The Drift is Coming

The Drift is a metal band that is making waves in the South African music scene and they haven’t even debuted yet. Set to play their first official live show at the Krank’d Up Music Festival in September and also confirmed as one of the supporting bands for Lamb of God next year, The Drift is on the right track to blow people’s minds.

We cannot wait to finally hear their music and see them live, formed from members of other acclaimed South African bands we have no doubt that their sound will be loud, hard and refreshing. We caught up with lead vocalist Louis Du Pisani and guitarist Stefan Stabic to chat about the new venture.

Each of you have been a part of some very successful South African metal bands in the past, tell us who was a part of which band and what each influence will bring to The Drift?
Louis: Hannes Matthysen played drums on Chromium, Marc Junius bass in All Forlorn, Jiggy’s (Jason Giacoppo) guitar work from Misericord and It’s a Fucking Rhino, Stefan Stabic fronted Gadabout and I was in Knave. I’d say that experience and an open mind is a large factor here – due to our songwriting method. We plotted out the album before we started and the tracks were written to serve the concept, so the styles will all differ in accordance for what the album segment calls for. Some members have the strengths in certain avenues, so each track, EP and album will be worked around the pool of experience and skills we have.

Give our readers a bit of insight into the band The Drift. How you guys got together and how you decided to start the metal band?
Louis: The Drift is a band comprised of a few South African musical cats who’ve all done their rounds in this turbulent scene. I wrote a swansong for my time in Knave and just sent it to a few mates to get their feelings on it, as the style of the track was a sound that was suppressed during my time doing rock music. I think it was Jiggy that asked if it was a band, which it wasn’t at the time – but we soon corrected that. When Marc heard it he asked the same thing, so he was immediately roped in. Stef and Hannes joined a little later, due to the fact that I assumed that their time doing metal was over… which obviously was not the case. As it turns out we were all the chilled out guys in our former bands – so working together is also super easy. Also, because the songs serve a story, there is never any ego to contend with, we all serve the music. We’ve all become really good friends since then, and have smashed many a pint as a company of good fellows.
Stef: Louis had an idea to make a band that would tell stories instead of writing about politics and angst. A band that would concentrate on the story telling rather than just writing cool riffs and shouting about how girls don’t like us. Writing music this way lets us draw from any genre that will help us paint the best picture.

How did the idea of starting The Drift come about?
Louis: After the original sentiment of the swansong, it all became about “Let’s do something different with good people“

How would you explain The Drift’s sound?
Louis: A massive variety of inputs and influence. The band’s music is always there to serve a story, so it’s never overly personal or malevolent, we play the part of author and sonic execution. Every song calls for something different – so to try and pin a genre to it (besides being generally heavy) will be difficult. Sometimes it’s slow, plodding and uneasy, sometimes it’s fast paced and manic and sometimes it’s long, serene and winding. All these different moods and settings play a monumental part in our music. We write songs, executed in a heavy way.
Stef: Imagine you have a fresh cup of coffee, the steam dancing on the rim of the cup. You cup the warmth with your hands and let the fresh brewed aromas delight your seances. You gaze through the ghosts dancing on the black lake as your thoughts drift, calm and still. You are happy. Then someone punches you in the FACE. But mostly we sound like Metallica.

What is the vibe like between the band members and how does it differ from your pasts?
Louis: I can only speak for myself, but this is much more relaxed, yet more focussed than in the past. We all love doing this.
Stef: The guys in The Drift are an amazing bunch of people and musicians. I still have very good relationships with my past band mates so…ja….

Stef on The Drift’s sound “You gaze through the ghosts dancing on the black lake as your thoughts drift, calm and still. You are happy. Then someone punches you in the FACE. But mostly we sound like Metallica”

What one thing excites you most about starting up a brand new local band?
Louis: Taking it all on again. We’re also here to do things slightly differently. We’re also just excited to get back on stage.
Stef: Playing Live.

You are set to make you official debut at the upcoming Krank’d Up Music Festival. What can the festival goers expect once The Drift hits the stage?
Louis: I’d say a musical journey of sorts… the songs change gears as the set progresses, so there’ll be a range of things to take in.
Stef: Power, Energy and one hell of a show!

How are you preparing to make sure your performance is rocking and to your standards being your first live show come the 28th September?
Louis: The 28th won’t be the first show, just the first ‘official’ one… Also, a ton of time in the rehearsal space will hopefully help us out.
Stef: We are rehearsing twice a week in the band room and the remainder of the time we spend putting the final touches to our stage show.

What response do you think or are you hoping to get once people hear The Drift for the first time?
Louis: Something new, yet not modern. If they take home the experience we’ll be happy.
Stef: “HOLY F*&%#$@ S&*(@ THAT WAS F&*%^ AMAZING!!! WOOOOOO…” and so on.

We heard that you guys working on an album. When do you expect it to be finished and released to the South African market?
Louis: Online product we’re hoping to be done by Krank’d Up, but the engineer, producer and myself have all been overseas for some time – so it’ll be a squeeze. Hopefully the physical product will be done by December.

Once the album is released, we are pretty sure that you will be touring to promote the new album. What are you looking forward to most about touring and playing gigs again?
Louis: I’ve never enjoyed touring, so the bar for me is pretty low – I’m hoping this completely shifts my opinion on it. And yeah, we hope to share this music with as many people as possible… maybe even hit the international market sooner than later. For me this is a whole new experience and approach to playing live. So I’m very excited.
Stef: Playing with good friends to even better friends.

Have you got any plans to film a music video for your first single? If so, when do you think it will go live?
Louis: Yes we do, we actually want to do two… The first one will be a simpler affair, and focus on the energy of the band and we hope to get out around Krank’d Up. Second one will be more grand and lend itself more the story of the album.

Have you got any shout outs to people that have helped make The Drift a reality?
Louis: Jared Gunston from RedRoom, Richard Staub and Craig Hawkins from Audio Militia, Riaan Bothma, our former bands, Emalyth and YOU!

You guy have announced that you will be supporting the might Lamb of God during their SA tour in 2014. Louis: What does this mean to you guys and what are you looking forward to the most about the tour?
Louis: It is a major challenge, especially for us being ‘a new band with some old faces’, but we’re looking forward to playing such an amazing show and we’ve been working very hard to deliver the best show we can. It’s going to be killer!