I arrive at the very swanky 15 On Orange hotel to find three quarters of radio stars MonArk relaxing in the restaurant area. With Coke cans and half-full glasses of water littering the table, it was immediately clear that they had been there for a while. In Cape Town for a quick 3 day media run promoting the deluxe version of their debut album “Negatives”, the constant promo has taken its toll. Like that giddy giggling state you reach after too many hours without sleeping, Eugene Coetzer (vocals, percussion) Ewald Jansen van Rensburg (guitar, synth) and Deon de Klerk (bass) were past the point of taking things seriously, and it makes for an incredibly open and honest conversation..
MonArk has a really unique story when it comes to success. After they released ‘Smiling’ back in 2013 they shot to commercial stardom with pretty much every single they released, topping the charts across radio stations in the country. Throw in three SAMA nominations, an MK award win for Best Newcomer and a #1 album on iTunes on the day of its release, and you have what most would call a successful career. So why re-release the album that has already done so well? After an hour of many tangents and deep moments, I got to the bottom of this.
“In retrospect, you reflect and it’s great, but when you’re in it you never really get to enjoy anything,” Jansen Van Rensburg says about their journey so far. “It all comes down to what your goals are, and what they were. Being nominated for a SAMA isn’t necessarily a prime goal when you start out. You just want to record something that you love,” he continues. “It kind of goes in circles, ’cause you start with that, and then you become obsessed with doing the best you can possibly do. And then after a year of that you come back to the original thing: love the music, flippin’ focus on that. Enjoy what you are doing. Half a year back we were very rarely in the moment at all. You get to play awesome shows and see great places, but you don’t feel it.”
It was interesting to see and hear them speak that way, given that what they have built is what so many young bands want. But as always, “show business” isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be. Their measure of success has changed drastically once again. “For us as a band the only real measure is the type of shows we play and the amount of people who are actually willing to buy tickets to listen to our music live. As long as that curve kind of stays like that,” De Klerk says, motioning upwards, “Then we feel like we can keep on doing what we’re doing.” They are pouring all their time and resources into doing just that, constantly upping their game so that their live act is as good as it can be. “We want to pour more emotion into our live act and play at places where people can just breathe a little bit instead of jamming hit after hit,” Coetzer says slamming his fist into his palm.
“It’s sort of a corny thing to say, but it’s still the truth. When you become so aware of what people want and their concept of what you should be and what you should achieve, what you are writing about, what the songs are about gets lost in there somewhere,” Coetzer admits.
It’s at this point that I noticed their slick haircuts and polished outfits. When I interviewed them a year ago, their charming boyish looks were endearingly carefree, now they kind of look like they’ve stepped off the set of a fashion magazine, and I can’t help but wonder if some of that original authenticity has been lost in success. “The most powerful times were when you were actually just true to yourself,” Coetzer adds, as if reading my mind.
Success is of course a good thing though, and when it all happens so quickly one naturally reaches a point of taking stock and looking back before moving onto the next step. The deluxe edition of “Negatives” is just that. “It was a great thing that we accomplished so much in a short while, it’s awesome, but one of the down sides is that a lot of people are only really coming on board now. People are joining the movement and creating this crazy wave now. We didn’t just want to lose that content and move onto the next project though, so we are using this wave and introducing all these people to our stuff,” Coetzer explains.
“When we released ‘Negatives’ last year, we were very young in terms of exposure on the scene, the live show circuit, social media following and just fans in general,” De Klerk adds, before continuing, “In the past year, slowly but surely that’s been built up with a lot of hard work. So we’re at a point where we feel maybe Negatives should actually have been released now. This might have been the best time.” Their willingness to admit to these things is touching and refreshingly honest.
Throughout the interview I sense a heavy burden of regret, and though every sentence had a list of disclaimers so as not to admit things outright, it was clear that they would have done parts of this journey differently. “One thing I would have changed is taking things a little less seriously,” Coetzer admits. The South African industry may not be as crazy as Hollywood, but make no mistake, cash is still king, and though landing your first record deal is probably every young muso’s dream, it could mean the death of your art if you aren’t careful.
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