FlashBack | Dance Floor Killers | Issue05

Dare to enter Sweat.X ‘s making-your-feet-itch world of mish-mash sounds and musical liberties. Rebecca Kahn investigates.

Image: Melissa Williams

It isn’t easy to interview Markus Wormstorm or Spoek Mathambo. Don’t get me wrong; they’re both hella nice guys, and more than willing to talk about Sweat.X, their latest musical endeavour. But their minds work differently to those of the rest of the world, and it takes a while to get into their universe.

It’s a place of running in-jokes, big bootied women, jungles, stretch limos, BEE and dance-floor killers.

Sweat.X is a musical adventure into this universe. Markus provides the beats, Spoek does the words. There’s a distinctly funky sound, referencing everything from early electro and wild style hip hop, to Bauhaus and Fela Kuti. But, unlike a lot of the ‘we’re so self referential we’re eating ourselves’ sounds that we hear all too often, Sweat.X is totally South African, and, at the same time, totally unique.

‘Sweat.X is a mish-mash of our mixed-up worlds,’ says Spoek. ‘It’s N.W.A and Sesame Street.’ It’s also a great deal of fun. Not only are the lyrics tongue-in-cheek jabs at the party scene (there’s a character called Drunk Again Jane who features prominently on one track) they also take some wonderful musical liberties. Markus has taken Miriam Makeba’s famous Click Song, isolated the clicks, and used them instead of the traditional cowbell sound. Lark’s Inge Beckman provides vocals on another track – gone is the mermaid voice we’re used to hearing – she’s a full-throated, sexy streetwalker here. According to Markus, the aim with Sweat.X is to have a whole lot of fun, while ripping up dance floors the world over. ‘We’re gonna rock the show anywhere,’ he says. ‘We’ve got a simple set up, so

the plan is to go wherever we can, take the mic into the crowd at shows, and just see what happens.

Spoek Mathambo

‘We’re interested in playing peculiar places, breaking out of the mould in terms of touring and gigging,’ agrees Spoek. ‘I wanna have beer bottles thrown at me.’ This plan is as much about growing the music as having a party. ‘Most of the growth comes during and after shows,’ says Markus. ‘It’s a living organism, and always evolving.’ While they’re dead set on having fun, both performers are also completely realistic about the local scene, and understand that, in order to maintain the momentum behind Sweat.X, they need to speak to international labels and tour outside of the country. ‘The alternative scene in South Africa is elitist, and people get bored quickly,’ says Spoek. ‘There’s excitement, and then it fizzles, until something else comes along.’ In a scene where, all too often, people have to be told what is cool, it’s refreshing to come across a project that manages to stick to its guns and be irreverent at the same time. They may be taking the piss out of the scene, but Sweat.X also has plenty to say, without preaching. ‘Somewhere along the line, people decided that being earnest was a kak thing’ says Spoek. ‘I don’t get it.’ While they’ve never intended to change the world, the truth is that many of the songs exist on several levels – they’re dance floor shredders and make pointed social commentary at the same time. While Sweat.X is still a work in progress, the plan is to release a limited edition EP by the end of the year, and play parties in Joburg and Cape Town to support it. Until then, have a look at their Myspace page to hear their neohebrewhebitchupinyourdiskomakingyourfeetitch sounds for yourself.