The thing that thrills pianist Rocco de Villiers (pictured) most is that he has managed to fashion a career for the past 25 years by doing exactly what he loves best – making music.
It’s rare for a piano man to make that work, especially in a country where the markets tend to be very niche and therefore usually too small in numbers.
But De Villiers has always been a charmer and he loves his loyal following.
He’s not shy to admit that he has adoring tannies in the platteland who follow his every move and are there at every concert. “It’s fascinating,” he says, because through the years, while playing music he likes, he also tells stories about his life. “I do me,” he says. That’s what he knows. He’s not a writer but he can talk about his life and growing up on a farm.
At the start of his career, he was the go-to accompanist for some of the country’s best voices but soon his particular style was noticed and he was invited to do solo shows. Since then he has been playing what he calls the sound-track of his life. “I talk in between about the music I am going to play,” he says. Everything has a story and that’s what he shares with his audience. It’s an intimate evening of mostly music, but with an explanation of what the melody has brought to the musician’s life.
Two characters that always join him on stage are his mother and an aunt of his, both of whom told it like they saw it.
“I’m embroidering on my life, nothing more,” says the piano player.
What has changed more recently is that he plays more and more original songs. “It’s my music,” he says, but that also makes sense. He has grown into his sound with confidence.
He has released a number of albums and that’s something else that he finds intriguing.
“I have been told by people that when they’re driving on the farm, for example, working, they want a soundtrack, not lyrics,” he explains. And that’s why he thinks he’s still asked to record. Not many traditional albums are still selling today. Music is pursued in different ways, but De Villiers seems to have hit a nostalgic button which keeps his sales climbing steadily. And he loves that.
He’s latest album, launched almost simultaneously with the show The Beautiful Collection, is almost a kind of Best of. “We asked my fans via the web which of my songs they liked most,” he says.
He’s also amused that many things in his life are about looking back. His next recording will be in vinyl! And he’s chuffed. After 25 years in the business and at 50, he can finally say: “I’ll be making a record!”
All About The Piano, the show which runs from Wednesday to Saturday at Pretoria’s Centurion Theatre (one of the last before 16 year-long manager Debbie Linde leaves) and from March 18 to April 12 at Pieter Toerien’s Studio Theatre in Montecasino, pays tribute to the most popular instrument of all – the piano. It’s a celebration of the most beautiful melodies, some sentimental, some nostalgic, some modern, some shockingly old-fashioned, some quirky, some funny, some heavy, tragic and sad – but always beautiful. That’s always what his music has been about – making beautiful sounds. He will be joined on stage in different guises – all the female personalities he talks about – by young actress Lauren Botha.
As always in his sometimes absurd life, she contacted him and asked to perform in the show. He’s not saying much more, so we will have to wait and see.
In the meantime, he knows there are many out there who whistle while they work and play to his music.