Nothing old about Parlotones’ new album

The Parlotones

The Parlotones

Published May 13, 2015

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Solo work can’t halt the rock express that is SA’s top quartet, writes Munya Vomo

South Africa’s premier rock outfit, The Parlotones, have returned to the music scene with a new offering.

As usual, the quartet have come up with unique ways of presenting their music. We caught up with front-man, Kahn Morbee, who has crossed over seamlessly from his solo album last year to this project.

“For me, the process of song-writing and recording is an ongoing thing which I enjoy a lot. It never really feels like work. Indeed, there is effort and time spent, but I often say that an hour in peak hour traffic would be more draining on me than five days in studio,” he said.

The Parlotones have made a name for themselves with their memorable videos and continue the trend with an interesting concept for the song Treasures.

“The shoot for Treasures went really cool. In the concept you will see me go through these different realms of classic movies. In one scene I will be in Godzilla and my only escape is this one door. When I open it, I end up in another scene where I am being chased by cannibals, then the other one by a woman with a gun and I end up in a World War scene. It’s quite fun and it was kind of a dress-up party because every few minutes I’d have to change the outfit for another scene,” said an ecstatic Morbee.

Fans know there is nothing accidental about the bands’ work. All of their ideas are meticulously thought out, including the album titles: “The album is called Antiques & Artefacts. We got the name during one of our tours. We pulled into Hazyview (Mpumalanga) for a show. When we were walking around the small town we saw a shop with the sign, Antiques & Artifacts, and we though that would be a cool name for an album.”

Given that Morbee is fresh off promoting his first solo album, where does the band find the time to write new material?

“The songs were written on the road. We wrote some of it in the US and a chunk in South Africa. We then recorded it back home. There are 14 songs on the album and we enjoyed making it and hope the listeners enjoy playing it,” he said.

Over the years, The Parlotones have been responsible for hits like Life Design, Stardust and Galaxies and Push Me to the Floor. After such a successful run, one could assume they are used to the pressures that come with releasing an album. But Morbee says nerves still affect the band when unveiling new material.

“We have become more nervous with each album because there are a number of factors at play. You always worry that you are going to get overexposed and people will get tired of you. Or perhaps the sound that you are putting out is no longer relevant to what’s current on radio. We are aware of what’s hot on radio, but don’t want to chase the sound. Rather, we want to remain true to ourselves,” said Morbee.

“Ultimately, once you create something, you will have to go out there and play it 200 times a year to promote it and you can’t be playing that with conviction unless you made what you like. It will not come out authentically. So, every album has a level of anxiety and I think the bigger anxiety with releasing today is that a model that worked for years is being challenged by the internet. The internet has almost created a precedent that music should be free, but there are still creatives who create this music who need to eat. So that brings a bit of anxiety to any project that comes out. It’s all good because if there is one thing you can’t download for free, it’s the live music experience.”

Of interest is the fact that Morbee felt a lot more comfortable when he was working on his solo album, Salt, over a year ago.

“I felt a lot less pressure when I was doing my solo album because I did not see it doing so well. It being my solo project meant I could relax a little and be less worried about letting the guys down. The success or failure depended on me and any result was a good one because I can only build from that result,” he said.

Morbee went on to chat about his future solo plans and that of his band members.

“In June, July and August, I will be working on the second solo album. Glenn, the bassist from The Parlotones, also released a solo project in February called Lost In Sound. Paul, the guitarist, is a father so that occupies a lot of his time. Neil does a lot of art, as in painting. The cover of my album is a painting that he made and we are going to auction it to donate the proceeds together,” he explained.

Morbee feels that when The Parlotones split to do solo work, they are stronger upon their return.

“With anything in life, it is good to break away a little; it is healthy. When you come back to it you appreciate it more,” he said.

• Antiques & Artefacts is in music stores and on iTunes.

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