Lefokolodi: Play it freaking loud

It’s lekker, it’s loud and its moshable. It’s punk that’s let of some steam and what Nine Inch Nails would sound like if it were on steroids.

The music is good, and what makes it even better is that you know, for sure, your parents would ask you to turn it down, because it’s that good.

Joburg outfit Lefokolodi’s music is road rage and a slap of protest in between humour and deep thinking.

The band’s young EP The Milk Was Finished Because We Were Thirsty is now available on all major streaming platforms. It’s not streaming, really. It’s tsunami-ing your senses with grinding guitars and rock and roll, like it should be,

He was a line ranger musician looking to make a home, and guitarist Shinesh Ramballi wanted to start a band.

He had no scene connections, no network, and did what any guitarist in his position would. He went to Marshall Music in Woodmead, Johannesburg and tried to recruit strangers.

“No one gave me the time of day,” he said. “So, I just started playing through some amps. Loudly.”

Two guys noticed while browsing, liked what they heard, and suggested he speak to a drummer named Yakean.

He was looking for a band

Quickly, a jam session was set up, but before it happened, Shinesh got a message from someone called Lerato. “He was a bassist looking to start a band,” he said. “He and Yakean knew each other from a project they called Headmistress.”

They met up. They played. It worked.

“The chemistry was instant,” Shinesh said. “We decided to start a band on the spot.”

To christen their new collective, Lerato had a notebook filled with band name ideas. One stood out. “Lefokolodi,” said Shinesh. “It means millipede in Sotho.”

What they did not realise at the time was that Lerato could also sing.

“We went through a few vocalists,” he said. “But no one was right. Then we heard Lerato do vocals. That was it.”

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The final piece was Sidney.

“We were adamant. It had to be Sidney, who was in a band called Drumfish. He is on bass,” said Shinesh.

The band members go by their first names. They all have day jobs, too. The line-up has been consistent since then with Lerato on vocals, Shinesh on guitar, Sidney on bass, and Yakean on drums.

“We’re just four regular guys who love music.”

They rehearse weekly and record when they can afford to do so.

“We self-fund everything,” said Shinesh. “There’s no label. No manager. No one is telling us what to do. It’s just us.”

Hard rock roots

The EP is not a concept project, even though it may sound like one.

“These are just songs we wrote over the last few years,” said Shinesh. “It was not planned. It just happened to fit.”

The tracks are true to their hard rock roots, and Shinesh ran through some of the emotional logistics of the somewhat cheekily named songs.

Butt Hurt deals with heartbreak.

“It’s about unrequited love. The kind that leaves you angry and frustrated.”

Mozzie takes aim at social performance.

“It’s about people who pretend to be perfect and look down on those who are not,” he said. “Trying to live up to that standard sucks you dry.”

The track Snake Dick is a confidence anthem with a sharp edge.

“It’s about knowing your worth and how that upsets people. The ‘b**ches’ we refer to are the ones who fear confidence. Also, we just wanted to have fun with hip hop.”

8 Tit Bitties is a track about self-acceptance. “Learning to love yourself, even the bits you do not like. It’s about survival, really.”

There’s a weed anthem

Za Za is what he called their weed anthem.

“A love song to marijuana. And the community it creates,” said Shinesh. “It’s about ease, honesty, a sense of peace. And it’s just us appreciating the culture we’re a part of.”

They record the same way they write. He said it’s done collectively and without overthinking it. “Ninety-nine percent of our music comes from jamming,” he said. “Someone brings an idea, and we build on it.”

They have been called punk, post-punk, grunge-adjacent and a bunch of other things. The band do not care.

“That label came from other people. We are not trying to fit into anything.”

Authenticity matters more to them than genre.

“Rock is not mainstream like it used to be, but people still connect with it,” he said.

Their songs are noisy, riff-heavy, and deliberately unpolished.

“We’re not interested in clean,” he said. “It has to be loud, honest and true to us.”

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