Interview by Michael Cornelius

Photos provided by the band

Let's introduce the members of the band. What instruments do you play and what are your musical and skating influences?

A: = Andrew Wright
J: = Jaco Pretorius
P: = Pieter Strydom
M: = Mpho Mahura
W: = William Bishop

J: I play bass, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Mad Caddies, Good Riddance, Less Than Jake. Mike Vallely.
A: I play guitar and sing. I love the Voodoo Glow Skulls, Less Than Jake, Potshot, Link 80. Skate influences…mmm…Yea, Mike Valleley, Ed Templeton, all the old school artist guys.
P: I do the percussion. Kiss..no, no, no. OK, Strung Out, Mad Caddies, etc and Hedpe etc. My skating influences…is anybody who does fat solid basic tricks.
M: I play the trumpet and anything and everything.
W: I play the trombone - Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Man-O-War, Pantera and Metallica and old jazz like Louis Armstrong.

Where does the band name come from?
A: It’s along and pretty boring story really. Our old guitarist who started the band with me lived in England for a while and wanted to start a skateboard company called "Leek Skates". That never happened and he ended up back in SA (South Africa) so when we were looking for a band name he said what about Leek…and we thought that was pretty good. We went with that name for a while and then soon changed it to LEEK AND THE BOUNCING UPTONES…and the rest is history I guess.

MP3: Roll the Dice

How did the bands sound evolve?
J: From bad to better!
W: Our music has become more complex, more detailed. It’s not as simple as the old stuff.
A; Yea, I agree. We’re a lot more melodic. We’ve only just acquired William and Mpho on the horns so it’s given us a lot melody.
P: Ya! From raw energetic punk to a lot more interesting experimental ska\punk.
W: It’s maintained it’s originality.

Do you have CD's out? How can people get them?
A: Yea. We’ve released about 4 or 5 albums but they have all sold out and we don’t print them anymore but we have just released our latest album called "Kicking Back The Years" which is basically a compilation of everything LEEK has ever recorded plus new and un-released stuff. You can get the CD or Cassette from Croakroom Records at PO Box 70047, The Willows, Pretoria, 0041, South Africa for about $12 (postage paid)…check out our web site at http://www.come.to/leek and you can also order over the net too.

Jump Up Records in Chicago are also selling our CD’s so you can get it there too.

What do you want to accomplish in 2000?
J: Get enough money to buy fast cars and fast woman…hahaha…I dunno.
W: To release a new album.
M: To have as much fun as possible within 365 days.
P: Just getting better, with my instrument and skateboarding
J: You don’t even skate!
A: Basically have as much fun as humanly possible. We’ve achieved so much this year that I’ll be happy if 2000 ends tomorrow. I think we all want to get a new full-length album out…and we’re all hoping to tour USA next year…so of anyone in the States is reading this, we need some help with tour.

Describe South Africa. What are the different areas like? What is the weather like?
M: I have a lion in my back yard.
P: It’s a lot more modern and civilised than people like to think.
J: I am glad that my school is close to my house cause it’s painful riding on the back of an elephant.
A: South Africa is cool. The politics suck and there’s a lot of closed-minded people in the country. Hay, the weather is rad. It hardly ever snows.
P: It only snows on the mountain.
J: Where the mountain goats live…hahaha
What is the South African music scene like?
J: Better than the Zimbabwe music scene!
M: Good enough to give the Americans a go.
A: Hahaha, yea. The South African music scene sucks, but the South African punk scene rocks!!!!!! I love the punk scene here.
W: It’s a big happy family…the punk scene.
What are the other South African bands you support? What are they like?
J: Fuzigish…amazing!
A: Yea, Fuzigish, The Vendettas
W: Hog Hoggidy Hog
P: Yea, Fuzigish are probably the best in South Africa.
A: Fuzigish are definitely the best…not in South Africa but the world. They are the best band I have ever heard in my life. I havn’t taken their cassette out of my car radio.
M: Fuzigish, The Vendettas…ya!

It's really cool that you're involved in Punks Against Racism. Tell me about it and what you hope to accomplish?
W: Kill the racist!
A: Racism is still pretty big in SA. No other SA (non-punk) bands have anything decent to say. I just think it’s a chance for us to hopefully put the young kids of SA mind’s right. This racism crap has gotta end!
P: A lot of kids are still growing up in racist families but are a lot more open minded so it’s easier to show them the right way.
W: Racism is a disease and we must purge the world of it!
M: To teach all those close-minded people to have as much fun as we do.
A: We just wrote a new song about this racist asshole called Terrablanche (the leader of the AWB – a bunch of Afrikaans farmers who don’t know any better)..it’s going down well at our shows!

Are the youth of South Africa breaking down old barriers? W: I think so.
P: Oh yea!
M: Yes.
A: Yep, it’s great…it’s pissing off all these old fogies which is a lot of fun.

What is the skate scene like?
P: There’s a lot of young new talent in South Africa.
A: The skate scene is like the punk scene. It’s small but it’s growing fast. We’ve got such good skaters here. Only one or two companies but they rock and are working hard to help the scene out. We’re playing at the opening of a new indoor park this weekend.
Are there good skatespots?
A: Yea, there are a lot of good spots. Not brillaint like in the States…but then I guess "the grass is always greener on the other side" hey?
P: Yes, you just need a lot of imagination.
Is skating as crazy popular as it is here in the US?
A: I think it’s just as popular but it doesn’t seem like it cause there are a lot less people in SA than there are in USA, but the kids are just as enthusiastic.
P: The ones who do skate are way into it!

What do you think is the connection between skating and your music? P: 70% of our fans are skaters.
A: Well, I’ve been skating for about 11-13 years, before I started playing in the band. It’s like we use to watch H-Street videos and Powel Peralta videos and hear all this got music. We didn’t even know who NOFX and PENNYWISE were till we saw the skate videos…so I gues we’ve all just grown up with it. Skating is so fast and energetic…and I guess punk rock is the same.

Do you get much chance to tour or travel? Where has the band played?
J: Not really.
A: The thing is South Africa is so small that there is not much touring that can be done. We went on a tour in April round South Africa but our tours only last a week or so and then you’ve gone through the whole country….
J: On a elephant…
A: …but yea, so I suppose we’ve toured SA…we just wanna tour the States and the rest of the world now!
What are your shows like?
P: Insane!
W: We enjoy ourselves on stage more than any other band…I think that’s right huh?
J: Yea.
A: Our shows are crazy. There is nothing better than getting up on stage and seeing lots of kids going crazy to your music. I can’t believe people love what we create!
J: We have also trained our pet lions to jump through rings of fire.
A: Hahaha!

Any closing comments? W: I hope to see everyone soon!
A: Yea, thanks for the interview. We …
J: Send us some free shit.
A:…hope we get the chance to play there in America…anyone want to pay for our airfare?
P: Hope and prosperity to the flea infested parts of my room.