We recently caught up with South African native, Das Kapital, and discussed how the South African sound may influence dance music overseas, his label Do Work Records and his recent remix of Passion Froot’s “Room 4 One More”.
First of all, if we rewind the tape back to 2014, GQ Magazine named you as one of “South Africa’s 35 Coolest People Under 35”. To provide us with a bit of an insight as to the person you are and the character that is showcased behind the decks, why do you think you were included in this article?
I’m young, opinionated, and extremely driven, and it just so happens that I write club music. South Africa wasn’t really expecting me when I started making a name for myself, and if you hadn’t heard of me, I was suddenly everywhere. I think GQ had to take notice of a 20-something-year-old that was so committed to innovation, whilst fighting to build the culture around him.
In terms of your earliest influences from your native South Africa, who are they and how did they impact upon your career and define your sound?
When it comes to picking a favourite, or explaining inspiration, I find it’s less about individual artists, and more about the feeling they evoke.
If you go back and listen to a lot of 90s Kwaito, it’s basically New York House or Garage at 115bpm or lower. The same hallmark sounds that are suddenly all over modern House were there in Kwaito, but the energy seemed so much more raw and powerful back then.
Speaking of South Africa, you were of course born in Cape Town. In terms of nightlife, what does South Africa have to offer to the world of electronic music?
South Africa might seem isolated, but the dance scene here has always been pushing new and interesting sounds and artists. Dependant on the city, you can really hear anything you’re looking for – From leftfield, through House and Techno, all the way to the conventional “big” sounds doing damage elsewhere in the world. Most importantly, there’s a huge market for our own sound.
The clubbing scene in South Africa is starting to get a lot more publicity thanks to artists such as Die Antwoord, Goldfish and Black Coffee. You yourself have been causing a stir with your Overtime club night and appearing at festivals. How would you compare your Overtime residency to your typical South African festival? Which is your favourite South African festival to perform at and why?
Overtime is my opportunity to showcase new and exciting talent from around South Africa to the club scene in Cape Town. Every month at Fiction, I put together a line-up of producers I’m really into. I focus on producers because I want South African music to be the draw-card. The sound of the night itself varies from month to month, but the underlying idea is that Overtime pushes new music, first. A lot of the releases I’ve been finishing up have been with clubs in mind, rather than festivals, because I’ve had so much fun cultivating an audience that packs themselves into a small room to have a good time.
The big difference between Overtime and my festival sets is energy – I’m trying to find a middle ground between the two, to unify my performances. The club sets are darker, more industrial, and roll a lot harder than the festival sets, where I tend to go a bit more bouncy and “big”, for lack of a better word.
My favourite festival is probably Rocking The Daisies, because of the effort, I am able to put into the performance there. I’m playing there this year for the fourth time in five years, in between Opiuo and Knife Party. I’m bringing a full visual show, highlighting new releases from my label and myself. I’m really looking forward to that.
As we previously mentioned, the likes of Die Antwoord, Goldfish and Black Coffee are representing the South African sound currently. What are your thoughts on this particular sound and how it may influence dance music overseas?
I think it’s best to focus on Goldfish and Black Coffee when it comes to how South Africa is really representing itself in the world dance market.
When you look at Goldfish and Black Coffee, you’re getting two different takes on an inherently musical and engaging kind of dance music. Both have inspired countless South Africans to pursue dance music, but I think there is still a huge gap for artists to fill in between these soundscapes.
In terms of South Africa influencing the world – I am in awe of how many promos I receive that scream “South Africa” to me, when they’re made by artists in Europe and the USA.
I think it’s really easy to listen to a song from here, be inspired, and take that energy into a different genre, because a lot of our sounds and genres are so distinct.
I feel it’s a double-edged sword, because as happy as I am to see South African sounds making an impact overseas, I do also think that it should be South African artists benefiting from the spreading of those sounds.
In relation to overseas, Ibiza is the party capital of the world. When do you hope to showcase your South African sound on the White Isle and what impact do you hope to make upon it?
As soon as humanly possible! I’ve been working towards it for years, and I think it’s time to bring a taste of South Africa to Ibiza in a big way. Rather than focusing on one or two big names, that may represent a small sub-section of our culture, I want to showcase a wider extent of our music.
The impact of that? Well, I think people would realise how influential our scene has been to labels and artists from elsewhere in the world, and that in turn would hopefully see more South Africans making their way to Ibiza, and mainland Europe in the immediate future.
Moving the focus to your label now, Do Work Records. In terms of signing talent to your label, what attributes do you look for in an artist for them to be considered Das Kapital-approved?
Everyone we’ve signed under Do Work has exhibited a sense of originality and promise that made signing a necessity. We are a label that develops and grows the artists we sign, working with them to guide their music to the point that it’s undeniably of international quality, whilst still keeping the essence of what makes them interesting and exciting to listen to.
In that sense, Do Work is a very labour intensive label (not at all ironic, really), that has done a lot more behind the scenes of South African dance music than most people are aware of, but the results are really beginning to show. I’m launching a sub-label, SEBENZA, to sign more club-ready tracks from up-and-comers in SA, and get their music into the hands of the DJ community both locally and abroad.
Artists on your label include Action Figure, Hendrik Joerges, RVWR and D_Know. For you, what makes each and every one of these artists so special to you and Do Work Records?
Every artist we have occupies their own space in the genre spectrum, but it’s never really as simple as “Oh, well X is the Techno guy and Y is the House guy”.
We all get inspired by each other constantly, and use each other as sounding boards so we can finish projects. We’re more of a team or a family than a conventional label, and the cross-pollination and unbridled creativity of being a multi-genre team really shows in the releases we put out, or sign to other labels (when acting as management).
You have also recently released your brand new remix for Passion Froot titled “Room 4 One More”. Can you tell us about the production that went into this and how your remix differs from the original track?
I REALLY love remixing records. It’s so fun to intentionally focus on small parts of track and rewrite that idea out until you have something entirely new to say, or feel about the source material.
The original mix of “Room 4 One More” was really upbeat and cheeky, courtesy of those incredibly fun vocals. I wanted to re-imagine the conversation the vocalist was having with that girl, at a different time of night, and set about creating a soundscape that made that change almost tangible.
The remix is a blend of raw and heavy sounds that tip their caps to the genres that inspired them, while still being that undeniably “Das Kapital” sound.
Finally, in terms of talent behind the decks, who do you think is ‘The Star Of Tomorrow’ and why?
I’d really like to see less gimmicks and more raw talent in the future of dance music. Less masks, more dancing, y’know?
My Star of Tomorrow is a producer called CHEE, based in Pretoria, South Africa. He’s a borderline genius bass music producer and sound engineer, with support rolling in from around the world, but most importantly he’s a great kid, he works HARD, and isn’t afraid to try things outside of his comfort zone.
Those are the things that make it obvious he’s going places.