Go Barefoot strives to bring their own style and personality into their music by creating an eclectic, interesting and uniquely South African mix of Folk, Urban-African, Alt-Rock and Jazz. They band’s members are fans of get-up-and-move dance beats as well as strong, groovy hooks that take on a new sonic attitude. They strongly believe in collaboration in all forms and actively support all artistic endeavors on and off stage.
Now that we’ve got the official intro out of the way, here are 10 things you didn’t know about Go Barefoot:
1. 3/5 of Go Barefoot are self-taught musicians and 2/5 are formally taught. So they create a balance between their different philosophies to create the music they love to make together. (Impressive…)
2. All of the band’s members were brought up on different music and influences but they instantly found a a common ground with and constantly share their influences with each other every day. (I guess that means there’s a lot of CD borrowing going on between you okes…)
3. They still have all our toes despite the incessant nelipotting. (That’s a lot of toes…)
4. Saul doesn’t always play barefoot and Noah fears their imminent future of becoming a foot porn band. (Isn’t foot porn a 1990’s thing? You guys are safe, I think…)
5. Jonny initially was a drummer and Clive originally played guitar for a number of years. Mike can play Mbira, Noah can play the flute and Saul can play the piano. (Damn you okes have skills, ek sê)
6. They aren’t actually from the future. (I was about to ask you if you were…)
7. Jonny’s hair is actually a wig made from the mane of a lion. He won it in a race against said lion. No animals were hurt in the procuring of Jonny’s beautiful hair, it was won fair and square. (I knew it!)
8. At the end of their first single, “I Won’t Back Down”, you hear laughter. They recorded it at Openroom Studios in Greenside, Johannesburg and all their friends were across the road at Bob Rocks having a drink. They invited them to sing backup vocals that night for the chorus of the song and at the end of the tracking everyone laughed and celebrated getting the final take. (How many drinks did they have before they joined you? Sounds kief)
9. They’ve played two international shows. One in Mozambique and one in Swaziland. (Which country are you eye-ing next? Namibia?)
10. Saul’s little Wendyhouse was recently renovated into a bigger and better rehearsal space where they plan to record some of the parts for their upcoming full length release. (A little renovation helps, good luck okes!)
I’d like to thank Go Barefoot for giving us these facts and I wish them all of the best with their future musical endeavors. If you’re not familiar with their music, crank up their song “I Won’t Back Down” below:
Watch this space for regular updates in the Music and Facts categories on Running Wolf’s Rant.
