LW Mag LW Magazine
Related Articles
Hot off their debut album release, we speak to Cape Town Folk Punk band, The Shabeen about Folk is Dead, the band itself, the recording process and more. Check it out:
Give us some insight into The Shabeen, how you guys started, the name, the sound, etc?
The band started in 2012 when Jon was asked to put a band together to back his solo performance. We quickly realised that this was something we wanted to do more often but instead of it just being a backing band for Jon, we wanted to separate the repertoire entirely and form a band in itself. The name is a play on Jon’s surname, Shaban so that people can still associate the two acts. The sound was just a natural sound that progressed from us having grown up in a scene where we listened to a lot of punk.
You have been gigging around the country for the past 3 years. How has the journey been for you so far?
It’s been amazing. The two of us have actually been gigging around the country for a lot longer than 3 years. It’s just been 3 years as The Shabeen. So we have learnt a lot and made a lot of mistakes through our previous bands and that tends to help this band move forward a little bit smoother. We still make mistakes and stuff. It’s just not as difficult as it was before.
What have been some of your highlight gigs?
Our recent album launch in Cape Town was a great gig. We did the whole thing DIY at a house. It was a great turn out and super rewarding for us.
How would you best classify your style?
High quality folk punk.
You have recently released your debut album, Folk is Dead. Explain the experience of recording and releasing an album?
The whole experience was really rad. We recorded the album in Durban where we did everything ourselves. It was a challenge but when you get so involved in the project, you get really attached to it and you make sure you do everything as best as possible. We then finished up all the little things between Cape Town and going back to Durban and once we had everything tracked and edited we sent it to the states to be mixed by Adam Hawkins at Right Heel Music in Colorado. Adam was great to work with and shared the same vision as us for what we wanted the album to sound like. Then once we had the physical copies the release went really well. The whole process from start to finish taught us a lot and even though it was a challenge at the best of times, we are so proud of our first album
How would you best explain the album and its tracks?
The album is a good representation of who we are. Each track has it’s own flavour and character but we’ve managed to keep a really consistent sound. The lyrics are hard hitting and straight to the point. We want the listener to relate and take something away from each track.
What can fans expect for the album?
We have just finished touring it around the country. We are taking it to Europe over the next few months. When we’re back we’ll tour it around SA again and then take it from there.
Will we be seeing a music video for any of the track ant time soon?
We have already released videos for ‘The Maths’ and ‘Quit Your Job’. Videos for ‘Swords’ and ‘Stick Together’ are in the pipeline.
Out of the 12 tracks, which mean the most to you?
That answer changes on a daily basis. Each track is special to us. It was difficult to decide which 12 tracks we wanted to record.
What’s next for The Shabeen?
We have plenty of touring coming up. Keep an eye on our Facebook Page and website.
Photos by Tash Montlake
