Local indie rock outfit, December Streets, are back with new music. Their new compositions follow last year’s release and include the chart-topping single Addy (Never Growing Up).
The quintet behind this eclectic brand of music are lead singer Tristan Coetzee, guitarist Nico van Loggerenberg, bassist Gideon Meyer, keyboardist Waldo Boshoff and drummer Corneil Classen.
While their new song is destined to garner a lot of popularity, for Coetzee it is a deeply personal piece that he wrote years ago.
“My friend Addy passed away years ago, but the song has more aspects to it than just a childhood friendship. It talks about the passion you had when you were a kid and I really miss that. I have to remind myself constantly about being grown up. We have a lot of things that we care about today that we do not worry about when we are young and I miss that,” he explained.
BUT WHY NOW?
Two albums in, you would think a song that personal would’ve made it onto the December Streets’ discography before hits like Stay With Me, but for Coetzee, the release made sense in terms of the evolution of the band.
“I feel like music evolves with time. Our first album was written just after we had left high school and were in our ’varsity years. We spoke about the drama of that age. At this stage, we’ve grown up and had incredible and sh*tty experiences which have all given in to what we sound like today. We definitely want to move away from the typical feel-good girl stories to stuff that’s a bit more relevant and applies to me. In the next few years, our music will be completely different and be around what will influence us then,” he explained.
Given that the song is a project that he had held back for the longest time, Coetzee found it easy to pen it down in record time. “The track writing was quite fast. I wrote and recorded it in about an evening and the final recording took about a weekend. It’s not a long process when you have something that works. It usually just takes a few hours.”
FAN RECEPTION
Given the honesty in the song, it’s no surprise that fans have caught on to it and radio is giving the track ample play.
“I think it is one thing that fans can relate to. Everyone likes the idea of staying young and being in their prime. Often it’s difficult to do that because we can say we feel young, but we don’t usually act that way,” said Coetzee.
While writing Addy, the singer sought to escape the harsh realities of adulthood by getting in touch with his inner child.
“I am not saying we have to be childish, but there are times when there are things more important than your nine-to-five job. The beauty about retaining that part of being younger is that I could get out of any situation because my imagination would run wild. It’s also a very catchy track with a feel-good energy that is characteristic of December Streets,” he said. “It’s doing well. We are getting some traction from the track as a lot of people are loving it.”
THE MUSIC VIDEO
A successful song creates the need for a video that captures the spirit of the music and, simultaneously, introduces the band to a wider audience. Coetzee has just the thing.
“I got to travel overseas last year and went to a couple of festivals. I had my camera and I got some good footage. It all worked well for the mood of the song which is basically about having fun. We will incorporate that footage with other newer material for the final video.”
Although he would not pin down a date, the singer hinted that an album was under way, but urged fans to give the creatives time.
“We are still figuring out how we are going to do it. We are working on an EP or an album. It takes time to craft something that is grand. We will not tie ourselves down as to when we will release, just so we do not get pressure from the fans, but the truth is that it will be sooner than you think,” he said.
TOUR VS DAY JOBS
While the album is still in the works, December Streets plan to be in a town near you this winter.
“We have a tour in the pipeline and the next big one for us is in June. We prefer to do it that time and in December because it is holiday time when people are travelling down the coast,” explained Coetzee.
That’s one reason. The other is probably that the members also have day jobs and it isn’t always easy to book time off.
“We have a doctor, an engineer, an architect, two digital producers. I have a design company and am also a music producer. We all have occupations which allow us to get away from the music. Music is a passion we share and use it to get away from the pressures of the real world. We are not in the business to make money. We just use music to explore ourselves creatively. A lot of artists lose themselves when they make music under the pressure of having to make money off it,” explained Coetzee.