[Cam Trichart performs alongside Almost Alive at The Daisy Jones Bar. PHOTO: Supplied/Golden Blue]
Golden Blue is the solo project of Cam Trichart, a Cape Town-based musician, producer, and sound engineer. He combines a range of guitar styles with sparkly synths and electronic production to make a soundscape that is impressively cohesive.
[“I do a bit of video editing here and there but music has been my main thing for most of my life,” Sarah Blake tells us. PHOTO: Supplied/Sarah Blake]
Sarah Blake is a bassist, guitarist and vocalist sharing soul-soothing songs through honest lyrics and a sound as smooth as morning sunshine creeping through your curtains. Her music combines an education in jazz composition, playful vocal rhythm, and Brazilian grooves.
[Aidan Fraser performs at M-PIRE music on 8 November. PHOTO: Supplied/Aidan Fraser]
Aidan Fraser is a rising indie artist from Johannesburg with an eye-catching, androgynous fashion sense. He got started making self-produced demos for YouTube in 2019, was handpicked for a collaboration with local star J’Something of Mi Casa in 2020, and has now been signed for a full album with the label, Just Music.
[Ben Jamieson (left) and Benjy de Kock (right) at Concept Records on 30 November. PHOTO: Pierre-Louis Bredenkamp]
Ben Jamieson and Benjy de Kock are the duo behind Concept Records, an independent recording studio nestled in the suburbs across from the Rondebosch Golf Club. However, Ben and Benjy view it as much more than that: a growing creative community that fosters connections among local artists and discussions about the state of the industry as a whole.
[Odwa Bongo performs with his uHadi at The Hasso Plattner Institute at the University of Cape Town on 12 October. PHOTO: James Browning]
Odwa Bongo is a vocalist and uHadi player based in Cape Town. He has been performing full-time since 2015, playing deeply emotive sets of both contemporary and traditional isiXhosa music.
[Matty and the Cartoon Graveyards members (from left) Wessel Krige, Matthew Carstens and Andrew Veldman at The Armchair Theatre. PHOTO: Pierre-Louise Bredenkamp]
Matty and the Cartoon Graveyards are a recently formed punk-folk group performing around Cape Town and Stellenbosch. The band’s beginnings date back to 2020, when local pop poster boy Matt Carstens was looking to move on from his solo work after a whirlwind year of touring.
[The Incidentals in Cape Town PHOTO: Die Vetman]
Cape Town-based folk-rock group, The Incidentals, was formed in 2019 and includes former founding members of bands Chiaroscuro and The Swingsetters. Recently, this guitar, bass, and drum trio have performed at Cape Town venues such as Woodstock Brewery and café Roux.
[Jonathan Tait and Alex Muller of We Kill Cowboys rock District’s stage on 27 October. PHOTO: James Browning]
We Kill Cowboys is a Cape Town-based four-piece that has crawled out of long lockdown rehearsals to serve audiences a cocktail of punk, country, blues, and folk. What started as a solo project by Alex Muller, tattoo artist and co-owner of The Body Architects Tattoo and Piercing Studio, finally took to the stage in February 2021 after filling out the lineup with other local scene veterans.
[The boys from Pearl Rose (from left) Jacques Holloway, Kristiaan de Kock, Cobus du Plessis, Dirkie Joubert and Leon Kotze at the Upstairs Theatre in Stellenbosch on 18 November 2021. PHOTO: Supplied/ Pearl Rose]
Pearl Rose is a five-man rock outfit from Stellenbosch. They began playing in 2021, with shows in Cape Town at the Open Sesame Bar and closer to home at Bohemia in Stellenbosch. The band released a four-track EP titled Love At Last Sight on 28 October, which follows up their debut single ‘Can’t Live With It’ from November last year.
[Aflos take shots with the crowd at The Daisy Jones Bar in May. PHOTO: Wilné van Rooyen]
Since 2019, Aflos have been leaving a long trail of hungover mornings, lost voices and vaguely remembered nights in their wake. These pillars of the Stellenbosch nightlife have never failed to deliver unashamedly student-centred rock with a sense of humour and irresistible live energy.
