head out of her...erm, kitchen sink,(if you know what I mean) and listen to what the rest of the world is saying.

I spoke to some experienced, hard working and extremely talented artists, as well as some collectors about their thoughts and feeling s on the subject: Candice Van Niekerk, a collector (for the moment...an apprentice as soon as humanly possible) and extremely accomplished fine artist; Ali Tambelini, a collector for years who has had her share of botched ink jobs; Damian Martins, an artist and owner of Living Art Tattoos(JHB); JayJay Waller, a young collector and Waldo Del Rocca, an apprenticing artist and owner of Lighthouse Supply (professional tattoo supplies) in Cape Town, who is opening up a shop with two established artists later this year.

(QUESTIONS MARKED BY A * ARE FOR ARTISTS ATTENTION ONLY)

*3) WHERE DO YOU WORK AND HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TATTOOING?

Waldo- “I am currently busy opening a new studio with two other well known artists in Cape Town, Cape Electric Tattoo. I have been working in the industry a collective of 3 years and have roughly done about 15 tattoos only, I’m still a apprentice really... 3 years down and I can openly admit I know nothing, not nearly enough... and now this bullshit about 2 weeks school and you are a artist? Please.”

(Above: Damian Martins, just another day at the office. Chest image by Shaun Lindgren, text by...Marissa Noordegraaf at Tattoolya)

Damian-“I work from and own Living Art in Kensington JHB...been tattooing for three years.”

*4) TELL ME ABOUT YOUR TRAINING, ALL THE DETAILS; HOW LONG YOU APPRENTICED, WHAT YOUR DUTIES WERE, WHEN YOU WERE ALLOWED TO FISRT TATTOO CUSTOMERS AND HOW YOU FEEL ALL OF THE ABOVE AFFECTED YOU AS AN ARTIST-

Waldo- “Well, I’m still learning, I’m still a apprentice and will stay one till my mentors and I feel confident enough to brand myself as a fully fledged tattoo artist, I’m lucky as I have more than one mentor. My training has involved kissing ass, cleaning dirty equipment and shops, drawing, drawing and drawing, putting in YEARS of hard work, sucking it up and being humble, pride in my pocket, chin up and chest out, taking absolute pride in what I do. I honestly don’t think you ever stop learning as a tattoo artist, it’s the same with any art, every day, every drawing and every tattoo you learn something new. It’s never ending... all of this has made me a more humble artist and more so understanding the permanence of the trade, of what you do. Its fucking hard work, and it takes dedication, I lifetimes commitment. “
Damian-“I apprenticed under a veteran tattooer, John Olding, at JCT Tattoos for just under a year before taking it solo. I was responsible for all floor scrubbing, sterilizing, drawing up and dealing with the clients...I would just sit next to John for hours and watch him, picking up techniques and styles you can’t learn from a book. I didn’t actually start tattooing human beings until I had learned everything I possibly could about tattoo culture and safe, clean tattooing. My teacher was really old school...tattooing is a proud tradition for him so he made sure my work was something to be proud of.”

*5) AS AN ARTIST, WHAT ARE YOUR PROFESSIONAL OPINIONS ON THE IDEA OF LEARNING TO TATTOO IN A SPACE OF 80 HOURS, AND THE DANGERS YOU FEEL ARE INVOLVED-

Waldo- 80 hours? That’s a normal weeks working hours in a corporate environment... it’s a goddamn insult. You can’t even learn enough about cross contamination in 1 year let alone to tattoo in 80 hours. The repercussions of this is beyond what anybody could imagine, the spread of disease, all forms of Hepatitis, HIV and the list can go on, it could seriously turn into a epidemic. Brain surgeons or dentists study for 4 to 8 years, average tattoo apprenticeship is 2 – 6 years for a reason. It is a medical procedure to get tattooed, we are talking about needles, blood, blood borne pathogens, medical waste, inserting a medium and substance under your skin, this is no joke.

Damian-“Personally, I feel that 80 hours isn’t even enough time to learn about sterilizing things properly...never mind getting near a body with a needle. Shows like Miami or LA Ink have brought tattoo culture under a spotlight...but those guys are well trained experienced artists who have been working for years. TLC clearly does NOT understand the health risks here...”

6) GIVE ME YOUR OPININS ON THE FOLLOWING TEXT...THIS IS DIRECTLY QUOTED FROM “TATTOO SCHOOL’S” WEB PAGE-

What does the tuition include?

* A professional tattoo machine.
* 80 Hours of tattoo instruction with certified, experienced, award winning, tattoo instructors.
* FREE lodging for 2 weeks.
* Dozens of willing, prescreened human models for you to learn and practice on.
* Use of all our equipment at our State of the Art tattoo training facilities.
* Informational binder with all the important contacts and sources for all things "tattoo related".
* DVD of machine tuning produced by the TLC staff.
* Tattoo techniques textbook
* Tattoo License permit (as per county)
* Certificate of Completion upon course graduation.
* Tattoo Learning Center T-Shirt. (well, I mean if they’re throwing in a T-Shirt...)
* Transportation to and from the student housing daily.
* DVD with digital pictures of all the tattoos you completed while at school (enough for a beginning portfolio).

*** LOTS and LOTS of nurturing and emotional support that makes us the finest tattoo school!

Ali-“I don’t feel that the 80 hours of tattoo ‘instruction’ is sufficient time for someone to become qualified as a tattoo artist...definitely not enough time to gain enough experience in terms of different techniques, let alone to practice each technique to perfection. I feel that tattoo knowledge is gained more from practical experience than from text books, and I think it’s impossible to learn every tattoo technique and perfect it in 80hours, it’s not just a standard simple thing, where the ‘syllabus’ is the same for every student. Tattooing is about individuality, and not everyone is cut out for the industry, not everyone is disciplined enough. This show is enabling anyone to do it, and making it easier for people who are going through a ‘phase’ to be allowed to butcher people’s skin. Man... I was tattooed by a ‘tattoo artist’ who paid to learn how to tattoo, and now I’m spending a lot of MY money having her f*ck up fixed. What TLC is allowing is so irresponsible...”

(Above: Ali’s fixer upper...currently looking WAY better.)

Candice-First of all, you need to be an amazing artist before you even consider becoming a tattoo artist. It is up to your teacher (the person you apprentice under) to decide whether you are “worthy” enough to be taught! Some tattoo artists went through hell to be where they are now and I think it is very unfair for this school to take people’s money and, quite frankly, lie to them by saying that they are qualified. From what I have read, it seems as though this school just teaches people how to put a needle to the skin. There is a LOT more to tattooing than that!! There are many health risks that you have to take into consideration – you are dealing with peoples’ blood every single day. You have to know how to deal with people, for example, that are prone to keloid scarring. You have to know that different parts of the body have different types of skin and you have to know how to tattoo over the skin. You have to know how the skin stretches and where the body bends and, I think, that this knowledge can only come from months and months, even years, of practice and experience. Another thing – a certificate? What the f*ck does that prove? In the tattooing world, the only thing that can prove that you’re a good artist is your portfolio.

(Above: beginning stages of Candice’s piece by Ronald at 1933 Classic Tattoos)

JayJay-I think it’s a f*cking joke! Come on... since they’re throwing in a T-Shirt lets ALL start tattooing! A DVD on Machine Tuning? Really? You can’t walk off the streets and be a tattoo artist... you as a person need art/tattooing be a passion not a hobby. Getting a tattoo is a life changing experience. This so called ‘school’ is retarded, who do these people think they are? This school should be shut down permanently and I hope a lot people agree with me.
Waldo-“I’m going to do this line by line like word association... “

* A professional tattoo machine. –“Yeah right, imported from china, made by non-tattooers. People misjudge the importance of a quality handmade tattoo machine that works on the perfect geometry for precision results.”

* 80 Hours of tattoo instruction with certified, experienced, award winning, tattoo instructors.-“I think I’ve said it already...”

* Use of all our equipment at our State of the Art tattoo training facilities.-“State of the CON-art.”

* Informational binder with all the important contacts and sources for all things "tattoo related".-“What does that mean?
Have they taken 100 years of tattooing history and put in a binder? LIES ON TOP OF LIES.”

* DVD of machine tuning produced by the TLC staff.-“Very useful as coasters, I’m sure.”

* Tattoo techniques textbook-“Great if you’re stuck for toilet paper.”

* Tattoo License permit (as per county)-“This is a f*cking joke, because in some states in the USA you require over 1000 hours of tattooing as a apprentice in a legitimate shop before you would even be considered to receive a permit...”

* Transportation to and from the student housing daily.-“Don’t stop at the red light in front of the train tracks now ya hear?”

* LOTS and LOTS of nurturing and emotional support that makes us the finest tattoo school!-“You need to have balls of steel to be a tattoo artist and these scratchers (students) will learn that the hard way. “

7) TELL ME A BIT ABOUT WHY YOU CHOSE THE ARTISTS YOU DID FOR YOUR TATTOOS-

Candice- “Ronald from 1933 Classic Tattoos (JHB) is my tattoo artist... I worked with Ronald for quite some time and we are very good friends. In this time I got to see his level of skill and I now know that his work is exceptional and that he has a very good knowledge about everything tattoo related. I trust him with my life and I think that trust is the most important thing to have between an artist and a collector. Getting tattooed is a very intense and intimate experience... it can either be an amazing or it can be horrible, so choosing an artist carefully is a good idea.”
JayJay-“- Well, I have 4 tattoo’s all done by different artist’s. My favourite one is the lily above my ankle, which was done by Ronald at Tattoolya. (Ronald now owns and tattoos from ‘1933 Classic Tattoos’ in JHB) It’s my favourite tattoo because I got it for my Granny who passed away last year March, and I chose Ronald because his artwork is amazing and he’s also been tattooing for years. He’s light-handed and doesn’t drill into your skin like a less experienced artist did to me once. I had the word LOVE tattooed over the scars on my forearm to represent the love I have for my mother. I was on Holiday in Cape Town and had heard good things about Ryan at Freestylers. I chose him because he’s done amazing work on my friends and I had a look on his webpage and I liked what I saw. ..His portfolio dated back years, so I knew that he was a very experienced artist not just some fool off the street. “

(Above: JayJay’s lily in memory of her Grandmother, by Ronald [previously] at Tattolya)

Damian-“I had my chest done by a good friend and great artist, Shaun Lindgren. His portfolio speaks for itself, and I know for a fact that he tattoos in a sterile environment, and has 10 years of experience...that’s something money can’t buy you.”

8) ANYTHING ELSE TO ADD?-

Candice- “TLC must die.”

Waldo- “Check out www.tattooacademy.co.za I feel that the South African (tattoo) artists should stand up against the tattoo schools locally too. They can fight TLC; our small industry in this country needs to be in solidarity against the problems on home soil.”

Damian-The tattoo community is STUFFED with talent waiting to come out...howerever there are also a bunch of sh*t tattooers who just aren’t up to scratch. What we need is for health boards to clamp down on artists and studios that don’t do things properly.”

Knowledge and experience just said a mouthful. I’ve been told that this article is pointless, a waste of my time...people in power don’t listen to people like us. I wasn’t raised to run away from a challenge, and challenge is EXACTLY what Lisa Fasulo and TLC have done to hundreds of years of culture, painstaking teaching and learning and the art of tattooing itself. I stand by all the opinions of the artists and collectors I have interviewed for this piece, and believe that if we speak loudly enough, they will have to listen. As someone who has endured hours and hours worth of ink and needles already, and will doubtless endure hours more in her life, I refuse to stand by and let something as priceless as art that lasts a lifetime be prostituted in such a fashion. Head on over to http://www.facebook.com/BoycottTattooSchool?ref=tsand join the “Boycot TLC’s Tattoo School Show ” group to show your support. And while you’re at it, head over to http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/boycotttattooschool/and let your floor sweeping, stencil drawing, hard working, ink loving, PROUD voice be heard by adding your name to the list of (currently) 10,016 people standing up for something they believe in. Let’s get this dangerous and insulting bollox off the air.

(Above: Waldo’s piece by David Chaston.)

Sum 41 LIVE in South Africa

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 22:00:16 +0100

Sum 41 LIVE in South Africa

Canadian punk rock group Sum 41 will be hitting South Africa in August, with two phenomenal live shows at Wave House in Durban, on 5 August and at the OppiKoppi “Unknown Brother” Festival in Limpopo, on 7 August.

The Juno Award-winning band, formed in Ajax, Ontario in 1996. The band all came together 41 days into the summer before their senior year of high school, and formed their own band. Their name came from this 41 day period. Sum 41 band members are Deryck Whibley (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Cone McCaslin (bass guitar, backing vocals), Steve Jocz (drums, backing vocals), and Thomas Thacker (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboard)

Since their inception in 1996, Sum 41 has been relentless, unapologetic, and unconcerned with musical boundaries. To date, the band has released five studio albums, namely All Killer, No Filler (2001), Does This Look Infected? (2002), Chuck (2004), Underclass Hero (2007) and Screaming Bloody Murder (29 March, 2011). With their eagerly anticipated fifth album, Screaming Bloody Murder, released earlier this year, the upcoming tour dates are sure re-confirm their staggering live reputation.

Speaking about their new album, Bassist Cone McCaslin feels “like we really reached a new level with this one. It’s definitely my favourite Sum 41 album. Musically, this album has pushed way beyond anything we have ever done. I can’t wait for fans to hear this album. I can’t wait to play this album live.” With track titles like: ‘Blood in My Eyes’, ‘Jessica Kill’, ‘Holy Image of Lies’ and ‘Happiness Machines’, Screaming Bloody Murder is an evolution of the band’s metal and punk-rock influence, but continues to blend musical styles as they have done in the past.

Furthermore, Sum 41 who have collaborated with Iggy Pop, Ludacris, Tommy Lee, Rob Haldford, and Tenacious D, and were invited to tour with heavy metal legends Motley Crue in the past when they reunited; bring a seemingly inexhaustible supply of youthful energy in their performances.

Sum 41 is without a doubt one of the more prominent names in the history of punk rock and can justifiably be described as one of the perennial punk rock bands of our generation. Recently labelled as one of the world’s best live bands, be sure to catch the downright legendary band, at one of their spectacular concerts in South Africa!

Tour Dates:
5 August, Friday: Hilltop Live presents Sum 41
Venue: Wave House, Gateway Mall, DBN
Tickets: Available at

www.ticketbreak.co.za for R250

7 August, Sunday: Oppikoppi “Unknown Brother” Festival
Venue: Oppikoppi Farm, Northam, Limpopo
Tickets: Available at www.ticketbreak.co.zafor R550

Foo Fighters joined on stage by rock legends

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 19:53:39 +0100

Foo Fighters were joined onstage by a succession of rock legends at their gig at Milton Keynes Bowl on 2nd July 2011.

Dave Grohl's band invited Alice Cooper, Bob Mould and Queen drummer Roger Taylor onstage to perform with them at various points during the stadium show.

Roger Taylor was first to appear for 'Cold Day In The Sun', which saw him take over drumming duties while usual sticksman Taylor Hawkins sang lead vocals.

Later Husker Du man Bob Mould guested on 'Dear Rosemary', the song he contributed to on the band's latest album 'Wasting Light'.

Introducing Mould onstage, Grohl paid tribute to his influence on the band.

"The good thing about this record is that I got to make a song with a person that I can truly call my hero, the person who is responsible for the Foo Fighters," the singer said.

Meanwhile, Alice Cooper appeared onstage during the encore to sing on covers of two of his hits - 1972's 'School's Out' and 1970's 'I'm Eighteen'.

"If it wasn't for this next person, Pat Smear would never have bought a guitar in his life,"Grohl told the crowd as he introduced the rock legend. "Say hello to one of our heroes - Mr Alice fucking Cooper!"

The gig saw Foo Fighters play a career-spanning set, including tracks from as far back as their 1997 sophomore album 'The Colour And The Shape', such as 'Monkey Wrench' and set-closer 'Everlong'.

Support at the show came from Biffy Clyro, Death Cab For Cutie and Tame Impala.

Foo Fighters played:

'Bridge Burning'
'Rope'
'The Pretender'
'My Hero'
'Learn To Fly'
'White Limo'
'Arlandia'
'Breakout'
'Cold Day In The Sun'
'Long Road To Ruin'
'Stacked Actors'
'Walk'
'Dear Rosemary'
'Monkey Wrench'
'Let It Die'
'Generator'
'Best Of You'
'Skin And Bones'
'All My Life'
'Wheels'
'Times Like These'
'Young Man Blues'
'School's Out'
'I'm Eighteen'
'Everlong'

Korn, Bad Religion, Faith No More members team up for supergroup

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 22:40:16 +0100

Korn, Bad Religion, Faith No More members team up for supergroup

Korn guitarist James 'Munky' Shaffer, Faith No More bassist Billy Gould and Bad Religion drummer Brooks Wackerman along with guitarist Leopold Ross and keyboardist Zach Baird have teamed up under the band name of Fear And The Nervous System and have made their debut single 'Choking Victim' available as a free download.

You can download 'Choking Victim' by visiting the band's official website Fatns.com.

Shaffer has indicated that Fear And The Nervous System will release a full length album later in the year, complete with cover artwork that has been designed by Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland.

Korn are currently touring Europe, before they return home to complete work on their new 'dubstep' album.

Fuzigish at Unit 11 Durban

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 17:16:59 +0100

Fuzigish at Unit 11 Durban

Photographs and Review by Brent Raftopoulos and Jessica Simes

The Southern Ska Stompers demolished Stone City on the 4^th of July with their new album launch, Fuzigish SA’s ska rock icons showed Durban once again why they are the first band that comes to mind when someone brings up S.A ska. Unit 11 was lucky enough to have them play at their club with Fruit and Veggies and Low Profile opening for the band. The Durban groups made sure to make their presence known with Fruit and Veg giving the crowd a little of their Durban ska talent as well as Low Profile rocking out in their usual fashion. Fuzi as per usual had a huge turn out with die hard fans singing along to favorites like Uncle Shifty’s and Upper Hand. The group showed the fans plenty of thanks by giving them a gig so awesome that Durban has not seen in a long while.

The band started out hard and showed Durban a good time. The crowd going ballistic all the while, this ended in the security barrier having to be removed. Fuzi had their usual madness with crowd members hitting back one of Big Willy’s infamous funnels as well as stage diving and being thrown around. The only negative thing to be said was the crowd let the band down by trying to kill each other instead of skanking the way it should be done. Jay Bones as per usual kept the crowd entertained with his guitar and vocals along with Big Willy and the rest of the gang making a night to remember. The group made sure to include the audience the whole while and even though they had a massive set list there was not a single dull moment even when Jay ended up without a guitar and improvised an entire song which just shows his lyrical talents. Lamps were knocked around while the gig was going on and all I could see was Jay taking a rogue lamp to the forehead thankfully that wasn’t a situation Fuzi had to deal with.

Lee their drummer gave us some crazy beats to listen to while Rockwell jammed along providing us with some rough ska backup vocals and some bouncy bass notes to keep the rhythm flowing. The band as a group were great together and are still to me the ultimate S.A ska band and I’m hoping I’ll be able to watch them again soon.

The gig was amazing and definitely was worth a mere 40 bucks to watch. The group has always been a top band in my mind to watch live and after watching them I’m going to be making a point to be there at every gig from now on. Jozi can count themselves lucky to have a band like Fuzigish in their ranks showing the new guys how it should be done. All that can be said is that Durban wants Fuzi back already for some more skanking and madness. My new year’s resolution is definitely to fight the fight up Hill Street under blue skies while being exploited and distorted, united and divided you and I will be scratching a little bird at Uncle Shifty’s Wholesale Emporium! From us all in Durban Thanks a lot Fuzi!

Fuzigish is still on their tour see the dates and below:

18/06. Bloem,The Mystic Boer w/ Frank Freeman
25/06. Jozi, BEEEG Day Out
09/07. PTA, Tings an Times w/ Sunday Punchers & Juggernaught
16/07. CT, Mercury Lounge w/ Hog Hoggidy Hog
29/07. P.E., Jesters w/ Sick Day September
30/07. G'town, Slipstream Sports Bar w/ Folklore

Red Hot Chilli Peppers ready to make the sun shine again

Sat, 11 Jun 2011 22:17:06 +0100

Red Hot Chilli Peppers ready to make the sun shine again

By Kosta Papageorgiou

It has been five long years since the Red Hot Chilli Peppers brought out an album. To any true RHCP fan that is just far too long. Sort of like a winter lasting much longer than expected. Or your Christmas gifts being delayed by the post office, times a thousand. Their last album which was a double album, Stadium Arcadium probably should have given the hint that these boys were going to go into hiatus for a while. The minute you hear hiatus, it’s like hear that mommy and daddy are going through a rough time and working things out. Hiatus tends to also be a codename for, “we’re just over it”. But huzzah! The Red Hot Chilli Peppers are back! The Red Hot Chili Peppers have announced their return on their official website. They have been working hard on a new album titled, I'm With You, which is due to be released by Warner Bros. early September. I’m With You is their 10th studio album,

In the words of RHCP vocalist, Anthony Kiedis, "Yeah, the sun is just coming up here." Thank goodness for that. Any person who has appreciated the work of RHCP will agree that life without a Red Hot Chilli Peppers track just is not the same. The new album, I'm With You, produced by Rick Rubin is a 14-song record that also marks the debut of the Chili Peppers' new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, who joined in the fall of 2009 following the departure of John Frusciante. Frusciante had been a crucial writer as well as player on the RHCP's biggest albums, including 1991's Blood Sugar Sex Magik and 1999's Californication. With a band member who brought so much of RHCP’s essence to the table there were fears that the band would split. Klinghoffer, 31, was a veteran sideman who had recorded and toured with Beck, PJ Harvey and Tricky, among many others. He was also a friend of Frusciante's, working on several of that guitarist's solo records, and had performed with the Chili Peppers on their last world tour, playing extra guitar and keyboards. Thankfully, Kiedis and bassist Flea claim they "had this intuitive feeling," that they are not done but it is only a new beginning. According to Kiedis’ interview with Rolling Stone, “We wanted to maintain the Red Hot Chili Peppers if we could do it in a way that upheld historically what we had accomplished.”

The Red Hot Chilli Peppers will also be touring again. As it stands their tour starts on 9 August 2011 with a performance at AsiaWorld Arena in Hong Kong. Dave Rat (RHCP’s Sound Engineer) has said that RHCP’s “I’m With You” World Tour will go on right through until 2013. A post on his blog reads… “Here comes summer sunshine and time to jump back in to making the world a louder place to live in!” It sounds like exciting times ahead but isn’t this also the perfect time for South African events management companies to bring RHCP to South Africa? Yes, 2011 has been filled with big events such U2 gigging in South Africa and Kings Of Leon and Coldplay playing in the coming months, perhaps the Red Hot Chilli Peppers could be brought here in 2012 or 2013? Something to think about indeed.

You can pre-Order “I’m With You” the new Red Hot Chili Peppers Album on Amazon! I’m With You is released on August 30th 2011! International users can pre-order I’m With You for $17.41 on Amazon.com.

OppiKoppi 17 - Unknown Brother Festival

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 23:14:44 +0100

OppiKoppi 17 - “Unknown Brother*” Festival

5, 6, 7 August 2011 (Remember to take the Monday off, Tuesday is there to recover from the Koppi)

OppiKoppi Farm, Northam, Limpopo Province

Ladies and gentlemen it is time to switch your pows on. In fact very on. Time has come to start the ritual cleansing and de-cleansing of the senses for the emotional and music overload which is colloquially known as the OppiKoppi festival.

Now in its 17^th year, the festival (previously voted as one of the top 10 festivals in the world by the British media [Although, to be honest, that was in a non-royal-wedding year] has become a near religious experience for most of the tune zealots which migrate hundreds of kilometres to the three day celebration. Some of them actually come back from the koppie afterwards as well, which is always nice from an organisers’ perspective (Not like Mortimer who attended the 1999 event and ended hanging around for about a year and half).

Although wildly popular (OppiKoppi was one of the first ever South African festivals to actually sell out in previous years) there are many other adjectives which probably do not sit comfortably with the bushveld music and art celebration, here are few we think stand out:

Elegant,

Assuming,

Recuperative,

Unassuming,

Comforting,

Mild,

Reserved (Except in the animal sense),

Unsure,

Leisurely (Even though it is actually a camping style multiple day breakaway for you and your friends.Or for you and your new friends.).

There are others but the English language, although great and good, is oft found clumsy and lacking piercing power when confronted with a disturbing cycle of dust, thorns, cold beers, warm days, loud music. Fear not though: where Will& Kate fears to tread, 15000 fans comfortably camp.

LINEUP

The line-up for the 2011 is being announced in batches and fans are encouraged to visit or “like” the Facebook group “OppiKoppi festival” for all information. As in the past it is a selection of South Africa’s finest and a few nice international faces.

At the time of going to press the following acts were confirmed already (The list should grow to around 80 artists, musicians, poets, artists, dj’s and well-dressed policemen):

§ Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse

§ Not My Dog

§ aKING

§ Bittereinder

§ Jax Panik

§ Die Antwoord

§ Zebra& Giraffe

§ Van Coke Kartel

§ Gazelle

Tickets:

· Tickets available from Ticketbreak.co.za

· First 1000 ticket buyers, may buy a ticket for last year’s price (R450), they will also receive a free OppiKoppi t-shirt –This batch of tickets, has SOLD OUT

· The second batch of 1000 ticket buyers, may buy a ticket for R500 –This batch of tickets, has SOLD OUT

· Thereafter, it is R550 per person

· And R600 at the gate.

NOTE

*Unknown Brother- The name comes from The Black Keys song. The actual campaign was designed by Fanakalo in Stellenbosch.

OppiKoppi in numbers

(3 days x 24 hours x 80 bands x 15 000 friends x Organised Chaos)^{5 stages} = OppiKoppi

Hilltop Live would like to give a shout out to:

Jose Cuervo, MK, Huisgenoot Tempo, Standard Bank, Ticketbreak.co.za

Seether...still making SA proud

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 23:07:24 +0100

Seether

Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray

With the South African release due on the 7^th June, the United States has continued to embrace South Africa’s biggest rock export. The album, “Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray”, debuted at Number 2 on the Billboard Top 200 charts, Seether’s highest ever chart position and an increase of almost 10% on week one sales over their last release, “Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces”.

Meanwhile, the albums debut single, “Country Song”, is dominating USA radio holding down three Number One positions and climbing all other charts. The song continues to be the most added song on both Active Rock radio and Modern Rock radio.

Hello, I’ve waited here for you…Everlong - Foo Fighters, please come to SA

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 23:01:29 +0100

“Hello, I’ve waited here for you…Everlong”

By Christian Trublet de Nermont

I love the Foo Fighters….Like, I LOVE them. I’m not weird or anything though; I don’t have “Dave Grohl” tattooed on my forehead, or a shrine built into my closet complete with candles and statues that endangers both my life and those of my Grand-parents if it were to catch alight and burn their house to the ground. I also don’t know where he lives, or what school his children go to.

I do, however, happen to have their band logo (“FF”) tattooed on my upper right thigh, or buttock (if you wanna be an ass about it). I don’t live with my grand-parents in their basement like some weirdo. I live with my parents, like some loser.

Last but not least, I was also in the possession of a near-scale cardboard cut-out of Dave Grohl. My then girlfriend of that time thought it would be the closest that I would get to meeting him in person and had it made for me. Turns out though that having your idol staring at you and watching over you while you sleep and do other, ‘stuff’, in your room is quite creepy. So pseudo-Dave had to go (Side-note: It was a touching ceremony with an open casket accompanied by a moving rendition of ‘Everlong’ by yours truly).

This led me to an epiphany: One; I was horrible at singing, and Two; Everlong is an amazing song!

The Foo Fighters have been around as long as this beautiful nation of ours has been democratic. They have been with us through Times Like These and those, when we were Learning To Fly solo and allowed us the opportunity to Breakout when we’ve felt like a Monkeywrench because someone got The Best (!!!), The Best (!!!), The Best (!!!), The Best (!!!) of us. Simply put, All My Life I’ve been searching for their South African Tour Dates.

We as a country have hosted some of the worlds best artists: Neil Diamond, Lenny Kravitz, Korn, Metallica, Seether (born here!), NOFX, Muse, The Killers, 30 Seconds To Mars, Collective Soul, R.E.M., Violent Femmes, U2 (Dude, U2…) and soon to grace us with their royal presence, the Kings Of Leon. Every band that has created a genre or been influential in their genre has toured here.

Like we have recently shown in our municipal elections, it is up to the people to decide. The power to bring the Foo Fighters to South Africa is within all of us, and we need to draw this power out of each other, because Eskom sure as hell won’t do it for us! By joining this group and adding your friends, you are reaching one more person, and making this dream one step closer for all of us. Stranger Things Have Happened, and believe me when I say it - like a little drummer boy, for instance, penning more hits than his fallen front-man from his previous band.

I’m not saying we’re going to topple regimes or have our Government drop bombs on us like our fellow Africans up north, but it would be nice to be a part of a movement that did something meaningful. That, and scream my face off at Dave Grohl while he does the same to me and 90,000 other mal fans.

Jenna Sighed - In Retrospect

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 00:18:18 +0100

Jenna Sighed - In Retrospect
Interviewed By Sashquita Northey

Jenna Sighed is the solo project of Gauteng based, self-taught musician, Jeanette Meiring. This talented twenty-three year old composed her first melody at the age of seven and attended piano lessons for four years before picking up her first guitar in 2000. Eleven years on Jenna has mastered numerous instruments including violin and bass and has been through extensive vocal training. The result of years of hard work can be seen in the hauntingly beautiful pieces of Jenna Sighed: Needful Things, New Moon and Home Again.

We caught up with Jenna to discuss her music and career.

S: Talk us through the meaning behind the tracks Needful Things, New Moon and Home Again.

J: Needful Things is basically about heartbreak, and how you can want someone so much even though you know they're just going to cause you more pain. This is a very emotional song for me, because writing it and recording it helped me get through a very rough time. I actually cried a little recording the 'I wish I could look into your eyes' part when we were recording vocals, because it was a process of letting go even though it was one of the most difficult things I've ever done.
New Moon, incidentally, was written about the same person who inspired Needful Things. It's amazing how different you can feel about someone over a year and a half. I called it New Moon because at first I could relate to the novel by Stephanie Meyer. I'm not a huge fan of the Twilight series, but I understood the Bella-Jacob dynamic all too well (at the time). It's about loving someone, but not in the way they want you to - being too broken to be good for them. And even though you tell them that they don't give up, but in the end, even after you've given into them and tried to make things better, you're still pretty much as fucked up as you were before you met them.
Home Again is one of my favourite pieces. I wrote it (well, part one - there is a part two) in about two hours, and recorded it the next day, but it was so lovely and natural the way it came to me. It's very simple, but I think it needed to be. It’s about accepting someone that you're in love with being with someone else.
A lot of my songs have themes that involve love in one way or another, and unfortunately those are the ones that are mostly recorded. Waking Nightmares, the recording of which is an abbreviated version for Eistedfodd, is about my ongoing battle with depression. There is one about the AURYN from The Neverending Story, there's even one (although I'm not sure I should carry on with it) that has political undertones.

S: You have played in a variety of bands including progressive metal band Black Soul Café (2008) and filthy raw black metal act Necromanteion (2010) but the music of Jenna Sighed has a softer, more feminine touch. Do you find it easy to move between genres and why have you chosen a more gentle style for Jenna Sighed?

J: Jenna Sighed, although it wasn't always named that, has been a project that was running in the background in every band that I've played in. I wrote New Moon and Home Again while playing in Black Soul Café, plus lots of others. There are some heavier songs by Jenna Sighed that will be played live (hopefully very soon) because I'm not aiming for any specific sound except my own. I don't want to sound like Evanescence or whatever; how the song sounds depends on my mood and what I'm listening to at the time, so I don't find it difficult to move between styles at all. I love being unafraid of fitting into a specific genre; it's the main reason why I decided to make Jenna Sighed my focus project.

S: You have a lot of influences from a wide variety of genre’s, including Korn, Cradle of Filth, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Vivaldi and Danny Elfman. What genre has the biggest impact on the music you create?

J: This is a very difficult question to answer. When I was a kid, I listened to pop and wanted to be Sporty Spice; then I discovered Korn and my whole life changed. I've been listening to Metallica since I was about eight (thanks to my older brother, Dylan), but I only got into metal when I was twelve or thirteen, and it was all seven string stuff - Fear Factory, Korn, Adema, Limp Bizkit, etc, so when my mom offered to buy me a guitar, of course I bought a seven string, which has been pivotal in my music. I've used seven-string styles in all of my projects.

Although at the time I was listening to so much Numetal, I couldn't let go of the beautiful music I'd been exposed to over the years that was more mellow, so I carried on listening to my parents' music (Billy Joel, Boston, Kansas, Bob Marley) as well as more mainstream stuff like Pink.

I only got into the heavier stuff a few years later, when I got into Strapping Young Lad, Trivium, Deadlock, Raunchy and that kind of stuff, but I was also still listening to Evanescence and 30 Seconds to Mars as well as a LOT of classical music (Rachmaninov, Michael Nyman, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Elgar, Schubert). That was when I upped all of my music skills the most, I challenged myself.
I honestly can't say which genre has been most influential. I have such a varied playlist, and when I'm writing I sometimes even draw influences from music I don't really like. There is always something to learn from music, even if it's what NOT to do.

S: We see that you have working with William Bishop (Fuzigish) what can we expect from this talented team up?

J: at the moment he is recording and producing my next song, 'Can't See You Now', which will hopefully be finished soon. We are hoping to collaborate on some projects in the future, but for the moment we're just getting the song done. I like Will's attitude towards music and look forward to working with him on a regular basis; I think a collaboration would be very interesting and enjoyable

S: What can we expect from Jenna Sighed in the near future?

J: Some new recording, courtesy of William Bishop, and an addition of a second guitarist which will allow us to start gigging. I also have a new website in the works and will keep writing music.

Links:
For more info and to listen to recordings check out the official Jenna Sighed website: www.jennasighed.com