While Splashy Fen will always be about the live music, this year they have incorporated an EDM stage which will be headlined by a strong Durban underground contingent, writes Therese Owen
While the EDM culture is dominated by the Cape Town music scene, Veranda Panda are waving the KZN flag very high.
Their big hit last year, Pineapple Sundays, had to be one of the happiest songs of 2014. The violin-playing half of the duo, Jane Baillie, smiles when she speaks of their successful track: “Pineapple Sundays is a silly, fun song. There needs to be a certain kind of irreverence in the industry.
“We are music with machines and a violin. Our aim is to do something new and blaze a trail,” she continues. “We want people to dance along with us. We want to use our passion for music to do this.”
Baillie is a full-time member of the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra but approaches Panda seriously. She met the other half of Veranda Panda, Liam Magner, when yet another of her projects, Quattro Femmes, collaborated with him for a Vodacom July event a few years back.
Through their initial meeting, Magner, who is a producer and a DJ, then invited her to jam with him at Origin, Durban’s premier dance music club. The reaction was so positive the two decided to work together. She admits that, as a violinist, she never envisioned herself going down the Veranda Panda path. Baillie has her masters in Music and also teaches violin.
Subsequently they have released four Eps over three years and are continually releasing singles, their latest being the even more fun Marlon Brando. They have played most festivals, including Grahamstown, and toured the country. “We have never boxed ourselves as musicians. We make what we like.”
For the past two years they have been star attractions on the main stage at Splashy Fen, but are excited about playing the EDM stage this year: “We are reinventing ourselves for Splashy Fen and will be showcasing a brand- new live show for the first time.”
This includes a special box for the stage to incorporate their show which will also include Baillie on a wireless violin which means that she can stage-dive during the performance, something she is really looking forward to.
She is not the only female to be performing on the Ground Zero on Tour stage. An Energiser bunny come techno/psytrance DJ, going by the name of Shugga, is set to pump up the volume. A born and bred Durbanite, this fiery, eccentric young DJ is taking the EDM world by storm.
Already in her short career, she is a resident at Origin and plays regularly at Jozi’s long- standing mega club Truth as well as Tiger Tiger and various trance festivals.
“I have it a lot easier as a female DJ because I am a woman so the bookings are easier,” she says. “However, I feel I have to work harder to gain respect from the other DJs.”
Shugga says she loves trance because it is “so emotional. It’s uplifting music. The culture is also great. It’s a bit of a hippie culture and is very free. Everybody loves each other and there are no arguments or fights.”
She first started out in music as a bass player on the punk rock scene. “Yeah, I had black nails and only dressed in black,” she admits. It was through close friends that she discovered her real passion of dance music. Being proactive, she realised an opportunity to promote trance and started her own online radio show. Called Techtoast FM, it runs every Thursday between 6 and 8pm.
“The scene in Durban was so small, but this show has helped it grow,” she says proudly. Shugga will be doing three sets at Splashy and will include psytrance as well as deep tech.
Ground Zero on Tour will feature a total of 30 DJs and will be open from 6pm. On Easter Sunday they will open from noon with a promise of a mega dance fiesta.
Ground Zero has rapidly gained a reputation as one of the premier monthly dance events on the Durban calendar. They operate from Live – The Venue and offer that old-skool warehouse feel which they are bringing to Splashy for the entire festival. Ground Zero On Tour has its own marquee with bar facilities as well as its own camping area. There is no entrance fee for the area.
Red-hot line-up for Splashy Fen
Splashy Fen 26 opens with artists from one of the top indie labels in the country – Just Music. Think the wild, wilful, winsome beauty of Nakhane Toure. Then there is the magnetic, soulful pull of The Muffinz, Matthew Mole and his increasingly popular heartbreakingly honest singer/songwriter hits. Pascal & Pearce will keep the beats going with their high-energy EDM sounds and that is how Splashy Fen will begin on April 2.
Four nights, five days, multiple stages, the best South African music money can buy situated in the most beautiful area for any festival. Of course, there are the usual hot, hot days spent by the river, the gorgeous girls in their bikini tops and their Wellies, the beer craft tents, those amazing food stalls (and they really are the best on the festival circuit). Then there are those starry, starry nights, the mud and the insane tripper who whizzes past as you meander towards the warmth of the main stage.
This year, while sipping on your Obees (Old Brown Sherry), look out for the perennial favourite, Dan Patlansky. Over the past two years, this consummate blues guitarist has slowly but surely been carving a name for himself on the international blues scene. This includes opening for guitar legend, Joe Satriani, on his European tour.
A really cool band to look out for are the Hip Replacements. This Gauteng group are so called due not only to their vast experience but also their age. Their brand of country blues ballads meets quirky rock meets sexy sax and ironic, cynical lyrics as well as their absolute love of live music means they will be one of the highlights of the festival.
Urban Creep, that band who forged a new path for original music in a brand-new South Africa, are back at Splashy Fen. Hailed as heroes all those years back, their music has not dated. In fact, their dark moods, their sometimes frenetic violin and their
deep insight into South African culture are as relevant as they were 20 years ago. Plus, their musicianship has only improved.
Shortstraw will keep the hipsters happy as will The Parlotones’ lead singer, Kahn Morbee, who will be performing songs from his debut solo album, Milk. MonArk have proved to be a favourite all over the country and then, of course, there are aKing and Taxi Violence who have been firm festival favourites over the past decade.
• Splashy Fen runs from April 2 to 6.