IV4 drop their first single ‘River Blues’ to radio this week following the release of their self-titled debut EP on Friday 29 July.
The Pretoria-based 4-piece band have the
music industry buzzing after winning the 2015 Converse Get Out Of The Garage
competition. One of SA’s fastest rising Alternative Rock Bands, the band are
excited to release their new music!
What is ‘River Blues’ about? Front man
Van Wyk Brand comments “It's about taking control over your own life. Being
free, taking risks, making mistakes and being crazy. Because in the end you
never want to regret anything about your life. Making the best of everything.”
Earlier in 2016 IV4 spent about 3 months
in studio at Open Room Productions in Johannesburg recording their EP. The band
relished at the opportunity of working with renowned SAMA winning producer,
Darryl Torr. Torr also worked on the Soweto Gospel Choir album which won them
the Grammy Award for ‘Best Traditional World Music Album’ in 2007.
‘Let it Out’, one of the singles from
the EP, was recorded in February 2016 at the Converse Rubber Tracks studio in
Williamsburg, Brooklyn New York, with producer Jason Finkel. The recording was
part of their Converse Get Out The Garage prize.
“It was a surreal experience. Having the
opportunity to work with a producer who's worked with world class artists was
nothing to take lightly. We learnt a lot about ourselves as a band. He drew
from us more than we thought we were capable of. Our vision as a band expanded
after that experience - all of a sudden it was not just about Pretoria anymore,
not just South Africa. Suddenly a vision of writing and making music on a
global scale was not just a dream anymore - it was a necessity. Making a
difference on a global scale,” says Van Wyk Brand.
Along with the release of the EP and the
single ‘River Blues’ to radio, the band has also dropped the music video for
the song ‘Solar Eclipse’ (also taken from the EP) online.
Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6jjRYBWUSA
How did the band get their name? Van Wyk
explains: “IV4 really stood out to us in the moment of its inception. It came
after a battle with many different ‘cool band names’. It originated from a
really cool image we stumbled upon of the Roman numeral IV - the 4 of us were
together at the time. We thought to translate the 'sophisticated'
"IV" to the more 'layman' 4, before thinking to have them side by
side. As a result, we ended up with a term that had a musical inference to it,
relating to the time signature in music 4/4 and with 4 guys in a band - which
stuck. Ultimately, the name is easy to say, easy to remember.”
IV4 have made their mark in the SA live
scene supporting the likes of Prime Circle, Gangs of Ballet, Desmond & The
Tutus, Crash Car Burn, Rubber Duc, PH Fat to name but a few.
Listen to ‘River Blues’ here –
https://soundcloud.com/iv4band/02-river-blues?in=iv4band/sets/iv4-ep
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