My City: Joburg - Chris Chameleon

The singer and musician on recycling, rugby and how to give a wildebeest a fright

I am ... she is, you are.

Where were you born? Joburg.

Where did you grow up? Mainly around Steve's Spar and Cresta mall, Blackheath.

Where do you live? In the Free State on a farm, but my office and where I spend most of my time is in Linden.

Who do you share your house with? Sometimes a spider or a mouse stays over.

How did you get into the music business? Through a gruelling process of trial and error, I discovered I wasn't much good at anything else. I gave it a fair shot, though. I tried deliveries, security, acting, farm labour, and even being an Easter bunny in shopping centres.

My inspiration comes from ... many hours of perspiration. Then, suddenly, something visits your soul for a split second - and that's called inspiration.

Tell us about your latest Sama-nominated album with Boo! ... It captures life at a certain moment, like a photograph . It's fairly dark, with a dash of gaiety. Yep, it's pink and black!

How does it feel to be nominated again? It's terrible. On the one hand there's this great excitement about the honour, and on the other hand the unnerving knowledge that you still have a 5-1 chance of losing it.

Success to me is ... something that's hard enough to spell, let alone achieve.

You said Boo! would never reunite. What happened? Amazing how right I was, eh? Leon lives abroad now. Riaan had big shoes to fill and did so with a toe or so to spare.

My favourite singer is ... today, Kate Bush. Yesterday it was Pink Floyd. But mostly Abba.

What are you working on now? I am finalising "As jy weer skryf ..." , a composition of the poetry of Ingrid Jonker.

The SA music scene is ... my office and I love it.

My favourite bands are ... Abba, Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, Genesis and Isochronous.

The best lesson I have learnt is ... to trust my instincts.

The best thing about being a musician is ... you feel like both the farmer and the golden goose most of the time.

The power of music ... is a fierce and awesome force and the only way to survive it is by humble submission.

How do you spend your free time? On my farm, walking, greeting cattle, sneaking up on game (few things are funnier than a swartwildebees getting the skrik of his life from a downwind call of "who's your daddy!").

What do you love most about living in Joburg? It's my favourite city in the world. It's my history, a concrete confirmation of my past. It has the best weather.

If you weren't doing what you do, you would be ... in forestry.

If you were mayor for the day, what would you do? I'd quit.

One of my life philosophies is: The thing that you can give without suffering any loss is also your most valuable gift to the world out there. This is love.

I can't go a day without ... realising what a lucky bugger I am.

If you inherited R100-million, what would you do with it? Keep doing exactly what I'm doing now.

What book influenced you? The Bible.

What are your creature comforts? A bath, a coffee machine, rugby on TV, a leather couch, a juicer and my fireplace.

I always collect ... plastic, paper, tin and glass separately for recycling.

You know you're in Joburg when ... you say: "I'm sure I parked my car here. Where is it?"

Perfect happiness is: Freedom from want.

My worst vice is ... I tend to be as hard on others as I am on myself.

I'd like my epitaph to say: Chris Chameleon, 28/07/1971 - 27/03/2104, RIP.