Nina Fouché
Opening for artists such as Jack Parrow and Spoegwolf, and recently playing at the Up the Creek music festival, Jackal and the Wind has already garnered a big following.
Band members Christopher Kruger, Peter Kruger and Cobus von Williegh are all full-time students, while Johan Pretorius is a full-time musician and according to the band, “a very good one indeed”.
How did you guys meet? How and when did you decide to form the band?
Christopher: We were all in school together and that’s how we all met. Myself and Peter, who is also my brother, started making music at a young age and that’s sort of how everything came together and it’s been one long journey ever since.
Jackal and the Wind officially started in October 2013.
What’s the story behind the band’s name?
Christopher: The name came from a song I wrote when I was 15 called “Jackal and the wind”. It has to do with the connection between nature and music. I am personally immensely inspired by nature so Jackal and the Wind was the most suitable name.
You’ve shared the stage with a few influential artists in the South African music industry. What was that like?
Christopher: The South African music industry is an amazing industry to be involved in. We’ve met the most interesting and wonderful people but also the worst of the worst. I think opening for bigger acts has helped our exposure and it’s always fun to accompany musicians on stage that you look up to.
How would you describe your music? How is it different to what’s already out there?
Johan: After playing in a few different bands of different genres, I would describe our music as being very raw and full of emotion. The genre is difficult to identify but you could call it indie-folk with a heavy African influence. Our goal is to make music that captures raw emotion without pretense.
As some of you are full-time students, how do you manage to balance music as well as your studies?
Cobus: It is quite hard to balance our academics and the band at the same time. Especially now that the band is doing so well. We see studies as work and band as play, so we keep to the motto “work hard, play hard”. After doing both for a while you learn how to manage your time for both.
Where do you see the band going next? Any big gigs lined up?
Christopher: We started this band just to have fun and we said we will keep on making music until it no longer satisfies us, but recently things have only been getting better so there’s no end in sight for us for a very long time. We recently played at Up The Creek music festival and we really liked the whole festival vibe. I think the next big step would be to open for an international artist which would be quite insane.
