With their fourth release, Van Coke Kartel have come a long way since they made their way on to the music scene back in 2007.
For those of you who are not familiar with the award-winning Afrikaans rock group, I suggest you do yourself a huge favour and check them out at a live gig. And speaking of gigs, you’re in luck since the group are doing an extensive national tour with the Durban leg taking place at Live – The Venue on Friday.
Tonight caught up with bass player, Wynand Myburgh, of Van Coke Kartel (VCK) to chat about their current projects and their success over the years. Their latest album, entitled Wie’s Bang, was released over a year ago and the guys have just released their music video Chaos, which is being aired on Channel MK.
“We’re actually busy writing new material and recording some new stuff. We’re going to release one more single that’s coming out in the next few months and this album will be history.
“We’ve done four albums and all have been different, predominantly because of the fact that we’ve used various people in our albums and we’ve done a lot of collaborations. We had people come in to play with us, new drummers and producers.
“Also, there’s been a mixed electronic element with hard rock. I’d say we’re more of a band now. We did all the writing and recording. We started playing and there’s a great vibe and energy. At the moment, we are still touring and playing all of our old favourites. So it’s going to be a mixture of the past and a few from the present in our tour,” says the loud, energetic musician.
Their video Chaos, featuring well-known SA Afrikaans rapper Jack Parow, is burning up the airwaves.
Asked about their collaboration, Myburgh says: “We’ve known Jack for many years. We’ve known him since high school days, like way before we played music full-time. Suddenly he brought out his first album… We worked together and we made a track and he recorded it and we always got great sounds and great reviews from the fans, so we left this single, Chaos, for last. Then, MK approached us and wanted to get our music video out there. It’s been great.”
The guys definitely have a reputation as one of the most successful South African Afrikaans groups around.
“It’s obviously great and there are two sides to it. You wake up and you think about it and it’s so great and then, at the same time, it’s a lot of hard work and it’s a job. We’ve all been through a lot. It’s never been easy and it’s a small, tough industry.
“There’s a lot of trial and error over the years, but also a lot of opportunities. It’s a great place to be and travel the country and have a lot of fun. There are a lot of people who love to play music and get out there, so we’re one of the lucky ones who get to do just that.”
With an explosive sound and powerful lyrics, it’s no wonder VCK have walked away with numerous MK Awards for Best Group, Best Live Act and Best Rock: “Every time we bring out an album, it’s kind of a highlight because it’s always better than the previous one, and we feel like we achieved a lot; it’s a great feeling.
“What we have achieved over the past five years is amazing and it’s great to know that people are voting for us as number one. It’s quite a good place to be,” he adds.
• Van Coke Kartel, Friday at Live – The Venue, 8pm and Saturday at the Red Door, Pietermaritzburg at 10pm.