UP FOR GRABS: A CHANCE TO ROCK ON THE LAWNS WITH PIXIES, PRIME CIRCLE AND CO
WHEN the opportunity came for Prime Circle to perform alongside legendary rock band The Pixies during their SA tour, they didn’t hesitate one bit. After all, it isn’t every day you get to open for one of your favourite bands.
“I’m a big Pixies fan, that’s probably one of the reasons we started playing,” said Prime Circle lead singer, Ross Learmoth. “They definitely influenced me to play in the beginning. Like Nirvana, we wouldn’t turn down that opportunity. They’re a legacy act and for us to be on a bill with them and just be able to watch from backstage and be part of the show is really, really cool.”
This tour will form part of the inaugural Rock on the Lawns music festival and will also feature The Springbok Nude Girls, aKing, CrashCarBurn, Shortstraw and The Sweet Resistance.
Learmoth was in Cape Town enjoying a much-needed holiday after a long December tour schedule.
Last year was generally a busy one for the band and included a vigorous European tour and a live set at the Champions Festival for the Uefa Champions League Final in Milan, Italy.
This year marks 16 years since the band first got together. Learmoth explained how they’ve kept the fire going.
“We stay away from each other,” he quipped. “For us it’s a matter of the music being bigger than the people in it. We want the songs to be more famous and that’s the thing: if the songs are popular then we can continue playing.”
They also do a good of keeping each other in check. “If anyone ever gets out of hand, then we bring each other back down to earth.”
After playing in London in April, they are aiming to tour South Africa and Europe throughout the rest of the year. They also hope to release a new album by June.
“We’re going be in the studio in the next few weeks and starting work on the album. It’s been three years since an official full album so it’s quite a long time. We’re very nervous and also very excited to get into the studio and get back in that kind of head space. It’s a big ordeal to do a new record, it’s an emotional roller-coaster but we’re very excited,” said Learmoth.
Despite their singular career and an undisputed status as one of the continent’s greatest rock bands, Learmoth is still looking to achieve more.
“We want to conquer Europe. Definitely. Germany mainly. We’ve been going to Germany for the last four-five years so we do well there. But we want to get on a heavy kind of touring schedule where we’re playing to big, big numbers,” he said.
He also wants to keep growing the fan base back home, where he considers the standard of music to be very high.
“There used to be a thing called the South African sound. I never knew what that was but I think (it referred to) low production values. But now it’s just amazing. There’s a lot of young talent that we’d never heard of and I think the future is looking very exciting and whoever has been around for a while , like us, better bring some really good sound because the youngsters are doing amazing things.”
The tour will kick off in Cape Town at Kirstenbosch Gardens on March 16 and finish off at the Festival Lawns, Carnival City in Joburg on March 18.