David Devo Oosthuizen from Devographic had the opportunity to chat to the premium Alternative Rock outfit from Johannesburg, South Africa called 3’s and 7’s. Described as an eclectic mix of 70s Classic Rock and 80s/90s Alternative Rock with some 2000s EMO. They are equally comfortable jamming small clubs or rocking larger stages with interest in their tracks spanning to Australian Charts already.
3’S AND 7’S FULL BIO
The origins of the band date back to April 2018, when Matt Nijland had then-recently quit his role as lead guitarist for his former band Stasis and expressed interest in forming a new alternative rock band with a new friend that he met two months prior at WITS University, Murray Blamey. At this time, the pair had spent the past two months jamming together for fun on the campus lawns, with Matt on guitar and Murray singing, and they had already started writing songs together. To fill in the rhythm section, Matt approached bassist Mitch Cuthbertson and drummer Joshua De Klerk, who had previously played together in the then-recently disbanded Lament of the Wolfman. On 18 June 2018, the original four-piece line-up of the band was born, but they were not yet known as 3’s and 7’s …
The four began jamming a few cover songs together to find their feet as a band – “3’s & 7’s” by Queens of the Stone Age, “My Hero” by Foo Fighters, “Northern Downpour” by Panic! At the Disco, and “Now I’m Here” by Queen. In July, a mutual friend of the band asked them to come play a gig with them, but the band did not yet have a name. After deliberating what to call the band, they eventually settled on the name 3’s and 7’s, named after the Queens of the Stone Age song they were covering, as it had a catchy and original ring and feel to it. After the gig, Joshua quit the band due to work commitments, but Matt, Murray and Mitch decided to continue the band and seek out a new drummer.
A week before that fateful gig, Matt had coincidentally met Lorenzo Germani, a self-taught drummer for 8 years, at a house party through a mutual friend. The two got chatting about music and traded numbers, and upon Joshua quitting the band, Matt asked Lorenzo to come audition for 3’s and 7’s as the new drummer. Impressed by his self-taught ability and hard-hitting and speedy playing, he was hired by the band in October after 3 auditions. At the same time the band was auditioning Lorenzo, Matt and Murray decided to approach Adrian Schober, a schoolmate of Murray’s who Matt met at WITS the same time he met Murray, to audition for the band as a second lead vocalist. The idea of a second lead vocalist stemmed from the fact that Murray and Adrian both sang in the choir together in high school, and thus had a very good musical chemistry and understood how to harmonize with each other. The idea of having dual-lead vocalists in an alternative rock band was a very refreshing and exciting idea, and Adrian underwent 3 auditions alongside Lorenzo and was also hired in October. The second incarnation of 3’s and 7’s as a five-piece was solidified.
The band began to rehearse very hard and write original songs together, the first two being “Free Entities” and “Stars” respectively. The band decided to showcase these songs and their unique style as a band on The Couch Sessions SA in February 2019, which aired on YouTube on The Couch Sessions SA channel. The band began to play more gigs around Johannesburg and Centurion at the popular live venues and began forming very good relationships with other new bands on the scene such as Indie Dog, Club of Suns and Jungle of Mischief – to name a few of many. Throughout the year, the band’s social media presence and notoriety on the scene began to grow immensely, becoming a popular live act in the local venues they usually played. The band released their two live song performances on The Couch Sessions SA on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer etc. and continued to write more exciting original music – songs such as “Synesthesia”, “Subliminal Skies” and “Shine”. The band also began to get its music played on multiple radio stations. Duzzy Clayton of SME Fusion Radio approached the band to have their songs played regularly on his show. In May, the band were also interviewed and had “Stars” played on air by Richard Chemaly of Kovsie 97.0 FM, which also helped boost the band’s notoriety outside of Johannesburg.
On 21 September, the band played on the bill of Oakfest 2019 to really positive reception, alongside hot new local bands such as Smokey Mercle, The Hound Dogs and CMR – to name a few. By the end of the year, the band had played most of the popular live music venues in and around Johannesburg, and ended off the year with an impassioned and exciting performance at the 2019 Battle of the Bands at Platteland in November – and were very enthusiastically and positively received by judges Baas de Beer, Kerry-anne Allerston, Henry Engelbrecht, Johan Auriacombe and Rudi Oosthuizen. The band have since been regularly followed by the judges as fans of the band due to their tight and enthusiastic performance at the Battle. That same month, the band were also interviewed and had their music played live on air by Kerry-anne Allerston of Mix 93.8 FM on her show The Hangout.
In January 2020, the band were featured for a second time on Mix 93.8 FM when they were interviewed by Thabo Magubane on his show the #BreakfastCrunch and had their music played live on air. On 15 February 2020, the band recorded audio and video footage of an entire gig at Railways Café and released the songs in the form of two live EPs. The first EP consists of five original songs (“Synesthesia”, “Subliminal Skies”, “Azure Eyes”, “I’m Done” and “Free Entities” – with “Azure Eyes” and “I’m Done” being very newly written and performed live for the second time ever, to very positive reception). This EP has been released on Bandcamp and SoundCloud under the title, “Life Amongst the Stars: Live at Railways Café”. The second EP consists of four cover songs (“My Hero” by Foo Fighters, “Under Pressure” by Queen and David Bowie, “Otherside” by Red Hot Chili Peppers and “Now I’m Here” by Queen). This EP has been released on SoundCloud under the title, “Covers”. The video footage of the band performing all nine of these songs is available for streaming on the 3’s and 7’s official YouTube channel.
On 12 March 2020, the band were featured for a third time on Mix 93.8 FM when they were interviewed by Michael Tymvios on The Rock Roadhouse on The RockFest and had their music played live on air.
On 17 March, the band announced that Mitch and Adrian were unfortunately quitting the band for personal reasons. Matt, Murray and Lorenzo are very keen on continuing the band, and have since recruited Alex Olivier of the band Up Your Sleeve as the band’s new bassist. The band are now a four-piece again and have reverted to Murray being the sole lead vocalist of the band. However, despite the major change in sound, 3’s and 7’s is determined and excited about the new and refreshing musical direction, and will be reworking their current original songs to suit one lead vocalist, as well as writing and performing brand new original music! The band also have big plans for 2020, including recording their debut studio EP, playing local festivals, and touring around South Africa.
On 22 March, the band’s song “Synesthesia” charted at #5 on the Banks Radio Australia’s weekly Top 15 chart. This is not only the first time that the band charted on a radio chart, but also the first time that the band charted on a foreign radio chart.
On 29 March, the band appeared for a second time on the Mix 93.8 FM #BreakfastCrunch with Thabo Magubane, chatting about how they were dealing with the COVID-19 national lockdown in South Africa at the time, as well as officially announcing Alex as a member of the band and showcased some brand new music.
3’S AND 7’S BAND LINE UP
Murray Blamey (Lead Vocals & Rhythm Guitar)
Matt Nijland (Lead Guitar)
Lorenzo Germani (Drums)
Alex Olivier (Bass & Backing Vocals)
3’S AND 7’S ONLINE