Virgin South Africa have expressed their desire to sign Fetish. Lauren Shantall charts the band’s rapid rise
The first time I saw Fetish, at their second-ever gig, they were decidedly terrible. Now, they’re the first and only local band so far to have been offered a recording contract with the recently formed Virgin South Africa. But the Virgin contract is merely the whipped cream topping on my rather large slice of humble pie, because the band quickly acquired a different and undeniably powerful vocalist, some much needed polish, and racked up radio play that’s had me eating my words ever since.
And with a new drummer, a new direction, and poised as they are on the brink of an extensive nationwide tour, I’ve no choice but to reach for my proverbial cake fork yet again.
The band will definitely be touring, but should they sign with Virgin, they’ll be marrying into an international family which already spans the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Europe. A group whose members include big names like the Chemical Brothers, David Bowie, Blur, Iggy Pop, Lenny Kravitz, the Smashing Pumpkins, as well as the outright commercial phenomenon, the Spice Girls.
Virgin Records was started in the early Seventies by maverick entrepreneur Richard Branson, but the extensive Virgin Music Group and its worldwide subsidiaries were bought by Britain’s record giants Thorn EMl in June 1992.
It’s an interesting move that Virgin South Africa, similarly affiliated to EMI, chose Fetish as their first potential signing here. Especially in a local market where CD sales are often driven by exposure through rock festivals and live jols. Fetish are hardly thumping rhythm-mongers. They jokingly pride themselves on not being a get-up-and-dance band.
Virgin could easily have gone with a band purveying the more readily marketable rock/pop that propelled Just Jinger to platinum. Instead they’ve placed their faith in a group that has gradually gained recognition and a converted, if small, following among largely white audiences, and may still be virtually unknown in the much larger black market.
So why Fetish then? Virgin are obviously confident in the band’s talent and in its ability to transcend the limited club circuit. For Karl Anderson, Virgin SA’s marketing manager, this constitutes an understatement. In a word, Fetish are ”fabulous”. Virgin first became interested in the group after seeing them gig in Gauteng earlier this year, and if Anderson’s enthusiasm is anything to go by, they are more than excited about the prospect of working with them.
Until now, the band have remained independent, funding their debut CD themselves. While they only made 1 000 copies of the lovingly packaged Fetish (covered in tie-dyed, gold-embossed material) and not all of these have been sold, it still bodes well for the local industry that a major label like Virgin is keen to back a band that has remained somewhat outside of mainstream success.
In any case, as the errant anti- monopolist, Richard Branson, who first rocketed Virgin Records into popular consciousness with another seemingly unlikely choice, says: ”It was the Sex Pistols that put us on the map, and others then followed.” Which is not to say we can expect another salacious rendition of God save the Queen from the Cape Town band. At least not yet. But judging by Fetish’s new demo and the haunting intensity of its single Constant, and the remake of the earlier Blue Blanket, there are very promising things to come.
The band has matured to the point where it can leave the nest of its fledgling sounds and move into a more electronically biased, multi-layered haze – the kind that makes their densely textured revisit of Blue Blanket far outstrip its original. Where the first album is occasionally marred when the full-throated, arresting vocals are met with a too thin accompaniment; here, the sound is fleshed out. The results are obvious. The demo ”took us in that new direction we’ve been wanting to go”, says bassist Jeremy Daniel, and was produced by Brian O’Shey who also worked with Sugardrive and Amersham.
Audiences will be more familiar with the hit Never Enough which took the album to the 10th slot on 5fm charts at the end of last year. At that stage the band comprised Daniel (bass), Michelle Breeze (vocals and lyrics), David Fiene (keyboard), Croc-E Moses (drums) and Dominic Forrest (guitar). Ross Campbell, who replaced Moses three months ago, also plays for another local band, Benguela, and has drummed up extensive experience with Urban Creep and Landscape Prayers.
Although Fetish toyed with idea of using purely electronic beats, according to lyricist and singer Breeze, ”Ross’s drumming is geared to Nineties beats” as opposed to rock drumming, which makes him an apt choice for the atmospheric, often ephemeral electronic/rock crossover the band are trying to achieve.
It’s music that draws from a diverse range of influences, taking strong leads from bands like Portishead, Massive Attack and Radiohead. While audiences will get to hear their new songs when the tour kicks off in Johannesburg on Friday November 13, there are plans to record and release an EP in January 1999. That’s if the relationship with Virgin is consummated.
Although the band members are keeping excruciatingly mum about the details of their proposed coupling with Virgin, they are candid about their current position. Although they’ve managed independently so far, says Fiene, ”in my opinion this [offer] just gets us on the ladder”. Well, they have come an impressive way in two-and-a-half years. Now, however, they’re ready to climb the next rung of success. Whether or not they do for EMI what Sid Vicious did for Dick Branson, they’ll doubtless put the South African branch on the map, while conquering virgin territory all of their own.
Fetish are playing alongside the Honeymoon Suites and the Firing Squad at the Ruby in the Dust in Cape Town on Saturday October 17.