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Shutup! It’s Sunday is an up and coming female fronted rock band that is making their way into the South African Music industry and fast! Their first single, Attention, made it to number 1 on Tuks FM and the band have released a killer music video for it. Check out our interview with the band as we discuss their roots, their music and where they are aiming to go.
Band Members: Ben Greyling, Nico du Plessis, Stefan Oosthuizen, Danica Bezuidenhout, Réno Crouse
Instruments of choice: Ben – Drums, Nic – Base, Stef – Guitar, Dan – vocals or guitar or piano and Crouse – Guitar
Years playing: Ben – 11 years, Nic – 8 years, Stef – 9 years, Crouse – 10 years, Dan – since forever! I think she’s been singing for more than 10 years, guitars for also around 8 years and only recently started piano too.
Style of music: Driven Rock
Bands outlook on life: We believe in the passion we have for music, it’s something that always drives us. Sometimes, music helps/ inspires people (in whichever way) and we’re always keen to help or inspire others by doing what we love – making music. Live humble, perform arrogant.
“So I guess we can say we’re aiming to release singles and videos frequently to give the fans more of ourselves”
Tell us about ShutUp! It’s Sunday, how did you guys get started and how did the name come about?
We originally formed 8 years ago (although playing under a different name), simply to enter a ‘battle of the bands’ competition that our school hosted. We won that day, but the feeling we had on stage was something you can’t explain to a non-muso. When we got that feeling, something in us just knew that we didn’t want this to be a one-time thing. A few years later, we changed our name (it basically was a strategic career move I assume), to ShutUp! It’s Sunday. The possibility of that name came when Stef jammed the drums in his garage, clearly, around the time the neighbours wanted to take an afternoon nap and his dad went to stop him from playing further because the neighbour couldn’t take the noise anymore and shouted from next door SHUTUP! IT’S SUNDAY.
How long have you been playing together for?
It’s been 7 years and 7 months since we took the stage for the first time ever, it completely changed our lives.
What’s the vibe like between the band members?
We’re like brothers and a sister. Half of us went to primary school together so we know each other really well. We’re all best of mates so even off stage we spend a lot of time together.
How often do you get to play and write new music together?
Not as often as we’d like. We’re all spread a little distance from each other now which makes it hard. We all come up with some ideas when we play on our own wherever we are, and when we get together again, we spend some time in taking an ‘idea-riff’ that one of us wrote and start working around that.
You released your debut music video for your single “Attention”, Where did you film the music video and what were you trying to capture in it?
It was filmed in Capitol Theatre in Pretoria by Blimp Films. Because it was our first one, we wanted to capture a bit of who we are as a band to give the people a taste in our vibe and style as a performing band.
What was it like filming your first music video? And how did everyone react in front of the camera?
We’ve all been on music video sets before so that helped a lot. We knew what to expect, what to do and what not to do, so we all felt pretty comfortable. Danica is studying drama too, so she knows all about acting, which helps because we can always grab a few tips from her.
Watch the Attention Music Video here:
How many other singles do you have under your belt?
At the moment we only have 1, which is called Attention, but we went into studio a very short while ago, and should have a new one ready within the month of September. We have high expectations for this song, so we hope it will do well. It’s called ‘Keep on Coming’ so just watch our Facebook and Twitter for the release date.
Will we be seeing a music video for “Keep on Coming” as well?
Yes, we’re scheduled to shoot the video early in October and we’ll also be shooting another music video while we’re on tour in December, so come 2014, we’ll have 3 singles on film.
Are you busy working on an album? If so when are you hoping to release it?
No, we’re not busy with an album yet, we are first releasing a few singles just to see whether the fans out there like the material we have to offer them. Get them to like us and worked up to hear more from us, then we’ll hop into studio to give them what they want.
What was it like having your song “Attention” reach number 1 on Tuks FM? And what did that do for the band?
It was such a proud moment in our career, it definitely ranks in our top5 of career highs. Our first ever chart, we’ll always remember this one. It was great for the band, it happened just as we came back from a nationwide tour too, so it helped a bit in getting the fan-base and whenever we play in Pretoria we have a pretty decent crowd there and it makes for great shows when the fans are singing along.
You will be going on tour in December. What can fans expect from your gigs?
We are who we are on stage. It’s a true and honest show, with loads of energy flowing. Big guitar sounds. Crashing drums. Base riffs that’ll make your hair raise and dead solid vocals. We would love the people to come out and experience who and what we are on stage, in person.
What’s next for ShutUp! It’s Sunday?
We want to drop a few more music videos, but apart from that, we are really keen to impress in order to get invited to festivals like Up the Creek, STRAB, Daisies, Splashy Fen, Oppi and the list goes on. So I guess we can say we’re aiming to release singles and videos frequently to give the fans more of ourselves. Hopefully we’ll start playing some of these festivals soon. Then we can start ticking away at our career bucket-list.
