Surfing The Waves of Outrageous Fortune

David — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 03:24:53 GMT

In 2005, when I had the pleasure of doing publicity for a great (now defunct) Durban band called Deluxe, they introduiced me to a quiet and shy friend of theirs called Farryl Purkiss who came up to Oppikoppi to play with them. I was blown away by his stuff and his approach and thought immediately he would go far. And go far he has!

I caught him live at The Tanz Cafe on Saturday night. Farryl has been touring in Oz and the states and has really upped his game and begun to exhibit the kind of mystique and aura of a truly big star... yet he remains pretty quiet and humble in person!

So, in order for YOU to get to know this great emerging talent a bit better, I decided to post on The Chiz an interview I did with Farryl for Stage magazine a little while back.. enjoy!

The Album! Click here to buy it online!

Just who the hell does Farryl Purkiss think he is? I mean, you don’t even know who he is right? And there he goes, off on tour to Australia, with an album being distributed in the USA, UK, Australia and South Africa through Sheer music. I mean, how on earth did all that happen?

As is often the case, there is a simple explanation, but one that does involve a few dashes of good luck, some pinches of talent and a lot of hard work. Farryl is 25 years old. He learned the guitar as a teenager and swapped chord progressions and lyrics with his mate in between surf in the small KZN town of Umhlanga. Dreams of recording album and going overseas on tour were very far from his mind back then.

His first gig ever was playing solo acoustic as opening act for Perez. He was terrified and very nervous and apparently kept his eyes shut through all four of his first songs. However, his reception was enthusiastically received by his home crowd and a love for performing was born. And it was playing in front of these 200 odd enthusiastic punters that brought him to the attention of one Nibs Van der Spuy, legendary guitarist and very active musician. And that, as they say, was the turning point.

“Ja, Nibs was at that show,” agrees Farryl, “He really digged what he saw apparently. He came up to me after the show and asked me if I wanted to do an album and if I had enough material. I said I was keen, but didn’t really have the access to a label or anything. I was also so nervous and had no money to even think about recording.”
And so at first, nothing came of that meeting because Nibs was in the same position.

However, fate intervened here when Sheer approached Nibs with the offer of Greenhouse, a sub-label within Sheer aimed at developing new talent, and offered Nibs the chance to pick two artists to record. When he heard the news, Nibs knew exactly who he wanted to record. And one of them was Farryl Purkiss.
“When Nibs got the offer from Sheer to do two Durban artists on the Greenhouse label, he called me,” grins Farryl. “I still had to fund it all myself, but it got onto a proper distribution system through sheer and actually did quite well!”

Farryl’s music is acoustic pop or folk, it’s hard to draw the line. But is a simple singer-song-writer construction that relies on guitar vocals and heart felt lyrics. He sings like an angel and writes lyrics that any listener can hear have personal meaning for him and are based on actual events from his life. There is no sense of pretension or trying to be something that he is not. “All of the songs on my album were written before I knew I was ever gonna release anything,” says Farryl trying to explain where precisely he was coming from in those early days, “So they are very honest and not written for anyone except my self. Now that as all snowballed into what it is, it is totally amazing!”

The snowballing he refers to is Sheer’s decision to pick him up as a fully fledged artist and re-release the debut album previously known as Chapter One. Now to be released purely as “Farryl Purkiss” the album is being re-packaged and re-mastered and four new songs have been added.
“Otherwise it is still the same album as before,” Farryl continues, “I did add a few minor tweaks to one or two songs, but you’d have to listen very hard to find them! The main addition is the new packaging and the new songs. At first I wasn’t too keen as I always wanted that record to stand out as the first thing I did and stand on its own two feet. But Sheer did point out that with a bigger stronger package, we’d probably do better overseas and in the end I agreed. It just made more sense to give the opportunity that I have now the biggest chance of success and therefore we decide to go with the higher quality mastering and a whole new look to the album”

In the time honoured South African tradition, no-on is happy until a new local artist has been tied inextricably to an international “sound alike”. In Farryl’s case this is Jack Johnson. On the surface of it, these comparisons are understandable, but none the les, not always the most desirable. However, in his case, Farryl has actually played live with the man and co-written a song with him!
“Ja, well in the beginning it was cool,” he tries to explain, “And I didn’t know then how it would grow into this huge idea that I was like the South African Jack Johnson. It IS an honour to be compared to someone like Jack. And I’m not going to lie, I discovered Jack in 1988 when no-one knew who he was and he was a big influence to me.”

He pauses for thought here, “But over the years I have evolved and moved away from that kind of thing. I have been trying out a lot of different styles and trying out new things. So it’s cool, but it does get a bit much after a while. Now I would rather be recognized for what I am doing than for sounding a bit like someone else.”

Looking at the time frame of Farryl’s career so far it’s hard to see that people will be relying on comparisons for very much longer. Things really have happened quickly. That first album was only recorded in October 2004, in Durban with David Birch at Tropical Sweat studios. It was released in early 2005 through Greenhouse/Sheer and here we sit in mid-2006 discussing a re-release of an album that was picked up by Sheer for local and international release because it did so well on its limited indie release. That is quite a curve. Then, you have to go and add into that the fact that Farryl was nominated for a SAMA in the Adult Contemporary category this year. He didn’t win, but was nominated along side the likes of Arno Carstens and Louise Carver, well established artists and big names in their own right. That was quite an achievement.

Farryl just laughs. “I didn’t eve know I had been entered, let alone nominated! I was on my way to Mozambique with Nibs to play a gig. Then I got the call from Sheer to say I had been nominated along with Arno and Louise. I was like woah! Alongside those two names? That’s amazing! It was a huge, huge honour; I never expected anything like that. When we got back from Mozambique it was all over the press in Durban, and it was quite a surprise. Everyone was coming up to me and congratulating me. Even so it took me awhile to realise that it was real. Anyway, I went up to Sun City to attend the awards and that was a real eye opener! Nobody knew who I was which was actually quite a laugh! I got asked to leave three times because I was dressed sort of normal Durban style and wasn’t in a suit. I actually had to prove I was one of the nominees!”

You can hear that the experience left a mark on him, but in a positive affirming kind of way. And Farryl agrees, “I met so many cool people at the awards. And I was struck by the camaraderie and pro-activeness in the black music market compared to the attitude you seem to find in the pop rock market. With these Kwaito and hip hop guys, the afro pop and all, they all know each other and they cheer each other along. You can see there is competition, but everyone knows they are in it for the long haul. It was humbling to see and very inspiring. I would like to take some of that away wit me and become known for being as proactive as possible. Those guys have shown just what can be achieved with commitment, dedication and team work. I don’t see why we rock and pop artists can’t do the same.”

So, with one debut album, and one SAMA nomination under his belt, Farryl goes out to the rest of the world in August with an EP release penciled for The UK, USA and Australia. That will be followed up in September for the full release of the re-packaged album in those territories and then a tour to Australia in September. Things may have happened fast for Farryl, but you can hear that this boy has got his feet firmly on the ground and that his head and heart are in the right place. He may come across as all laid back and on surfer coastal vibes, but he has passion and commitment aplenty, and has already proved his worth here in South Africa. These qualities will stand him in good stead abroad as well.

More?

http://www.myspace.com/purkissmusicc

spoil your ears this weekend

David — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 05:09:58 GMT

Indeed, spoilt for choice we are this weekend me little darlins! Well if you live in Jozi you are.. sorry I really will get this gig guide more representative one day, right now just being a tad lazy! BUT as always, if you are anywhere else in SA, just pop your gig into the comments section, serious!

Buy The Hellphoens by clicking here!

The Hellphones

Date: 9 February

Venue: The Roxy Rhythm Bar, Main Rd, Melville

Telephone: 011 726 6019

Line-up: The Hellphones, Holly and The Woods, Love Jones, Karma

Cover: R50.00

Time: 20:00

Buy Jim Neversink by clicking here!

Jim Neversink & Friends

Date: 9 February 2007

Venue: Back2Basix

Address: Cnr Lancaster & Perth Ave, Westdene

Telephone: (011)726-6857

Line: Jim Neversink (& various friends - still to be confirmed)

Cover: R40

Start Time: 20h30

Buy farryl Purkiss buy clicking here!

One Night Stand (Josie Field and Farryl Purkiss)

Date: 10 February 2007

Venue: Tanz Cafe

Address: River Road, Bryanston

Telephone: (011)463-5937

Line-up: Josie Field & Band with special guest Farryl Purkiss.

Cover: R50

Start Time: 20h30

The SlashDogs

Date: 10 February

Venue: Bohemians

Telephone: (011)482-1725

Line up: The SlashDogs & Martin Rocka And The Sick Shop

Cover: R30.00

Time: 20:00

Jam On Tuesday

Date: Sat 10th February

Venue: Nile Crocodile, Pta

Telephone: Clint 011 646-6467

Line-up: Redhouse, Jam On Tuesday, Death Valley Blues Band

Cover: R 30-00

Start Time 20:00

Start Time: 10pm

Buy Goldfish by clicking here!

Goldfish

Date: 10th Feb

Venue: Goldfish @ The Armchair Theatre, 153 lwr main road Observatory
Telephone: 021 447 1514

Line-up: Goldfish

Cover: R40

Start Time: 10pm

The Chiz : farryl purkiss

Surfing The Waves of Outrageous Fortune

spoil your ears this weekend