Band member and music writer Dave Chislett gives his view of 5FM’s live sessions
Lately, late night radio listeners will have encountered a treat on 5FM, at 11.30 on Tuesday nights: the TDK Live’n’Loud sessions, on Barney Simon’s South African music explosion slot, have been showcasing the very best in South African rock and pop bands live from the downstairs M5 studios at the SABC.
So far, such luminaries of the rock scene as The Springbok Nude Girls, Sugardrive, Lithium and Scabby Annie, to name but a few, have breezed their way through the maze of underground passages that is the SABC studio complex. Says Anthony Duke, 5FM station manager, “A win-win situation is on the cards for both bands and listeners as we literally put the band live in your living room.”
Duke goes further to say that, “By promoting and developing this burgeoning talent we believe it bodes well for the future of our music industry. 5FM believes there is a vast amount of musical talent in this country, and via these sessions we are striving to take cutting-edge modern rock music to the fans.”
5FM have always prided themselves on their support for the South African music scene, so it is difficult to see why it is only so called “cutting-edge modern rock bands” that are earmarked for playing the sessions, and further, why, if the station is really so keen to “develop this burgeoning talent” and take the music “to the fans”, the sessions are programmed at 11.30 on a weekday night, when most of the fans are in bed, or watching television.
A quick look at the line-up thus far will also reveal that Amersham, Sons of Trout and Binary have all played on the sessions. Hardly cutting-edge modern rock. It would appear rather, that the station is attempting to bolster its reputation for supporting local rock talent while at the same time trying to maintain its middle of the road profile and keep that 25-35 advertisers target market happy.
An uneasy compromise at best, and one that does little to develop anything for the bands by preaching to the converted: anyone who listens to Barney Simon already knows South African music, as he is the one person who has supported the scene unstintingly and with little regard for his listeners’ graph.
The promise of an anti-crime CD, featuring the bands from these sessions, and a 30-second interview with Michelle Constant and Alex Jay the following Sunday, also contributes little to taking the local music industry to a new level. If 5 is truly dedicated to developing local music, why are their DJs, with the notable exception of Simon and Michelle Constant, uniformly uninformed as to what is going on and never to be seen at any function unless they are being paid to appear?
And why, most importantly, are the sessions not placed on daytime radio where any sort of developmental angle can have some real impact? It is all very easy to use sponsors’ money to place a show on air that doesn’t turn much revenue and then crow about how well one supports South African music.
But the truth is that most of the bands who appear on these sessions have struggled and will struggle to get playlisted on 5FM, receive little or no support from the bulk of the station in the way of knowledgeable criticism and generally are forced into playing a bad slot on late night radio to a small audience in the name of brilliant publicity.
It may all look nice on the official press release and letterhead, but in reality, the bands get very little out of this deal. If 5FM want to be taken seriously in their efforts to support “The Very Best in SA Music” they would do well to be a little more pro-active in their work.