Crash and the Void is an experimental heavy rock band from Pretoria, South Africa. Founded in 2019 the quartet consists of two brothers: Marius Schutte on lead vocals (also boasting a music theory degree) and brother Lumar Schutte, a highly decorated session drummer. Completing the lineup is Waldo Van Der Linde on guitar + lead, and Dillon Van Heerden on bass guitar (and sound engineering). Crash & The Void’s collective influence ranges from Hans Zimmer to Black Sabbath. The band infuse balls-to-the-wall rock and roll with B grade horror / sci-fi genres

In the faint light that separates dreams from reality, lies from truth and heaven from hell, lives the Acid Magus. Meditating, surrounded by darkness and light, energising the air with electric anticipation. Come forward and listen, stay awhile, there are no sins… 
 Acid Magus is an experimental rock outfit from Pretoria, South Africa. Doom, stoner, punk, psych, and classic rock are all common themes. 
 As huge fans of the rock greats (Zeppelin, Sabbath), stoner/desert rock behemoths (Kyuss, Sleep) as well as the tripped out psychedelic stylings of modern “psych” bands like Slift. Acid Magus take inspiration from all kinds of great music, spanning the entire gamut from 60s Hendrix/The Doors to Hawkwind and Scorpion at their heaviest, all the way to pretty much everything inspired by Black Sabbath today. 
 All this with maybe a little Alt Rock sensibility thrown in for good measure… 
 With an uncompromising, DIY approach to writing, Acid Magus promises to offer up only the best, most impassioned musical works. Long, slow, heavy, soft, it’s all there, and it comes from the heart…

Ethyl Ether are a five-piece Psychedelic rock outfit from Cape Town. Formed in 2016, the band has released 3 full length albums, the last album, 2020’s ‘Chrome Neon Jesus’ earned the band a SAMA  (South African Music Awards) nomination for Best Rock Album as well as being well received by international rock media with the likes of Distorted Sound calling “an album that is worthy of a world beating rock band, proving to be a catchy and intriguing tour de force from start to finish” in their 9/10 review.

The band has been hard at work in the studio over the last 9 months on their new album ‘Violent Entertainment’ which will drop on the 27^th of January 2023.

“Violent Entertainment is a commentary on the times we find ourselves as humans… a constant diet of social media and reality shows. We are shocked by nothing anymore, allowing ourselves to be influenced by whatever speaks strongest to our personal viewpoint. We have become selfish, and live from selfie to selfie, one foot in the real world and one foot online. Violent Entertainment laments the loss of real human emotion and cries for a return to real interactions… a call for a time that is sadly long gone.” – Ethyl Ether

In a small, secluded mining town in rural South Africa, three friends heard the call of the void, and spat fuzz back at it. Thus, Ruff Majik was born, and the adventure of sex, drugs and mostly rock ‘n roll began.

Ruff Majik set sail to Pretoria, South Africa, where they’ve become infamous for their lively shows and aggressive on stage persona. With their brand of what they call “stoner rock/sludge ‘n roll” they move between slow grooves and breakneck speeds in the blink of an eye, with live shows being described as ‘whiplash inducing’.

Consisting of three members, Johni Holiday, Jimmy Glass and Ben Manchino make up The Atomic Trinity, the relentless noise machine that is Ruff Majik (blessed be the name). The band surfaced in 2015 with the release of their first 6 track, “The Bear”. This got them lots of attention from reviewers all over the world, including well renowned blogs such as Heavy Planet. They quickly followed up with “The Fox” in 2016, that got them into Classic Rock Magazine with the song ‘Sodoom and Gomorrah’ as well as 108 000 views (and counting) on the YouTube stream of the full album. In 2017 Ruff Majik released “The Swan”, “The Hare and the Hollow”,“A Finch in a cherry tree” and “A Dragon and his hoard”, with the follow up, “A Stag in the leaves”, set to release in March 2018.

Ruff Majik is a power trio, a stoner rock juggernaut, and they bring earthquakes with them wherever they go.

No one knows where the name came from, and it all happened such a long time ago that nobody can really remember…circa 1997 – 25 years ago to be exact!

Their style of music gave the outlandish name, FUZIGISH, meaning. It was 1997 and the ‘new’ South Africa was alive with optimism and energy. The rainbow nation was ready for some two-tone inspired uplifting party tunes and locally brewed rainbow attitude with a bag full of punk, ska, rockabilly and soul mixed in with potholes and politics.

Recorded in 1997, FUZIGISH had some initial success with their ‘How Rude!’ EP, culminating in a slot on the ‘main’ stage at Oppikoppi in 1998 and No.1 single on Barney Simon’s Modern Rock Chart.

After a couple of line-up changes the band recorded their first album ‘Skankers Union’ in 2000. With help from the punk network that had recently sprung up across South Africa, FUZIGISH was able to tour South Africa and spread the FUZI good vibes. Songs such as ‘Little Bird’, ‘Scratching’ & ‘Secret Police’ have become part of the South African musical landscape and are still played live today…or the crowd gets violent.

In 2002 FUZIGISH recorded ‘Southern Ska Stomper’, a darker, more complex album that was well received and delivered the FUZI gospel, slowly building their fanbase, and now with international interest, FUZIGISH was booked for their first European tour which saw them play in the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Denmark. They toured Europe for a second time in 2005.

FUZIGISH became known for its legendary energetic live shows, filled with drunken anthems sung by loyal punters and is still the expectation of patrons today. From beer funnels to haircuts on stage and even the occasional song, (the longest FUZIGISH set clocks in at just over two hours, totalling a forty-song set to celebrate Rockwell’s 40th birthday), anything is possible at a FUZIGISH show and everyone is welcome.

‘Exploited & Distorted’, released in 2004, is a fast paced back-to-your-roots punk album, written on the road whilst touring Australia with the legendary Australian punks, Frenzal Rhomb.

The band got busy, very busy. They actively fostered and developed the local music scene, by starting their own record label ‘Red Ambulance’, signing local bands such as The Diesel Whores, Half Price, Japan & I and Misled and started a live show circuit called Mad Circle.Roll on 2007 and ‘Roll With The Punches’, featuring vocal contributions from Joey Cape of LagWagon and Fokofpolisiekar, amongst other fantastic musos. The packed launch party went down in history as the most people to ever squeeze into Melville’s Roxy. ‘Roll with The Punches’ saw FUZIGISH receive a wider audience and even some radio play, but they don’t care much for that.

Whilst taking a break from writing, Jay Bones had the idea to bring a few international bands to South Africa to play with the local talent. He formed the booking agency ‘Punk Safari’ with fellow band members. This resulted in NOFX, LagWagon, Mad Caddies & The Exploited, all touring and experiencing South Africa with FUZIGISH and friends. During this time, Setlist was released and was basically a record of Fuzigish’s setlist and two new songs, Burn The Fucking House Down and We Rise!

‘Crazy Friends’ was recorded in 2013 with the current line-up: Jay Bones (vocals and guitars), Malcolm “Rockwell” King (bass and vocals), Big Willy (trombone, trumpet, oi’s and funnel) and Tom (drums). A brilliant album that went under the radar with zero promotion but spread to all that mattered – the FUZIGISH fans.

In 2020 during the midst of the Covid pandemic with the hopes of spreading some joy in a world that had lost live music for the foreseeable future, the band released the Flaming Funnels Of FUZI, a live album recorded during the aforementioned NOFX South African tour.

With so much accomplished the band members of FUZIGISH worked on a few other projects, released some albums, toured the world, taught music, and tried to survive Covid.

A not-so-interesting fact is that Jay Bones and Tom both nearly died from tick bite fever in January this fine year of 2022, which would have been an absolute fucking travesty as they are about to release their new album, self-titled, through Mongrel Records. New producer (Matthew Fink), new label (Mongrel Records), new album (it’s fucking brilliant) and 25 years of doing what they love sees the release of their first single, Believer, on Feb 18th and the much-anticipated new FUZIGISH album in April this year.

Keep Skankin!

As one of South Africa’s most decorated and applauded bands of the last three decades, Springbok Nude Girls’ work ethic has never-ever waivered. The release of their latest singles, 2018’s Beautiful Evolution and Best Friends, Best Enemies and 2020’s Rolling Thunder is audible proof of that. The making of this stellar return showcases the group’s perpetual evolution and maturity, all without compromising a beat. 

Through a series of serendipitous events in the early ’90s in the small wine-making town of Stellenbosch, Arno Carstens, Theo Crous,  Adriaan Brand, Arno Blumer, and Francois Kruger became the Springbok Nude Girls (SNG).

Little did they know that they would go on to become one of the most loved rock bands South Africa has ever seen, known for their high energy stage shows and unique musical sound which combines Rock, Punk, Reggae, Metal, Funk, and Jazz.

They played their first gig in September 1994 in a small bar in Stellenbosch and released their first album, “Neanderthal 1” the following year. Since then, this platinum-selling, award-winning band has gone on to record albums that contain some of the countries most beloved anthems. They have headlined every major South African music festival and performed at some of the most auspicious international festivals in Europe, including Pukkelpop in Belgium.

In 2015, Thinking Owl Films, in association with Sony Music Entertainment Africa, released an exciting documentary film which tells the story of the band’s early beginnings, touching on the crippling censorship of that time, and then the liberation of 1994 and how, for these kids, there was finally freedom in music.

Twenty-six years after their first show, and two decades after the release of “Blue Eyes” the song that redirected the trajectory of the band. With 11 albums, two live recordings, an EP, two DVD releases, and a UK-exclusive release in their coveted arsenal, SNG’s creative curiosity is showing no signs of abating. If anything, their greatest work lies ahead, and with it a growing wall of fans invested in passionate, adrenalin-injected modern rock alchemy.

Stay tuned. The grand is teasing the callosal.