“The Sound is what defines music for me. Everyone has a sound that means something to them, so when you think “The Sound”, think of what you are hearing when you are listening to your favourite piece of music. It’s what pushes a lump into your throat and tears into your eyes, or what makes you jump around on your bed making you feel like you can conquer the world, or maybe a sound that makes you feel like you are not alone. It’s also a reminder to myself of what I am looking for and what drives me.” That’s why I am known as the Sound.

Raffael Rueckert is a DJ/Producer/remix artist from Cape Town. He’s remixed many of South Africa’s top alternative artists like AKING, Kid of Doom, Desmond and the Tutus to name a few.

His many projects include being a part of an electro synth-rock band called Tigerstrike, as well as being a part of a live act representing the individual and collaborative work of CoDeC and The Sound known as LAN.

He started out making music as “I’ve always been amazed at how different songs could create different feelings. When I started playing I realised that I could now make my own sounds that made me feel things; since then I’ve been hooked on creating and playing music, it’s like something I have to do, something inside me. I tried stopping once, which was terrible, I was so miserable.” He says reflectively “when I was a kid when my parents bought me a keyboard for my birthday. I’d sit for hours and figure out the melodies of any song I could remember, and even making up my own ones. I remember jamming away for hours trying out different combinations of beats, melodies and chords, I loved it so much!”

He knew the guys from LAN and Tigerstrike “through the skate/rock scene a few years back. Gerald (CoDeC) and I used to play together in a band called New World Inside which later became Fokofpolisiekar. Brett (from Tigerstrike) and I met in Joburg while on tour with one of my first punk bands. I only knew Jonathan and Chris vaguely until we started being in a band.”

He doesn’t have a favourite artist to remix as “every remix is different and they are all cool in their own ways. Some come together very quickly, like in one session even, others could end up taking a month, but it’s always new and interesting and fun.”

“It gets a bit crazy being in 2 bands as well as remixing songs” I am always really busy rehearsing, recording, remixing, DJing, photo shoots or promoting. It is a good kind of crazy though, doing something you love!”

“There’s new stuff happening all the time… a new Tigerstrike track has just been recorded, which will hopefully be released as a single along with a music video, so that’s coming up next, as well as more shows for Tigerstrike in September and October. I’ve also been very focused on the technical setup of LAN and promoting CodecVSTheSound and have neglected The Sound a bit, so I’m focusing on that a bit more by getting my music out through twitter and my blog site.”

He would like to expand and hopefully be “a really great producer, someone who can make anything sound really great. I’d like to meet a lot of artists and assist them in reaching their goals, and also help them expand their sound…my dream is to own a warehouse and turn it into a studio / music lounge, perhaps even a live venue. I’d have equipment set up and work on recording and producing artists and bands during the day and partying at night.”
His favourite song that he made with the tow bands he is in, LAN and Tigerstrike, would have to be “Tigerstrike’s Disappear. It’s got that dark angst-driven feel to it, which I love, and the lyrics make sense to me.”

When performing, seeing people enjoying themselves, being part of something and being able to give those people something makes performing worthwhile. The anticipation building up to the show is also really exciting. It’s such a rush feeding off the energy of the crowd-having people sing your lyrics back to you…”

The funniest thing that happened at a shows “more in the rock bands I’ve played in (such as New World Inside) was when people would wipe out due to too much alcohol. I remember certain people having a little too much and then jumping around and falling over while playing. I still laugh out loud when I remember those incidents, it’s really funny. Once while I was DJing some dodgy drunk guy tried to stage dive and everyone just moved out of the way. Luckily he got away with some minor bruises, but the whole thing was really funny…”

For a long time I’ve been a pirate. Yes, I’ll admit to not buying music legally. The thing is, buying music from a physical store is a tiresome process. You’ve got to get in your car, fight the crowds in the mall and then once you actually get into the store you’re left having to deal with a sales attendant who can barely help you. Once you’ve bought the disc I end up ripping it and putting it on my PC/iPod/Phone/Music player and then the CD gets stored on my shelf for posterity. Simply put, buying a CD for me these days is akin to buying a hundred and fifty rand coaster. I tend only to buy the albums from bands that I really want to collect even though I mostly have downloaded that album off Bittorrent two weeks before release anyway.

Being a pirate doesn’t keep me awake at night but I certainly don’t mind paying for decent music and while I couldn’t care if Lars Ulrich has to fly in first class rather than his own private jet, I do feel pretty bad stiffing South African bands out of their money.

A few months ago, the Nokia Music Store was launched and at ten rand a track it was pretty reasonable. Other services go for about sixteen rand a track but the real appeal of the Nokia Music Store was that of buying an album (no matter how many tracks) for a flat hundred bucks. I’ve probably bought three albums and about ten tracks off the service and it’s been fairly excellent in that time.

This previous Thursday I was invited to the launch of the newest extension to the Nokia Music Store, a service called “Comes With Music”. Basically you buy either a Nokia 5130, 5530 or 5630 and you get unlimited music downloads on either the device or one computer that you initially set the phone up on. Considering you get access to over five million tracks on the Nokia Music Store for twelve months, this is worth the price of entrance. I’m not entirely sure of the monthly cost of the other two devices but the 5130 costs a mere R100 a month.

At the event we were given either a 5530 or 5630 to test for an entire year and I chose the touchscreen 5530. Now it only has a 2G Internet connection (there is wi-fi though) but the 5630 is a T9, candybar device which is something I personally don’t like. The touchscreen is a mere (compared to my N97) 2.9-inches but is actually the most responsive Nokia touchscreen I’ve ever used. Needless to say, this beats its predecessor the bigger, more feature-filled 5800 in almost all ways. While the device comes with a stylus I’ve been typing perfectly on its full on-screen keyboard with my fingers. I’m sure it would get tiresome typing like this while on the move but this is more of a touchscreen device issue than a problem with the phone.

While the phone is exceptionally capable it really comes alive with “Comes With Music”. I’ve had this phone for three days now and I’ve burned through about a gig of music downloads. If you consider that for as little as a hundred rand a month you’ve got access to unlimited music. I do actually think this is probably the most revolutionary service to happen to the music industry since the introduction of the CD. Combine “Comes With Music” with a program such as Shazam (that identifies a song just by hearing the audio) and you’ve got the ability to download any song you hear on the radio, TV show or even when you’re out at a party.

Do yourself a favour and get “Comes With Music” if you can, it’ll change the way you consume and enjoy music.

2minutesThis site serves to offer up interviews of people creating change within their industry. First interview is a bumper addition- and extra 3 minutes for free! Neill Blomkamp of District 9. Enjoy!

Moral Fibre Magazine and 2minutes podcast interview with Neill Blomkamp of District9

2minutes’ video interview with Neill Blomkamp of District9.

Find out more about the 2minutes project at http://2minutes.tumblr.com/

There are ironies to be found within every country and by being a South African in France I became aware of just some. I belong to a generation of people who use the word “gay” in place of “lame, stupid, bad” and so on. While this is offensive to most, hurtful to some, and cause for anger to many, it also makes obvious the ignorance of those who say it. While this is ignorant and insensitive, I think the stereotypes that are so easily attached are just as bad. If a well-groomed guy walks down the street here, people often presume that he is gay. If he kisses another guy, be it on the cheek, that presumption becomes accepted fact to most. As a teenage girl, one frequently has to ask oneself the question of “what makes a guy catch your eye?”

When you change continents, this question has to be raised once again. And so I found myself thinking, what is it that makes these French boys so damned attractive? The answer made me laugh, loud and long. It is their culture that refines them to this peak of manhood. The same culture that results in them knowing how to dress so well, and kissing each other on both cheeks when they greet. What stops a guy pulling up his pants, putting on a fitted shirt, and spending time on his hair in this town? Fear that he will be labeled and the need to fit in, either that or the style has allowed for his laziness to come through. Yet, what makes this fact so poignant, is that he would be far more attractive to females were he to do these things. I am not making light of the issue, but rather pointing out to what an extent this ignorance runs, and the complete illogicality of it.  Besides being unfair and wrongful, the stereotypes that are so easily passed out just end up biting us in the backside

With small efforts this ignorance can be stopped in its tracks; explain to a child what gay really means the first time you hear them say it, explain how it could hurt someone when they use it wrongly. When someone uses the word wrongly in front of you, call them on it. Without violence, without anger, simply explain why you don’t find it necessary. Don’t allow yourself to slip into the habit, be aware of the stereotypes so that red flags go up the moment you start making presumptions. That way, not only will you stop prejudice and spare people pain, but you’ll save all female teenagers everywhere from having to see past a person’s lack of culture and style to find something they like.