Gardens-based duo Andre Leo and Lucy Kruger are excited about touring Europe in support of their recent debut album.
The two, who call their band Medicine Boy, are looking forward to playing songs off their debut Kinda Like Electricity. They describe the genre as “dreamy noise”.
The album was released on vinyl earlier this month in partnership with Permanent Record and Roastin’ Records and has a natural collection of influences, from soaring psychedelic and fuzzed-out noise to primal blues rhythms and country/ folk.
Andre said they had been playing together in various bands for a couple of years and towards the end of 2013 they decided to start a two-piece band. Part of the reason was to be more mobile when it came to touring.
“It was also quite a nice challenge to see how we were going to make this music. We had no pre-determined ideas of the sound that we were going to go for. We started throwing ideas around and it kind of grew from there,” he said.
It took six months of writing and rehearsing before they played their first show in the middle of 2014. They released their first EP in September 2014 and in the first half of 2015 the group also did a tour of Europe and England.
Lucy, who plays guitar and sings, said they are close and their tastes were aligned. She said even while she was studying drama at Rhodes University she had known she wanted to make music. “I wanted to explore that further so I came to Cape Town to record an album. I met Andre through joining his second band, The Very Wicked.”
Andre said they liked to keep things interesting for themselves as well as the audience. They mix up their venues as well as playing some acoustic shows. “By the time we went into the studio to record our first album, we were quite ready for that. We had been playing live a lot and had just come off a tour.”
Lucy said there was a live scene but you had to make a space for it in Cape Town. “We’ve put on our own shows and found venues. We have had to convince people that we are worth watching. There is a space but you do have to carve it out.”
The duo have released the album independently but you can also purchase the record on vinyl at their upcoming live shows. “Until we find a real partner that will benefit us as much as them,” said Lucy. “The music is a balance between gentle, intimate and then quite chaotic and aggressive.”
Andre added: ”On this album there is a lot of influence from blues, country and folk music all put into it.”
The band will perform three shows in Cape Town before heading off to Europe.
For more information see the band’s Facebook page at https:// www.facebook.com/gimmeyourmedicineboy. The Album Kinda Like Electricity is available on iTunes, Google Play and Bandcamp.
