In case you did not know, Southern Wild are a emotionally driven rock band from Cape Town, South Africa. I still remember seeing their first gig at Up The Creek 2015, but the band has evolved and come a really long way since then. They gave fans a taste of their musical style at Oppikoppi 2015 and completely blew them away with an electric and memorable set.
The band’s members are Former Idols SA Winner David van Vuuren (on lead vocals and guitar), Julian van Rensburg (on lead guitar), Alex Smillie (on bass) and Dylan Hunt (the drummer for Pestroy who also played for Van Coke Kartel for a few years).
Southern Wild released their debut album (“Lead Role in a Classic Horror”) yesterday. You can stream it exclusive on Deezer. You can listen to it below:
Southern Wild was recently named as one of the South African artists to be featured on Deezer Next. I had a chat to David Van Vuuren from the band about this and a few other things. This is what he had to say:
How does it feel to be part of Deezer Next?
It’s a great honour and really exciting at the same time. It’s such an amazing company/service to represent and be associated with. A couple of us in the band have been using Deezer for quite some time now, Dave swears by it. Deezer’s music library is really extensive and great for listening to/discovering Indie releases. Being a part of Deezer Next is incredible because of the reach our music could potentially have. That’s the most challenging thing about being a Rock band in S.A. The market here isn’t big and you see so many brilliant bands fall by the wayside because of the lack of reach their music has. Deezer Next promises to get the music out there. It’s helped us already as a band, even though it’s only been a few days. Our debut record comes out this week and now that we’re associated with such an established brand, way more people are paying attention. Also, there are secrets we can’t yet speak of.
What have you guys been up to lately?
Getting our debut album ‘Lead Role in a Classic Horror’ ready for release. There’s so much that goes into putting out a record. This year has been about finalizing everything; from the master recordings, to album art, to conceptualizing the way we want this album to be received. How we launch, the roll out, follow up tour etc. It’s a lot of work, and we all have day jobs, but it’s the thing we love doing most, so it’s totally worth it.
Which two legendary guitarists should compete in a guitar battle and why?
Gary Clark Jr & John Frusciante. It would be a melodious feel fest! They both have so much soul, mad feel and hooks for days! They’re both such great song writers as well so it would definitely be something to behold.
What can music fans expect from your new album?
Well it’s our debut, so we’ve been playing these songs for a while now. It sounds really tight. People can expect a lot of emotion, feel, progression, melody & depth. There are a couple of catchy tracks but most of our songs are a journey. There’s some banging riffs, some sneaky breakdowns, guitar solos, a lot of groove and heartfelt, reflective concepts within the lyrics. We’re extremely proud of it. We can’t wait to get it out there and to tour it extensively!
Where can music lovers catch you live at your next gig?
At our album launch. Again, secrets. Details will be out soon!
I’d like to thank David and Southern Wild for this interview. I wish them all of them of the best with their future musical adventures.
Watch this space for regular updates in the Music and Interviews categories on Running Wolf’s Rant.
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