Thursday 19 May 2011

MacGyver Knife Album Launch

Wednesday, 25 May 2011 is the album launch of Cape Town based Indie Rock band, MacGyver Knife.





Cape Town-based indie-rock band MacGyver Knife will be launching their debut album, Sewing Legend, this month. The official launch gig will take place at Zula Sound Bar, Long Street, Cape Town on Wednesday, 25 May 2011. Invite your friends, your friends' friends and their girlfriends - they'll all want to be there for this special performance.
“Guests can expect new songs that have never before been performed live - some off the album and some brand new. We’ll also have some awesome visual effects as part of the show,” says Mishal Pandie, lead singer for MacGyver Knife. 
After much of 2010 spent at CoffeeStainedVinyl with sound engineer Teejay Terblanche (of New Holland fame), Sewing Legend is finally ready for the public. The album will be available at the album launch for R70, as well as from local independent music stores thereafter.

Sewing Legend pays homage


The album title, Sewing Legend came from a collab song MacGyver Knife wrote via Internet correspondence with a Sweden-based band, The Heart Sick Groans. The song was called Swimming Legend. During recording last year, two grandparents of the band passed away, both were tailors, and Sewing Legend is a homage to them.
The first single off the album, Stumble, is currently available for free download; the full album will be streamed prior to the official launch date for those eager to have a listen.



You can download Stumble for free on Soundcloud


RSVP for the album launch....


Fellow Cape Town band, She Man Lion will open the event, and have played with the likes of BLK JKS, kidofdoom, Lark, Desmond & the Tutus and Lark.




Sewing Legend track listing
1. Stumble
2. Black and Blue
3. Wake up the Morning
4. Mary Lou and the Guy
5. Now we're even
6. Head to Toe
7. Tomorrow Day
8. Dark side of the Sun
9. Sounds I've found
10. Jaguar
Sewing Legend was written, produced and recorded by MacGyver Knife; engineered and mixed by Teejay Terblanche and mastered by Rogan Kelsey.
For more on MacGyver Knife:


http://www.macgyverknife.com/
www.facebook.com/macgyverknifeband
http://www.twitter.com/macgyverknife%20%20 
www.youtube.com/user/macgyverknifeband



MacGyver Knife consists of brothers Maahir Pandie (lead guitar and backing vocals) and Mishal Pandie (lead vocals), Zaheer Gafoor (drums and percussion) and Zaahier Kamedien (bass) and started gigging in February 2008 after a decade of playing and practicing in garages across the Cape Flats. These days they are regulars, and pull big crowds to venues such as Zula Sound Bar and Mercury Live. In 2010 they were nominated for Beste Nuweling for the MK Awards, with their video "Why you mean". Check it out!





 



24.com puts the phenomenon down to ‘… a growing arsenal of fantastic songs. These are big, bold, sweeping, heart-on-its-sleeves songs that fill up the room and all the hearts therein’

Bizcommunity.com calls their music ‘edgy and catchy, with each song being different to the next and just as brilliant. Listening to MacGyver Knife, one might hear echoes of top international acts such as Incubus, Radiohead, Hoobastank or the Smashing Pumpkins.’

WhatsonSA.com called them ‘an exciting and visually pleasing band, with a good stage act and presence, who had the girls screaming for more when they weren't singing the choruses to all of the songs.’





Make sure to be at the album launch, and support this great band! 

Wednesday 18 May 2011

Legacy School of Music

We, as Cape Town Music Scene, feel that all musicians, especially up and coming bands, younger musicians, and so on, should take a look at the following....



Legacy School of Music’s purpose is to train musicians for their fields of choice – we cover all the main band instruments such as Drums, Guitar, Vocals, Piano and bass – The key to our success is that we meet the student where they are at and aim to cater for exactly what they want.

We offer regular live performance opportunities for students to become familiar with all of the live playing aspects.
Regular workshops on various topics such as mic technique – guitar effects setups and drum technician workshops have all been held already.

Currently Legacy School of Music is working closely with When Karma Sleeps on vocal training and session drumming for 3 up coming gigs.

Every band no matter how famous all go through music lessons of some sort – if you are familiar with the Melissa Cross vocal lessons you will see that famous bands go for training to make sure their sound is different from album to album and that their is a progressive flow between them.


We cater for every kind of musical enthusiast from the shower singer to the up and coming band member; from junior school goers and high school teens to the corporate business owner.

Although lessons follow a syllabus they are tailored to your individual needs. In other words, whilst developing your personal musicianship, you may choose to develop your band skills too.We facilitate this by offering regular live performance opportunities that boost your confidence levels and overall performance image.


In addition:

We offer optional exams in the form of Rockschool (Non- classical) or Trinity (Classical).

Band Rehearsal Space (Rentable on weekends)

Evening classes till 9pm (Instruments and Vocals)

Regular Workshops (Watch this space)

Music Theory Courses

Please feel free to check out their website http://www.legacyschoolofmusic.co.za/

Also, join them on Facebook : Legacy School of Music

Sunday 15 May 2011

Rock n Roll at Blizzards

Blizzards, Durbanville is one of the few remaining venues in the northern suburbs were bands can still play, and I decided to go and have a look whats going on there since it has been a while since my last visit there. I arrived just before 21:00 , and the place was fairly full , and people were still talking about the rugby that just finished a couple of minutes before.





As the time went by, very few people left, and more came in, to support the bands. Around 22:00, the bands were set up, and the gig about to start. First up were Silent Side, the reason I was there for the evening. You might not have heard of them, seeing that they have not played a lot of gigs under that name yet, but I think most of you will remember them from their previous name,Skyeclad. They formed in 2007, releasing their debut EP, Listen. Since then they played all over the Western Cape, with a few big names, like The Dirty Skirts, Foto na Dans, Ashtray Electric, Bed on Bricks, to name just a few. They also played festivals such as Vlakvarkgat Rock Fees 2 and Rock the River (New Year). 

The band consists of
Bonita van Wyk (Lead Vocals and Acoustic guitar)
Ray Schoeman (Band Manager & Rhythm Guitar)
Paul Anagnostakis (Lead Guitar)
Gerhard Burger (Drums and Backing Vocals)
Darion Garish ( Bass Guitar)

They are currently busy recording their first full length album, to be released soon.

Back to the show....

The last time I saw them perform, was at their last show as Skyeclad, and if it was not so cheesy, I would have quoted Shakespeare now on name changes. Silent Side picked up where Skyeclad stopped, and I saw an awesome performance. Strong vocals once again from Bonita, with the whole band performing as one around here. I have seen many bands play live over the last couple of years, and Gerhard remains one the  drummers who seem to genuinely enjoy himself, a nice "fun" drummer. Paul let loose with a great guitar solo like always, with Darion and Ray completing the 5-piece. 


It was really a good, solid performance, and I cannot wait to see them again.
Join them on Facebook! ---------> Silent Side 







Pictures taken by Tammy Strapp - Randomtams Photography at Vlakvarkgat Rock Fees 2


Silent Side was the main reason for this posting, but I do have to mention Save The Ears For Breakfast 
I have heard many things about them, and this was my first time seeing them live, and I really liked them. Indie/ Post-Punk Rock, with a very different sound from what you will hear from most bands these days. Go and look at their FB page, (link above), and listen to their demo recording to get an idea of who they are...


The evening ended with 12th Avenue on stage, and completed a great evening! Keep your eyes on this blog for more about 12th Avenue and Save The Ears For Breakfast in the feature...