PUBLISHED

An article I wrote for Varsity which is the official UCT newspaper. Snaps for getting published and feeling mildy like a real writer.

It starts with a dream of being a rock star

Let’s be honest: we all desired, at some point in our childhood, to be in a band. Either that or we have attempted to form one, which usually fails horribly and ends up only looking like four kids banging on tins and singing notes that don’t even exist.

There are, however, those few lucky children whose rock-star dreams come true and who grow up ready to tackle the music industry.  The members of Bicycle Thief, a pop-rock band that has recently emerged from the quiet southern suburbs are among those lucky children who are now all grown up and trying to make a name for themselves and their music.

The band was formed in 2009 by three friends who enjoyed writing songs together. They managed to find themselves a drummer, and they were ready to show off their music to Cape Town. Front-man Tim Lester says: “We’re not necessarily the best musicians, but we’re songwriters, and we want people to hear our songs.”

Well, people definitely will be hearing their songs, because they will be holding the launch party for the release of their new EP on Saturday, March 24th at Mercury Live.
With their music being influenced by the likes of Coldplay, Kings of Leon, Biffy Clyro and local band aKing, their sound has received good feedback from fans, but the road is far from smooth.

Every unsigned local band will tell you that breaking into the Cape Town music industry is no easy task. Although the gig scene is significantly bigger than Johannesburg and Durban’s, “it still feels as if you hit a ceiling”, says Tim. “You can play at Ramfest, Synergy, Mercury and Assembly, but once you have played at Assembly you have essentially ‘made it’. Then what? How do you get bigger?”

There is no support structure for the independent music industry in South Africa. The market is just too small, so bands like Bicycle Thief really have to work hard at getting people to “take a chance on [them]”. They’re hoping that the release of the EP and the chance to play more shows will generate more support from fans and from gig venues like Assembly.

Their music is definitely distinguishable – because not many English rock bands have emerged from the southern suburbs – and they try to keep their sound as “South African” as possible. With an excessive number of indie bands to have graced the Cape Town music scene, Bicycle Thief is definitely going to stand out from the crowd.

So what lies ahead for this group?  “Well, of course I would love for us to go international, but first and foremost we want to make it in South Africa,” says Tim, who has dreams of headlining festivals like Ramfest, Synergy and Oppikoppi and going on tour with Zebra and Giraffe. The band also wants to start music workshops, which they will eventually introduce into the townships, and create better infrastructure for music in this country so that other local bands don’t feel they have to leave.

Thank goodness for childhood dreams of wanting to be rock stars. Sometimes, just sometimes, those dreams turn into great bands