Interview with Thor Rixon and Diamond Thug

Dahleas. 30°C. Braamfontein. Johannesburg. South Africa. The World.

Rosa chats to Cape Town, and now Joburg, favourites Diamond Thug (Chantel, Danilo, Adrian) and Thor Rixon (Thor, Matt, Simon) about tourism, that noise we call music, and hats. These two bands have been on tour these past two weeks, going through Cape Town, Durban, Stellenbosch, Pretoria and Jo’burg… ending with a bang at Park Acoustics.

First and foremost, why have you guys chosen to tour together? Matter of convenience or does it have to do with sound similarity?

Mostly a matter of convenience says Thor, “we both got booked for Park Acoustics on the 28^th November. And we decided we wanted to make the show more worthwhile, so we booked a few other gigs in between.” Tourmaline Berg is also the manager and booking agent for both bands, and so it made sense for them to tour together. And “we’re all friends”, Tourmaline hastily mentions. Chantel and Thor also collaborate on a song together, and Adrian is the drummer for both bands (at least only for this tour). So all in all there is quite a large overlap between the two.

Thor’s setup changes quite frequently, hence Adrian only drumming for this tour. Adrian believes that the “cool thing about working on Thor’s live sound is that it is evolving, and constantly changing.”

Have you guys ever performed in Pretoria or Joburg before? And from your experience thus far, how does a Jo’burg or Pretoria audience differ to a Capetonian audience or other audiences you have encountered?

This is Thor’s first time performing in Jo’burg, and first time in Gauteng. According to Thor and Matt, the audience in Durban was amazing, but they were quite hesitant about Pretoria. “The response was good,” says Matt “but there just weren’t that many people.” Thor continues, “yeah, the people who were there were jumping up and down and having a great time… it just wasn’t a great turnout. And there was a massive party the night before.”

Diamond Thug has played Pretoria and Jo’burg a few times so they’ve had more experience with the Gauteng audiences. Danilo says, “It seems like people up here are just keen to hear live music, which is really cool… The last time we were here we also played Arcade, and it was quite quiet.” But even so, Chantel believes that “the people there looked like they were having a really awesome time.” She thinks that the Jo’burg audience always responds really well to their music.

Thor continues, “In Cape Town people tend to be over critical… which has its benefits because it sets a really high standard for the music, but people don’t party enough. And Durban seems to be the opposite, everyone just wants to party. And I feel like Jo’burg sits nicely in the middle.”

What was quite interesting was that most of the people at the Pretoria gig were actually from Jo’burg. Adrian says, “It’s quite irritating, but a lot of people don’t really know what to listen to…”

What is your opinion on the Johannesburg music scene?

Thor boldly declares, “We are huge fans.” They love Bye Beneco, Motel Mari, The Brother Moves on, The Fridge, Samthing Soweto, The Make Overs and The Stellas (sadly broken up).

And how familiar are you with Johannesburg acts? From my experience as a Jo’burg listener we respond quite a bit more to Cape Town music, and I’m not sure it’s necessarily the same in Cape Town.

“Yeah,” Thor agrees, “Cape Town is quite shut off. Only select people really know what’s going on in the Joburg music scene, and that’s the stuff that isn’t on the radio.” Danilo thinks that it is also because Jo’burgers listen to a lot of live music.

Which would be the top five South African acts you would want to watch at a music festival?

Thor Rixon and co – The Brother Moves On, Fever Trails, Christian Tiger School, Card on Spokes, and The Fridge.

Diamond Thug – The Brother Moves On (a shared favourite), Spoek Mathambo, BCUC, and PH Fat.

How did you come to name you group Diamond Thug? Has your name undergone any changes? Why?

A collective groan. Danilo says, “It’s just not a funny story.” Chantel agrees, “Yeah, It was a mistake.” Danilo has a tattoo on his foot of a diamond, and “eventually, Chantel and I had a bunch of songs ready and we wanted to put them on SoundCloud but we didn’t have a name yet… and I was just looking at my foot and thought Diamond Thug, and it just kinda stuck.”

Chantel; you used to head a band called La Vi, why did you move away from it? And how as your sound developed since then, in both your solo work and with Diamond Thug?

“I started writing my own songs separately to La Vi, they were starting to sound a lot more acoustic and then Diamond Thug was a lot more experimental, we were starting to play around with electronic music… I was finding new ways to sing; I thought I was going to rap. And ended up only rapping in one song. La Vi kinda faded out a bit, everyone else in the band were sort of preoccupied with their day jobs.”

Would any of you ever revive any of your former projects or bands? Or do you think the South African music has developed beyond them?

Chantel believes it would be nice to get some of La Vi’s songs out there, “and that sometimes it is nice to have something online… even though I don’t think I can even remember a lot of the songs. I’ve seen on the Facebook page that there are still people asking if we are playing, and we’ve never really sort of put it out there that we had broken up. It just sort of died down.”

Thor says, “When I was in high school I used to play for a few ska bands, but I was just playing the trumpet and not singing. So not really something I want to revive…Matt and I used were also in a band called Sun-Do Q’lisi for about two years.” Matt continues, “We started end of 2011, and called it quits at the end of 2013. For most of it we were mostly a four piece, and then by the end of it we became a seven piece because Thor’s laptop was stolen. It was mostly electronic and when his stuff was stolen we had to become more live, so we got more people involved…. But then it sort of faded, and I don’t think it’s something we would revive.”

Thor; What is Simon and Matt’s role in the band? To be honest I thought you were a solo act…

Matt answers, “Yeah, Simon plays the bass and I’m on the keys. When Thor writes, he writes mostly by himself… other than the tracks he writes collaboratively. But for the sake of playing live he got Simon and I involved, and a rotating drummer. We use electronic pads, which are linked to Thor’s computer and have samples of what he uses on the tracks, so it makes it such fun because we actually jam out the tracks, with every song sounding different.” Danilo butts in, “yeah, it’s actually so cool to tour with Thor because it doesn’t get boring as every set sounds different.”

Thor; a lot of your songs are collaborative. Do you find that this makes writing or producing music easier or more difficult? What are the qualities of an ideal collaborator?

“I think it makes it a little easier actually. When you’re writing songs on your own you often become bored, or it takes you longer to get to a certain point. But when you’re writing with someone else, there is a lot of bouncing of ideas, which aids and quickens the process. The ideal collaborator is probably someone that is open to ideas. Collaborating with Chantel was great because she’s very aware of what she wants, she sort of walked in and out within half-an-hour and we had a song.”

What has been your most embarrassing or funniest ‘on stage’ experience?

A lot of collective giggling, and chanting of “tell the story.” Matt reddens a little and continues, “There was this bra that made its way on stage, around my neck.” Danilo cuts in, “the lady whose bra it was, was also behind him dancing.” Thor carries on, “This was at our Durban show, at Cool Runnings. And it was quite a small stage and Chantel was onstage with us at that moment. This lady gets on to stage, and starts dancing behind Matt, with this bra just dangling.” She was finally asked to get off stage, but according to Matt “she found a grey-area and her hands started wandering.” Before that she had laid out her bra on Thor’s pads… and it wasn’t even a sexy bra.

What is your audience interaction like during performance?

Thor started, “I’m still quite new to it, so feel a little bit awkward at this stage. However I’m trying to work on it to make it a little bit more entertaining.” Matt says, “Thor hates to admit it, but he is actually a very good actor. He definitely puts on a character when he performs… We’ve been trying to work on moving seamlessly through songs, so that we almost don’t have to interact with the audience.” Thor believes that “when the audience gives, it’s easier to give back to them… to sort of build it up.”

Danilo believes that they are also super awkward. Of course, it also depends on the audience. But he believes it works for them. “It’s also difficult speaking to the audience. I remember at Daisies I said something and afterwards thought, “Wow, that was completely irrelevant.” We really try to interact with the audience, but it can be quite difficult. Also at night it’s difficult to look at the audience because the light is very bright, so you often look upwards… hoping that you’re playing to an audience out there.”

Chantel believes it is important to talk but you don’t need to between every song. “I often find that when I’m playing I become cut-off from the audience, and then suddenly I stop playing and realise that there is an audience out there. Also the way we interact often depends on the size of the audience.” Danilo continues, “Yeah, often when there is a smaller stage and a more intimate audience, I feel like we do better. You can get quite personal with the people in the crowd… It’s worse to be on a big stage, with fewer people, that is when it starts to feel awkward.”

Thor agrees, “A small venue that is packed is a vibe. A big venue with fewer people is often very awkward.” It’s also difficult at events where they become more like background music, especially acoustic shows which are played at restaurants and bars.

“You want your music to talk for itself at the end of the day. You don’t want to talk too much and not focus on what you’re there to do, which is play music.” Danilo concludes.

Who, locally or internationally, would you most want to share a stage with?

Thor Rixon and co – Beirut, Flying Lotus, Noah and The Whale, Skrillex, James Blake

Diamond Thug – TV on the Radio, Alt J

Where are you headed? What is the direction of your projects/bands and, what can we see in the future?

For Danilo, speaking for Diamond Thug “we really want to make a career out of music. As difficult as it is. We definitely want to spend the next two or three years giving it all we’ve got and trying to pursue this. We’d love to go overseas, tour around. If not a career, at least a touring experience.” Chantel continues, “yeah, I think we want to start recording an EP or an album and get it out there.”

Thor believes, “We’re definitely going to keep pushing, and play as many shows as we can. Hopefully get overseas in the near future. Most likely the UK, and America down the line.” Matt continues, “We run a music label called naas music, and we’re quite lucky because we’re in a position where we are an agency and independent artists at the same time. So while we’re pushing our own careers we’re pushing other artists’ at the same time. Even though it is quite expensive we would love to expand overseas. Australia would be great because there is actually a lot of synergy, and similarities between South African and Australian music.” On the topic of Australia Thor says that, “a lot of people believe that what happened in the Australian music scene is happening here now… There is just greater support in the Australian market.”

Danilo thinks that there seems to be a greater worldwide interest in South African, especially Capetonian music. “A lot of international blogs are starting to pick up on Capetonian artists, there is a growing interest and focus.”

Thor and Matt; What are the challenges of running naas simultaneously to having your own music career?

“Sleep” says Danilo.

“Admin and dealing with artists,” says Matt. “The artists are great, but most of them are just really bad at replying to emails.”

Thor admits that he actually quite likes the admin, or “hustle.”

Recording music? Where does that happen?

Matt says, “Almost all of our artists are bedroom recorded.”

Thor believes you can actually get really great sound and quality from different rooms; you just need good and often expensive equipment.

Danilo believes that there is quite a lot of growth of artists mixing electronic music with real instruments. “As far as I know, Goldfish were the first South African act to do that… and now I think a lot more bands are moving across to a more electronic sound.”

Describe your style in five words.

Thor Rixon and co – vibe, vibe, vibe, vibe, chill

Diamond Thug, after a lot of deliberating – hanging herb garden in wind

 

Download Thor Rixon’s Tea Time Favourites

Download Diamond Thug’s “What I Think I Know” single