Durge: 10 Interesting Facts You Didn’t Know

In case you did know, Durge is a Melancholy Infused Psychedelic Rock band from Cape Town, South Africa. Some of you might know that they recently released their debut EP in 2018, but most of you probably don’t know much about them at all.

Here are 10 Things you didn’t know about Durge

1. They are quite an educated lot (on paper): James (the drummer) has a Masters in chemical engineering (which he has used briefly). Heinrich (the lead guitarist) has a Masters in electrical engineering (which he has also used frequently).

Mark (the singer / rhythm guitarist) has a degree in Human Resource Management (whic he has never used). Francois (the bassist) has a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts (which he has used frequently).

2. Their single “Round and Round” is not a cover of the RATT song.

3. They don’t know what “Durge” means, but they have a definition: “The act of stealthily hitting a person in the back of the knee, causing the joint too rapidly unlock, sending them to the ground.” You can find more definitions on Urban Dictionary.

4. They know what “Durge” means to them though. Their band name is derived from “Dirge”, but they decided that a ‘u’ is better suited to them than an ‘i’.

5. They played their debut gig with Runaway Nuns and The Valley and soon thereafter kicked off by playing at Malkop festival and touring in Johannesburg / Pretoria before their logo was finalized.

6. The awesome cover art for their debut EP ‘Dirge’ was sketched by their bassist Francois. He used Charcoal on 180 gsm Farbriano and the original piece is 180mm x 100mm big. You will hopefully see this on a stage near you soon.

7. Durge have already started work on their first full length album. The band thinks that it will be out of this world, quite literally.

8. According to their bassist “Each of their instruments contains a fragment of a demon’s soul”. Yes, he plays a lot of dungeons and dragons.

9. The EP was recorded, mixed and mastered by their close friend Wynand Fourie. He also plays for the epic Indika Black. Our bassist Francois is also a guitarist in Indika Black. The drums and bass on the EP were recorded live.

10. Their drummer (James) toured abroad with big musical productions like Evita and West Side Story for the past two years. The band blames him for not gigging that much. (Not really – they all love him very much).

Well, there you have it, 10 Things you didn’t know about Durge. I hope that you feel more informed now.

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