Electro-hop Locnville twins start a label

Locnville are known for their good music, great stage performances, and even their good looks. But, the electro-hop twins have never been known for their business acumen - until now.

Andrew and Brian Chaplin recently launched their own record label, ContraBanned, and have released its first EP, Africa Icon Volume One.

“When we first broke into the music industry, we always told ourselves that at some stage we are going to start our own label.

“It was always at the back of our minds, so when the opportunity presented itself, it just made

sense to go ahead and start it,” Brian said.

“We have learnt a lot over the years and the timing has been perfect, because we get to use what we have learnt in our business.

“We have always been very creative, even with our own music; we have always been very involved in the production aspect of it, from writing our own songs to playing around with different beats. So helping up-and-coming musicians is a great feeling for us, it really is amazing”

Other than Locnville, ContraBanned currently has Djenga and Chad Da Don on its books. So, what are the Chaplins looking for in an artist?

“It all boils down to the talent that we hear, it’s all about the music. We are looking for something fresh and unique, and someone we can see ourselves working with,” Brian said.

“We have thousands of people sending us demos and links to their work, and you would be surprised to know that some people give us their mobile number so we can chat about it.”

Commenting on Africa Icon Volume One, he added: “This is just a taste of the first of many EPs and albums we have planned.

“African Icons aims to transcend borders, creating opportunities for artists across the continent, with ContraBanned being the catalyst.

Listeners can expect truly unique new music that is but a taster of what’s to come from the stable. The tracks are fun and world-class produced.”

While they will be focusing much of their time on the label, the twins won’t be giving up on their own music just yet.

“We love performing and love being on stage so we will certainly still be doing that and making our own music,” Brian said.

“Travelling and always being on the road is extremely exhausting. We are just trying to figure out a balance right now and see where it takes us.”

Locnville, who have won several awards, were recently nominated for a South African Music Award.

“Having Taste of the Weekend nominated in the best pop album (category) is great, we are super-excited. We don’t make music with award shows on our mind, so it’s always a surprise when we are nominated,” Brian said.

Apart from their commitments to ContraBanned, the brothers are also working on a new album.

“With our previous album, Taste of the Weekend, we didn’t actually have a vision, we just wanted to put out one song that represented the weekend, a feel-good party song, but then the album happened,” Brian said.

“Grapevine was a great song and so was 25, especially 25 because it was a very personal song where we told our story.

“We want to do more of that and we will be doing more of that with our new music.

“We are working on new music, we want to start making an afro-

pop sound as well as our original sound.

“We are looking at working with other artists across the African continent, and we are very excited about that.”