Art collectives bass with original thought, writes Refilwe Boikanyo
The Brother Moves On complete their sound check as I arrive at the Bassline in Newtown.
The room is scattered with people. Some dance to the raw jam session, while others wait eagerly.
The night's line-up includes hip-hop DJs and another local band, but most people are here to witness The Brother Moves On for the first time.
The Brother Moves On aren't getting airplay on mainstream radio stations and they haven't released an extended play or debut album. But their live performances have created the kind of excitement that's been lacking in Johannesburg's music scene since the arrival of the Blk Jks.
That's why I'm at the Bassline to meet The Brother Moves On. And after months of hearing praise for them, I feelbehind the beat.
"We're a union for artists, sort of like Cosatu but with a better anthem and new-age struggle songs," jokes Siya Mthembu, the band's frontman.
"We've been planning a strike, a strike of the arts," he continues as he introduces me to the other six band mates.
They chat about our generation's sense of entitlement and the lack of employment, but they do so with wit, making these serious topics sociable.
They're a conceptual bunch and they apply the same unconventional thinking to their music.
It's getting them a lot of attention, but it's also causing some confusion; no one really knows how to describe them or what they do.
"We're not an African funk, tribal rock or Afrospiritual band. We're not a band at all. We're an art collective," says Mthembu.
"We have seven founding members who form the rhythm section and about five dancers and performance artists. Sometimes we all perform and at other times it's just the rhythm section," explains drummer Simphiwe Tshabalala.
They recently shot a live music DVD at the SABC - a strange move for a band without an album, but a justifiable one for a performance art group.
"Our music speaks of the diverse situations we find ourselves in as artists and as a generation. But our collective is constantly changing. New brothers join and others leave. This is a big part of our aesthetic because our sound and performances evolve in the same way," says Raytheon Moorvan, the guitarist.
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