Out of Africa

Despite coming from a country with a small music industry,South African band Prime Circle boasts a glittering CV. The five-member rock act has performed alongside biggies such as Metallica,Iron Maiden,Collective Soul,Incubus and Chris Cornell. On August 4,the group will kick start its four-city tour of India by rocking Delhi’s Hard Rock Café.

“The music scene back home is small yet diverse and it is hard for bands and musicians with a heavy sound to make it big,” says Ross Learmonth,the vocalist and guitarist of the Johannesburg-based outfit. The band,whose sound feels like an amalgamation of a Nickelback track with a Counting Crows tune,was formed in 2001 and mixes their American and British inspirations. “Even though our sound is more American,we have a lot of British influences as well. But we try and mix it up to stay somewhere in the middle,” says Learmonth. Eight years after their inception,Prime Circle is excited about its third studio album,a 12-track offering called All or Nothing,which released recently in the country. “We try not to be very emotional in our songs and not all our songs are about relationships. It’s always a blend of feelings and sometimes even a lack of inspiration is inspiring enough for us to pen down a track,” adds Learmonth,who feels that the band doesn’t go very heavy in its compositions and sticks to an overall progressive grunge sound.

Prime Circle is familiar with Bollywood thanks to its performance at the second season of the IPL this year. “Bollywood is quite huge back home with many magazines and channels dedicated to them. In fact,we even jammed with a tabla player for one of our tracks in the album,” he says.

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It is another type of Indian music that Prime Circle members are curious about — the indie rock sound. “We got a glimpse of India’s niche rock sound when an Indian band Junkyard Groove performed in Dubai where we were also playing. Indian rock very different from the typical Indian music that the world knows,” says Learmonth. They are also excited about experiencing the real Indian culture. “That is what we have been adviced by our Indian friends back home,” smiles Learmonth. After their Delhi gig,the band will travel to Mumbai,Pune and Bangalore.

Prime Circle performs at Hard Rock Café on August 4. Contact: 47158888