The La Els

“With their filthy funk, diabolical disco, sweaty synth and righteous rock ‘n roll, The La Els are a sonic storm of cataclysmic proportions brewing in the trembling heavens.

They have dubbed their sound “Diep Indie Kak.” They entered The Global Moguls battle of the bands shortly after their formation and won. With an exciting sound and a following of many it is easy to forget they are only have around 5 shows to their repertoire. Meet The La Els, one of Durban’s most exciting exports.

On the band’s formation Jonas explains “we all go back a few years together, most of us met in High School and University. A couple of us had played in bands together along the way too. So when the core started out, it was just a case of finding the best people to join.”

They draw from many influences, but the most prominent would include “Arctic Monkeys, CSS, Blue Juice, Death From Above, Calvin Harris and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy with several truck loads in between.” All the influences are felt in their music, “a disco, rock, synthesised sound with a slap in the face of funk.”

Hailing from Durban, Jonas says the music scene there “has a lot to offer and is really starting to show its colours again after a bit of a hiatus. Loads of other bands are really stepping up and showing South Africa what is going down in 031 town. We couldn’t be more excited or more proud to be a part of the scene…ultimately there is only one battle cry, Durban, and we all come together under that flag without hesitation. We all love this city and want to show South Africa what we got to offer.”

The band was originally started with one ambition: to bring their Diep Indie Kak to the masses. They went through a rigorous process picking the band name, Jonas says of it “We really battled with finding a name, we must have bounced around a few dozen names. In the end we could only decide on one thing. We wanted to be “The” something’s. You know like The Beatles, The Doors. But as soon as we hit that…there just wasn’t one that we all agreed on.” In the end it was their bassist Paul who suggested The La Els – its “The” in 3 languages. English, Italian and Spanish – Jonas continues “Our faces lit up. We loved it. We claimed it. It made perfect sense to go for something like that after the search we had been on, we all got our wish, we are now ‘The’ something just like we wanted. The The The’s.” Touché.

They won the Global Moguls competition which helped push them into the spotlight. Jonas says of it “the band basically formed a week before the competition started, so everything had to be done from scratch“. He elaborates “We had always planned on doing things as we have done, the deadlines of the comp gave us an ‘ultimatum’ of sorts to which we had to work. Every deadline was a new task, to submit a video, we had to make one, hell even the simpler tasks like uploading a song, we had to sit, write and record something first. We entered the comp wanting to win it, so we knuckled down and made sure we did everything as hard, fast and well as we possibly could. One speed. Go.” He adds “I think the primary thing Global Moguls did was incentivise us to get where we wanted to go…only faster.”

They recently released their self titled EP. The EP is just what the cover suggests – a ‘neon-driven slap to the face, with the subtle hint of something darker underneath.’ Jonas says of it The theme of this EP has mainly been about the party and the various things that happen around it. The girl who kills your vibe, the little voice inside your head that inhibits or encourages you, choices, options, the fear of missing out, scenesters and having an epic night out with your mates.” He adds “The music is its own beast. In almost every instance the track you hear on the EP started off as something completely different. Its such an organic process and we get rather brutal with it spending days and weeks on single tracks.”

As for songs making the grade for the EP, Jonas explains “for about every track there was on average at least another single version of it that got dissected and cut and prodded until out popped the final version, plus a handful of hopefuls that didn’t make it. I’d say to get to these 6 we chucked between 9 and 12 others down the drain.” He adds “I’ve got at least 4 recordings of “Fire” on my phone that sound nothing like the final product.”

The songs off their EP started off as entirely free to download as a means to get them out. Jonas muses “people are going to copy and pass on your music regardless of what the law says about it. So we figured why fight it, the best way to get people to a gig if for them to know and dig what you do, so get it to them.” He adds “We have now modified this somewhat. When a track is dropped, we put it up for a limited free download period, then we return to the normal paid methods. We’ve found this a solid way to give back to our true blue fans. They follow more attentively, they score, but ultimately who e - DSTV - MK89

The La Els EP review
Posted on April 13, 2011 by Kristi-Jane
The La Els, Durban based “diep indie kak” band [read about them here], winners of the Global Moguls Battle of the bands in four categories, one of the Top 10 bands to look out for in 2011 by Theresa Owen, and nominated as one of the Top 100 [past & present] artists you have to hear by Music Review, have recently released their “neon pack of awesomeness” EP. With a phenomenal eletro indie synth rock sound, The La Els are currently air played on Mk, TuksFM, and 2oceansvibe radio, and set to be air played on MFM, KFM, Good Hope FM, and 5FM in the next month. With a sound that could give some international bands a run for their guitar picks, The La Els might be hitting international shores sooner than you think.

- LivinginaMagazine

Official Launch of the Soul Killer Music Video on MK89 - DSTV

New kids on the block The La Els have released a self-titled, 6-track debut EP.

The Durban based outfit is on the move and set to explode onto the South African music scene with their self proclaimed ''Diep Indie Kak''- a unique genre which combines Disco, Indie and Synth Rock.

Established four months ago, The La Els have already accomplished some substantial feats. In December last year they won the Global Moguls battle of the bands, which featured over 70 bands from across the country.

One of their singles, ‘Soulkiller’ debuted on TUKSfm at number 8 a week ago, and the band is also set to perform at the much-awaited Splashy Fen music festival.

- MIO