The Cape Town duo Taleswapper’s debut album is finally in its home stretch. Frontman Donny Truter tells of the band’s origins, goals and processes.
Hello, Donny. How are things?
Things are generally visible most of the time. Sometimes they are cerebral, other times they are pretty much as things are – simply ... things ... Like for instance what is that thing over there ... or, how did they do that one thing? On the odd occasion things can be a thingy. Otherwise, things are just grand – thanks for asking.
At the end of last year, you did a short solo tour in the States. That must’ve been brilliant – what was the experience like? Is it safe to assume you were gooi-ing mostly Taleswapper songs?
It was quite special. A bit of a dream come true. I was in New York City and performed in and around the city – pubs, clubs and the like ... blues joints, dive bars etc. I was performing Taleswapper stuff and stuff I don’t perform under the Taleswapper umbrella. I have a whole host of ballads that nobody really knows. If I had my way I'd just play ballads ... long, epic red-velvet ballads, fecund with winged words, soaked in the black blood of strange occurrences and evil enough to make you feel content in the clasp of hardship. See, NYC is very driven – the people there do not rest for one minute ... If you choose not to mount the current of the New York hustle you will be forgotten ... it’s very inspiring. The work ethic is very attractive. I was lucky enough to perform at some noted venues like Tammany Hall, and to share the stage with names affiliated to TV on the Radio (whom I didn’t know till that night). On my last night in New York I performed an opening set for Lenny K from The Patty Smith Band. So on the whole I think it was not that kak. New Yorkers are a strange collective, though.
You’re no stranger to the local scene in South Africa and the team-up with Jacques from Mr Cat & the Jackal (and Inge from Lark, with whom you’ve played often) for Taleswapper is not that recent a development. What brought the project about – what have you been aiming to achieve and create with Taleswapper?
It started out as a poetry venture. I had been in a heavier, more engine-like group before Taleswapper, as well as performing poetry with different accompaniment when Taleswapper stuff started to rear its head. I was hanging out with Miss Beckmann, smoking cigarettes and drinking slow and playing some of talking blues and picking some folkish stuff and she said, you should perform this. And I said, I think I will. I liked being in a high octane band, but I also like being the master of my own ship. I had so many songs just doing nothing. It was a natural progression. Jacques, Inge and JC Visser were the original members of Taleswapper. When I started performing my work, Andre Geldenhuys was there from day one. He heard the first note I ever played. Now Taleswapper is generally a two-piece. Jacques du Plessis and I. It is a dream to play with him – his understanding of my approach is stellar and he is the most talented person I’ve ever met. He is world-class. I've seen people do what he does in a few countries now and none of them come close. Before he decided to make music with me, we were drinking buddies. Now we have both.
There’s an album due for release soon – how’s that going and sounding? How do you view the value of releasing a physical album, as opposed to regularly posting new tracks online as Taleswapper has been doing up to now?
It’s been somewhat of a process. Some of it is accessible on SoundCloud. The album is coming, is all I can really say. I work with Andrew Winer (Sadhu Sensi) and Jacques. It keeps growing more shadows and that is good, but at the same time we are all extremely busy with ventures of our own and that is delaying the release a bit. I'm happy to let it brew. The album will come this year. I like to release ideas online ... or singles, to use a better word. By doing this you keep the topic open for discussion, like teasers, but when the album is out they will sound larger or more stripped down or a cappella. I like to involve the people who listen to my work in the process, like hey, look what we did this weekend, or here's another number we will perform next week, for instance. At the end of the day it’s music, it’s word, it’s art and it can come from any place and land how it wants to, cyber or solid.
The online tracks sound really diverse, though there is a darkish folk-rock-blues (if a label is at all welcome) golden thread – especially “Poems from Paris” seems to have a strong Tom Waits influence. Where does your love for, and skill regarding, this form of music come from? How do you go about expanding on the field’s giants’ legacy, or is it simply a case of following instinct?
It is instinct. I believe music lives in a realm just above our heads and if you let it in and allow it to roam in your mind and you let it do as it pleases it'll make do with what it finds inside there. I like to write in words. So if the words fit an idea then that is it. Be it blues, folk, rockish etc. I grew up listening to songwriters like Harry Belafonte and Roy Orbison (through my parents’ influence). I would sit and listen to them and write their words down. In fact, I did that with all bands and singers that I listened to. I was obsessed by the combination of word and music. So Tom Waits made me feel like that again when I heard him for the first time, which was as an early teen. I wanted to write a song that was autobiographical in a way, like “Poems from Paris”), and that came out. I sang it lower and gruffer ‘cos I wanted to it sound like the character in the song was older and looking back but at the same time living it like that.
Lots of diverse instruments are employed in the songs. What’s your philosophy regarding minimalism or tapping all possible elements in the execution of songs? Does this differ at all for you regarding live shows versus recordings?
When I write a song on guitar I hear it in my mind in its entirety before I take to the instrument. It may come as a piano piece or cello-driven, or I see the words before there is music, so for me it’s what serves the song or the idea. I like music that is raw, that is not an application or an equation. I like music that is simple and honest and dark, so in a live performance we try to deliver that dark, raw and honest attack. Alternatively, in recording we try to envision what we feel right there and then. We throw it all together and add some rituals and then once it’s all there we start tearing bits off, stitching a few bleeding bits to one another. It’s all approached live, though – I like to sing and play at the same time.
There are some really interesting electronically driven tracks on Soundcloud by a group called The Ghost Quotes, which is described as “A collaboration between Sadhu Sensi and Taleswapper”. What’s going on there? Is it still being pursued?
Yes, most definitely. It’s quite new and started out with the idea of releasing just a song for the heck of it. Then it got snapped up by director Peter Hamblin for a film he is working on and then we decided to do more. We intend to start a live act with this idea this year. We tried to marry a dark electronic sound with an old type of singing style at first, almost like blues meets computers, and tried to make it cinematic at the same time. It’s so fun. We have one brief: make it dark, make it weird. Sadhu Sensi (Andrew Winer) is a very talented producer and has a bright future . He is immersed in music more than most people.
As you’ve been around on the scene for a while and involved in more than one project, what’s your current view, understanding and experience of the alternative music scene in Cape Town and South Africa? What’s good and what’s frustrating about it these days?
Without trying to pass judgement, Cape Town and South Africa have world-class talent and talent not so commendable. There is not enough financial support from those who demand the talent to be on display. At the same time there are those who will support bands to the ends of the earth to keep the evolution producing what’s good. The beauty is that it still keeps producing talent and new acts spring up and impress all the time. New movements, like the psychedelic movement in Cape Town, spin off groups from larger groups and side projects keep this hub alive. Art in any form is evolution of the mind. Without creative or pioneering thought we cannot evolve, we cannot break the boundaries of the ever imminent plague of the mundane and normalcy. We must go see live music. We must pay to get in if there is a cover charge and see the product of our fellow human. If you see a new name on the bill, go and see them. If you like a singer or a guitar player or a drummer or a bass player or any instrument, tell them. Take time to watch them when they work. Listen to what they are trying to say. And give credit where credit is due. Network. Point people who you like or respect in a direction that is good or an avenue you think might suit them. Believe in the power of song and help it live.
What does the near and far future hold for Taleswapper?
Taleswapper is back on the Cape Town scene till at least May, dotted around some festivals maybe. Putting together some interesting bills, plus working on music for film and TV. Writing new stuff for live performance – and then ... when my artist papers arrive for the States I'm off to Nashville, to create a life and working environment for myself there. If my girl likes it.
What is the meaning of life?
Ah, the age-old ancient unanswered question. Who knows, but you can find meaning in life with: a good hat, comfortable clothes, a good book and Guinness. If you don't have a head for a hat or a body for clothes or the ability to read and don't like Irish beer, then water is the answer. On the other hand, you could always try and be kind, approach things with good, do what you can to be a dependable human being to those who you surround yourself with. Life will find a meaning for you if you are simply a good person. Bad people are kak. Don’t be one.
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