‘Supergroup” is not a term Arno Carstens is very fond of. But that’s exactly what the Springbok Nude Girls frontman and the other members of Blood Brothers, who will stage a concert at Carnival City on Saturday, July 18 and Grand West Casino on Wednesday, September 23 – can be described as.
Blood Brothers comprises Carstens, George van der Spuy (Taxi Violence, Goodnight Wembley), Hunter Kennedy (Fokofpolisiekar, Heuwels Fantasties), Kobus de Kock jr (Black Cat Bones), Jason Hinch (formery Black Cat Bones), Albert Frost (Blues Broers), Francois van Coke (Fokofpolisiekar, Van Coke Kartel), Rian Zietsman (Taxi Violence, Beast), Isaac Klawansky (Shadowclub) and Loedi van Renen (Taxi Violence).
“I’m not a big fan of the word because it’s really a bunch of musicians getting together for a good cause,” explains Carstens.
The “cause” is the Vrede Foundation which aims to school youngsters about cancer and raise money for Young South Africans With Cancer.
This non-profit foundation was established in 2009 by, and is in memory of, the late Herman Pretorius who was diagnosed with stage three testicular cancer, with a secondary lymph cancer and malignant tertiary lung tumours.
As an employee of the Afrikaans music TV channel, MK, Pretorius was an avid supporter of rock music. So much so that he actually hooked up Taxi Violence’s bassist/ guitarist, Loedi van Renen, with a woman who was soon to become his wife. As such, being a part of Blood Brothers was important to Van Renen.
He said: “These days there are so many charities that are littered on Facebook. I have a personal connection to the Vrede Foundation and it really is a tangible thing for me because I have seen what they do for the beneficiaries.”
Catherine Grenfell, who will be the MC for the shows, concurs: “The Vrede Foundation is a cause that’s close to everyone’s heart. In the era that it was started, everyone (in Blood Brothers) had met the people involved in the foundation. So because it stands for Herman and because we lost him, it’s a personal thing for us.”
In remembrance, the Blood Brothers will perform their individual hits as well as an array of songs by other bands that they love.
“We have chosen songs from our repertoires,” Carstens informs, “but we’ll also do our bucket list songs from bands like Queens of the Stone Age and Nirvana.”
“These concerts will touch the people who are there,” Grenfell said. “There are so many different varieties of cancer and they affect almost everyone, the message won’t be lost.”
Speaking of losing messages, the world over is no stranger to music being used as a tool to give a voice to causes. But sometimes, it can come off as just a corny, heavily-branded video devoid of any harmony.
“What makes those kinds of campaigns gimmicky is that sometimes there are so many people from different genres involved,” says Shadowclub’s drummer, Klawansky.
“With the Blood Brothers project,” he continues, “we are all in the same headspace. We’re all just dirty guys who have the same energy.”
These dirty guys have gone on to record an as-yet-untitled song which was written by Fokofpolisiekar/Heuwels Fantasties’ guitarist, Kennedy. “We all said Hunter should do something because he is one of the best songwriters and lyricists of all time in South Africa,” exclaims Van Renen. “He’s going to be required reading in schools one day. The lyrics of this song let you know that the Blood Brothers as well as fans of music, and rock music in particular, will stand with you in spirit when you’re going through chemotherapy or anything like that.”
• See the Blood Brothers in concert at Carnival City’s Big Top Arena in Gauteng on July 18 and the Grand West Casino in the Western Cape on September 23. Tickets are R180 and are available from www.highfivepartybus.co.za and more information on the Vrede Foundation can be found at www.vredefoundation.co.za.