Straatligkinders
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| Straatligkinders | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Potchefstroom, South Africa |
| Genre(s) | Rock Punk Emo |
| Years active | 2006 - current |
| Label(s) | Brettian Records |
| Members | |
| Bouwer (vocals, guitar) Bennie (lead guitar) Hein (bass) Ruan (drums) |
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Straatligkinders is an Afrikaans-rock/emo/punk band from the university town of Potchefstroom in the North West Province. They only formed in August 2006 when Hein and Bennie decided to start something new in Afrikaans.
They approached Hein’s brother, Ruan, to play drums for their new project. A mutual friend told Hein to approach Bouwer as a vocalist. These four kids later came together to form Straatligkinders. The band then had their first gig in November 2006 in a local club in Potchefstroom with all of their friends attending this show.
Prior to their first gig, three songs were recorded by Ewald Jansen van Rensburg, ex-guitarist of Soul Proxy and also a big up and coming producer in South African music. In December 2006 the band decided to record a music video to one of their songs. The chosen director for the music video was Eduan Kitching of Everone Studios. The video to “Die Beskermer” was then recorded in a factory in Potchefstroom and aired on MK89 on 17 January 2007. This video went directly on high-rotation. It was well received by the viewing public and shortly afterwards calls came in from all over South Africa for Straatligkinders to perform at all kinds of shows.
The band then had their EP launch in Potchefstroom with over 500 people attending this gig. After this they played their first gig out of Potchefstroom at Thrashers Skate Park in Pretoria. From here on, visits to Pretoria and Johannesburg came weekly. In March 2007 Straatligkinders was entered into a wish list competition for Oppikoppi Easter. They won this competition on votes from the public and topped bands like Lark, Taxi Violence and Metanoya. This event was also broadcast on MK89 with a whole half an hour devoted to the Straatligkinders performance.
The band also featured on MK89’s AMP on 31 August which was said to be “one of the top 3 episodes ever” by host Herman Pretorius. On 9 August 2007 the band featured on an English television program on Go Rock Cannel 10 on DSTV where they were interviewed by Barney Simon. Another development in the Straatligkinders camp is that Anton from Music Connection in Johannesburg decided to endorse the band, including discounts on all equipment as well as free hardware.
They also played at a massive festival on 16 June 2007, Party in the Car Park which was held in conjunction with the Johannesburg City Council for Youth Day. This event featured the Finkelstiens and more than 2 000 kids attended this event. In August 2007, Straatligkinders had their first tour to Cape Town and Stellenbosch. Both evenings in Stellenbosch were sold out and one evening in Durbanville Straatligkinders played in front of 500 school kids. The following weekend saw the band play their first gig in the Free State. Again they played to a full house at Mystic Boer in Bloemfontein.
“Gedagte vir die dag” was released on 1 October 2007, when Straatligkinders released their first full-length album “Bloeisels” and is being distributed countrywide by Brettian Productions. This album is totally different from the EP but still has a strong Straatligkinders feel to it. This single was also available on the MK89 compilation CD which was distributed across South Africa from the beginning of October. The video to “Gedagte vir die dag” also spent 5 weeks at number one on the MK Top 10. Thus far the band has been on the Top 10 for fifteen weeks.
The band had the privilege to perform on the “MK Tweede Avontoer” with big bands such as Foto Na Dans, Van Coke Kartel and Zinkplaat. They played in front of crowds of more than 700 people in towns like Stilbaai, Mossel Bay, Plettenberg Bay and Jeffrey’s Bay.
So far the band has featured in every JIP(youth newspaper found in all Media24 newspapers) across South Africa. They were interviewed by JIP in Gauteng, Free State and Western Cape. In a press-release sent out by Rhythm Records, Straatligkinders was 9th on the top 100 downloads of July 2007 on the Rhythm Records Online Store. In March the band will feature on Studio1, a live show on MK89. Straatligkinders will perform 3 songs on live television across South Africa.
