The art of self-medication and beer
FOKOFPOLISIEKAR: HAVING BEEN SUCCESSFUL 10 YEARS AGO, THEY ARE CREATING MORE THAN JUST A NEW ALBUM
Band has released its own range of craft beer, which is proving popular. Adriaan Roets
How does a band that hasn’t released a new album since 2007 create a hit record a decade later? Fokofpolisiekar answered that million-rand question last month when they released their latest album, Selfmedikasie. A precursor to the release was a crowd-funding campaign that saw them raise over R1-million, allowing them the freedom to record a fan-sponsored album on their own terms.
But what they managed to do was create something even more extraordinary – they were able to campaign themselves so effectively that in the 10 years between releases, none of their popularity waned. In fact, they might have picked up new fans.
For Francois van Coke, Wynand Myburgh, Johnny de Ridder, Hunter Kennedy and Jaco Venter, it all came down to creating music that seeps into more than just audio sensibilities. A lot of Selfmedikasie has to do with strong visuals that complement the album as well as Fokofpolisiekar’s foray into beer making.
In 2014 they launched their craft beer range, but coinciding with their latest album they released their lager which has been produced in bigger volumes and packaged in a box designed by the same artist they relied on for their album art, Merwe Marchant Le Roux.
Le Roux has made his mark with a number of designs for affi liates to Fokofpolisiekar like aKING, Die Heuwels Fantasties and some of Francois van Coke’s solo work, as well as designing the art for Jack Parow’s new album, dropping later this month.
That relationship ensured interesting black and white sketches that dominate the 32-page album booklet, that includes lyrics to each track with customised artwork, with the same style used for the packaging for their latest brew. “We’ve always spent a lot of energy on design. Pre-Fokofpolisiekar, writing music, we had a friend Matt Edwards who designed everything up to our last album. He used to hang out with us, almost like a sixth band member. When we spoke about music, we’d chat about a look, colour, design, and it has always been a big part of our career and how we branded ourselves and the product. All of us like visual things and were inspired by bands doing cool things, and we naturally tried pushing that,” says Myburgh.
Over the years, Le Roux got involved since he was already friends with Venter, but it was only when he designed the labels for their initial craft beer range that he became latched onto their latest project.
According to Myburgh, Le Roux’s genius kicked in when the band started giving him song titles to work with – which helped lead to the entire look of the band’s Selfmedikasie era.
“One day, he just started drawing and said he’s doing these 12 sketches, between him receiving some of the music. He’s absorbed the music and created the campaign around that.”
With songs dealing with isolation, love and on the pulse of politics right now with comments on wealth, privilege and even hinting at decolonisation, it’s no surprise that the art reflects many of these topics, but it’s unmistakably rock ’n roll.
Venter says that instead of bringing another visual identity to their lager’s design, they actively chose it to coincide with the album launch, creating a unison brand.
“It’s great because the same design is bringing things together from two different worlds.”
Something the band has always grappled with has been perceptions – now they are able to create their own.
Going into the new album they had one goal, making music for themselves, their friends and their fans. They didn’t feel the need to make music for the conservative tannie who can’t stomach a swear word or two.
Van Coke says they had to consider the people who gave them money to fund the album – and they were most likely fans of their previous work.
“Those people trusted us that we would stay true to who we are and what we do,” he shrugs,
We’ve always spent a lot of energy on design Pre-Fokofpolisiekar, writing music, we had a friend Matt Edwards who designed everything up to our last album.
Wynand Myburgh
member of Fokofpolisiekar
admitting it doesn’t really matter if anyone outside that spectrum likes their music or not. Their job is no longer to convince others.
But Selfmedikasie turned out to be a highly polished album, tapping into what South Africans, like the band, are experiencing right now.
To avoid controversy, Fokofpolisiekar always took a firm stance that they only address their own experiences through music and can’t be seen as poster boys for whatever issues they address. They are, after all, a mirror image of society, not the other way round.
While the new album is a marriage of their old sound and newer styles – Van Coke even does a few tongue-twisting raplike verses in Parkiebank, Herfs
2017 – one thing remains true: as a band, they stick to their wheelhouse and that might be the biggest factor in their success.
“When we started, we went off what we knew, which was American rock or punk rock. We had no references to do that in Afrikaans and this album is not really different ... we went with what we knew,” says Van Coke.
Myburgh jumps in to say that, in the end, it’s about the sound.
“When we go, ‘wow, this sounds great’, we’re happy,” he says.
Venter is happy about one thing on the album – as the drummer he contributed a riff on the closing track Lied van die slang.
“They usually say a band needs to break up when the drummer starts recording riffs,” he laughs, but there’s no sign of slowing down. With a tour schedule running until February next year, and the bubbling success of their beer, they have made a mark that, were they to wait another 10 years to record their next album, chances are the success would be equalled.