Captain Stu
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Captain Stu is a South African ska band.
They developed from the local Cape Town music scene. After releasing their debut album ‘The Untold Tales’, they completed a national tour playing with some other South African bands. In 2007, after 5 years of activity, they came under management from the UK.
The band consists of Nick Key on vocals, James Klopper on guitar and vocals, Ryan McArthur on bass and upright bass, Devin Jones on drums, Clement Carr on keyboards and tenor sax and Jon Shaban on saxophone and lead guitar. Carr and 8th band member Stigue, who are doing songwriting, study at the University of Cape Town Jazz School.
They are often likened to Australian group Cat Empire.[citation needed] Captain Stu has developed this influence juxtaposing jazzy and reggae tones with a number of songs also having traditional African influences.
The concept of Captain Stu was born in 2002 with 2 of the original members, initially called ‘Captain Stu and the Llamas’, however the name was later shortened. It wasn’t until 2004 that the band developed to 7. As gigs became more frequent their reputation amplified. They began to be recognised by some of the biggest bands in Cape Town at the time including ‘Hog Hoggidy Hog’ and ‘The Rudimentals’, Captain Stu fast became their protégée band and were invited to play with them at gigs on numerous occasions. This support and recognition led to the production of their debut album ‘The Untold Tales’. Lee Thompson and Ross McDonald from ‘Hog Hoggidy Hog’ worked with them on the albums pre-production, which was released in July 2005. The launch night itself attracted over 1300 fans along with local press and radio to see them. The music video was also aired on MTV base for a number of months after the release.
Since 2005 Captain Stu have been writing music for their new album and playing with a number of local, national and international groups. One including Swedish Ska band Skalladin who they opened for on their worldwide tour. The 8th and final member Stigue joined in 2006 on trumpet making the group complete. In July 2007 they completed a national tour playing 7 shows including Uprisings Festival in Durban and with renowned group Fuzigish in Johannesburg. Blunt Magazine noted in their Uprisings Festival review ‘Captain Stu were really impressive – what a charismatic band’ (August 2007).
