"A Tapestry of Influences"

"Being a white English South African means being schizophrenic. It means not having a firm foot in any culture, but also it means being priviledged to be exposed to many wildly diverse aspects of social life. A tapestry of influences." Kalahari Surfers -- biography Formed in 1982, the Kalahari Surfers was essentially a string of studio projects realised by Warrick Sony at Shifty Studios(Operating from a caravan hitched to a Ford V6 truck, the Shifty studio would produce an album every two months) during the 80's. These involved various personel from that environment whose names were altered or simply reduced to first names to safegaurd against security dirty tricks persecution.The band itself was a fictional collective designed to dodge any flak that may have appeared from these forces. The first release was inspired by the DYI ethic and was a cassette packaged in a silver spray painted box containing 60 minutes of music all recorded in a bedroom on a 4 track portastudio. It was titled 'Gross National Product'. Material was made up of early tape experiments, audio collage , songs , cyclic trance tracks accompanied by free verse and looping bass/drum ideas. The Surfers second release was a double single package released on the Pure Freude label in Germany and consisted of 4 sides of heavy dub influenced songs. German group CAN were involved with this label and were an important influence on the Surfers sound at this time. Many of the Canterbury music scene bands in England were influential on the surfers sound but mostly the work of Robert Wyatt and Henry Cow. In 1984 the first full album 'Own Affairs' was completed at Shifty Studios and taken to EMI to press. On the grounds that it was too politically sensitive EMI refused to press it thereby censoring the work before it was made. Radical far left British label Recommended Records pressed it and set up an alliance that continues to this day. Chris Cutler from RecRec helped set up tours and the Surfers rode forward with confidence. In 1985 they put out 'Living In The Heart Of The Beast' to critical acclaim. title from a Tim Hodgkinson composition on the Henry Cow album "In Praise Of Learning". The mixture of dub rhythms and hard punk social comment made it a unique South African album which pushed the barriers of local independent music. Musical styles ranged from the avant garde to straight rock. Quite Zappa-ish in places with the use of tape splice edits and juxtaposing diverse styles the album was a South African veiwpoint that provided some relief for those who didn¹t like the Johnny Clegg-CatStevensgoeszulu sound. Like many other Shifty Records albums it inspired many younger artists who are still working today. The need to tour was evident and Warrick moved to London to work on promoting the album. He toured with Chris Cutler and other friends from England. A third album 'Sleep Armed' was completed before leaving and released in 1986.The Kalahari Surfers were seen as far afield as Holland, Germany, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Moscow, Lenningrad, Riga, East Berlin and London. Back in South Africa during the late 80¹s the album 'Bigger than Jesus' (title from the famous John Lennon quote ) was recorded and released locally and officially banned for distribution and possesion . After an appeal to the publications control board the ban was lifted and set a legal precident. The early 90's saw a collaboration with Sowetan rebel poet Lesego Rampolokeng resulting in the album 'End Beginnings'. Which took them on a tour of Brazil and France during the mid 90¹s. This was also released in London through REcRec. Lesego is the most powerful black voice to emerge from the 80¹s with his brain intact. A product of the lost generation who suffered detentions and beatings from our country¹s notorious security forces. He is a rarity and fittingly teamed up with fellow nomads in the South African cultural wasteland. Kalahari Surfers have been operating the Shifty Studio for a few years doing sound design, film music and various collaborative projects. A partnership with Brendan Jury resulted in an album under the name TransSky as well as a tour with Massive Attack last year. A project with ex ORB members Greg Hunter and Kris Wesson is half completed and will be released early next year as a Transsky album. Warrick has been busy working on various remix and producing projects at the Shifty Studio now based in Cape Town and has hosted Brian Eno's workshop in Cape Town for CAMA as well. A new Surfers album is expected early next year. I've been meaning to post some of this great band for a while yet I'd lost my favorite LP and really have not been paying attention to the amazing music they have kept on doing. Only familiar with the SLEEP ARMED LP I went ahead and made a crappy throw together YouTube for the song GOLDEN RENDEZVOUS. Crap video, good song along with the band history included. Finding this work of art video for Kicked By The Ball from the LP AKASIC RECORD was good fortune. The earlier song from SLEEP ARMED represents more of the Quirky side of the band, IMOP. (basically posted for the song) Selections from Kalahari Surfers first 4 LPs you can download here: Kalahari Surfers (12 tracks, approx time 48min) compiled by La Folie Du Jour blogspot 01. Free State Fence (Own Affairs) 02. Prayer For Civilization(Own Affairs) 03. Hippo In Town (Own Affairs) 04. Europeans (Living in the heart...) 05. 1999 (Living in the heart...) 06. Township Beat (Living in the heart...) 07. Healthy Way Of Life (Sleep Armed) 08. Golden Rendezvous (Sleep Armed) 09. Mafikeng Road (Sleep Armed) 10. Gutted With The Glory (Bigger Than Jesus) 11.Gold Reef City (Bigger Than Jesus) 12. Reconnaissance (Bigger Than Jesus)