An intimate conversation with Cadillac Sun

The prophets of rock once scribed in their ancient scrolls that one day a man will rise from the depths of the North Western hell (otherwise known as Potchefstroom) and bring rock ‘n roll back to the people…

That day is the present and that man is the modest axe bearing, note shredding, lick ripping Emile Snyman. Known well in the Gauteng music scene from previous projects like My Endless Odyssey, Rebel Train Surfers and Smokehouse, Emile has moved back to his roots.

After his numerous previous projects and sharing the stage with the likes of Dan Patlanksy, Fokofpolisiekar and the Black Cat Bones, he decided to indulge in the music that made him what he is today. He indulged in what any of the biggest bands in SA will know…the rock ‘n roll.

One day as he was cruising in his bakkie it came to him. It was the birth of a new idea, an epiphany of sorts, that came to Emile in the form of a mirage. The vision of a rock and roll eagle carrying with him the spirit of rock spoke to Emile in power chords of truth. What happened that day was the birth of a new rock child…The birth of Cadillac Sun.

Independently funded by Cadillac Sun this album took to Dave Grevler at Anti-Motion Studios and grammy winning sound mastering master Joe Laporta (who previously mastered one of Dave Grohl’s little albums called “Wasting Light” and also dabbled in some tunes with Imagine Dragons). Teamed up with these guys their aim was to get this project onto cold hard compact disc and out into the world to bring the SA music scene what it truly craves…Rock ‘n Roll.

The current members of Cadillac Sun are Emile Snyman (on guitar / backup vocals), Carl Heydenrych (on vocals), Francois Jones (on drums) and Hendru Basson (on bass). I recently had a chat with Emile, this is what he had to say:

Where does the name “Cadillac Sun” come from?

The band name is derived from the Rival Sons song “All Over The Road”. Jay Buchanan sings “We’ve got the Cadillac, we’re gonna drive right into the sun”. It’s such a rock & roll lyric that the band name was created even before I got the other members involved in the project. Mistress rock works in strange and wondrous ways.

If someone asks you to describe your music, what do you tell them?

There have been so many different labels thrown around our music. We first and foremost think of ourselves as a rock & roll band. Each member is influenced by different sub genres that really comes through in our material. It’s very refreshing to hear outsiders takes on what we do. It’s been described as blues meets The Narrow and Rage Against The Machine meets retro, all of which are massive compliments for us. It keeps it interesting, but to anyone who is new to our music I would say go out there and get an album and decide for yourself.

What are you currently working on?

We hope to be touring to Cape Town in the Spring time. So far it’s just been an idea thats’ been thrown about. We would ideally like to get down to all the coasts sooner rather than later. We have started writing new material for our second album and hopefully we can get cracking in studio before the end of the year. Our writing style has been evolving so we are really excited to get some new material down soon.

If you could collaborate with any SA Artist, who would you choose and why?

There are so many epic bands, Some heavy weights like The Narrow, Taxi Violence and Black Cat Bones would be really great. They all have a very unique take on making music and they all have put such a real influence on our band. At the moment a more recent bands like Pollinator with that sexy fuzzy sweet rock sound would be epic.

But we would really like to do a Rage Against The Machine style song with New Academics. Their show at Oppikoppi last year really blew us away. I could really imagine us doing a filthy bouncy socio-political number with them. That would be a dream.

What is your favorite quote about music?

The late great Bob Marley once said “one good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain”

Where can people catch your next gig and what should they bring?

We have a big show coming up in September but we can’t give anymore details at the moment unfortunately! Look out Cape Town we might be on you’re doorstep soon. For a Cadillac Sun show there should always bring some ear protection because the guitar riffs and drums get loud, but if that bothers you too much then you’re not going to the right show!

I’d like to thank Emile and Cadillac Sun for this interview and I wish them all of the best with their future musical endeavors.

If you love rock ‘n roll, crank up the song below (which was recorded live at High Seas Studios).

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