Few bands influenced the 90s like rock legends Squeal. A new album is coming, and they're confirmed for Hangout Fest.
Few bands rocked the SA music scene like Squeal did in the nineties. The band’s live performances were legendary, and so too was their music. Albums like Long Pig were groundbreaking in many ways and captured the mood of a decade.
Later, Man and Woman nailed the band to the history books forever, with a discography balance that became legendary. Frontman David Birch’s raw, edgy vocals are unmistakable.
What has happened in your and Squeal’s careers?
We put out Long Pig in 1995 and, between then and 1999, released two more albums. After that, I started working more in the production of bands and recorded many of the emerging bands of the 2000s, such as the Parlotones, Finkelstein’s, Perez, Faryll Purkiss and so on. In 2008, I started doing sound and music for film, which I still do. The band stayed pretty much mothballed until 2010, when we decided to start performing again, and it’s been a lovely experience bringing that ’90s rock to a whole new audience.
The rock vitality of the 90s, especially on the SA scene at the time…
We’re in a different time now; the rock ’n’ roll era that I grew up in, where music was the abiding interest of most of the youth and was played on the radio and TV, has finished its arc. There are loads of new bands and audiences for them, but they are less visible and there are less of the traditional outlets for them, for example, gigs, radio play etcetera. I think to get yourself heard by people, now you must be very savvy about the online portals you have to use to reach your audience.
What is your view on rock and roll as protest music over time?
I don’t see rock and roll as being primarily protest music – it’s more about life, really, so it’ll include protest along with love, life and pure fun! If it wasn’t fun, no one would do it.
How will rock and roll find its feet again in a world of programmed music?
Rock and Roll have its feet – and people who relate to real energy come to dance. Programmed music can’t respond to an audience in the way a band can – you choose and groove with what you like!
What do you plan to play at Hangout Fest – what can audiences expect?
We will play all the Squeal favourites, including a couple of new songs to keep it fresh!
Have you been working on any new Squeal material?
Yes – we are recording an album now. We’re hoping it will be ready early next year and will then be available on Bandcamp, as are all our previous albums.
What did your time in the 90s mean to you?
It was a time I will never forget. A time of rising hopes, great music, fantastic audiences and goodwill all round. Squeal as a band couldn’t have happened anywhere else! I landed from the UK in 1991 and connected with some of the best rockers I’ve ever played with. I came here to meet my wife’s family, as we met in London and spent two months here. But I have to say, when my feet hit the tarmac at Durban airport, I felt the flux.
What do you think the 90s had that the eighties gave it, but that the turn of the century took away?
The 90s ushered in cell phones and access to the Internet, and those two things changed everything. We made a living playing live and selling CDs. It is no longer feasible to do that. We couldn’t have imagined the access to any music that people now have (for free), and it’s had a profound effect on how musicians make a living. Fifty years ago, I wouldn’t have believed that anybody in the 2000s would still be listening to the Beatles and Led Zeppelin, as Rock music was evolving fast and new things eclipsed the old. But here we are – it’s almost as if there is so much old stuff available to hear and see online that there’s no room for the new.
If you had to write a track about a South African politician, who would it be, and what would you say?
I wouldn’t write a song about any politician anywhere in the world. Human beings and power are a bad combination. During the lockdown, you could see, the world over, how politicians really love wielding power when they get a chance.
Next month Squeal will be in action at the Hangout Fest on 25 October along with Sugardrive’s Paul Flynn, Henry Ate and a stack of more 90s music legends.
