Champagne Year: Fernandos hear the drums

Red wine is great for a lot of things; it's a creative lubricant for writing late-night lyrics, also for plotting world domination, or at least for plotting victory as Gauteng's Emerging Sounds band for 2014.

Matt Cumming, vocalist and bass guitarist of The Great Fernandos, admits to getting a little help from Bacchus when he and fellow band members Brendan Roane (guitar and keyboards) and Wayne Swart (drums) conjure up songs.

It's their brand of musical voodoo, potent enough to set them apart from 99 other bands entered in last year's competition.

"It always been about getting the basics right - great songs, great music and not taking ourselves too seriously," says Cumming.

Roane and Cumming met at school and formed The Great Fernandos in their university days in the mid-2000s. Even as their careers took off (Cumming in finance and Roane in media), the band was a constant.

When Swart, a businessman in steel and flooring, hooked up with them after responding to their ad about 18 months ago, their three-piece outfit was complete.

They gelled instantly. They say they still do, disagreeing only on what to wear on stage and exactly what genre their music fits into.

Cumming is funk/rock, Swart hard rock and Roane likes old-school rock.

Says Swart: "Sometimes we sound like The Beatles and sometimes we sound like REM. Our influences are very varied."

In winter last year they decided to step up things a notch, entering the Emerging Sounds competition.

Bands are pitted against each other and face off over a series of rounds. The likes of The Parlotones, Freshly Ground and Seether all got their breaks through the Emerging Sounds competition.

The competition took The Great Fernandos on a five month-long journey of playing their hearts out to win over judges.

But it wasn't all plain sailing.

"At one point we only got through to the next round on a wild card," Roane says.

But the trio know about paying their dues. They juggle day jobs, work on material after hours and have played gigs where the audience has been the sum total of the barman.

Cumming says burning the candle at both ends is worth it.

"When we're playing we're lost in our music, so it doesn't matter who's watching," Swart says.

But people are watching now. Taking the title has meant The Great Fernandos bag much-needed equipment and studio time.

On the horizon are bigger gigs, festivals and airplay. The Great Fernandos are taking on the world, one song at a time.