South African Music: 101 Interesting Facts You Might Not Know

81. Before Bittereinder was formed in 2009, Jaco van der Merwe performed under the Ajax stage name.

82. South African Electronic duo Van Pletzen had their first ever live performance at Oppikoppi in October 2017.

83. Haezer began his live career at The Assembly in Cape Town. He has been producing his signature trash / electro sound since late 2008.

84. The Black Cat Bones was formed in 2007 in Silverton, Pretoria.

85. Coelacanth is made up of Gareth Wilson (Southern Gypsey Queen), Jaco Mans and
Andre Kriel (The Black Cat Bones).

86. Oorlog Frankenstein was a social experiment / electronic duo made up of Peach van Pletzen (Bittereinder / Yesterday’s Pupil / Van Pletzen) and Francois van Coke (Fokofpolisiekar / Van Coke Kartel).

87. El Cantante is an acoustic duo made up of Cito and Martin from the band Wonderboom.

89. Before Pedro was in The Barbosa Experience, he was in a band called Mrs B.

 

90. Before the formation of Wrestlerish, Werner Olckers was in a band called SHU (with Peach van Pletzen from Bittereinder and Barend from Kidofdoom).

91. Durban Death Metal band Vulvodynia gets their name from the medical condition of the same name that involves a chronic, unexplained pain in the area around the opening of the vagina.

92. South African Metal act Boargazm have played a live show on Kenyan Television. They’ve also played in front of more than 30,000 people at a free festival in Quito, Ecuador.

93. Cape Town rock legends Taxi Violence have been around since 2004. The band was formed after Rian Zietsman, Loedi van Renen and Louis Nel invited George van der Spuy to join them for a jam.

94. Jeremy Loops supported Twenty One Pilots on their Blurryface Tour in September 2015. Not bad for someone who was raised in Kommetjie (a surf town near Cape Town) and only picked up his guitar when he was in his final years of college.

95. Grassy Spark gets their name from an area in Cape Town called “Grassy Park” (which defines Cape Town in many ways – the people who come from there, the cultural aesthetics. It is more a play on that area and words).

96. South African born audio engineer and musician Greg Bester was a touring guitarist for American rock group The Used.

97. CrashCarBurn took part in the Vans Warped Tour in 2008. The performed sixteen dates across the East coast of the USA and two dates in Canada to crowds in excess of 14,000 people per show. They performed alongside international bands Angels and Airwaves, Paramore, Story of the Year, Reel Big Fish, Pennywise and Katy Perry.

98. The Lectric Monks get their name from “Electric Monk” character from the Douglas Adams novel ‘Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency’.

99. So far in 2018, the Garage Rock Kings of the South African Music scene, Hellcats have opened for 3 International acts: Incubus (USA), DZ Deathrays (Australia) and Seether.

100. Prime Circle have been around since 2000. The band was formed in Witbank (eMalahleni), South Africa. To date they have released 6 studio albums.

101. The Parlotones have been around since 1998. The band was formed in Johannesburg, South Africa. To date they have released 8 studio albums.

Well, there you have it, 101 Interesting South African Music facts. If you enjoyed reading this post (which is possibly the longest post that I’ve ever done on this blog), feel free to share this with your friends on Facebook and Twitter. Sharing is caring after all.

Have an interesting South African music fact to add? Leave a comment below and share your knowledge. Feedback is appreciated and welcome here.

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