An Interview with December Streets

December Streets are one of the acts who will be playing at Sunday’s edition of Park Acoustics. These Pretoria boytjies have been around for more than 6 years and have been making waves in the SA Music industry.

Fusing live with iconic power synth sounds, December Streets are an Indie Pop group originating from the rhythmic shores of South Africa, an evident influence in their addictive melodies & beats. The fresh new-wave sound has driven the band to national Success in South Africa, seeing 8 singles chart across national radio stations and climbing top positions on various charts.

Touring the country’s biggest festivals, 2015 & 2016 saw the band opening some some of the worlds biggest acts such as Jungle, Of Monsters & Men, The Kooks & Bombay Bicycle Club.

I recently had the chat with December Streets front man Tristan Coetzee about Park Acoustics and a few other things. This is what they had to say:

This is probably the 3rd or 4th time that you are playing Park Acoustics, what would you say makes it different from other gigs that you play?

Park Acoustics always has such a welcoming, friendly & energetic vibe to it that separates it from all other types of shows we’ve played. We absolutely love the venue and the people or organize & attend the event and I mean, “dag” drinking with friends in a fort listening to great music. Enough said.

What are you currently working on?

At the moment we have a bunch of new songs that we are putting onto an EP, I can’t tell you when it will be released yet though. All I can say is you’re in for a treat. We’re also working on our new live set that we will be performing at Park Acoustics as well as taking on our European tour mid may this year. Exciting stuff!

You’ve played at almost every major music festival in South Africa, which one is your favorite and why?

Thats a tough one, each music festival has its own life and personality. If I think of Oppikoppi I can taste brandy in my mouth and feel the dust under my nails. If I think of Rocking The Daisies I see pretty women, loads of hipsters and loosing my mind at the electro dome. Same as Up the creek, drifting on the river, amazing people.

There are also so many brilliant new ones popping up such as Lush & Mieliepop (probably the most insanely beautiful setting for any festival I know). If I had to choose, it would have to stick to my guns and say Oppikoppi. I’ve been there 9 times and every time offers an experience so vastly different to every day life that you forget about life for a few days.

If you could colab with another South African artist, who would that be and why?

Agin, so many brilliant SA artists, I’m such a fangirl for Thieve. Their new album is mind blowing. I hope to be able to write a track or 2 with them at some stage.

What can music fans expect from your set at Park Acoustics this weekend?

As I mentioned, we are performing an entire new set with all our new material included, so we’re very excited for everyone to hear what we have been working so hard on.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Tristan and December Streets for this interview and I wish them all of the best with their future musical endeavors.

I’ll be checking out their set on Sunday at Park Acoustics, so make sure that you come say if you spot me. A bald 39 year old with a camera hanging around his neck isn’t hard to spot.

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