The violent Hillbrow vibe inspired South Africa’s first industrial CD, conceived and executed by Paul Riekert. He spoke to FRED DE VRIES
TO reach Paul Riekert’s home, you used to have to shake off the skinny prostitutes who positioned themselves in front of his Berea flat. Riekert also advised one to avoid Soper Road, “because that’s where all the heavies hang out”. And just round the corner was the sleazy Breakers Hotel, owned by Staal Burger and frequently mentioned in the ongoing Eugene de Kock trial.
This is the environment (and we haven’t even mentioned the muggings, stabbings and occasional bursts of gunfire in front of his flat) in which Riekert’s Battery 9 project was conceived and executed. Battery 9’s Protskrag album is South Africa’s first industrial CD release, 13 songs that have an undeniable aura of inner-city paranoia and decay to them.
If it wasn’t for Riekert’s twisted sense of humour and the dance beats, the album would have been downright bleak and depressing, the Hillbrow answer to Trent Reznor’s Nine Inch Nails nihilism. Smiles Riekert: “If I ever meet Trent, I’ll tell him to lighten up. There’s so much fun to be had.”
Twenty-six-year-old Riekert has come a long way in a short time. Three years ago he gained small-time fame as the frontman of Joos Tonteldoos en die Dwarstrekkers, who had jumped on the alternative Afrikaner train and will be remembered only for a cassette release and for adding some metal and grunge to the folk and simple rock’n’roll of Koos Kombuis en Johannes Kerkorrel.
After Die Dwarstrekkers split, Riekert bought himself a computer and sampler and translated the violent Hillbrow vibe into discordant gabba techno, using the appropriate name Breinskade (Brain Damage).
Meanwhile, he had completely lost faith in the local music industry. “With Joos Tonteldoos I tried everything to get them interested, sending them demos, inviting them to gigs. But, with the exception of Tusk, I got zero response. They’re scared to be experimental.” The result was the off- beat, low-budget, cassette-only release, Bierbaard. “It only cost me a couple of stiffies, some DAT tapes and a lot of time.”
And then there was Battery 9, another do-it-yourself release on Riekert’s own One-F label, but this time done the professional way. So far 500 copies have been pressed, and new independent label Tic Tic Bang will take care of the nationwide distribution. The whole exercise cost Riekert less than R20 000. And he is understandably proud to have beaten the industry. “I hope I can avoid the local record companies for as long as possible. I wouldn’t mind being signed, but to an overseas label.”
Battery 9’s Protskrag, with lyrics in Afrikaans and English, is a weird album, more William Burroughs than Nine Inch Nails. Fortunately it doesn’t fall into the trap of drab vocals or the peace-and-love-in-the-new-South Africa lyrics that afflict most local releases. Finally here’s someone who dares to shout and groan.
“When I first heard guitar-based industrial, I was quite pissed off that it wasn’t me who had made it,” says Riekert, whose favourite record is Ministry’s live album. “The level of harshness is astonishing. But at the same time it’s so over the top it puts you in a good mood.”
That mixture of musical hooliganism and fun was more or less what he wanted to achieve with Battery 9. Behind the harshness of the techno beats, the metallic guitar, the factory sounds and the distorted vocals, hides a lot of humour. “It’s quite a funny album,” grins Riekert. “It’s about South Africans and South Africa, but it’s mostly
Lucy from the Steakhouse in Delmas and Oom Kosie are the most obvious examples. Oom Kosie is apparently the head of the new music police, who bursts into flats at two in the morning. “And if you have any Whitney Houston, Boys II Men or Kenny G, he chases you out and executes you,” explains Riekert, who has had countless sleepless nights because of his neighbour’s obsession with playing Boys II Men at top volume. “And Lucy from the Steakhouse in Delmas is about a sad waitress in Delmas, 30, not married, looking for a husband. It’s about a platteland femme fatale.”
Now Riekert has moved out of Berea, into Yeoville. He’s in an excellent mood. And not just because he can finally get some sleep at night. He points to a letter on the table. It’s from a British record company, showing serious interest in the Battery 9 project. You can almost hear him think: “Justice at last.”
Protskrag is distributed through Tic Tic Bang (011) 648- 6638. Battery 9 will perform on Saturday June 17 at the Sub Zero rave at the Silos in Pim Street, Newtown