Card on Spokes shares his thoughts on the SA music scene
Card on Spokes spoke to OkayAfrica about the South African music scene, shedding some light on the artists he believes should be getting more airtime.
Card on Spokes is Shane Cooper who is a significant local jazz talent and an award winning bassist. Card on Spokes is one of our country’s most relevant electronic music acts and is on the ground floor, pioneering the sounds out of the underground.
A few snippets from the interview
You should read the full interview; he has some interesting things to say. We’ve cherry-picked some of the parts we liked…
As a producer he likes to create music with dance floor appeal while also making it the kind of music for headphone listening…
“I like songs to grab you on a dancefloor, but also have details you can tune into on headphones. Like a picture of people in a room, I want you to be able to zoom in and read the title of the books on the shelves, and see the thread on the carpet, and notice the reflection on the window, or see the burnt out matches in the ashtray.”
He reflected on the realities of playing it safe in the business and how that has the potential to block growth. It would benefit newer scenes if radio played their stuff without fearing the loss of listenership…
“It would be great if there were more venues around SA for the kind of stuff I’m making, as there are many other artists working in similar fields, and there is an audience for it. The money guys who run the ‘music industry’ mostly play it so safe, and I think they are falling behind because of that. I’d like to see radio be braver, there is so much good stuff from SA artists they just don’t touch because they are afraid to try. There are only a few radio DJs out there who I think are opening their eyes to what’s actually happening in SA beyond the commercial artists.”
The Card on Spokes vision and impression of the SA music scene proves to be an inspiring perspective. He makes a relevant point about how smaller festivals are the kind where music actually gets heard…
“I would also like to see more smaller scale festivals starting up. The big ones are great, but there’s a gap for more small to medium size festivals. That’s often where music really gets heard, the big ones are usually more about a larger experience from the whole weekend.”
Not a fan of musical purism, he is excited that genre lines are getting blurred. Music that is self-expressive, odd, or downright weird is great if that’s your truth as an artist. More of that is what will make the SA scene even greater.
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