Sugardrive were a formative influence on me and I was beyond thrilled when my friend Kerry-Anne Allerston hooked me up with Paul, singer of this legendary South African band. Their debut, 'Hey God It's Me Again' made a massive impact on all of us, and 'Sand.Mand.Sky' is a bona fide classic record. The song 'Disco Lazarus' off third album 'When I Died I Was Elvis' took them to new heights with extensive national airplay.

No wonder they headlined Oppikoppi multiple years running, they were just untouchable live.

We talked right through their career and Paul was astute, well-spoken and a real laugh throughout. Also, he remembered everything really clearly, which was a real treat. This episode is a proper full circle moment and I am super proud to be able to have recorded it. Thank you so much to Paul and Kerry-Anne for making this happen.

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Fokofpolisiekar are a household name in South Africa, and rightly so - their honest, insightful and highly intelligent lyrics are delivered with powerful, intricate guitar work, propulsive drums and bass, and Francois Van Coke's raw-throated vocal. And it's this magic combination that formed a band who truly connect with people, on multiple levels and across genres and walks of life.

The band's history is well summed up in the epic documentary 'Fokofpolisiekar' - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.0eafcf3f-cc57-9552-80ed-bf687d8c6276?autoplay=0&ref_=atv_cf_strg_wb

And Francois has now told another side of the story in his awesome book, 'Hoe Ek Dit Onthou' - https://woordfees.co.za/en/program/francois-van-coke-hoe-ek-dit-onthou/

Fokof continue to be very active, both as a band and in their various side projects including Van Coke Kartel and AKing. Their last album 'Dans Deur Die Donker' came out in 2023, so there's a lot of creative mileage left in the tank - and it's befok.

In this short but awesome chat we tried to get to the heart of what made Fokof so great.

Find out more about Fokofpolisiekar here: https://www.fokofpolisiekar.co.za/

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Esjay Jones hails from Durban, South Africa - the same town as me - so we've gigged and hung out quite a bit in the past. She went on to front the successful SA pop-rock band Stealing Love Jones before making the big leap to the USA where she pursued and achieved a very impressive songwriting and music production career.

She's collaborated with people like Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins), Brian 'Head' Welch (Korn), Dave Navarro (Jane's Addiction/Red Hot Chill Peppers), Shifty Shellshock (Crazy Town), Alien Ant Farm and Morgan Lander (Kittie). In fact, the collab with Lander led to the creation of the pair's alcohol-free beer phenomenon, KittiePIG (https://kittiepig.com).

And that doesn't tell half the story - how her unique talent, drive and determination has seen her through, taken her places most musicians only aspire to. Hopefully our chat uncovers at least some of that.

Thanks for your time Esjay, it was a real fun one!

Find out more about Esjay Jones: https://www.esjayjones.com/

Listen to We Are PIGS: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0QRmv4wNihLdpSIjRxFFrz?si=DuHBmFh4TyGhefqecBXrpw / https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/we-are-pigs/1545506097

Listen to Stealing Love Jones: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1h5Z07yv6lnDhygWTDmCGE?si=Drbw1WzVSd68xcWyQWUfFQ / https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/stealing-love-jones/280223554

Listen to my music on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6EU9T2T2wFtIZGwhYeYkxx?si=CTjGWZFMTheaK7iTCnhOXQ / https://open.spotify.com/artist/5sHBcFmZOnDRoyIcJCtvI9?si=8wG3vDRaSgqhqH-gN3fxVQ

Listen to my music on Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/thumbofrule/1560754178 / https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/anova-skyward/971275560

Download Caught In Time and other tracks: https://anovaskyward.bandcamp.com/album/caught-in-time / https://thumbofrule.bandcamp.com/album/bad-hair-in-the-house-of-the-king

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