SMOKING KILLS The Vanilla Colts are aiming big.
THOMAS MARAIS
THE bands that pop up all around town rarely have as much initial expertise in music as Stellenbosch’s latest edition to the indie rock scene: The Vanilla Colts.
Van Wyk Venter, a fourth-year BMus student is one of the founding members of this band that combines jazzy undertones with alternative rock and roll.
“We’d like to emphasise that we aren’t promoting anything other than ourselves in the name though.” Venter said. The band agreed, as colt tabacco formed a part of their bonding over relatable lyrics over lost love.
“We came together for a love of music and to share our experience,” said Phillip Jordaan, guitarist and vocalist in the band.
Their many years of friendship has allowed them to create an intimate style of music that shares something to which any crowd can relate.
Both Venter and Jordaan study music and composition, which provides a wealth of unifying knowledge to the group.
Drummer, Matthew Hill, who studies LLB with his brother Andrew, originally dubbed their group with an informal name: “Okay, aweh, sick, shot dude”, to reflect how desperately they needed to find their own genre and form a musical identity in the Stellenbosch scene.
“We combine all of our backgrounds into something we love doing, and make music we know people would love because we love it,” said Venter.
Their Red Hot Chili Pepper inspired sound infused with free-verse and rap adds a new layer of interest to their style.
According to Matthew Hill, individuals like them and many others seek a kind of chemistry that takes a lot of jumping between bands over many years.
“We’re trying to write less about girls”, the boys laughed when commenting on the clichés of love songs.
“We had people singing along at our first gigs to our songs – that felt awesome” says Philip. This goes to show that finding the people that feel ‘right’ for you can make magic happen.
Be sure to catch these boys live at the Groove Getaway festival on 30 and 31 March. You can also end off your first week of class next term by jamming out to the Vanilla Colts at the Art Quad party.
PHOTO: Supplied
