It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you The Old Timers from South Africa. Lead Vocalist Dave Emerson is someone I count as a dear friend and so to be able to turn the spotlight on his band and the work he is involved in so far away from the land of his birth is really something special.
Dave and Don kindly agreed to do an interview with Soundtrack4Life.
And also on iTunes
So the big
question that has to be asked is how on earth did the band ever get together
seeing that you are based in different countries?
OT: Don and
Dave met through a mutual friend in Cape Town. Dave and family took a holiday
in Don's home town, Port Elizabeth, in early 2011. Things went a bit pear
shaped so Don and family offered Dave and his family a place to stay...looking back we
can see this was God's plan all along because that time just sealed their
friendship. Both guys are big into punk and the JCHC (Jesus Christ Hardcore) movement. Later that year
Don sent some tunes over to Dave which he loved and offered to put vocals over.
This became The Old-timers demo. Our friend Dusty over at Caustic Fallout loved
the demo and was keen to help us put out an album. He contacted friends at
Veritas Vinyl and Thumper Punk Records and the three labels agreed to do a full
length co-release. At that point in time Matt Lagusis was playing drums for
another Thumper Punk Records band, False Idle, and agreed to join team
Old-timer as well! That is how our line-up was formed!
How
difficult did that make it when the recording of the album began? How exactly
did you do it?
OT: The
distances involved did make things a little difficult but modern technology
helped us a ton. Dave lives just outside Cape Town, 12 hours from Don in Port
Elizabeth and countless miles from Matt, who lives in California. Added to that
our mixing guy, Sef Idle (uniSef, False Idle), lives in Idaho and it was
Mastered by Lan in North Carolina. So the internet played a huge role in
putting the album together. Basically Don writes and records the music in Port
Elizabeth, it's send over to the states for Matt to record drums too, mixed a
bit and send to Dave who records vocals and sends the tracks back to the mixing
studio. All the mixing is done by Sef and once we've all listened it over and
approved it Lan masters. Its time consuming but very satisfying once it's
finished.
Christian
Punk Music is something that various elements within the Church frown upon. Why
do you think it’s important that people see that at the heart of all you are
seeking to do is the glorification of God’s name?
OT: This is
something that is super close to our hearts and forms one of the three main
purposes of this band – 1) To Glorify God 2) To Bless People & 3) To have
fun while doing 1 & 2!! We also named our album 'Soli Deo Gloria' because it
means 'To God alone be the glory' and we hope our band and music does just that
– brings God glory. So yea this is really important to us! We've both grown up
facing opposition to punk from Christians but our argument is that, like every
aspect of music, culture and the arts, punk can be redeemed and used for the
advancement of the Gospel and God's glory. There are of course certain aspects
of the punk lifestyle and mentality that do not fit this purpose but we feel
that just as sports, fine art, pop music and fashion can be arenas for
Christian outreach, so we can take something we love (punk in this case) and do
it in ways which honour God. That's what we're doing with The Old-timers and we
hope it's pretty clear to any who would oppose us. All we are doing is taking
Paul's advice and 'becoming all things to all men, that by all possible means
we might save some' (2 Corinthians 9:22). So far we have not experienced any
opposition from Christian or secular circles which we are pretty stoked about.
I like the
idea that any proceeds from the sale of the CD go towards Dave’s missionary
work in South Africa. Do you want to share a little bit about that?
Dave: I
feel super priviledged to serve my God and King in a full time capacity, there
is really no way I'd rather spend my time. I moved here to Paarl with my lovely
wife Vicky and our young son Elijah in late 2009. We've since had another son
as well. So the four of us are here serving at a small but growing church plant
and helping with various community outreaches. We work with some of the most
poor and desperate people groups in the area such as the homeless, local prison
inmates, prostitutes and underpriviledge kids at a rural school. We live fully
by faith, all of our financial provision has to come from outside of South
Africa due to the kind of visas we have. God has taught us a great deal about
trusting Him in the almost three years that we've been here – He has never
allowed us to go without. So the support that comes in from the CD release will
help us to continue in the mission that God has us on here. We're always
thankful for the awesome provision of our loving Father.
In your
press release regarding the album you mentioned a number of bands that you have
been influenced by would you like to expand on that a little? What do you make of some of the other
Christian Punk bands that are out playing shows and releasing music, like MxPx for example and also someone
like Haley Williams of Paramore (I know they are more poppy Punk than you guys
but I’d still value your thoughts).
OT: We all
have very diverse and eclectic musical tastes but our focus as The Old-timers
was really to create hardcore punk and hence our list of influences were more
of that sort. Don was involved in the first wave of punk in South Africa which
was very much of the anarcho persuasion, so this comes through in our tunes,
Crass still being very much an influence. Dave cut his teeth on pop-punk but
came to love the 80's 'american hardcore' sound much more. This was what he was
aiming for in his vocals and so obviously Minor Threat were an influence here,
since they are the architype. That said we have tried as far as our genre
permits to bring something fresh rather than spitting out another copy and
paste hardcore punk album. Not sure how well we achieved that!
We love MxPx, their legendary. Pop
punk isn't our cup of tea but we don't hate it, a number of our lable mates on
Thumper Punk are more poppy than we are and we support and love 'em. I think
we'd just say whatever music you love go make it but be sure to do it for God's
glory and not from a selfish motive.
You seem to
value a more hardcore punk approach to music rather than a more traditional
punk sound (favoured by bands like UK Subs etc). Is there any reason for that
or is it just the best way in your mind. It’s like a short sharp shock
listening to the album with only one song going over three minutes (‘Family
Prayer’ – which is not quite what you expect to hear in a punk song!) and the
rest are like this assault on the senses because they are so fast, how vital
then are the lyrics? I noticed you are pretty upfront with your faith when it
comes to the lyrics. Is that important or should we just listen to the music?
OT: Yea we
just prefer our punk short, fast and hard. It's all we've got! The music may be
abrassive and obnoxiously fast but the lyrics are definitely important to us.
We sing about life and Jesus is a big part of our lives. We've found in Him all
the meaning for our lives and eternal salvation...we want to share this with
every person we can. We'd like for everyone who hears The Old-timers to be
impacted by Christ, we pray that our lyrics would be words of life for thirsty
souls.
Best Punk
band you have ever seen?
Dave:
Flatfoot 56 at Cornerstone (20mins from their set this year at the festival) this year. There were several thousand people and
the circle pit was basically the whole tent. They had a seven foot water slide
off the stage into the crowd which was probably the most frightening thing I've
ever done. Lots and lots of fun at that show
Don:
Fuzigish. South Africa's no.1 punk ska band. These guys attract huge crowds and
you garenteed to get a show from the guys as each guy is a real character to
boot. They have an energy that is worldclass, and their moshpit inducing punk
rock are meat grinders.
One band
you always wished that you could see live?
Dave: I'd
really love to see The Chariot, I just keep hearing about how amazing they are
live.
Top Five
Punk albums?
Dave: It's
so hard to only pick five, I mean there are just so many great records out
there. But I guess these are the five that I've been most influenced by 1) Hit
The Deck - Look Alive. 2) Our Corpse Destroyed – Strength To Strength. 3) The
Deal – Cutthroat. 4) One21 – When The Dragon Is Finally Laid To Rest. 5) The
Redemption Song – Confessions
Don: As
Dave said, to pick 5 is near impossible, but I will list the first 5 that come
to mind. 1)Streetdogs - Street Dogs 2)The Jam - In the city 3) X-ray Spex
- Germfree Adolescents 4) Officer
Negative - Dead To The World 5) Crucified - The Pillars of Humanity
What is
your Soundtrack4Life? (A ten or twelve song compilation that reflects songs
that have made and continue to make an influence on your life).
Dave: This
is not in order of priority, just as my scattered brain picked 'em out...
2. Voice Of
The Mysterons – We are the death of God movement
5. Hit The
Deck – Just Enough
10. Five
Iron Frenzy – Everywhere I Go
Don: Much
the same as Dave, its not in any priority.
2.
Anti-Hell Society - I believe in God
4.
CircleOne - Gospel
7. Knights
of the New Crusade - Witness
8. Manafest
- Come Alive
As for The Old Timers album, well it does exactly what it says on the tin! It's hard and fast Punk Rock infused with Biblical pronouncements and passion for One higher than themselves. Go and Get It Now!
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