New Shit!
Hey there internet,
I don’t know about you, but it’s my favourite time of year. Varsity work: zero. Early mornings: zero. All that’s on the agenda is gym (cuzzie), food and music. I’ve already taken slack for going to Nickelback, and had the opportunity to see how Rous pimped out his car. Over all its been a pretty good end to the year.
Where’s my alarm clock?
Holy barbeque chicken wing it’s been a long time!
It has come time for all of us at the University of Obama Activities to get out our timetables and wristwatch calculators and begin work on those assignments we were given to do during the holidays. Cause like really. Who thought that would actually get done “during the holidays”. #retardswithPHDs
That’s right. The holidays are coming to an end, and with that gone are the days of rising at noon, consuming the day with series and ending it of with a live rerun of Taylor in the Jive Cape Town Funny Festival at the Baxter Theatre. Taylor has been performing with a comedian called Wilfredo for the last month, along side Marc Lottering and Alan Committee to name a few. I must’ve seen the show 4 times, and every time was a laugh. (more…)
Refreshing
Mmm holidays – delicious, and indeed refreshing. There’s nothing like waking up at 1 in the afternoon to remind you that for all the crime, corruption and disaster in the world, good still prevails. It’s also refreshing to be writing a blog post again, now that I think about it. And now that I think about me thinking about how refreshing writing is just then, part of the reason why we’re feeling so refreshed is probably because we’re writing new music. Did that sentence confuse you? Well, me too. But the absence of a squiggle means that Bill Gates followed along quite nicely. Thank you, Microsoft.
(If you thought “Refreshing” referred to refreshing this website in order to receive new blog posts and are feeling disappointed, I’d like to apologise. I’d also like to apologise for the immense strain your keyboard must have taken refreshing this page over and over for the time we were away.) (more…)
See You This Wednesday™
Hey errboddeh!
I know. It’s been a while.
A good… Long while.
Now I am telling you that we’re back with our first gig of the year at Zula Bar this Wednesday (16 Jan, 2013, just in case you wanted to put that date on your calendar or list of things you totally have to do) for Early Bird Wednesdays! FREE ENTRY (c’mon, seriously.) 4 BANDS –
9pm – Jesse And The Process
10pm – Set For The Sky
11pm – Forefront (that’s us, in case you were weren’t sure)
12pm – Elusive Moose
11: Catch Up
Morning world.
It’s been years since my last post. Literally. Well a year. Well part of a year. It’s been a while…You get the point.
In the time that I’ve been gone so much has happened. I’ve met Linkin Park and a whole lot of their awesome fans, Done a whole lot of recording and mixing for the EP, and I’ve taken a trip to the land of traffic and crime with the ginger.
Joburg was lots of fun. Dancing on high ways (Just for the record, this is a load of fun. If you guys have so much traffic there, I don’t understand whai [why] this hasn’t become a daily pass-time), almost getting arrested (literally), and klapping the gym of course. ‘Cause when you’re in Joburg so as the Joburgians do. Okay that last one didn’t happen. (more…)
Joe Berg
It feels good to be back in civilisation. As you might be aware, myself and Jason spent the last two weeks in Johannesburg and have returned mugged, hijacked and dead. Not really though, don’t worry. We actually had a spectacular time, learnt a few things and gained a few skills.
Without name-dropping the whole list, we have the best friends on earth. Brad, Dev, Shane, Roxie, Shan, Dan, Tayla, Chloé, Roy and everyone else we saw for less time, you’re great. From letting us spoon and occasionally sleep in their houses to taking us to Gold Reef City, taking us quad biking and jet skiing, feeding us, teaching us mad drinking games, ice-skating, dancing on the highway, bowling, arcading, driving us around, jolling, letting us braai badly and play with their kittens, and showing us to their families – thank you guys. We will never forget the experiences you gave us, except for a few involving copious amounts of alcohol. Much luvvies. (more…)
Fore(front)word
Good morrow, all!
Welcome to the resurfacing of Forefront!
It’s been quite a while, but I’m back, and we’re back to give you a treat.
For a good couple of months people would be like “Hey man, how is the band?” And I’d just be like, “Uuuuh, yeah it’s going great, we’re busy finishing off an EP.” And have nothing to show for it.
But now there’s a song 😐
And a super cool bonus 😐
And photies 😐
I’m going to start with the photies. On top of the fact that we’ve had a whoooole load of material to track and release, we still did some shoots and put a bit of a compilation together on our website gallery. In some of the photos, we don’t even look THAT stupid 🙂 #checkitout #YOLO (more…)
Greeting from the silence
Awe
Hey there. Long time no see, sadly. I thought it’d be write of me to hit up the internet again, so here I am. Yes, that was an attempt at a pun. Everyone is crazy busy at the moment, but that isn’t really an excuse not to give you delicious blog nutrients. After all, we did promise to keep you fed. I’m halfway through the toughest exams I’ve ever had to write and I’m taking time out just for you. We do still care.
People have been saying to us “Forefront, when are you playing again? We’d really like to see you play again soon”. My usual response to this is yelling “My name isn’t Forefront”, before rushing to the bathroom in tears. In truth we have been out of the loop for quite a while now, and it’s starting to get to us. We like playing for you, really we do, and we should be playing again regularly quite soon.
Now, and don’t get mad when I tell you this, we actually played on Friday. Please, I asked you nicely – calm down. We couldn’t invite all you lovely people because it was a private function. I won’t tell you how fun it was, because that would be a little rude, but we did enjoy ourselves quite a lot. I won’t even tell you how awesome it was setting up and playing at a street party. The good news for you is that we remember just how fun it is to play and have been encouraged to do more of this performing thing soontimes. (more…)
Fun in the Sun
Well heeeeey there everybody! Hope you’ve all been well doing your thing and having a good time and lots of fun in the sun, for summer is cloooose by and soon we’ll all be frolicking on the beach together and be happy. In the sun.
So its been a little while since you’ve seen Forefront on your newsfeed, which is good news and bad news. Neutral news. Bad news because interacting with all you cool cats is a huge part of what we’re all about, and keeping you in the loop is pretty important as far as we’re concerned. On the good side, however, its not because we don’t love you! We’ve been busybusybusy recording, mixing, getting things organised on Forefront’s front, as well as exams and other work that we’ll all doing. However, at the rate we’re going, we are setting a vague HB pencil date of releasing our hugely anticipated (by us) First & Foremost in November! Yeah! We’re all still lank excited about the project, and we hope you are too. And, in a month and a bit, you’ll have a little something to keep us by your side. And in your ear holes.
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Wowzors
It’s been a while. A few whiles, even. But don’t worry, we’re still alive, we’re still playing music and stuff, and I still have a moustache. And some new shoes. But that’s not relevant, so I won’t bring it up. Right. A fair amount has happened in our absence from the land of blog-posting, but we return home once more with goodies from our travels.
The main reason for our absentness has been the ol’ recording thing. By now you must be thinking “will I ever hear these recordings?” or something along those lines. I must confess, until recently similar thoughts had plagued my mind. But I was put at ease by Jason who kindly allowed my ears to feel some of the stuff we’ve been working so hard on. The sensation was incredibly pleasurable, I assure you. I had to flick my hair out of my face afterwards (like in a shampoo ad) because it had landed there in my glee. You will have your shampoo moments too, I promise.
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Thesdhei
Soliek, time flies, and stuff. The term ends tomorrow. Fame is done and dusted. My hair’s grown a bit. Crazy stuff. I’m really looking forward to a little break, cozliek, busy bee and whatnot. But an idle bee gathers no pollen, as they say, and honey is a beverage best served while the iron is hot. Or something.
In the spirit of all that, we’re kicking off tracking next week at long lastly. This is good, because it means music. Our music, specifically. It’s a step closer to your ears, and we’re quite happy about that. We’ll undoubtedly keep you updated with pictures of Taylor on his phone, or other important steps of the recording process.
We’re also meeting up with the very awesome members of Soldier today. Hopefully we’ll be taking the stage together soon for a show with more of our kinda vibe to it. I’ll keep my puns to a minimum for the meeting, apparently it’s bad for PR. JK lol, that’s not happening. Puns are like water, and I’ll be dammed if I stop letting them flow. Teehee.
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Greek Speak
Yo yo. Cha. cha… Yeah.
Now that I’ve greeted you with sounds that Jay Z uses when he’s not rapping in songs, I think we can get right down to business.
In slightly irrelevant and only marginally interesting news, Rous and I have got to that point in the semester where we adapt so we now stay awake in lectures. Although our methods are rather similar, I think he’s got one up on me, which is good, considering his day is much longer, and vastly more boring than mine.
Rous’ coping method involves a blackberry (preferably not frozen and with some sort of battery life) and an installed version of Pokemon Silver. Yes, it is completely possible. I made him prove it to me. I took the less insanely awesome approach, and I spend my lectures playing Simsons. For all those parents out there (including mine) Simsons is the latest in lecture note capturing software. Great stuff. You can even record videos of the lectures on it. (more…)
Politics
Heyheyhey! So on the off chance that you didn’t realize, its nearing the end of August…which means the beginning of September is approaching! Which means that Spring is approaching! Which means that after spring’s undecided phase of playing hard-to-get with the sun, WARM WEATHER IS ON ITS WAY! And its about time too – this winter has been particularly cold, so props to everybody who has survived. But the days of shivering, shaking and shrinkage will soon be over. Rous has confessed that he’s been looking a bit white and pasty recently, and is more than excited to hit the beach and have fun in the sun.
So we here at Forefront have noticed we’ve been acting a little bit like a band of politicians: We’ve shamelessly plugged the release of our ‘First & Foremost’ demo, said we’ve been working hard producing the drums and bass, said we’ve made alleged plans to track vocals and guitar… But nobody’s seen any promised delivered quite yet. Well, truth be told, there is NO demo to look forward to, its all been a fabrication.
Mmmmmmmmhhhhhmmmmmmmmm.
Truthy-truth be told, there actually IS a demo to look forward to, but we haven’t had the time to begin tracking the guitars and vocals quite yet as we’ve all been furiously rehearsing for what is most definitely our biggest gig yet. Like, this is pretty big. Its so big, in fact, that we’ve had to hire out an entire school hall to pull this event off. Its so big, in fact, that we’ve had to add a completely new element in form of live acting, dancing, and choir singing with a cast of over 50 people! Its SO big, in fact, that we’ve decided to add piano, saxophone, clarinet, trumpet AND EVEN BASS-GUITAR to our sound!
Soup People
Soup people
I’ve got chills, they’re multiplying. Might be the extreme cold, or the excitement for Friday. I’m going with a combo. Aww. Yeeeah. If you aren’t sure what I’m on about, take a look at this link:
https://www.facebook.com/events/343329272416035/
Unless I’ve managed to mis-copy or mis-paste, that should take you to the event for Friday that everyone (literally everyone on the planet) has been talking about. For the TL:DR among you, here’s a plot synopsis:
This week Friday (yes, tomorrow). Mercury. Bands playing. Forefront playing. At 10 (pm). Along with other kewl bands. The Dollfins. The Man Motels. Free entrance.
See why we’re excited? See you there, pear. (more…)
Moving Forward
Ohheythere! I didn’t see you, but now that I have, I’m going to hunt you and force you to listen to what I’ve been telling everybody 😀
So, on the first front:
On Friday (and planning for another one today) we actually managed to have a band practice! Setlists were decided and run through, and it must be said that we’re all pretty amped for our show at Mercury on Friday. Yes Mercury. How much is entrance you ask? Oh yes, it’s free. So come. And bring friends. You’ll also be able to check out The Man Motels and The Dollfins on the night. Should be crazy.
On the second front:
We’ve been called in by the very cool local band “Soldier” to open for them at the Jolly Roger on the 8th of September, we’ll definitely keep you posted 🙂
Hi low
Hi low there.
How are you all doing this fine public holiday? Good I hope. I’d like to take this opportunity to wish all you fine ladies a great day of being a women. The one day where I will refrain (as much as Jason possibly can) from making kitchen jokes. Those of you who know me understand how difficult that will be… This probably won’t last very long. 
but I guess it’s the thought that counts.
So today is a public holiday… And for the little kiddies the beginning of a long weekend… A very long one. Id like to express my jealousy, as today I am sitting in a musical practice for approximately 12 hours. Well. Not so much approximately… Maybe exactly 12 hours would be a better description.
The Weather
Well hey there everybody! Hope you’ve been keeping well, warm and wonderful this fine winter morning. As usual, its cold as balls today, but the sun’s out to compensate for it. Much like the weather, Forefront too is a little cold as balls – but don’t worry, the sun will be out soon.
We’ve finally got our drum and bass recordings back from SAE after our resident diva and engineer Kenni Burnell thought it would be best to withhold them for a few weeks as he had lost all of the CDs in his car and had nothing else to bump & bang through his hood. Now in possession of these sessions though, Forefront’s next move is to start tracking guitars (ideally next week or so) and then vocals after that. It’s the calm before the storm, and this one’s a hurricane.
In other news, we’ve also gotten our photos back from the youngest-in-charge, Robin Taylor Photo, an awesome and madly talented photographer and good friend. And as predicted, they are indeed looking very sick. We’ve shared a couple of cool ones on the facetubes, but more will come with the release of the demo.
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In Other News
Hi there. So, a week and a half in at UCT (for us UCT people) and not too much has changed. A few things have. My new maths lecturer is incomprehensibly foreign, which has led to regular class attendance by only ten of his students. He does, however, make humorous reference to “Texas Rangers” quite often, so I’m counting it as a good change.
We had a great deal of fun guest performing at the CBHS Battle of the Dance Crews. We did two of our own and a cover of “Let’s Get Retarded” by the Black Eyed Peas, which went down quite well. I also took some pointers from some of the crews, so you might have to update the mental image of the orang-utan at some stage in the future, but I’ll keep you posted.
Work on the musical (like, the musical) has begun heating up. Things are coming together and taking shape nicely. After taking a stand, my sight reading and page turning has improved dramatically. We’re putting a lot into this, because that’s how we do.
But enough about that. The bestest news of the moment is that we have received the fruits from our photo-shoot tree, lovingly harvested by Robin Taylor himself. Our new Facebook cover photo is an example of the delicious goodness that has been bestowed upon us. We’ll have more for you to see at strategic times in the near future, or more likely when we can’t resist showing people anymore. A big thank you again to Mr Taylor, and a Happy Birthday for yesterday. Keep a peeled eye on our Facebook for more tasty tasties.
In other news, I have been given permission to use our Twitter more freely. After some debate, we’ve concluded that this is actually good news, despite the quality of my humour. We’ll judge your opinion by the amount of death threats I receive of the next few weeks, and cater accordingly.
I end of today with a reminder that we are indeed human, and that you are more than welcome to holla if you have any questions or requests to hear more about anything in particular. We don’t bite. But that shouldn’t really be a concern if you use Twitter, Facebook or the comments section, because we can’t bite you through the internet. It just isn’t possible. At all. It has to do with the cables and stuff, apparently.
Rous
Swamped
Hey ya’ll.
So keeping with drummer stereotypes, I am late with my blog today… And apparently also can’t keep time. It seems Forefront have become quite delayed over the past week. Even those of us not returning to a demanding timetable at Varsity seem to be missing deadlines. So my apologies for the lack of blog posts this Monday. Nick is working on it, and his post should hopefully be ready for his next blog post a Monday or two from now.
On the Forefront… front, we have been jamming in some practice jams this week (a whole one practice) for the Camps Bay High School Battle of the Dance Crews. We are going to be hitting up some hip hop to open the show, which I am quite excited about. Despite what looks like a minimal practice schedule I can assure you we will be ready. It has never failed us before at least.
We have also heard word from our mad photo skilled friend, Robin Taylor, about the new photos that are almost ready for collection. We have seen some of the new photos, and advised him to perhaps take up photography as his photo skills are as good as Rous’ hair is ginger.
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The Voice
“Hey, hey man.”
The raspy, evil voice calls out from the darkness.
“Hey, don’t act like you can’t hear me.”
I know this voice.
“Your time is up, my friend.”
Cruel, demanding. I know I can’t get away.
“You’re mine again.”
This is the voice of calculus.
This is the voice of physics.
This is the voice of some-other-stuff-that’s-less-fun-than-being-on-holiday.
And it’s calling for me.
Well, it’s calling for me and Jason, but it sounds worse if we’re on our own. Let’s say it’s calling for each of us individually. That’s more like it.
Yes, university starts again on Monday. That means we’ve been off for seven weeks already. It doesn’t really feel like it’s been that long. It’s mad. It’s crazy. It’s mad-crazy. But we’ve gotten a lot done in our time off. Photo shoots, recording, writing, fart jokes, arranging gigs – the lot.
I know all the kiddly-winks have started already (on Monday, I believe), and a bunch of other universities too. It’s hard to get back into things. Back into routine. Back into working. Back into the grind. But keep in your mind the image of the dancing orang-utan, and you will get through. You will overcome.
If that fails, you can keep checking up on us for good news. We’ve got EP recording and mixing going on, we’ve got gigs in the pipeline, and we’ve got puns aplenty. Just because two of us will be getting edumackation again, doesn’t mean we’ll stop giving you the goods. We can multi-task like that.
In other news, we’re working on being musical. No, wait. We’re working on playing a musical (the very one Taywee is singing in), which means reading scores and scores of, well, scores. As a classical guitarist, I’m quite acquainted with the treble clef (the one that looks like a fancy G). Unfortunately, the bass part is written in, you guessed it, the bass clef. Other than that slight irritation, my only problem with the musical so far has been that the ad lib slap bass solo (yes, you read that correctly), which I was very excited about, has been cut. But I might sneak one in somewhere else.
Don’t forget that you can hit us up if you have any questions or anything in particular that you’d like to hear about. Just drop a comment thingy down below, or Facebook us, or Tweet us, or (if you’re feeling old-school) just ask one of us when you see us.
Remember the orang-utan.
Rous
(Photo) Shooting Blanks
Okcoolsobasically – it’s Monday. This means that it’s time for my blog again, unluckily for you. However, there is a bright side! We have actually been doing some cool crap for a little while, and I’m about to share this crap. With you.
Blessed hey?
Alrighty, the first biggie (at least in MY opinion) is my new acoustic guitar. It’s flipping gorgeous. I sifted through around 15 guitars before this baby landed on my lap and scored a comfortable pozzie in my heart. It’s a Tanglewood, I’ll give you that much. I will be playing live shows with it, and it’s featured in the new photos Robin Taylor is finishing up for us. Keep an eye out, and you can definitely expect some acoustic tracks in the near future.
Obviously the serious biggies at the moment are the new tracks going on the First And Foremost EP. Rous is going in today to put some finishing touches on the bass, and we’ll start layering guitars this week. We have some mad plans for guitars. Very. Very. Excited.
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Forefront Band 