I’ve interviewed Arno Carstens so many times now that you’d think he’s got nothing left to tell me. Yet, every time we speak, I learn something new about his songwriting process.
His method as a songwriter is not something I reference lightly either. Arno Carstens is a legendary songwriter, there’s no other way of putting it, and his reputation precedes him.
Following the breakout success of Another Universe, his debut solo venture, and before that, with Springbok Nude Girls, Carstens didn’t really need to prove himself anymore. He’d shown South Africa that he was, undoubtedly, a master of indie-punk-rock. And so early in his career too.
He’d struck gold with timeless tracks like “Blue Eyes”, “Genie” and “Another Universe”, and he could now make, write, create, being in a totally different state of mind.
In fact, I remember him telling me once, “success can become incredibly restrictive, but it’s also freeing.” I might be paraphrasing here, but you get the gist. Cue The Hello Goodbye Boys. An album of untethered experimentation, and perhaps Arno Carstens at his most free.
“The album was about capturing shadows from my surroundings at the time,” he tells me. “We were constantly touring, hence the name.”
Picture this. You’re on the road with your dearest friends, making music, seeing places, faces, always on the move. “Looking back, it was fun just hanging out with the guys and being creative… having that opportunity.”
I think this laid-back approach, if you could call it that, is what makes The Hello Goodbye Boys so light. Opener “Feel It” is just beautiful, and in many ways, with its downtempo acoustics and melancholic strings, could be the sister song to “Another Universe”.
Followed by “Bad City” — a sprawling indie-pop track. It was void of Carstens’ staple hard-rock sound, which he was now fully embracing. His identity as a solo songwriter was taking brilliant shape, and it was congenial, loving, full of warmth.
But, like any good piece of art, it wasn’t really all-solo. “The band was made up of friends from my favourite South African bands at the time,” Arno tells me. “Warren and Kevin Leisure, Brendan Jury, Jerome Reiner and Albert Frost. Brian O’Shy as producer.”
“I remember the vibe as tense excitement,” he continues. “Like a bunch of guys who are about to drive cars way above their pay grade.”
Once again, I keep going back to the spirit of collaboration that underpins this record. And if you listen, you’ll hear it everywhere. “Hole Heart” might sound like a love song at first, and in many ways it is, but it’s also about looking for a whole love, and we all know that the purest form of love is friendship.
I ask Arno what his favourite tracks are from the album, and he tells me, “My prophetic ‘C N End’ has a special place in my heart, and ‘Kites’ too. It was a song that came to me in a dream. For real.”
To make art freely and with love is such a privilege, and I think Arno Carstens tapped into that feeling on his sophomore offering. The Hello Goodbye Boys is a snapshot of life being lived, and that’s what makes this record so vital. It’s not some listless attempt at clinging on to the success of your past. It’s just guys who love each other, doing what they love.
