How did DNA Strings begin?

How long have you been together?

Where does the band's name come from?

Who writes your music?

Explain your style of music?

How did DNA Strings begin? The concept of DNA Strings started taking shape at the end of 2000 in the small town of Stellenbosch , Western Cape . It started when Adriaan de Beer and Danie Kotzé started playing together at weddings and other functions. They were both living in Dagbreek, a residence at the University of Stellenbosch . They started out as D&A Strings, using the first letters of their names to make a clever pun. In the beginning of 2001 the band changed to DNA Strings with the addition of Flippie du Plessis to the band. Adriaan and Flippie new each other from their days spent on holiday at Buffelsbaai close to Knysna where they worked together as barmen en made noise beside the fire at the beach parties. Flip bought a djembe at a Stellenbosch street vendor and on his way home on his bicycle with the drum on his shoulder he passed Danie and Adriaan, they asked him to join them for a jam and the rest is history. They jammed on a Tuesday and their first gig was played on the following Thursday, opening for Jakkie Louw at a local pub called Bohemia . The crowd seemed to like the music and Bohemia asked them to do their own show on the Saturday. From then on it just snowballed and a new band was born. Later in 2001 the band hooked up with bass player Mike Lyster, formerly of The Led. The band felt they wanted a bigger sound and the next step was to get a bass player. Mike gave a new dimension to the music and contributed heavily in the development of the band’s sound. Somewhere in 2001 Danie was trying to study in his flat when he was disrupted by a band practicing somewhere in the block flats. When he went to investigate he met Iwan Kemp, the drummer who was lifting the ceiling. Danie kept contact with Iwan after that meeting and a few months later, when Flippie could not play due to exams, Iwan was asked to join if he wanted. A new dimension was opened in the music that night that could not be closed again. When Mike decided to follow his photography career with more vigor DNA needed a new bassist. Through a mutual friend Flippie met Jacques Steyn, a creative multi-talented musician. He asked Jacques if he wanted to come just for a jam and check out the band in the beginning of 2003. Upon hearing Jacques playing everyone took a few minutes to drool in awe and then the guys wanted to know when he could tour with the band and if he’s available to play. Jacques was a bit taken back because he thought it was just a jam and not a audition. In the end after everybody relaxed Jacques decided to give it a go and at the beginning of 2003 the 5 piece in it’s current form performed the first time at a rock festival at the university of Stellenbosch . The gig went very well and the addition of drum and bass worked very well. When DNA Strings was invited to be part of the main festival at the Klein Karoo National Arts festival at Oudshoorn they decided to make this the final test for a DNA Strings consisting of 5 members. After a very successful KKNK Jacques and Iwan decided to join the band on a permanent basis and the DNA Strings in it’s current and final format was created. Back to Top

How long have you been together Flippie and Adriaan met in Buffelsbaai, where they were barmen. During their studies, Adriaan and Danie lived in Dagbreek mens’ residence in Stellenbosch. There, they were members of the serenade choir of the hostel, and they jammed together here and there. Danie was asked to play at the mock wedding of two residences, a Stellenbosch Carnival tradition. Usually Danie and his brother did a violin duet, but on that day, his brother couldn’t make it, and so Danie asked Adriaan to join him. They played in the botanical gardens in Stellenbosch. After the “wedding” they walked into the resident coffee shop and started playing for fun. The owner of the coffee shop approached them and asked if they would play background music on a regular basis, for a meal and R50 each. As they were still students, they couldn’t resist. In 2001, Flippie drove past the two background musicians, on his bicycle, with his new djembe under his arm. They asked him to join them for a jam session, and so it started. The band quickly got a gig at a new live entertainment venue, Bohemia, and started gaining a following fast. Bass player Michael Lyster went on tour with the band during that December, and they were considering taking up a drummer and bassist permanently for a long time. Finally, by the same amount of luck and coincidence as the genesis of the band, they met Jacques Steyn and Iwan Kemp, and took them up for an experiment at the KKNK 2003. The new, fuller sound worked so well, that they asked them to join up just after the KKNK. Back to Top

Where does the band's name come from? Danie Kotzè (violin) and Adriaan de Beer (Guitar), started out making background for functions – for which they called themselves D & A Strings. When Flip du Plessis joined on Djembe (2months after Danie and Adriaan started playing together) they decided to change the name to DNA Strings. Danie (viool) en Adriaan (Kitaar), het saam agtergrond musiek gemaak vir funksies, en hulself D & (and) A Strings genoem. Hul het alby snaar instrumente bespeel en het die eerste letters van hul name in die groep se naam gebruik. Toe Flippie opgeneem word in die groep (2 maande na die aanvang van die groep) het hul besluit om die naam van die groep nie meer te baseer op "Danie & Adriaan" nie, en het die naam van die groep verander na DNA Strings. Back to Top

Who writes your music? Because we don't have a vocalist, our band is not in the background supporting someone singing and melody that must be heard, so every instrument in the band immediately becomes a 'lead' instrument. The 'music' alone must now 1. Keep people interested in what's going to happen next, 2. Take the audience on an emotional roller coaster ride to wherever they want to go in their minds while listening. 3. AND of course be entertaining and good music at the same time! So everyone in the band has a roll to play in the writing of our music. The ‘strings’ players write mostly the melody and chord progressions: Danie (violin) Adriaan (guitar) and Jacques (bass and guitar). On both albums, DNA Strings, and El Niño, all of the music was written by Danie and Adriaan, with the exclusion of Innocence (Track 10, El Niño) and Black Moon (Track 9,El Niño, written by Iwan & Flip) where the new influence of Jacques and Iwan's co-writing can be heard. The drums, percussion and bass (rhythm section) can change the foundation of any song. Which makes it a group effort to decide the tempo and style of the music to best fit the intention of the song i.e. if we want it to be a pumping club vibe, a strong samba, Arabic,Celtic, African or Latin American tune. With the combination of these 5 musicians and instruments, all of these styles are possible because: Danie supplies any melody from Irish 'fiddling' to melodic African tunes, Adriaan supplies the flamenco flavor with it's strong strumming a chords, Iwan will play any rhythm under the sun from Latin American with it’s very strict laws and strong beats, to laid back jazz grooves. Jacques, being a bassist, doesn't have any choice as to play the basslines associated with the chosen beats and Flip supplies the African rhythms on his African drums and percussion on congas with the Latin American grooves. Back to Top

Explain your style of music? As a whole, we have been unable to describe or explain our style! We have obvious influences (African, Celtic, South American, Blues-Rock, and Crossover Jazz), but there is no definite box we can be put into. Especially since there are no lyrics. Our songs range from the African rhythms of Serengeti and Black Moon, to the Gypsy sounds of Matador, Rock influenced Perfect 10, chill out vibes of Innocence and Celtic/African blend of Ontrafel. This is exactly what makes us so different. We have no definite style, genre or target group. We just do what feels best and natural! Back to Top