Stab Virus from Unknown Song to in-demand duo
Stab Virus have made an indelible impact on the South African music scene in a short space of time. Consisting of two established solo DJ/producers, Siphe Tebeka and Makonwabe Bekwa (Audiojerk) seem to have hit on something special when they work together.
Mary Honeychild chatted to them ahead of some pretty big festival gigs they have lined up – first Grietfest 2016 (this weekend) and then Rocking the Daisies in October.
We are still exploring our sound and signature, but we’re getting there.”
‘The Unknown Song’ reflects an interesting eclecticism. When and where were you guys working on this track and how did it get picked up by Suara?
We were chilling in studio and we were exploring international techno artists and we decided to fuse the techno with an African house. So we started with an Arpeggio (Main Melody) and it sounded good so we added some African elements and bass and just sent it to Suara. Coyu loved it, but also asked to do his edit…
When you think of your impact on the landscape of electronic music in South Africa, what do you envision for your sound and message?
We are two guys from the township. We’re trying to be different. At first we were doing South African House and our first song was titled Siphe Tebeka & Audiojerk Bekwa – No Control, which was deeper. We are still exploring our sound and signature, but we’re getting there. And thanks to CTEMF Connect for keeping us working together…
Siphe, you of course, have previously played at Tomorrowland on The Dream Island Stage. What did you take away from that experience and how did you approach the preparation for that set?
Well, since I’ve an electro and up-tempo background it was always my dream to play for such a crowd; the whole festival had Electro/Techno Acts. But I decided to play electro, tribal house, tech and South African house and the response was good. The festival itself is very well organised, from security, transport, accommodation and people, it was a great experience.
Makonwabe, you will be playing a solo set at Rocking the Daisies this year including a set with Stab Virus. In your opinion, what is it about these festivals that make them such great outdoor party destinations?
Well firstly, our local festivals are well known all around the world, and it’s a blessing to play with some of the world’s best international and local artists. South Africans enjoy partying in general, and for so many famous artists to play at one festival, it’s kind of obvious that it’s going to be full and all over social media. I guess from there onwards it’s the crowd that makes these festival great and for myself and Siphe it’s our duty to make them want more.
Stab Virus will be playing at Grietfest 2016, any particular ideas you two have in mind for your performance?
We are very excited to play at Grietfest. We were thinking of doing a Live Set rather than using only CDJs, but we’re still working on our Live Set. But we have a new unreleased song titled STAB Virus – Apocalypto and a few other things that we still working on…
Catch Stab Virus at Grietfest 2016 this weekend.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/279344480″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]CONNECT
WITH STAB VIRUS
FACEBOOK | TWITTER