Interview with Das Kapital

Ahead of Grietfest we interview DJ / Producer / Label Owner / Radio DJ, Das Kapital, discussing his multiple career titles, the state of the South African electronic music scene as well as what can be expected from his performance at Grietfest.

Image: Jono Jebus

You’re replacing Grimehouse at Griet because he has to “wash his dog”. What’s the worst excuse you’ve given for not being able to make a show?

I don’t like missing shows unless I absolutely have to. The stupidest reason I’ve ever missed a show was an airline literally going bankrupt before I was supposed to catch my flight. That sucked.

Where do you find the time to be a radio DJ, an actual DJ, a promoter and a label founder?

It’s really just about balancing my responsibilities and managing my expectations. I have a great team working with me on a lot of my projects, so all I really have to do is make sure I work methodically, and everything generally works itself out pretty well!

Is it safe to say that your life is now exclusively funded by music? What were some of the worst part time jobs you had to fund the dream before it was a reality?

I’ve actually been entirely living off music since I was 19. I guess the worst part time job I ever did was handing out promotional flyers for a pizza place when I was still in high school. It was pretty lame.

We featured ‘City Back’ as part of The Fuss List last year and you haven’t released much music since then. Are you planning to release anything in the near future?

Radio and label work have been eating my time up over the past few months, so I’ve put considerable effort into finishing lots of new music recently.

I’ve got new remixes forthcoming for the UK and SA labels, and about 3 EPs worth of solo material to finish.

I also have 3 tracks with Shortstraw to get done (sorry for the wait my dudes) and a lot of production for local Hip Hop artists in the works.

It’s safe to say that the proverbial snowball is about to get rolling again.

Tell us about the track you’re working on with Chee.

It’s a secret, really – a tribute of sorts. It’s a tongue-in-cheek homage to someone we mutually admire and respect. I won’t say much more just yet, but you can rest assured it’s going to slap.

We’ve seen more local electronic musicians releasing full-length albums lately. Is this something you’d ever look to in the future?

As a solo artist, I’m not interested right now. As co-manager of Do Work Records, however, we are actively finishing up the Overtime compilation album currently, due out around 6 weeks from now (to be confirmed).

We want to showcase our local talent, on a wider scale, so we put together a 16 track LP to do that.

For me, I’d really only touch on a solo album once I’ve released a couple more singles.

What have been some of your favourite local releases thus far in 2016?

“Local” is subjective, so I’m going to take it to mean South Africans, on any label.

A lot of the stuff Scuf Records have been putting out is wicked. More or less anything Kyle Watson touches is gold as well. RudeBoyz are definitely making waves, which is great to see.

Otherwise, I’d say keep an eye out for my new music (winks seductively)

The barriers to starting a record label have decreased tremendously in recent years with more and more artists launching their own labels. What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced with Do Work Records?

In South Africa, there still isn’t a huge culture of supporting independent music. We are very reliant on major labels and radio SHOWING us what’s new and exciting.

I think that there is hype on the ground, and in recent years people have started looking at independent music more seriously in this country – It just takes time to build that audience. But we’re getting there.

Congratulations on the show on 5FM. How has the experience been doing what you do on one of the biggest platforms in South Africa?

Y’know, it’s awesome actually. I was brought in to do what I do, and have been given a lot of freedom and support within the structure of the station.

The 5FM team is full of great people I believe in, and they seem to believe in what I do as well – It’s great.

The response from the audience has been incredible, and my listenership is both engaging and steadily growing. I feel fortunate to be in my position, and I’m doing everything I can to use that position to further the reach of good dance music (both local and international) in South Africa.

Will you include any new material or exclusives in your set at Grietfest? What can the fans expect?

They can expect new music from me, my label, music from around the world and South Africa. I’ve really put time and effort into the studio, and into the label, so that should reflect very clearly in my performance.

Talented people surround me, and they deserve as much spotlight as I can possibly give them.

But as always, I think it’s easiest for people just to expect a good time.