South Africa: Schools of Rock Are Itching to Blast City for Charity

South Africa: Schools of Rock Are Itching to Blast City for Charity

Cape Argus (Cape Town)

March 12, 2007
Posted to the web March 12, 2007

Leila Samodien
Cape Town

Whipping together a rock concert - overseen by a world-renowned music producer - is no easy task, especially if you still have classes to attend at school.

For a handful of Grade 10 pupils from eight Cape schools, this will be the reality for the next few months.

Blastbeat competition entrants will form a "company" with other pupils in their school and, by the end of the year, each school must present a fully fledged rock concert featuring six acts.

Companies have to do all their own planning, band selecting, fundraising and marketing.

Most of the proceeds of the events will be given to the My Life organisation.

The internationally established competition was created by Irish music producer Rob Stephenson.

He has previously worked with rock mega-band U2 and has 25 years' experience in the music industry.

It is the first time the competition has come to South Africa and, for this year, it will only be open to eight schools from Cape Town.

SACS, Westerford, Bishops, Jan van Riebeeck, DF Malan, the Leap Maths and Science School, Camps Bay and Wynberg High schools will participate.

Local co-ordinator Jade Carlisle said about 20 to 25 pupils formed a company at each of the schools, fully managed by a board of directors.

The winning company in Cape Town will be flown to Ireland at the end of the year to compete against international companies for a cash prize.The winning band, which must be unsigned and with at least one band member in high school, will also score a record deal.

Buyelwa Xundu, the 15-year-old CEO of the Wynberg Girls company Scandalous Sounds, said they would not only focus on rock acts but other genres to appeal to a wide audience.

"We all have to work together as a team if we want to go far, but I think the most important thing is to enjoy what we are doing, otherwise we can't succeed," she said.