Making it rain in the music scene

REDBULL
Making it rain in the music scene

Making it rain in the music scene

28 Oct 2011

The November edition of the Red Bulletin puts the spotlight on two South African artists: DJ Black Coffee, a Red Bull Music Academy alumni who’s making waves beyond SA borders; and indie-pop band The Dirty Skirts, whose sound has grown considerably darker with their latest offering.

FRESH BREW

Having just returned from a European tour, SA House DJ, producer and superstar Black Coffee is about to turn the volume up in a big way…
Nothing wrong with a little resting on the laurels, you’d think. Especially after the stellar trajectory DJ Black Coffee’s career has enjoyed these past few years. This former Red Bull Music Academy participant has produced an album and singles that have seen him travel the world playing DJ gigs anywhere from New York to the Greek island of Santorini. Time for a little R & R then? Nope. For Coffee, that’s the path to dissatisfaction. And this doesn’t mean more of the same either… Coffee is about to shake things up in a big way. “Basically, I want to appeal to a wider market. I want the MTV audience. I’ve done gigs in the in the best house clubs around the world, but it’s time for me to row.” This growth involves swapping his studio or DJ booth for a stadium and a 24-piece symphony orchestra. While still having the distinctive DJ Black Coffee touch, this new sound will be more at home at a big festival than in a club. “At the end of the day I want to be the guy who took house music to a stadium venue and played it with the Johannesburg Philharmonic orchestra,” he says. Coffee’s new sound, head to Durban’s Moses Mabhida stadium on December 16, where you can see him perform a full set with his new orchestra. You could witness the genesis of something very big.

Low down, dark and dirty

The cover is black. The critics have described the sound as a new direction that’s intense, dark and deep. And, to be honest, this is about an apocalyptic an album as a band with indie-pop roots could hope to produce. The recently launched album’s title, Lost In The Fall, pulls no punches either. We asked The Dirty Skirts frontman Jeremy de Tolly what these words mean for the band. “The title emerged spontaneously as a lyric in the song Music Stole My Heart. We felt it was a suitable poetic summation of where we are at right now.” We’re All Gonna Die is the new single off the album – look out for the brand new video.

REDBULL