Our hour.

Music. Our KwaiCore. The frequencies enter your ear canal, penetrate your eardrum, vibrate, and are interpreted by your brain as a kind of music you've never heard before. A kind of music alien to you, yet full of body, soul, and life. It's the time when you can feel our stories behind the beats, behind the vocals, behind the rhythms. It is the Light hour. When you realize that life is much more than you, than us. Being aware of what you are, not what you want to be. It is our hour.

The countdown continues.

COUNTDOWN WEBSITE

It takes time and work.

The South African music scene has a very haphazard behavior in terms of the kind of music that comes out, and the kind of music people never get to hear about, but still manage to pull a decent crowd at a show. From what I've seen, the biggest bands in South Africa, like The Parlotones, who have now moved to Los Angeles to further their careers, Shadowclub, and Isochronous, have spent at least 3 years to get to where they are today. All their sounds change, evolve, become better, or become worse. They eventually start appearing on TV here, on our most popular and biggest radio station, 5fm, and release a couple of music videos on Youtube. Most of these bands I've mentioned haven't exploded overnight. It's taken Isochronous about 4 years to get to where they are now and having their music played on the biggest radio station has helped them 100 fold. Shadowclub, originally very Blues, have adapted their sound, improved their look, shot great music videos, and are now one of the biggest bands in SA. I can say the same for Zebra and Giraffe. A group like Die Antwoord, survive more on hype and craze, rather than actual musical talent. Kind of like a Lady Gaga, minus the talent. They are a product more than anything else, and their look, behaviour and attitude can never stray too far from what Die Antwoord has become known for, or people will lose credibility in the Act and just cut off their interests. What most people overseas forget to acknowledge, is that Yolandi and "Ninja" have a very normal background. Watkin Tudor Jones "Ninja" used to be an artist living in Cape town, no crazy hair, no crazy accent, no pointless tattoos. He actually doesn't even have an Afrikaans accent. It's all put on. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watkin_Tudor_Jones

Trending a music scene.

People say there isn't really a music scene in Durban. And I agree with that. You'll always have those people who follow absolutely every trend that comes their way and see themselves as "hipster", when actually they're just following what ever mainstream shit the media throws out at them. We need something more here, something people can always turn to, and always have fun being at. The dwindling music scene's explanation can be found right within the people of Durban. How many people would rather come out to see live music, and how many would rather spend a shit load of money on food and nightclubs where every night the same DJ puts on the same commercial music literally just off his Mac. What makes it even worse is that they try to make it look like they are DJ'ing by fiddling with a few buttons here and there, but really, nothing worth your hard-earned moola. People just don't appreciate arts and culture here. We live in a sleepy hollow where anything and everything has an expiry date; music especially. We aim to turn that around. And turn it around for good. Hit them so hard with this new genre that their ears will fall pregnant and they'll shit bricks.

KwaiCore is born.

My name is Senzo. I thought Ndonsa was crazy when he said we should start a new genre of music. Ndonsa originally played synth in a Hardcore Punk band. Strange, I thought, that someone like him was passionate about such a genre. I used to play percussion in an underground but upcoming Kwaito group. My good friend whom I've known for years, Gabisile, played bass with me. First, I asked Ndonsa why he would ever want to make such a strange collaboration. He answered, "We need to put what we've experienced into something tangible. You and I have this energy, this connection as musicians that I will never understand. We can make it work. Nobody has ever done it before. We'll be the first. C'mon. Let's make some KwaiCore." I couldn't believe my ears. I almost started laughing but I gave it some thought. I wanted to do it. It sounded fun and unique. A genre never done before. Two enemies becoming allies. We decided to make music that people all over the world would start to talk about. Light Hour would break through.

The countdown begins.

COUNTDOWN WEBSITE

Meeting Ndonsa.

It's frightening waking up in hospital and not knowing how you got there. The first time it happened to me, I thought I was dreaming. The sunlight coming in through the curtains gave the room a surreal quality. I no longer felt any pain. I was at peace. Everything was quiet. And then Ndonsa walked in. He asked me how I was. Bitter and confused as to why he was here, I responded in a cold manner. He had a deep cut on his forearm from where I had hit him with a broken bottle. I was staring at it when he put his hand on top of my knee and told me that we do bad things when we are lost. I told him that I wasn't lost, but he insisted that I was. I looked out the window, furious that he would even show his face at my bedside after the insults he threw at me the night before. The accounts of last night were slowly coming back to me, and after each memory made its way back, I felt even angrier. He apologized and told me that he'd been lost for a very long time, and that he was wasting his life away. He had been in and out of rehab for three months for marijuana and cocaine. He told me that he knew what he had to do to get his life back on track. To rid himself of the poison that had been inside him for so long. I sympathized with him after he told me this, but it still didn't excuse what he said to me. Insulting my race and cultural background. He apologized for that, too. I forgave him, also respecting the fact that he came to see me even though we were complete strangers. It was the start of an unplanned friendship which would give me an outlet for my creativity and talent I had been wanting for so long.