A noisy introduction to the sound of serpents
Wrestlerish spilt up and Werner Olckers pursued his other passion for sneakers to launch a sneaker boutique in Pretoria called Cop Capital. You’d think there isn’t any time for much else when you’re the managing director of a sneaker store, but not one to undercut his passion for music, Olckers found the time to start another band.
Olckers teamed up with Matthieu Auriacombe (Beach Party, Hello Beautiful) and Pieter Aucamp to create music as Art Snakes who fittingly had their performance debut at the Arcade Empire Halloween party last year. The band took an early knock with the departure of Pieter who moved to Cape Town; but the band hastily replaced him with Jason Hinch (Black Cat Bones, Boargazm) who is seemingly a perfect fit both technically and in essence.
Art Snakes followed their debut performance with release of their first single in “Yes, I can hear you Clem Fandango” and it’s a side of Werner Olckers we’ve never heard before. Far removed from the tepidness of Wrestlerish, it’s difficult not to draw comparisons with Brand New whose frontman Olckers had the opportunity to interview last year when the band played at Oppikoppi. It’s loud, it’s raw, it’s brash and it’s early 2000s post-punk. The band is calling it noise pop.
There is a micro-trend developing with seasoned musicians founding ‘super groups’ and creating without any desire to fit into current trends. Creating for the sake of fulfilling their need to create.
Listen to “Yes, I can hear you Clem Fandango” which was produced by David Grevler at Anti Motion Studios and mastered by Peach van Pletzen below.
Art Snakes | Facebook
