[image sources: Haneem Christian and Thandi Gula-Ndebele]

Let’s get real about the Cape Town music scene.

Not all of it is worth paying attention to.

That said, there is some great stuff out there. If you’re willing to put in the time to look and listen, you’ll discover incredible hubs of creativity.

I caught up with some local musicians, the talented kind, to give you an overview of what’s actually out there, and undeniably worth a listen.

Lo-Ghost [listen here]

Lo-Ghost is an alternative duo, with a pop sensibility and a pop accessibility, but without the limitations of a fixed genre.

While the band is often described as female-fronted, Lo-Ghost is actually a collaborative project, from vocals to production.

The assumption that Evan produces and Shannon is a vocalist comes from the need to categorise both of them into separate roles. The actual process is far more integrated. A lot of their music is derived from personal experiences and, in particular, Shannon’s experiences as an openly queer woman:

 “I’m in a position where I have the privilege to be openly out in a way that doesn’t endanger my life. And because I have that privilege, I should at least use it to be a little bit visible in case that might have a positive effect on someone somewhere.”

When asked about their place in the Cape Town music scene, Evan had the following to say:

“Because we sit more electronic than most of the live bands, we don’t always fit on the live band line-ups. Still, we’re way too live to just be on an electronic line-up.”

The band has carved out their own space by doing their own shows at venues that support their style and set-up.

“What’s nice about the music scene at the moment is that there’s a lot of space to manoeuvre and to set up your own stuff.”

Their first project was formed as a reflection of where they were at the time. The songwriting process is very organic and raw. Both Evan and Shannon take a no-holds-barred approach, throwing themselves and their experiences into what they create. This is met with years of technical musical experience which allows the fluidity of experimentation to merge with finely crafted beats and melodies.

Lo-Ghost’s top picks for live music venues: Café Roux, The Waiting Room, House of Machines

Hatchet Man [listen here]

Jono, Matt and Nick make up Hatchet Man, a band that focuses on acoustic-based music. Their songwriting happens on an acoustic guitar, following which it’s thrown to the band where it’s workshopped and evolves.

Jono describes it like this:

 “Our music is very focused on three-part harmony vocals. We all come from a very strong folk tradition so that tends to be very focused on writing very literate and engaging lyrics rather than this twee pop shite that most people write over the same four chords- and you can quote me on that.”

Hatchet Man plays their acoustic and paired down base instruments with the intensity of a rock gig, without losing the melodic and finely crafted tones and rhythms of an acoustic set.

Matt notes that they’re “compared a lot to the Crosby Stills Nash and Young folk sound”.

Nick weighed in on how that sound developed:

…“we have just generationally – our generation before us – were very involved in the folk music scene, have been their whole lives, and we’ve been hearing a lot of folk music our whole lives so we gravitate to that sound, we gravitate to singing harmonies to that sound. We’ve been singing harmonies together since we were lighties (sic).”

Their vocal blend defines everything that they do. Their method involves a never-ending workshopping of harmonies. Hatchet Man’s sound comes from hours and hours of frustrating but rewarding crafting that yields something beautiful and unique.

Jono comes from a classically trained background, which, when combined with Nick and Matt’s years of experience playing in bands, amounts to the perfect storm.

Hatchet Man’s top picks for live music venues: Café Roux, Alma Café, House of Machines

Dope Saint Jude [listen here]

Catherine, AKA Dope Saint Jude, describes herself as an “artist using hip-hop as [her] medium”. Fresh off of a European tour, Catherine is back in Cape Town, getting ready to launch her new project alongside her upcoming zine.

Dope Saint Jude’s music is fresh, combining perfect beats with intelligently crafted lyrics and ideas. It’s perfect if you want to move. It’s also perfect if you just want to listen and engage.

“The Cape Town hip-hop scene is really exploding right now. At the forefront is Youngsta. He’s really driving the hip-hop scene.” She also describes the scene as “really experimental, it’s really conscious”and made up of “young people of colour in fashion, in visual arts, and we’re all connected to each other”.

In its new context, hip hop and the creative space that it’s part of is conscious in a contemporary way that celebrates blackness and black joy rather than focussing solely on resistance. Although, arguably, that in itself is a form of resistance in a space that remains for the most part racially segregated.

“What brings us together isn’t only the arts, otherwise I’d be collaborating with everyone – what brings us together is that we are a disenfranchised group moving in a space. We’re black artists trying to carve out space in a city dominated by white capital.”

Dope Saint Jude’s latest project looks back at resistance in music, especially feminine resistance, by bringing influences like the Rio Grrrl movement into a contemporary context.

Her advice for live listening? Rather than following specific venues, follow artists, look for events and gigs that showcase the creativity out there.

Happy listening.