TWO PEOPLE, 12 INSTRUMENTS, ONE UNIQUE SOUND

FOLK-POP duo Bottomless

Coffee Band – Lourens and Esté Rabé – play an astonishing 12 instruments between them. They will be following the February release of their second full-length album Anthelia with gigs at Die Boer on April 11 and 12.

With the aim of making a diverse album, the 11 new tracks “create a feel-good vibe with a strong message”, they say, including gutsy social-political songs with local flavour, crowdfavourite power ballads and goose-bump love songs. They have even included one or two surprises for Afrikaans fans.

Both began playing music at a young age, and Lourens is self-taught; Esté mostly so. She once failed a piano exam because she wanted to play by ear, not by the book.

Lourens’s instruments are acoustic and electric guitars, banjo, foot drums and harmonica; Esté plays ukulele, ukulele bass, electric bass, piano, glockenspiel, kazoo and percussion (tambourine at foot).

“Our live performances are very energetic and diverse, because we swop between instruments throughout,” says Esté. “We didn’t want the sound of a typical duo, so decided from the start to incorporate a range of instruments to keep the sound fresh and intriguing.

“We choose the

most suitable instruments per song and play it for one entire song. But every song has some different instrument incorporated that brings out the best elements of the music to also support the vocals in the best way possible.”

Both sing, which adds to the diversity. “Sometimes we will go completely stripped down and Lourens will only be on banjo and I will sing.

“With Anthelia, we decided to let the creative process guide us in the studio and then translate it to live performance afterwards,” says Lourens. “We spent about three months meticulously rehearsing the album to find the perfect combinations of instruments for the live shows.”

The foot drums are by far the most challenging, says Lourens: “Playing a different rhythm with your feet than you are with your guitar and vocals… you have to train your brain to ‘separate’ your feet from your body.”

Esté finds the accordion challenging. “Because I could play the piano since I was little, I find the right hand – on the keyboard side – simple, but the bass is totally different to the keys on a piano. To get the continuous movement and hit all the right keys is not easy.”

See for yourself how they pull it all together. Tickets for the shows at Die Boer are R150; doors open at 6pm, the band plays at 8.30pm. For more info, visit https://dieboer.com and www. bottomlesscoffeeband.com