Boere cool rules

'Adapt or die,' PW Botha once said. A new generation of Afrikaners has taken him at his word, writes Shanthini Naidoo

Van Coke Kartel's tour van is parked outside Wolves, the bistro and live music venue in Illovo, Joburg - famous for its cupcakes. Inside, four guys dressed in shades of black leather and denim, accessorised by tattoos, are demolishing bowls of sticky rice with lemonade and coconut juice.

It doesn't look quite right. You'd expect bloody steak washed down with hard liquor.

But VCK are not typical. And neither is the Afrikaans punk rock they play.

It has been 10 years since a band called Fokofpolisiekar stormed the South African alternative music scene, changing the way Afrikaans music was perceived.

It was founded by Wynand Myburgh, Francois van Coke, Hunter Kennedy, Jaco "Snakehead" Venter and Johnny de Ridder, in Bellville, their Cape Town neighbourhood. Fokof evolved like an orgy, sharing and swapping the original members.

The result was a movement comprised of bands which address different genres, including aKing (melodic pop-rock), Die Heuwels Fantasties (electronic rock) and Van Coke Kartel (punk rock), who recently opened for Metallica in Cape Town.

These bands occasionally perform together as VanFokkingTasties but generally try to keep the identities separate.

"We did a mannekamp a few years ago, we went bungee jumping. We will never do that again," says Myburgh, who along with Van Coke was one of the founding members of VCK.

"Ja, we f***ed ourselves up completely," laughs Van Coke. He is not talking about the bungee jumping, as Myburgh points out: "The energy levels were through the roof, never mind the booze and drugs. Definitely not good for the health."

They admit that when they started out Afrikaans music had a bad rap. And they don't mean foul-mouthed Jack Parow or Die Antwoord.

Music produced in die taal was often shrouded by impressions of poppies met groot, blonde hare, cringeworthy lyrics, even accordions and knee socks.

Kennedy, who has one of those gravelly voices fine-tuned by singing, smoking and scotch, now performs with Die Heuwels Fantasties. The band has the music industry and fans raving over their poetic lyrics and eclectic electro sound.

But it took a long time, says Kennedy. "In the late '90s, there wasn't much new going on in the Afrikaans music scene. Afrikaans music was definitely not cool. It seemed like the whole culture was just stuck. Shit, it didn't seem to have picked up on anything that happened in that decade, like grunge."

Kennedy says Fokof was successful because it was one of the first alternative "hate that label" Afrikaans bands, but it was also a sociopolitical answer to questions South African youth were asking about the culture.

The answer was that it was cool, acceptable and not going away.

"Singing in your own tongue creates a much deeper ... what's the English word? ... it feels more grounded," says Kennedy. "It's hereditary, and that might be where the passion comes from. Besides, we never have to compete with anyone from overseas. We are a niche. Unique."

Van Coke says being an Afrikaans band is limiting, but they have tried to write in English and the lyrics "are just cheesy". He says VCK's non-Afrikaans vocalist Jedd Kossew learnt to sing in the language to accommodate the writers. "We know there are ceilings. I mean in the international market there are few places we can tour, maybe Holland and Belgium. But we wouldn't be who we are if we didn't write in Afrikaans. It's an honesty thing, for ourselves and the fans."

That is the ticket. And the moneymaker, at least locally.

Traditional classic Afrikaans artists, liedjies and treffers sell the most albums in South Africa, rivalled only by gospel.

For as long as the South African Music Awards have existed, mainstream Afrikaans artists like Bobby van Jaarsveld, Jay & Lianie, Juanita du Plessis and Theuns Jordaan have featured on the top-selling album list.

Many Idols contestants, such as Heinz Winkler, Loki and Bianca le Grange, seem to gravitate towards the Afrikaans music industry because there is more opportunity for album sales and demand for live performances.

Then there are artists who use the language as a shoehorn. Darrius Pillay is an English-speaking Durbanite who did well on Supersterre, the Afrikaans version of Idols, and who now performs in Afrikaans. Wambuseun is a black Namibian who raps in Afrikaans.

Two of the biggest labels representing traditional Afrikaans artists are Select Music, recently bought by Sony Music Entertainment, and Coleske Artists.

Coleske's Brendon Hargroves says: "Use the concert, Afrikaans is Groot, as perspective. It sold out in 48 hours, that is 70000 tickets. Last year, 96000 people from outside South Africa logged in to watch online. That is phenomenal. We have moved on from that sakkie sakkie dans thing."

Hargroves says Afrikaans rock has good quality artists and music videos that can compete internationally.

"Previously, where R50000 or R60000 was spent producing an album, now artists are investing over R1-million. More people are listening to Afrikaans music, because it is good, not because it is Afrikaans. Alternative bands like Die Heuwels Fantasties have done a great job in growing that adult contemporary genre. They have a big English following."

Select's former CEO Kosie van Niekerk compares Afrikaans music with country and western. "Groups like Lady Antebellum or artists like Taylor Swift are essentially country and western. They are very successful with the younger generation, because of the way the music is produced. In South Africa, Afrikaans music is the same. It seemed like a swear word because it lacked that cool factor with the youngsters, but suddenly it got a bit more alternative ... and it is huge.

"Over the years things have blossomed and the music is getting better and better. Fokof started all that. Now look at Die Antwoord, they are popular all over the world, even though nobody understands what the hell they are saying."

Van Niekerk adds: "Afrikaans music was threatened by radio stations that didn't play anything but English music. These bands broke through that. Fokof was the first Afrikaans band to be playlisted on 5FM. The minute you try to lock something up, it will try to escape. It was like telling kids not to eat sweets before dinner."

Unlikely fans such as James Slade, a Canadian conservationist living in South Africa, discovered Afrikaans music as a facet of local culture. "I deal with communities who speak Afrikaans, so I tried to pick up what I could of the language by listening to music," says Slade.

"I try to sing along even though I'm probably mispronouncing everything. When I heard Fokofpolisiekar, I realised there was this counterculture punk element to South African music. I was quite surprised, but I really liked it. The first album I was bought was Eksie Ou by Jack Parow, he's fun. But I am a huge Heuwels Fantasties fan. They are the band that first got me seriously interested in Afrikaans music, along with Van Coke Kartel. The quality of their music is fantastic, without over-production. It is a part of South Africa I did not expect."

Alice Inggs, a UCT student who discovered Afrikaans music on DStv's Channel MK, is studying Die Antwoord for her masters thesis in media studies. "I think what's interesting about Afrikaans music is that although you can draw parallels between the sound of the music here and overseas, the way the artists are expressing themselves - the way Afrikaans language and culture is being used in conjunction with music - is new and obviously unique to South Africa. That's really cool."

Kevin Fine, station manager of mixed-language radio station Jacaranda FM, said it all started "as a bit of a joke" but the growth of Afrikaans music - rather than the language dying out - shows unification in South Africa.

"Who in South Africa doesn't know what a Loslappie is? Kaptein [both songs by Kurt Darren] was massive ... the lyrics caught on and it got to a bigger market. That 'boerewors curtain' on music started coming down. Historical biases are being chipped away. People realise it is great music, that it's OK, no matter who you are, you don't have to quietly listen to Afrikaans music in your car, and that is lekker."