One on one with The Rocketeers

Acoustic duo Rocketeers, who hail from Johannesburg, having been making quite the name for themselves on the local live music scene with their unique marriage of famous covers, acoustic guitar, double bass, smooth jazzy vocals with some percussion. Douglas Bean and Lionel Naidoo have created quite a strong musical force that appeals to pretty much anyone who wants to take a break from "computer" bass music that dominates the music world today.

Their music blends classic jazz favourites with a slightly modern twist. On a regular performance night you’ll find them jamming jazz tunes like Sinatra’s Fly Me to the Moon all the way to some Nina Simone My Baby Just Cares for Me.

We sat down with the duo and asked them to tell us more about their sound and how it all began. Here’s what they had to say:

How did the Rocketeers form?
Five years ago we started performing covers as a duo. It was at a slightly dodgy but very charming place called Gin that people came to wash away the Mondays. Eventually attendance grew out of control and so we decided to continue working together.

Why did you go for Rocketeers for a name?
We wanted something accessible and with a positive and lively flavour. We started off as Doug Bean and The Lion but that was a bit obscure in terms of a branding.

How would you describe your sound and aesthetic?
Well the first thing everyone says is that our sound is laid back. Which it is. Perfect for a rainy day inside a duvet or a sunny day on the grass . We embrace the natural and a life that is disconnected from the rat race. Our aesthetic involves loads of greenery and beautiful, lush South African weather. Possibly a braai…

What are some of the most interesting places you’ve performed at since you’ve formed a duo?
We have played on the beach with the tide coming in rapidly which was quite stressful!
Another time we performed on a hillside in Cape Town in 38 degree summer heat with no shelter.
Last year we enjoyed performing at Dinner en Blanc which was at the Johannesburg War Memorial to a large crowd of thousands of diners, definitely the ultimate restaurant gig!

What have been the challenges in this industry?
The challenge is to be as professional as possible at all times, to stay on top of the business side of things and to keep growing and refining what we do.

You guys breathe new life into covers, how do you go about re-imagining a cover and making it your own?
Covering songs has become a genre within itself. Just look on YouTube and you can find a plethora of covers of your favourite songs.  The hardest part I think it selecting the right song to work with in terms of your strengths as a musician. Also it has to be a song that people can recognise and sing along to.  It is also fun to take a song that was originally electronic and re-work it on acoustic instruments, we do quite a bit of that. It really helps being in a duo because we work off each other’s ideas and through constant performance we fine tune things.

What inspired the sound and content of your debut album?
In terms of sound we wanted an organic sounding album with predominantly acoustic instrumentation because that is very much our style. In terms of content we drew on mostly hopeful and uplifting themes, we try and be as relaxed and positive about life as possible and this reflects in the content of the album.

What’s favourite song in the album and which do you like to perform and why?
I really love performing them all. We are always tinkering and improving things here and there, We love the process. Feels like tending a lovely garden. If I were forced to pick… I’d have to say Birds and the Bees no, Race.

Which SA artists would you love to work with in future?
William Kentridge – The best music videos.
Goldfish
Johnny Clegg
Shadowclub

How does your sound translate on a live platform?
We make every effort to maintain a strong relationship between our recordings and our live sound. But not every good idea makes it on to a official recording and those ideas are saved for our live show.  Also as a live band we use loops to recreate the drums from banging on our instruments. We don’t use any drum machines or laptops…yet. There’s something wonderful about computer-less music performance.

What can people look forward to in 2015 with regards to Rocketeers?
We will be playing our album to as many people as we can! We also have been chatting about releasing a bunch of our all-time favourite covers watch this space.

Listen to the Rocketeers debut album on iTunes.