Captain Stu

Artist Information

Biography

Captain Stu is a Cape Town based band that has been gigging all over the Cape Town circuit for the better part of 5 years. They play a tightly executed, energetic and eclectic blend of ska, funk, rock and reggae with an urban twist and have been evolving their sound over the past few years to skillfully incorporate as many of their varying influences as possible.

With one album to their name (The Untold Tales released in 2005) and another one scheduled to be released by the end of February 2009; after two national tours, playing at several of South Africa’s major music festivals, attracting various would-be corporate sponsors and appearing on South African radio and TV on several occasions; after two music videos, a sizeable amount of member changes and a few hundred rocking live shows in between all of that, Captain Stu now stand as a six piece group of dedicated and professional musicians with a large and loyal fan base which stretches throughout the country. The band consists of Devin Jones on Drums, Nick Key on vocals, Clement Carr on Sax and Keys, Jon Shaban on Sax and Guitar, Ryan McArthur on Bass and James Klopper on Guitar and Vocals.

This year has been the busiest yet for the band as they have traveled around the country several times to perform at two festivals and complete their second national tour, as well as entering the Virgin Mobile “Road To V” competition, which saw them doing valuable workshops with many of the industry’s top professionals and performing at various shows in Cape Town and Johannesburg, culminating in a performance at the Coca Cola Dome where they shared the stage with Maroon 5 and One Republic, among others. On top of this they have recently finished recording their much anticipated second album which is due to be released on February 20th in Cape Town. The new album is something Captain Stu has wanted to get done ever since their first album was released. It represents a new and fresh yet established and well honed sound, which has been earning much praise from new and old fans, and receiving much attention from would be business relations throughout the local scene.

Other plans for the rest of 2008 include touring the country with South African music channel MK89 with 19 other bands from around South Africa, a tour which they appeared on in 2007 as well and hope to do again in 2009.

Captain Stu is set to take on the music industry, they have their eyes on the prize and are aiming at touring as far and as often as possible, and they have what it takes to get there. Be absolutely sure not to miss them this festive season and into 2009, because if you do, you might just have to buy a plane ticket to catch them.

Festivals:

Obs Fest/Cape Town/2005
Gif Appel/Stellenbosch/2005
Knifefight/Cape Town/2006
Insanity/Cape Town/2006
Long Street/Cape Town/2006
Uprisings/Durban/2007
Rocking The Daisies/Darling/2007
Obs Fest/Cape Town/2007
New Years Vortex/Cape Town/2007-2008
Splashy Fen/Underberg/2008
Uprisings/Durban/2008
Obs Fest/Cape Town/2008

Instrumentation

Nick Key: Vocals
James Klopper: Guitar/ Backing Vocals
Ryan McArthur: Bass/ Upright Bass
Raiven Hansmann: Saxophone/Keyboard
Jon Shaban: Saxophone/Guitar
Devon Jones: Drums

Discography

The Untold Tales (released July 2005)
The Adventues Of (released February 2009)

Music Videos: The Curse (2005); Value Systems (2008), both of which can be found on Youtube.

South African Radio Play:
UCT Radio
Maties FM
Heart FM
SAFM
KFM
Bush Radio
5FM

Audio

• More Than Friends
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• Value Systems
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• Blinding Lights
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• Let Go
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• The Journey
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• Still the Same
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• At a Crossroads
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• Message of Love
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• WEYO
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• Shake
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• The Journey (remix)
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Video

Value Systems

Photo Gallery

Press

• Attention! Captain Stu on deck in South Africa [+ Show ]
  

  Of the three bands that have made it to the final three in this year's Virgin Road to V, Captain Stu...Of the three bands that have made it to the final three in this year's Virgin Road to V, Captain Stu have been around the longest and are perhaps the most well known.
  
  The band have been playing together for five and half years now, and have come a long way since their tentative steps into the live music festival scene back in 2002.
  
  It's been 5 years of flux as the Cape Town musicians have played with their style, changed band members and altered their name.
  
  If the story behind the naming of the band offers an insight into the mentality of its members then read what you will into this gem. The band was originally called Captain Stu and the Llamas which is the tribute to the outlandish farce Dude, Where's My Car?
  
  In keeping with the ridiculous nature of the film, Captain Stu reflect the carefree, easy-going attitude of the main characters. It really comes through in their music, which can be summed up in one word as fun.
  
  From the way the band interact with the audience, encouraging their gig attendees to clap and get involved with the music you can tell they are genuinely enjoying the whole experience. A quote from their MySpace page couldn't be more true: "Their songs are fun and catchy and always get a smile on people's faces".
  
  Captain Stu's music is a mix of styles which could be described as predominantly ska and funk. Bassist Ryan McAthur, one of the founding members of the six piece outfit explained in an interview on zoopy.com: "We play a mixture of ska, funk, afro jazz, hip-hop kind of like reggae, fun times, good stuff".
  
  If you're not familiar with ska as a music format, guitarist and backing vocalist James Klopper clarified "Ska is like reggae, but with the pace turned up a bit, you know?" You can't pigeonhole Captain Stu, as Klopper continues: "We don't really play straight ska, we blend a lot of things together. Ska is one of the primary things though, funk is also one of the things we do".
  
  The Cape Town band have appeared at some of South Africa's top music festivals including Durban's Uprisings Festival and Rocking The Daisies. The Virgin Festival pre-concerts which showcase the 3 road to v bands is this weekend. Captain Stu will be playing alongside the likes of Goldfish, Maroon 5 and One Republic.

Setlist

A typical set can be described as an hour of pretty much uninterrupted music which ranges across various genres, but still holds true to a consistent sound and maintains a constant energy right through to the end. During this time the band will play around twelve or thirteen songs which would include the following songs:

Shake
Value Systems
Blinding Lights
Still the Same
More than friends
Message of love
Introduction
Crossroads
Matchstick Days
Weyo

...as well as a few covers of some old 90's hip hop tracks when the time is right.

Basic Requirements

Calendar