They may not be fans of pigeon-holing their sound into a genre, but what they do like is coaxing out their band’s name as an expression from the crowd, once they’ve listened to their music. With roots in Cape Town, Ohgod hopes to take what their brand of progressive post-rock, or what they call “ghost rock” across the world. And they are mighty excited to give us a listen on their debut tour to India. The band’s front man, Mark Woolfrey chats with us before their show in Bengaluru on December 29 at the Indigo Live Music Bar.
“We’ve heard some really great things about India and the quality of music we have heard and seen is amazing. We always joke about how we really don’t know what to expect and how we can’t believe everything we read – Most of the world thinks we have lions in our backyard in South Africa, for instance,” quips Mark, the bassist of the band. Consisting of Danny Harris, Stefan Steyn Bothma, David Houston and Mark, the band is influenced by a variety of genres – everything from ambient to metal and instrumental. “It’s a mixture between ambient styled string section where we like to create simplistic music, yet create space. Along with that, we incorporate heavier riffs, fast bass licks and intense drumming to bring out the energy we all like and crave in the band,” he explains, piecing out their music.
Although founded in 2013, Mark tells us that the band hibernated to focus on writing and making music that was different. Since then, springing successfully in Cape Town, on a scene dominated by electronic music, they’ve gone on to share the stage with great artistes (and their favourites too) – Karnivool, Protest The Hero and Monuments, to name a few. They even won awards for the Best Alternative Band and Best EP at the South African Metal Music Awards recently.
“I think playing a number of shows at the Afrika Burn in the middle of desert also ranks up there for us, just for its sheer uniqueness and adventure,” he adds.
In their mid-twenties and rocking out, Ohgod takes the business of entertaining quite seriously. “We like to put on a show for people. They pay money and take the time out of their day to come watch us, so we feel very strongly about giving people entertainment. It’s all about creating a genuine experience and having fun on stage whether someone’s watching you or not,” says Mark, believing that fun is contagious and that people pick up on that.
The band’s members also have day jobs in addition. “Because, you know, life is expensive,” adds the guitarist, who himself works at a musical instrument store, something that he ‘luckily’ enjoys doing too. Needless to say, they hardly have time to let down their hair. But when they do, it’s listening to more music, supporting other local bands, being on the other side of the stage and enjoying good ol’ barbecued braai. “Currently, we are working on finishing up our full-length album, consisting mostly of new material, for next year. We’ve kept people waiting for a reason,” says Mark in conclusion.
