Jedi Rollers single from the Serious Peaceful Crime Unit album
Showing posts with label Inspector Ras. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Inspector Ras. Show all posts
Friday, March 15, 2013
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Poetry: They must be ambushed
Times are tough for a wannabe poet in the big city. Self expression is rewarding in itself, but having an audience is even better. Knowing you have an audience and seeing them react to your poetic meanderings is best of all.
So most word warriors will sooner or later find themselves dabbling in live performance. But the poetry scene in Johannesburg is hard to pin down. Short-lived open-mic, spoken-word sessions spring up, then disappear after a few months.
Book shops and literary-inclined coffee-shops host recitals for published authors, but otherwise, the ambitious wordsmith must find ways, spaces and performance opportunities himself.
A cunning way of finding new audiences is to disguise the very fact that you are producing poetry. With its image of militant hectoring or else fey romanticism, poetry is sometimes misconstrued and few non-adherents would willingly attend a poetry show.
So they must be ambushed.
Poems are versatile, adaptable, malleable things. They lend themselves to the fusion of forms. Poems can be set to music, video, stills images, performance art, dance and other types of artistic expression. Music is the most willing pairing, sharing a sense of rhythm and certain conventions of presentation.
So you tell people to come watch a gig, a music show, you're jamming a few tunes at this place. You should come have a listen. And then you drop those poems on them. Either accompanied or not. A capella, recited or performed. Audiences are willing to excuse the most unadorned poetic indulgence if it's seen as a brief excursion from – or an aspect of – the music. In the name of show dynamics, say. Meanwhile, the poetry might be the main attraction, the essence.
In this tradition, three undercover poets are currently putting out some clandestine metred material in a series of musically packaged shows around Joburg. These are David Chislett, Jon-Pat Myers and your correspondent Hagen Engler aka Inspektor Ras.
The next instalment of this roadshow takes place on February 28 at The Bohemian, a Joburg venue with a rich rock history and "the third oldest existing pub in Joburg".
The show is billed as "Acoustic Rock Night", but don't believe a word. These are stinking poets, with guitars as camouflage.
Dave Chislett recently published his first book of poetry For You Or Someone Like You, following on from several other prose print endeavours. Jon-Pat Myers was frontman for Joburg punk legends Toxic Sox and currently fronts psychobilly act The Psycotix. He's a sculptor and a poet, though he would strenuously deny the latter.
None of these three gents would qualify for student discount at H2O. But this has done their lyrical output no harm whatsoever.
Find the more show details here, or read the following paragraph:
Thursday 28 February
8pm
The Bohemian
Cnr. Park and Menton roads
Richmond
Cover: R40
So most word warriors will sooner or later find themselves dabbling in live performance. But the poetry scene in Johannesburg is hard to pin down. Short-lived open-mic, spoken-word sessions spring up, then disappear after a few months.
Book shops and literary-inclined coffee-shops host recitals for published authors, but otherwise, the ambitious wordsmith must find ways, spaces and performance opportunities himself.
A cunning way of finding new audiences is to disguise the very fact that you are producing poetry. With its image of militant hectoring or else fey romanticism, poetry is sometimes misconstrued and few non-adherents would willingly attend a poetry show.
So they must be ambushed.
Poems are versatile, adaptable, malleable things. They lend themselves to the fusion of forms. Poems can be set to music, video, stills images, performance art, dance and other types of artistic expression. Music is the most willing pairing, sharing a sense of rhythm and certain conventions of presentation.
So you tell people to come watch a gig, a music show, you're jamming a few tunes at this place. You should come have a listen. And then you drop those poems on them. Either accompanied or not. A capella, recited or performed. Audiences are willing to excuse the most unadorned poetic indulgence if it's seen as a brief excursion from – or an aspect of – the music. In the name of show dynamics, say. Meanwhile, the poetry might be the main attraction, the essence.
In this tradition, three undercover poets are currently putting out some clandestine metred material in a series of musically packaged shows around Joburg. These are David Chislett, Jon-Pat Myers and your correspondent Hagen Engler aka Inspektor Ras.
The next instalment of this roadshow takes place on February 28 at The Bohemian, a Joburg venue with a rich rock history and "the third oldest existing pub in Joburg".
The show is billed as "Acoustic Rock Night", but don't believe a word. These are stinking poets, with guitars as camouflage.
Dave Chislett recently published his first book of poetry For You Or Someone Like You, following on from several other prose print endeavours. Jon-Pat Myers was frontman for Joburg punk legends Toxic Sox and currently fronts psychobilly act The Psycotix. He's a sculptor and a poet, though he would strenuously deny the latter.
None of these three gents would qualify for student discount at H2O. But this has done their lyrical output no harm whatsoever.
Find the more show details here, or read the following paragraph:
Thursday 28 February
8pm
The Bohemian
Cnr. Park and Menton roads
Richmond
Cover: R40
Friday, January 25, 2013
Some musical mellowness in Sandton. Just a taste.
If you're based in Sandton, Johannesburg, the commercial centre of the African continent, Bohemian self-expression is seldom on the menu.
For artsy escapism and self-expression, you might try karaoke night at the Colony Arms, or some random stand-up at a place like Metro. But since the demise of the Blues Room, a proper live performance venues have been like hen's teeth in Sandton Central.
So to discover that a neglected back room of your local pub has been turned into a performance venue is a lot like finding a forgotten Christmas present behind the bookcase in March.
This crew of sound specialists has launched an events arm called Swamp Events, and The Library at The Brazen Head is their flagship venue.
This was a welcome surprise, not least because yours truly is a veteran of the capricious Joburg open-mic scene. We've "graced" stages from the old Bassline to Cool Runnings to House of Nsako and Pata-Pata just now, but this is a nice one close to home.
With their sound and video expertise, Swamp deliver a rare standard of sonic excellence, and every performance is filmed, and available for purchase. And lo and behold, The Library at The Brazen Head delivers a cosy ambience previously unfathomable in the capitalist heartland.
That vid up the top is a clip of this week's performances. Look out for Inspector Ras on voice and guitar in the beginning there...
They will be hosting proper shows by the likes of Josie Field too, some comedy nights, and posting info on their Facebook page over here. And of course, if the artsiness clashes with your Sandton sensibilities, you can always pop next door to the main pub and catch the end of the cricket. We only played kak that night, though, hey. Yussis.
For artsy escapism and self-expression, you might try karaoke night at the Colony Arms, or some random stand-up at a place like Metro. But since the demise of the Blues Room, a proper live performance venues have been like hen's teeth in Sandton Central.
So to discover that a neglected back room of your local pub has been turned into a performance venue is a lot like finding a forgotten Christmas present behind the bookcase in March.
This crew of sound specialists has launched an events arm called Swamp Events, and The Library at The Brazen Head is their flagship venue.
This was a welcome surprise, not least because yours truly is a veteran of the capricious Joburg open-mic scene. We've "graced" stages from the old Bassline to Cool Runnings to House of Nsako and Pata-Pata just now, but this is a nice one close to home.
With their sound and video expertise, Swamp deliver a rare standard of sonic excellence, and every performance is filmed, and available for purchase. And lo and behold, The Library at The Brazen Head delivers a cosy ambience previously unfathomable in the capitalist heartland.
That vid up the top is a clip of this week's performances. Look out for Inspector Ras on voice and guitar in the beginning there...
They will be hosting proper shows by the likes of Josie Field too, some comedy nights, and posting info on their Facebook page over here. And of course, if the artsiness clashes with your Sandton sensibilities, you can always pop next door to the main pub and catch the end of the cricket. We only played kak that night, though, hey. Yussis.
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