We interviewed photographer, influencer and blogger Henno Kruger owner of http://rwrant.co.za/ about the music scene. Henno is passionate about music and can often been seen at a music event taking photos for the musicians and for his blog. Henno is very much a behind the scenes guy that likes to highlight the brilliance of South African musicians.
Tell
us about yourself and how did you get involved in the music industry and why
you are so interested in music.
I've
always been a fan of live music shows. I think the first show I went to was a
Koos Kombuis show at a place called Navigator's Ladies Bar (that used to be
across the road from the Reserve Bank in Pretoria). Since then I've always
made an effort to watch bands / artists live at pubs / clubs. I watched James
& Smashing Pumpkins live in 2000 (at Supersport Park in Centurion) - 43,000
people attended to show - After that I was hooked. I just had to get my fix on
a regular basis. Sadly I missed all of the Cokefests (because I wasn't earning
that much before 2010), but I did manage to catch live shows and make my way to
Oppikoppi annually (I ended up going to 20 of them in total).
From
2011 things changed significantly though (thanks to my blog and me re-disovering
my love for photography). I started posting festival reviews and photos on a
regular basis and starting mingling with artists and organizers at shows and
festivals on a regular basis. Because people were reading my blog and checking
out my photos and I became part of the SA Music family (which is actually
smaller than people think it is, but it's a fun group of like-minded peeps).
Why
did you start your blog?
Back
in 2008 I was doing a lot of chatting online (as one used to do). I got very
opinionated about a subject in a chat with a girl (who I haven't met till this
day). She kept on telling me that I had a lot to tell the world and that I
should explore options to do it. She suggested that I start a blog. I was not
keen to do it, but I gave it a shot.
I
started using Blogger (*puke*) and tried Wordpress.com (which was not too bad,
but still didn't give me the control that I wanted) and eventually settled on
buying my domain and installing Wordpress to start Running Wolf's Rant.
RunningWolf was my nickname on IRC and I liked to rant (I got that idea for the
Rant & Rave section in Top 40 magazine). I degress, but I actually got one
of my letters published in that section when I was still in high school (my
psuedonym was "Kurt Grungehead").
In
2009 my site was featured on 5FM and I posted my first Oppikoppi review and it
got a little traction, I realized that people liked to read my rants and
reviews and I decided to post more regularly, that just increased from 2010
onwards (especially after I started tweeting - a lot). I've deleted some posts,
but I currently have more than 2900 posts on the site :D
What
were the trends that you saw before the lockdown?
The
industry was pretty stable before lockdown (despite some ups and downs and a
dwindling SA economy). Rock bounced back with RAMFest 2020 in Pretoria (which I
luckily attended before the lockdown). Awesome shows were lined up for April
& May. My girlfriend and I were actually planning to go to STRAB (in
Mozambique). 2020 was going to be a great year for SA Music.
Just
before lockdown I saw that a lot of live music venues were limiting capacity,
live venues were closing (like Mercury in Cape Town), festivals and concerts
were getting postponed and cancelled. I don't work in the music industry full
time, but I'm actively involved with it at times. I know a lot of people
that are part of it (bands, artists, photographers, organizers and venue
owners, etc.). It was actually heart-breaking seeing all of this happening.
I've seen many folks build up a band / brand / following / venue / festival
from scratch and the prospect of them not being able to engage, work or build
the industry is just unfair / sad / concerning / scary. Negativity doesn't
belong in the SA Music Scene.
What
are the trends that you see during the lockdown?
Performances
in living rooms or lapas that are being streamed on different platforms (with
musos asking for tips for themselves or venues), Zoom parties (with bands /
artists / DJs asking for tips and people drinking home brews or the horrible
whiskey they got for Christmas in 2014), Music Quiz Nights hosted by musicians,
bloggers (like yours truly) promoting new music from artists & their online
shows. There has definitely been a surge in people consuming video content online.
Platforms like Netlfix and Showmax have broken streaming records. The same goes
for music streaming platforms like Spotify.
How
do you see the industry changing after the lockdown?
It's
going to change big time. Some things will still be the same, but a little
different. Pubs and venues will limit their capacity and enforce social
distancing. Festivals will get a lot smaller. There will be sanitising stations
all over. I don't think we're going to see festivals with more than 2000 people
in the near future. Tickets will be more expensive (because of limited capacity
- venues pay artists thanks to ticket sales - less tickets sold, less money
in). Crowdfunding is going to become even more popular amongst artist - most of
them were already struggling before lockdown and won't have money to pay for
studio time and tours when the lockdown is over. People will also get very
picky about the shows they want to go to.
But,
I don't think that the changes will all be negative. Concerts /
performances / festivals will sell tickets to stream their shows. That's a
revenue stream that hasn't really been tapped into properly yet in my opinion -
even though some people are getting gatvol of it during lockdown. The
shows you go to will be a more intimate affair that will allow you to connect
with performers (thanks to crowd reductions).
What
have you got in the pipeline for your blog?
I''m
currently working on a SA Music Directory (which will link to articles about
the artists / festivals / venues that I've featured on there). I'm also working
on trimming old content that's not relevant any more.
