No Dancing!

Potchefstroom. Synonymous with oak trees, students and Aardklop, right?

Think again. This quiet dorpie, in the middle of the North West Province, is giving the Bellville music-coop a run for their money, birthing bands that are much of a muchness to bands on the international music scenes.

One particular Potch band that is hotting up my iTunes (dare I say, the three songs that I have, is almost on a repeat) is indie/folk duo No Dancing!

The band, which consists of boy-girl duo Ciska Joubert and Henk Labuschagne, formed in 2009 and is spilling onto the local gig scene, with enchanting acoustic guitar riffs, beguiling tambourine and accompanying bass kick drum. Florence and the Machine-esque powerhouse Ciska's voice transports you into an era that isn't. And accompanied by Henk's melodic guitar, the band introduces you to an entirely new sound, which I am yet to experience in the South African music scene (or even the international one).

Screeching an uhm as he answered the phone, Henk told me a few interesting things about the band and himself:

How did the band become a band?

We use to have a high school band, with an extra personage. In the meantime we matriculated, Ciska went to Pretoria to study graphic design and eventually came back to the dorpie. No Dancing! was born.

No Dancing! is an odd name, how come why come?

A friend and I were in a pub one evening, having a few whiskeys and beers, and on the wall there was a sign that said No Dancing! We found it a bit ironic for a pub, but too good to be true for a band name. No Dancing! Simple.

"My favourite food is Spur," he said. I suppose he wants me to pay him in food then.

If you want to see more of the awesome twosome, make sure to check them out live at the Wolves Cafe on the 17th of March, or check out their facebook page No Dancing! for other gigs.