How long have you been playing Loedi?

I've been playing since I was about 16, so make that 10 years.

How did you get started?

Like most of us I was forced to do classical piano as a kid, but I hated it. The theory lessons came in useful though. Moved on to some classical guitar, got bored and quit. Received a Metallica and Nirvana mix tape from a good friend of mine, Mario, and it changed my perspective on music. But I still didn't really imagine myself being able to play that kind of music, much less be a part of a band! Only the really cool and wealthy kids did that. In high school, I became friends with my drummer, Louis. He wanted to play drums, I wanted to play bass, and we wanted to be NIRVANA!!! So he got a second hand kit for like R300, and I took my messed up old nylon string classical guitar, my dads removable pickup and put it through a beat up piece of crap hi-fi that had a mic port and screamed distortion when I 'cranked' it up. I cut the unnecessary two strings off and there we were HAHAHA! We even put on a show for our friends just me and him rocking out! Later on I bought my first real bass, a Harmony semi accoustic for R300, with a huge but incredibly quiet amp. After Rian, my guitarist's band, broke up, we formed '508', with lead singer Frans. (I got into lessons at the 'Jazz Workshop' with maestro Spencer. He was legend.) We played for quite some time, against our arch-nemesis 'Drain'. I was fortunate enough to upgrade my equipment to the bass I'm playing now, a lefty Hohner 4-string, with a mammoth Mosfet Annhilator 250 watt head through a 300 watt Fane speaker cab. I later sold that amp to Willem Samuel (one talented bassist!) from Black India. We also split up, but I kept playing, mostly old-school gospel band stuff (great training for funk) and helped out a few guys I can't even remember in the studio. After my spiritual quest, I found out my old band-mates were keen on getting that magic back together, this time with George from ex-rival 'drain' on vocals! We named it "Taxi Violence". Haven't looked back since. Each member has evolved, my playing has become less showboat and more mature. I must have looked like such a little punk show off as a kid. Am I still a kid? Oh well...

Do you come from a musical family?

Yeah, my dad played gospel bands when I was young. Keyboard, guitar and bass. I used to love watching them play, and afterwards I would go mess around on the drums. He still writes songs at home now. My mom's an art teacher, so that's where I got my art design stuff from.

Have you tried any other instruments since taking up bass?

I've tried everything, I owned my own little guitar setup once, a beat-up Fender with a little amp and a RAT distortion pedal. It's fun to mess around, wish I could buy another guitar so I can write more music. I write some riffs on my acoustic guitar, but it's limited - especially if you want to do something with harmonics and overdrive. I'ts fun, but I'd much rather spend money on bass goodies.

You spoke earlier about your spiritual quest – could you enlighten us a little?

I was an unpaid volunteer in a missionary organisation for three years. I started by working and living in informal settlements. I did some manual labour at a place called 'Beautiful Gate' in Khayelitsha, a haven for babies with aids. Did some community upliftment stuff. Hard work and emotionally taxing. Then on to the squatter camp in Jeffeys Bay, and also Mandela Park in near Uitenhage. Worst place I ever seen. Got too much for me, then I moved on to doing anti-drugs and life skills coaching in schools around Cape Town. Eventually my support from churches and benefactors started to wane to the point that I couldn't buy food, so I started doing skate and surf videos. That's how I got into broadcasting. It was good experience for me to put something back into society, but I also struggle with bouts of Afro-pessimism because of some of the things I've seen and experienced. Sometimes I find it sad to hear South Africans badmouth Americans in general when relatively few of my fellow countrymen yet so many yanks were knee deep in the tough stuff with me. Makes me unpopular at dinner parties, I must say!

What’s your favourite band / solo artist?

At the moment, I must say Queens of the Stone Age. The songwriting is unbelievable. I firmly believe that bassists and guitarists should work closely together in the early stages of writing a song, so that their instruments fuse together when the rest of the group comes in. They do just that. Other than QOTSA, I can't get enough of Led Zeppelin. (First song I ever played on a proper bass was 'Black Dog'!)

What are the amps and instruments you currently use?

I play a 4 string Hohner Pro Bass, through borrowed cables, into a borrowed Boss distortion pedal, into my Boss bass 7-band Graphic Equaliser, into a borrowed Peavey TKO amp.

I had a TKO back in the mid eighties and quickly moved up to a 300 Combo – but that gear is so Ancient sounding compared to today’s gear – are you cutting through enough?

I've been pleasantly surprised, hey! I keep my sound quite simple, I guess. Plus the fact that we only have one guitar in the band helps a lot to keep the airwaves uncluttered. I use my equaliser to push me through the important bits, by pushing all 7 bands to the max and leaving the output low. Gives it a bit of thump for chorus and intro/outro sections. I wouldn't mind upgrading to a combo, but at this point, since the amp is borrowed, I guess beggars can't be choosers.

What instruments would you like to have if money were no object?

Can't wait. Any top notch 6-string (Warwick maybe?) with a real low action so I can pull off 'Jerry was a racecar driver' properly (doen't sound the same if you’ve got 4 strings with about 9 cm of action), definitely one upright bass, into the biggest and baddest Ashdowne or Hughes & Kettner amps ever built. Maybe a 1.000.000 watt Hartke or SWR setup would do?

What have you been doing for the last five years or so?

For the last 4 years or so I've been shooting, editing and producing TV shows for various channels, kind of a one man army or something. Helps because I directed and edited our music video. Check it out on MK89 and GO! Before that, I was an unpaid volunteer worker for a social work/missionary organisation.

What recordings that you’ve played on would you recommend for listening?

Only our EP "Taxi Violence". (You can download one of our tracks on www.taxivolence.com). I'm not really a big fan of my old stuff. At all.

What’s been the low point in your career so far?

After '508' split up, I had no band, no live shows to play, and no-one could match up to my old crew. Lonely feeling.

And what has been the high point of your career?

Winning the opening round of the RP Studios Emerging Sounds competition in July. Not just because we won it, but we played our most energetic yet technically correct shows. I nearly threw my back out when I pulled a contortionist move where my heels touched the back of my head while I was playing! I can't wait for the stadium shows!

You’ve visited www.bassplayers.co.za - what do you think of it?

Awesome! If all of music is a family, then bassists are the middle children. We are different people, but it's wierd to see how similar our thinking is. This site reminds me of who I am as a bassist. I read some of the interviews, someone said they played with the fat E at the bottom and G up top! That's bloody revolutionary! Imagine the speed metal licks that would be possible with that setup! Little insights like that opens me up to new ideas and perspectives on this most holy of instruments.

How does life treat you, being a left handed bassist?

Not too bad. Just looks funny when I see myself in pictures, bet it looks wierd to everyone else too. Also it usually means I need to bring a borrowed Fender Jazz bass to gigs as backup, since the odds of playing with another lefty is slim. Being left is great, other bassists think what I'm playing is super tech but it's only because it looks upside down to them HAHAHA! Plus I'm working on a move with my guitarist where he slides on the back of my neck while I play, so we do an X-up. Should look pretty neat. Or not.

What are your goals currently?

I want to be able to play those lines that momentarily flutter into my subconcious before they dissappear again. I hate settling for an average bass line. I also want to get my backup vocals on par. I want to play to 100,000+ strong crowds, tour the world, buy a mansion in LA and Camps Bay, get more tattoos, quit smoking, get fit, marry my girlfriend and have little punk kids. Most of all I want to play at least 2 live shows a week. Can't get enough.

What’s the biggest crowd you’ve played to so far with Taxi Violence?

A pretty packed crowd at Mercury Live at the Emerging Sounds RP Studios competition in July. Played a couple thousand at Hermanus with '508', and also a show at Wingerstock with my previous band.

Have you played outside of the Cape area yet?

We played a gig in Paarl. Does that count? Seems pretty far away, but we didn't need to fly there or anything. Might have some stuff lined up for Joburg, Jbay Knysna etc. later this year, who knows?. I would love to tour!