Global South African Band GoodLuck
My inspiring chat with one of South Africa’s hottest groups reminded me why music is THE most powerful tool. It connects human beings beyond time, location and even cultural backgrounds. GoodLuck’s new album, ‘The Nature Within’ is a transparent journey which they recorded all over the world. With one of the most alluring festivals in all of Southern Africa approaching, GoodLuck will be one of the star headliners for the Jameson Vic Falls Carnival. This talented trio and I discuss opening-up for Pharrell Williams, the creative power behind their new album and ringing in the New Year in utter style.
Mm: I am really excited to finally have this moment to get to chat with you. There is something powerful about timing. I have witnessed since 2015 (when we were set to talk and it didn't work out) to now in 2016 as we are actually chatting, you guys have taken your game to another level.
GL Ben: WoW! Thanks for noticing that!
Mm: Yea, even your website has evolved. You’re just growing and growing and growing! How does it feel to rise and grind into becoming one of South Africa’s premiere talents.
GL Ben: We always talk about it as being one-foot-in-front of the other. And so for ourselves, you kinda lose yourself in the process of it as an artist and as entrepreneurs because at the end of the day, that’s what the music business is. It’s a coupling of artistry and business. So there is this, I suppose quite diverse coupling of creativity and administration through which you get caught up in a little bit because it just becomes a whirlwind of different sides of the brain your having to work from. You set yourself goals and you set targets of what you want to achieve and what you want to do as an artist and as a business person. I think to a degree we don't really take to much cognizance in what our profile is and just sort of really following our hearts and what we want to achieve.
Mm: With that following your heart, how do the three of you remain in unison? You're three individual beings yet you are creating collectively as one.
GL Juliet: That’s a really good question. We have a really cool relationship, we’re good friends all three of us. But we do ---- we do fight sometimes, you know when you are spending a lot of time with people and you're trying to be creative with them, you will have differences of opinion. But, I think overall we have a lot of fun. That’s what we try and focus on.
GL Matthew: We also individually all have our weaknesses and strengths but together we help each other out. I feel like for instance Jules, loves to forget her flight pass [ Jules chuckles] So every time we go somewhere, she passes on the ticket to me!
GL Juliet: It comes down to team work, honesty and communication and I suppose these are all things that sound a lot like a marriage.
Mm: Haha, yes!
GL Matthew: I think that’s sort of what it is-- being in a band is like being married to one another. You have responsibilities to do together and sometimes you sort of transgress on those responsibilities and piss each other off. Yet, that’s ok because at the end of the day you can talk about it and get upset with one another but you know that what we’re all striving for is the same goal and the same vision. There is always going to be forgiveness and retribution.
Mm: Yes, and that is a very beautiful honest answer. As you are growing, you mentioned earlier that you view it as taking one-foot-in-front of the other. What do you feel have been the key steps that have taken you from even 2015 until now. Where I mentioned that I can see your growth within that time.
GL Juliet: It’s been crazy, this year has been more exponential than other years. It’s been cool for us because we have always had this really solid steady upward trajectory that hasn't been like overnight success. But it’s been like what Ben said, just one-foot-in-front of the other just growing little bit by little bit. But this year, there has been suddenly a lot more international interest which is really exciting for us. We have been growing since 2010/2011 so we’re kind of ready for it-- we’re excited about it. I think this year, our biggest focus has been our album. We are on to our third album now which is super exciting. It’s being released in South Africa on the 14th of October. We are working on a very exciting worldwide deal, we have not yet received the international release date just yet...but it will be soon. Making an album is one of those steps though that we have taken and touring abroad more. One of our biggest visions as a band is to be one of the pioneers for what’s happening specifically in electronic music and pop music in Africa. Showing the world what’s going on here. Being kind of a portal to what else is happening in South Africa because there is amazing--amazing music coming out of South Africa. That’s our big vision, everything we do is in line with that vision.
GL Ben: Those steps are all little goals that each of us will at some point during a month will come to band meeting and say, “ hey this is what I want to achieve”. It’s just about executing the steps that then put you on the path to achieving that goal. Sometimes, its really long term visioned goals like Grammy’s. The steps towards that are really focusing on our artistry and our music, the songwriting as well as the production. Sometimes it can be as simple as not settling. There are a lot of artist who will just sometimes go, oh ok that’s good enough. We’ve learned that a little bit extra pays off in the long run.
Mm: That ties into my curiosity regarding what are some show locations as a group you have on your list. Like is a Coachella type Festival on your radar?
GL Juliet: OH YEA, of course!! [laughter]
Mm: Hahaha duh!
GL Juliet: We want to play Coachella on the main stage though.
Mm: Not the tents....
GL Juliet: No, we would be happy to just play but it would be nice to do Coachella when the timing is right. As you know, it’s a pretty big festival and there are a lot of up-and-coming acts. RedRocks in the States as well would be nice, that is somewhere we would love to play.
Mm: Barclay Center out here in Brooklyn, New York would be amazing. I believe its become neck-and-neck with the Garden in terms of premiere places to play.
GL Ben: Wow, well then let's definitely add that to the list.
Mm: Exactly, add that to your list!
GL Ben: And, that’s sort of the thing you know we sit down as a band and we make lists. We have our dream board.
Mm: You’ve got to have one of those.
GL Ben: We have our individual ones and we have our dream board for the band. Some of them are pretty big dreams and it's always an incredible feeling ticking one off and adding new ones!
Mm: That makes sense though because you have been able to do some checking off and you can see your growth. That’s amazing! In regards to doing collaborations with another group or artist, is there any interest/goals in that area?
GL Juliet: Actually we have been collaborating a fare amount on this new album. We’re working mainly with producers some South African, some from Germany, some from the Netherlands and it’s been really successful. For us, I think (obviously we are inspired by bigger artists doing amazing things) but for us, profile is less important verses how we get-on, on a musical level.
GL Ben: Like synchronicity you know.
GL Juliet: In the studio we can speak the same language even if we don't speak the same language-- we can speak the same musical language. That’s really important to us. So far, we have had some amazing collaborations. We’re open to anyone who is cool really, anyone who is a nice person.
Mm: I agree, I’ve been on all sides of the coin. Nice people make the world a difference and well said, regarding speak the same musical language. Speaking of that, I was so excited for you when I read that you opened up for Pharrell Williams last September. What was that overall experience like?
GL Ben: It was really- really amazing! It’s not often that an opportunity comes along like that. He is one of our biggest icons of songwriting and production. It was really cool to get to share a stage with him and showcase what we do, to an audience that is expecting a level of performance that is that high. That’s the most important thing about it. You’re being put neck-and-neck alongside an artist who is one of the biggest artist in the world. So, it would be very apparent if you suck! You can get thrown off really, really easily when you are put up against that. It’s a massive undertaking as a band to take that risk and also an opportunity because it’s either going to go really well, or really badly [group laughter].
Mm: Right, it’s a huge spotlight.
GL Ben: Exactly, I would even go as far as saying, it’s more of a magnifying glass.
Mm: Right, with a bright light. Haha!
GL Ben: Haha, exactly!
GL Juliet: I think another thing people do not realize (this cheered me up a bit) is when they are choosing open acts for the artist, it has to be picked by management and sometimes even the artist themselves. So for us, it was a huge compliment that we got picked out of all the millions of amazing artist we have here-- we were asked to play. That for me is probably the most exciting thing, about the whole experience. Somebody actually likes what we’re doing a lot and that’s great.
Mm: I mean speaking to exciting news, I am really excited you mentioned your new album coming out on the 14th of October. What for you all is special about this album and the intentions you hope to leave with viewers who get to enjoy your creative work?
GL Matthew: The album has been produced pretty much all around the world you know. We have written in the Seychelles on a yacht. We have produced in Europe, Singapore, India and obviously, a lot back home in South Africa. There are so many countries that we have been on tour to and we’ve been writing whilst on the road. This album as far as memories go, is a bunch of snapshots of where we were, we’d just sit ourselves down (where ever it was, back stage or on a plane or hotel room) and let the music out. The band in itself has matured so much, but for me it’s the first album I have ever done. I only joined the band a year ago so its been quite a whirlwind!
GL Ben: There is that maturing you know. I think the songwriting is a lot more heart-felt. There was definitely more soul searching in terms of what kind of sound we wanted to go for on this record. We have always kind of thrown a lot of different colors onto the pallet when it came to previous albums. Whereas this one we wanted to define our sound a little bit more precisely.
Mm: GoodLuck is fortunate to headline again for this year’s Jameson Vic Falls Carnival which is incredible. How was last year? And, how does it feel to be asked to come back for 2016?
GL Juliet: I have to say it is honestly one of the best festivals I’ve ever played. It’s by no means the biggest, I think it had like 5,000 people. Yet the energy felt like there were 105,000 people there. It was on another level the energy of this festival. Also in Africa, as I am sure you know there is still a legacy in some ways a little bit of racial segregation which sucks.
GL Ben: It’s not even necessarily racial segregation more like cultural
GL Juliet: This party was totally integrated! Everyone from everywhere was just partying and loving each other and having a great time. That’s the Africa we love, that was just so cool to see. It was so much fun and everyone was in such a good mood. We can't wait to come back. We wouldn't normally play a festival two years in a row but when they asked us to come back, we were like definitely-- we had such a good time.
GL Ben: It’s also such an honor to be one of the acts where you’re heralding in a New Year for everyone. It’s a pivotal moment in everyone’s lives and you become like the soundtrack for those moments. Where they are defining what they are going to be doing for the next 365 days, its a massive honor and a beautiful thing to be able to be the soundtrack for.
Mm: For those who have yet to go to Jameson Vic Falls Carnival and see you perform live have you creatively thought about the set your going to bring forth this year?
GL Ben: Definitely, you know obviously we need to lift the game from what did last year. That always plays a part in the consideration of what we are going to do. We have a lot of new material to play. We are about to go into rehearsals for the next summer touring season, which is going to be a lot of work and a lot of effort put into figuring out the way we are going to showcase these new songs. When we are in the studio we have all the different instruments in the world that we are able to use, but when it comes to on stage---there is only three of us. It’s about figuring out how we break these songs down. Instrumentalize them in a way where we can use all of our electronic instruments most effectively to make it a performance rather than just playback...because at the end of the day that’s what we love doing. It’s a live electronic act and we want to be able to play as much as we can live.
Mm: In two years, GoodLuck see’s themselves where?
GL Ben: We wrote this down the other day actually.
GL Juliet: We probably would have finished our first world tour, that’s our aim. We would really like to have Global hits both in Europe, UK and the States. Some billboard charting stuff. For us, we’re always aiming big. We also have enjoyed the journey, so we are not like in any particular hurry to do it in a certain time frame. We just want to continue enjoying what we do and I think that as long as you are doing that, the rest of the stuff will happen organically if its going to happen. The most important thing is being able to enjoy this.
GL Ben: Exactly, in two years time we want to be having a good time. Making music and spending time together.
GL Juliet: You can be successful and still hate what you do and I think people forget that.
GL Ben: It does not discount the fact that we have goals and visions for what we want our music to achieve and what we want the band to be doing. We definitely want to be performing on the late show or Graham Norton show in the UK. Letting our music reach - (someone said to us the other day) its about converting new ears. I was talking to a friend of mine about the internet and he was saying how everyone goes on about how internet has caused this amazing globalization in the world. But, actually at the end of the day--- you're still locked in by your IP and when your IP address is for South Africa, its very hard for your music to get outside of that IP zone. It just doesn't come up on the google search.
GL Juliet: Especially if your name is GoodLuck, which is like the most common word in the world.
GL Ben: A major driving force of ours is to use that insight into South African music to open up other opportunities for other artist to be heard.
Mm: Wow, I am very humbled and honored to be a conduit for spreading your voices.
GL Juliet: We feel the same way talking to you
Keep up with Goodlucks fun adventures + tune into their new album The Nature Within
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