By Charlie Matthews

Sometimes you stumble on a song and you just have to find out more. That’s what happened this month. I was on Soundcloud and the next song that came up was not something that would usually be on my player. Suddenly there were chunky off beat rhythms and interesting back beats, snares instead of bass and the definite feeling that this was something new to me. And, it was! This was some kind of EDM that was really not fitting my preconceived ideas of this style of music. What I stumbled upon was Original Swimming Party from Cape Town, South Africa. The best description I received from the band was “Afrotronica”, and that would be a blend of EDM, Electronica and traditional African rhythms.

Jeremy De Tolly and Thomas Glending make up this duo. Jeremey locks down the vocals, keyboard, and production duties, while Thomas works the synths, percussion, and recording aspects of the group. They share duties on the graphics department, and when you check out any of their social media pages, you can tell they are really comfortable using a camera.

As usual, someone has to reach out, and this time it was me. What I found was a band that’s actively gigging and recording. They are planning a U.S. and European tour come mid-2017 and have a new album titled “Hypergiant”, due out in March. I have the feeling that I am going to have to contact them at the end of the year to see how the U.S. portion of their tour went. I was full on into the African rhythms and obvious non-western influences to their music. I really think people need to be checking them out.

Here is how the not-so-standard interview went:

How do you describe your music to people?
Jeremy: Experimental electronica from South Africa.
Tom: Radiohead meets South African electronica like Kwaito and Gqom.

Tell us about your local music scene.
Jeremy: A wide array of stuff. Some of the most original music in the world right now is being generated in South Africa. We’re enthused to be part of it. South African rhythm sections are totally unlike ones used in the US for example. Snares on the one, lots of snares, and off beats everywhere! Best grooves for dancing, hands down. Try this from Babes Wodumo.
Tom: The scene inside the Cape Town city is mostly dead with some pockets of life here and there, but the real exciting stuff is happening out in the townships with new emerging genres like Gqom and New Age Kwaito.

It is the weekend, who should we be checking out in your town?
Jeremy: Hit up a party where Gqom is being played.

What’s the immediate future look like for your band?
Tom: We’re currently finishing our first full length album and working on our first proper music video, both of which should be out by March this year. After that we will move on to promoting the album and planning a Europe and US tour for the 2nd half of 2017.

What’s your outlook on the record industry today?
Tom: Hopeful. IMO streaming services are a terrible thing because they completely remove the value from music for both the creator and the listener, but I’m hopeful that sites like Bandcamp that present a more engaged, alternative approach will keep growing.
Jeremy: I’m not too stressed about streaming, but we’re still trying to find the people around the world who will be into our sound. We know they’re out there!

What three bands are you listening to right now?
Jeremy: Big Nuz, A Winged Victory for the Sullen, Babes Wodumo, Nils Frahm
Tom: Tycho, Kikagaku Moyo (Psych Rock from Japan), The Beatles

What is that one piece of equipment you can’t live without?
Tom: Laptop
Jeremy: Same. And my TC Helicon VoiceLive3 vocal FX unit.

If you’re in Cape Town, South Africa, you can catch Original Swimming Party locally:
Design Indaba 2017, The Artscape, Cape Town, March 3 2017
Café Roux, 74 Shortmarket Street, Cape Town, March 4 2017

Check out OSP online here: