Corné Pretorius began playing the guitar at the age of seven, so to encourage him to play music as often as possible, his dad built him a small studio in their garage. After Corné finished school, he started working in construction and put music on the backburner. Corné then married his sweetheart, started a family and life went on as usual.
“But then, you know,” he explains, “one day you realize that life is too short not to live your passion. On a recent hunting trip in Namibia, we spent a lot of time playing music around a fire. I felt a familiar excitement and with the encouragement of my friends, I decided that I would love to make time to record my own songs. A friend and I subsequently wrote a track titled “Kalahari sonsak” – an ode to the farmer in Namibia to thank him for his hospitality. When I commit to something, I feel driven to work with the best and after a few social conversations, the next step in recording my first official single pointed to Van Coke Studios in Cape Town.”
Corné`s debut single “Vuur en Vlam” was written by Francois van Coke and produced by Richard Onraet. At the time of the recording in February, the news was already brimming with covid19 stories and there were talks about a possible lockdown in South Africa. Corné says that he did not plan on making a song about COVID, but when he arrived in the studio, the weight of recent announcements, stating that gatherings with more than 100 people were prohibited, naturally steered the songwriting in that direction.
View the video HERE
“This virus is all we could talk about on that day. But you know, Francois is a genius. He wrote a song about covid19, that also isn`t about COVID. Richard Onraet composed the music of the song at the same time, and by that evening I recorded the vocals. Everything just effortlessly fell into place. It was an incredible experience to work with such remarkable talent.” says Corné
The video for the single was made by Johan Nel, who is well known for the impressive videos he made for Fokofpolisiekar back in the days. “Johan just gets it,” says Corné. “He instantly picked up on the vibe of the song.” – The video of “Vuur en Vlam” premiered on Burre Burger`s Lockdown Liedjies show on Facebook on Friday, April 17th, and since then it has been viewed a couple of thousand times on Youtube.
Corné has also recorded a track with Hunter Kennedy. “I am planning to release this as the second single in a few months. I hope to be making some more good music from now on.”
“Vuur en Vlam” will be available on your favorite digital platforms soon.
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