10 Things You Did Not Know About Medicine Boy

Medicine Boy has been making waves in the SA Rock scene over the last few years and have quickly become one of South Africa’s well-loved dream noise acts. I’ve seen them play Mieliepop and Park Acoustics and I have to admit that I was blown away on both occasions.

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Apart from the fact that they hail from Cape Town, South Africa, not much else is known about Medicine Boy. So here are 10 things that you did not know about them:

1. They do all our own management, bookings, tour management, driving, etc. When they started this band they decided they were going to be extremely hands-on. Being in the music industry for quite some time, they realized that nobody was going to put more love into this than they were. When the times comes, along with the right people, I’m sure they’ll move on from doing it all themselves. But for now, they prefer it that way (also who’s got money to pay these people?)

2. They believe in keeping close collaborations with friends. Their designers, photographers & videographers are all close friends. They feel it’s important to build & nurture creative relationships over time. The visual element of the band is something a select group of Cape Town based artists have helped shape & they feel extremely lucky to have them on their ride with them.

3. They once met an Eastern European trans-gender woman in France who was obsessed with old Afrikaans culture. She had even given herself an Afrikaans name.  Steve Hofmeyer was a figure of much interest to her & she knew all the words to De La Rey. (Twilight Zone Much?)

4. They agree that the film Ratatouille might be the greatest cinematic achievement of their time.

5. Anton Newcombe (The Brian Jonestown Massacre) DJ’d at a show they played in Berlin. As they were setting up he played the live version of ‘Sympathy For The Devil’ from Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out & right after their set, Nick Cave’s ‘Stagger Lee’. They thought that if he found those song selections fitting, they must be doing something right.

6. On their first European tour, they ate boiled duck. Andre is now a vegetarian & Lucy a vegan.

7. They’re finishing up a new album at the moment & unlike before, they’ll be playing all the songs live before their release next year.

8. At this year’s Oppikoppi & Endless Daze Festivals they’ll be joined by Hezron Chetty on violin and Lucy Hazard on visuals.

9. They wept together at a Patti Smith show in Barcelona.

10. They will not turn their amps around. And yes – that much reverb is involved in their sets.

I’d like to thank Medicine Boy for these interesting facts. I feel much more informed now.

They are spending the winter at Digital Forest Studio recording a new album – the follow up to their debut, ‘Kinda Like Electricity’. This September they’ll be taking the full band on a spring tour around the country where they’ll be trying out some of their previously unheard material as well as giving the older songs new life. Check out the dates below:

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They recently also announced the re-pressing of ‘Kinda Like Electricity’ on 180g pink vinyl. The records will be available at all of the shows as well as through Permanent Record and Roastin’ Records. In the meantime, they’ve quietly gifted listeners with ‘Small Salvation’- a song that was recorded during the KLE sessions but didn’t find its way onto the album.

Watch this space for regular updates in the Facts and Music categories on Running Wolf’s Rant.