In the UK music charts foreign bands don’t really make the Top 40, I have no idea why this is because there is some good music out there if you search deep enough. I decided to delve into South African music and came across a talent that I feel the UK should here about. This band is called Locnville who I first heard on FIFA 11, as one of their songs is a soundtrack on the game. They are an Electro-Hop band consisting of identical twins Andrew and Brian Chaplin – relatives of the late Charlie Chaplin. Locnville was formed in 2009 but nobody knows why the band name is Locnville, people think it’s something to do with where they lived when they was children. The twins are singer-songwriters, song producers and musicians. They can play the guitar, drums and are young entrepreneurs.
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| Image courtesy of Wikipedia |
Locnville’s debut album Sun In My Pocket was released in South Africa in February 2010 and was a huge success, reaching #1 on the RISA South Africa Albums Chart. The album also gave the twins the award of ‘Best Newcomer’ at the 2010 MK Awards. The album was released after three months of production where two weeks were spent on recording, mixing and mastering at the LMX Studios located in Cape Town. The album was originally available as a music download under the name ‘Retro Electro’ in November 2009. It wasn’t until February 2010 that the CD version was released after being re-mastered in the UK by Wez Clarke (from the Ministry of Sound). From the Sun In My Pocket album Locnville released five singles, four were fully released while the other single was just for the radio. The singles that were released were Sun In My Pocket (where the album got its name), 6 Second Poison, There, Love Rush and Passion To Go (which was only released through the radio). All songs were major hits charting well in South Africa with Locnville’s debut single Sun In My Pocket reached #1, also 6 Second Poison reached #1 which shows the talent these lads have got.
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| Image courtesy of Wikipedia |
After the huge success of Locnville’s debut album the twins started creating their new studio album Running To Midnight. The album was released on 1st July 2011. To prepare for this second album Locnville created an official ‘100 day countdown’ which was used to create a huge build up to the album and it certainly got me excited sitting on my computer in the UK counting down the days to get my hands on their second album. The countdown idea was a success with the social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Not only was their countdown on networking sites but there were also competitions for the public to encourage them to buy the new album. The album itself was written and recorded in Cape Town over a period of 9 months while promoting their debut album Sun In My Pocket across Europe. In an interview with Andrew Chaplin, he stated that the album was “much more relevant to where we are now.” The other twin, Brian, added that the Running To Midnight album is “not our previous album.” This is evident as the styles of music on the first album are much different to that on the new album. From the Running To Midnight album Locnville have released 2 songs at this current moment in time. Their first single from the new album Stars Above You went straight to #1 on ‘94.7 Highveld Stereo’ and ‘94.5 KFM’s Take 40SA’ chart, just one month after it being released. This may seem a mind-blowing feat but the new album went to #3 on the ‘Musica Album’ chart after 3 days – incredible statistics. After the success of their first single from the new album, Locnville released their second single Staring At The World Outside featuring Natasha Meister. This song is a fan favourite and is currently rising in the charts – hope it gets to #1.
The twins also have their own record label and clothes range. The twins created their own record label called ‘Contra-Banned’ because they said that “artists get a tiny percentage at the end of it all…” which to be fair is very true as artists only get a small percentage of their full earnings as the record label takes the rest. The twins’ own brand of clothing is ‘Villey Clothing’ which they created in December 2010 where they sell a range of clothing varying from shirts to hats.
These lads have so much potential and it shows from where they are finishing in the South African charts. I feel that if these lads were recognised nationwide in the UK then they would smash the UK charts with their ‘new-age’ music. Even if you don’t like the electro genre they do offer others something else such as hip-hop and rap (often used on their first album). Ever since I found out about Locnville I have listened to all of their songs and I am waiting in anticipation for a third album. What I say to you is check out Locnville, you might be surprised what you find and what you’ll hear because there’s no other word for them apart from brilliant. You can follow Locnville on Twitter & Facebook or you can check their website which is www.locnville.com which contains all the latest information.
This is the video for Sun In My Pocket
This is the video for 6 Second Poison
This is the video for There
This is the video for Stars Above You
This is the video for Staring At The World Outside
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