The Fuss got an opportunity to chat with the amusing drummer of kidofdoom, Johan Auriacombe. We shared a mellow conversation discussing reunions, phallic palindromes and the future of the ‘space-pop champions’.
Kidofdoom have been on a hiatus for almost four years. What was the reasoning behind choosing 2013 as the year to reunite and play some shows?
Johan Auriacombe – It just happened. When we split it was to concentrate on our professional careers and this year everything is now stable [within our personal careers]. We missed the band so we started talking and people started talking on Facebook. So we just decided to do it again.
Taking it back to when you guys first came onto the scene, How and why did you settle on the name kidofdoom?
JA – It was very random. It was just a joke, but it was easy to say and catchy. Two years later we played a gig with a band called NAMUH and standing outside we looked at the poster and realised, NAMUH is human backwards so we checked what our name backwards was – moodfodik. [laughs] Tings and Times – which was one of our regular spots that we played at – had a waiter who couldn’t say our name, pronouncing it as one word.
Would you have had a different band name if the band had only started this year?
JA – I think when you start a band you don’t really think so hard about a band name. You just jam.
During this reunion tour kidofdoom have played all over the country, which of the shows has been your favourite and why?
JA – Each and every show had a different and special vibe to it. Cape Town was all our old fans and I saw people there that I hadn’t seen in 5 years. Joburg was a smaller crowd but they were die-hards. After playing 18 songs they demanded more and we’re like, ‘Fuck, we don’t know more’ [laughs]. Pretoria used to be our home and the show there had a lot of new kids who had never seen us live. Durban was also a small group of die-hards like Joburg.
In your opinion, how has the music industry or scene changed from when you first started your band to what it is now in 2013?
JA – I think that’s part of the reason why we could do the reunion this year. This year the cycle has relapsed and its similar to how it was back when we started. It goes in cycles and [this year]there is a healthy group of bands, new artists and new music; and that’s exactly how it was when we [started]playing.
Keeping that in mind, what are your thoughts on MK ending its broadcast channel and how do you think this will affect the local alternative scene and what are your general thoughts on the state of the scene?
JA – On a good note, I’m loving that so many [international]bands are brought to South Africa – and not only the big stadium bands but the smaller bands too. For me when you see an international band it inspires you. These are bands that play like 3 shows a weeks because they’re touring Europe – they’re small but also fucking good. As for the TV channel closing, its great that they are continuing the legacy online. It is very sad though that there wasn’t a big enough demand for people to watch it on TV. That sucks, like what the fuck people? You can’t just say, ‘No, they play Kurt Darren’. They played fucking cool local music and they also played good international stuff – sometimes of bands that are touring here. So that’s a bit swak from people not watching, but times are changing. Innovation will play its role and something new will come out of that.
What inspires the kind of music kidofdoom created and the themes behind your visualisations?
AJ – We just jam. We’d just go to the band room and write a song. Ben (who does our visuals) has always been part of the crew. We always played his parties for Sovereign Academy. He’s been with us since we started and he just gets it. He’s a great VJ and he jams with us on stage.
Is there anything else we can expect from kidofdoom or is this tour the final curtain call for the band?
AJ – There’s never a final curtain call. For now our last show will be Rocking The Daisies and from there we’ll just see what the vibe is. If in two years people want to see us again then we’ll do it again. We are all really busy and working (which is a good thing not a bad thing), but it will happen naturally if it needs to.
Any chance of any new material?
AJ – We are sitting with tons of stuff, but two guys live in Cape Town and two up here [in Gauteng]so when we do get in the band room together we concentrate on getting tight for the shows. But we’ll see . It must also just happen naturally. You can’t force it. Anything good just happens.
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