Zebra & Giraffe
Encyclopedia
Zebra & Giraffe is an alternative rock
band from South Africa
. The band's debut album, Collected Memories, was released on 5 May 2008.
at Midrand High School, which he graduated in 1999. Carlin first realised his passion for music after receiving a drum kit
as a gift at the age of twelve. While at school, Carlin played in a short-lived band called MSG (1997–1999) – the name of an additive found in food products they took off a chip packet. After school, he went on to study Fine Arts at South African university Tuks
from 2001–2004, and also completed his honours degree, though he did not pursue fine art further.
During his time at university, Carlin took singing lessons for several months and bought tutorial CDs from the US. While at university, Carlin was the bassist and vocalist for the band White Lie (2004–2005), a side project of the punk
band Remedy. In spite of a radio hit called "Runaway", the band’s run was brief and they broke up because the other band members wanted to focus on their university studies, the band was going nowhere anyway, so Greg called it a day. After varsity, Carlin decided to travel and on his return worked intermittently as a contractor at Standard Bank
during 2005 to 2007. He taught himself the guitar
(his favourite instrument), as well as piano
/keyboard
, bass
and drums (the only instrument he was ever trained in).
Carlin was, for a while, an employee of record label, Just Music, where he handled the digital side of the business. He approached the head of the label, Karl Anderson, with a demo of his work and was offered a record deal.
"The Knife" was chosen as the album's first single, and Carlin enlisted South African cinematographer
Rob Malpage and producer Warwick Allan to make the music video
. Warwick had a concept for the video, but had not heard the song; they soon got together and adapted the concept to suit the song. The Knife was #1 for 3 weeks on the Hi5@5 on 5FM and was also #1 for 5 weeks on the PUKFM charts. It went to #1 on other South African campus stations. The video was #1 for a couple of weeks on the MK Top10 music videos in South Africa. The release of the album and the national success of "The Knife" meant the band were "causing quite a stir" according to Music Industry Online.
At this point, Carlin needed to find additional members in order to enable the band to perform live. Though he was reluctant to assemble a touring group, he recruited Alan Shenton (guitar), Andrew Maskell (bass), Rob Davidson (keyboards) and Darren Leader (drums). "Arm Yourself", the second single from Collected Memories, as well as its music video (again directed by Allan) was released in August 2008. The third single released by Z&G is the hit "Oxymoron," for which an HD stop motion video was shot by the bands still photographer, Marcus Maschwitz and directed & edited by band members, Greg Carlin and Alan Shenton. In January 2009 they released "Running Faster," followed by "In My Eyes," "Fight! Fight! Fight!" and "Pariahs." In total, 'Collected Memories' produced 7 Top 10 singles and achieved numerous # 1’s on the biggest National and College Radio stations around South Africa
.
The supported the release of "The Inside" around South Africa in October 2010. They visited: Johannesburg
, Pretoria
, Durban
, Bloemfontein
, East London, Port Elizabeth, Grahamstown
, Knysna
, Stellenbosch, and finished up in Cape Town
) on a nationwide tour, "O’ The Places You’ll Go". The tour encompassed performances in various South African cities including Pretoria
(Tshwane), Johannesburg
, Stellenbosch, Cape Town
, George
, Knysna
, Port Elizabeth, East London and Durban
. The band played at the 2009 Coke Zero Festival, a music festival that took place in Johannesburg on 10 April 2009, and in Cape Town on 13 April 2009 with headliners Snow Patrol, Oasis, and Panic at the Disco. The 5 piece band travelled to Nairobi, Kenya in August 2009 to perform at the MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA's) where they performed with South African rapper, D.A LES, combining the hit singles "The Knife" and D.A LES's "Fire." In 2009 they supported indie rock
band, The Killers on the South African leg of their Day & Age tour in Johannesburg
on 3, 4 December 2009 and in Cape Town
on 6 December 2009. Z&G will be supporting the release of "The Inside" around South Africa in October 2010. In May of 2011 the 5 piece travelled to Los Angeles to perform at Passport Approved's Muse Expo In August of 2011 the band embarked on a nationwide tour entitled "The Haal Asem Kwagga Toer" with fellow afrikaans rockers Van Coke Kartel
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band from South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. The band's debut album, Collected Memories, was released on 5 May 2008.
Greg Carlin
Carlin grew up in Midrand, a suburb outside Johannesburg, South Africa where he attended Irene Primary School before progressing to high schoolHigh school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
at Midrand High School, which he graduated in 1999. Carlin first realised his passion for music after receiving a drum kit
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
as a gift at the age of twelve. While at school, Carlin played in a short-lived band called MSG (1997–1999) – the name of an additive found in food products they took off a chip packet. After school, he went on to study Fine Arts at South African university Tuks
University of Pretoria
The University of Pretoria is a multi campus public research university located in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa...
from 2001–2004, and also completed his honours degree, though he did not pursue fine art further.
During his time at university, Carlin took singing lessons for several months and bought tutorial CDs from the US. While at university, Carlin was the bassist and vocalist for the band White Lie (2004–2005), a side project of the punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band Remedy. In spite of a radio hit called "Runaway", the band’s run was brief and they broke up because the other band members wanted to focus on their university studies, the band was going nowhere anyway, so Greg called it a day. After varsity, Carlin decided to travel and on his return worked intermittently as a contractor at Standard Bank
Standard Bank
The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited is one of South Africa's largest financial services groups. It operates in 30 countries around the world, including 17 in Africa.-History:...
during 2005 to 2007. He taught himself the guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
(his favourite instrument), as well as piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
/keyboard
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and drums (the only instrument he was ever trained in).
Carlin was, for a while, an employee of record label, Just Music, where he handled the digital side of the business. He approached the head of the label, Karl Anderson, with a demo of his work and was offered a record deal.
Collected Memories
Carlin produced the band's debut album, Collected Memories, with Darryl Torr from Dear Reader. The album was released on 5 May 2008. Nils van der Linden of Iafrica.com described the album as "the kind of slick but dark electro rock you'd expect a fan of New Order and Joy Division to make"."The Knife" was chosen as the album's first single, and Carlin enlisted South African cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
Rob Malpage and producer Warwick Allan to make the music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
. Warwick had a concept for the video, but had not heard the song; they soon got together and adapted the concept to suit the song. The Knife was #1 for 3 weeks on the Hi5@5 on 5FM and was also #1 for 5 weeks on the PUKFM charts. It went to #1 on other South African campus stations. The video was #1 for a couple of weeks on the MK Top10 music videos in South Africa. The release of the album and the national success of "The Knife" meant the band were "causing quite a stir" according to Music Industry Online.
At this point, Carlin needed to find additional members in order to enable the band to perform live. Though he was reluctant to assemble a touring group, he recruited Alan Shenton (guitar), Andrew Maskell (bass), Rob Davidson (keyboards) and Darren Leader (drums). "Arm Yourself", the second single from Collected Memories, as well as its music video (again directed by Allan) was released in August 2008. The third single released by Z&G is the hit "Oxymoron," for which an HD stop motion video was shot by the bands still photographer, Marcus Maschwitz and directed & edited by band members, Greg Carlin and Alan Shenton. In January 2009 they released "Running Faster," followed by "In My Eyes," "Fight! Fight! Fight!" and "Pariahs." In total, 'Collected Memories' produced 7 Top 10 singles and achieved numerous # 1’s on the biggest National and College Radio stations around South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
The Knife EP
In May 2010, Zebra & Giraffe launched their first International release – a 5 Track EP called ‘The Knife’. The EP, which features selected tracks from their debut ‘Collected Memories’, was mixed in London at Metropolis Studios by the acclaimed producer / mixer Cenzo Townshend. Townshend is famous for his work with bands like Editors, Florence and The Machine, Snow Patrol and U2. ‘The Knife’ EP includes the singles – ‘Oxymoron’, (mixed by Ken Lewis) ‘The Knife’, ‘In My Eyes’, ‘Arm Yourself’ and ‘Fight! Fight! Fight!’, and will be released internationally in May 2010.The Inside
Zebra & Giraffe released their 2nd long player in South Africa on 27 September 2010. Production began on this album in May of the same year. The majority of the album was recorded at RBF Studios in Johannesburg. The album was once again produced by Darryl Torr, and this time around mixed by Cenzo Townshend. Three different versions of the album will be released on the same date. A standard edition, a deluxe edition with a DVD documentary on the 'making of The Inside' album & video, and a 3rd edition with the Knife EP attached, also mixed by Cenzo Townshend. The album was written by Greg Carlin, Alan Shenton, and Darren Leader. Once again, Warwick Allan was recruited to direct & edit a video for the title track "The Inside."The supported the release of "The Inside" around South Africa in October 2010. They visited: Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
, Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
, Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.Bloemfontein is popularly and...
, East London, Port Elizabeth, Grahamstown
Grahamstown
Grahamstown is a city in the Eastern Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa and is the seat of the Makana municipality. The population of greater Grahamstown, as of 2003, was 124,758. The population of the surrounding areas, including the actual city was 41,799 of which 77.4% were black,...
, Knysna
Knysna
Knysna is a town with 76,431 inhabitants in the Western Cape Province of South Africa and is part of the Garden Route. It lies 34 degrees south of the equator, and is 72 kilometres east from the town of George on the N2 highway, and 25 kilometres west of Plettenberg Bay on the same road.-History:A...
, Stellenbosch, and finished up in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
2012
The band has been back in studio writing and recording some new material. It is not yet clear how and when this material will be released.Live performances
In August and September 2008, Z&G played with pop folk band Dear Reader (formerly known as Harris TweedHarris Tweed (band)
Dear Reader is an alternative/pop band from Johannesburg, South Africa. The band was founded in 2006 by singer-songwriter Cherilyn MacNeil and producer/bass player, Darryl Torr...
) on a nationwide tour, "O’ The Places You’ll Go". The tour encompassed performances in various South African cities including Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
(Tshwane), Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, Stellenbosch, Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, George
George, Western Cape
George is a city with 203,253 inhabitants in South Africa's Western Cape province. The city is a popular holiday and conference centre and the administrative and commercial hub of the Garden Route.- Location :...
, Knysna
Knysna
Knysna is a town with 76,431 inhabitants in the Western Cape Province of South Africa and is part of the Garden Route. It lies 34 degrees south of the equator, and is 72 kilometres east from the town of George on the N2 highway, and 25 kilometres west of Plettenberg Bay on the same road.-History:A...
, Port Elizabeth, East London and Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
. The band played at the 2009 Coke Zero Festival, a music festival that took place in Johannesburg on 10 April 2009, and in Cape Town on 13 April 2009 with headliners Snow Patrol, Oasis, and Panic at the Disco. The 5 piece band travelled to Nairobi, Kenya in August 2009 to perform at the MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA's) where they performed with South African rapper, D.A LES, combining the hit singles "The Knife" and D.A LES's "Fire." In 2009 they supported indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band, The Killers on the South African leg of their Day & Age tour in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
on 3, 4 December 2009 and in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
on 6 December 2009. Z&G will be supporting the release of "The Inside" around South Africa in October 2010. In May of 2011 the 5 piece travelled to Los Angeles to perform at Passport Approved's Muse Expo In August of 2011 the band embarked on a nationwide tour entitled "The Haal Asem Kwagga Toer" with fellow afrikaans rockers Van Coke Kartel
Van Coke Kartel
Van Coke Kartel is an Afrikaans punk rock band from Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa.-Band history:Francois Van Coke and Wynand Myburgh formed Van Coke Kartel with drummer Justin Kruger after Fokofpolisiekar went on hiatus in 2007...
Awards
- MTV Africa Music Awards 2009MTV Africa Music Awards 2009The 2nd MTV Africa Music Awards were held on October 10, 2009 at the gymnasium of the Moi International Sports Centre complex in Nairobi, Kenya and were hosted by Haitian-American artist Wyclef Jean.- Performers :There were several performers, such as:...
- Best Alternative (Won) - South African Music Awards 2009 - Best Rock (Won)
- South African Music Awards 2011 - Best Rock (Nomiated)
External links
- Zebra & Giraffe official website
- Zebra & Giraffe MySpace page
- Zebra & Giraffe Facebook page
- Zebra & Giraffe YouTube page
Reviews
- Zebra & Giraffe at Sonicbids.com
- Review of Collected Memories at Modern Optimist
- Review of Collected Memories at Speakerbox
- "Zebra and Giraffe @ Klein Libertas Teater", SA Music Blog, 16 September 2008.
- "Zebra and Giraffe Interview about, well, zebras, giraffe’s and being kicked out of a zoo", SA Music Blog, 21 August 2008.