Garth Barnes is the signer/guitarist/songwriter for Tweak (now CrashCarBurn) who dominated South African radio in the early 2000s with their incredibly catchy and relatable pop-punk songs.

Scoring multiple chart singles across their early albums, Tweak became a household name and bridged the gap between the pioneering early 90s SA rock bands with the modern, more internationally-flavoured second wave of bands and beyond. Supporting massive international artists, they took off like a rocket and tried to hold on.

Tweak was renamed CrashCarBurn when the band relocated to London, UK, and changed members along the way. While they never reached the insane heights of the Tweak days, CCB have released four outstandingly written and produced albums, and continue performing to this day. I loved this chat, as Garth and I have somewhat of a parallel history in the early 2000s.

Please, do enjoy.

TWEAK: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5a111cSPcXfRJAbY2MdtLS?si=rZqeAIL9TGC325nXeyySlg

CRASHCARBURN: https://open.spotify.com/artist/184sdcjHnD6iVWbPEhxJoC?si=tZVeQIbHTrumxYmHs0B-7g

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Sugardrive were a formative influence on me and I was beyond thrilled when my friend Kerry-Anne Allerston hooked me up with Paul, singer of this legendary South African band. Their debut, 'Hey God It's Me Again' made a massive impact on all of us, and 'Sand.Mand.Sky' is a bona fide classic record. The song 'Disco Lazarus' off third album 'When I Died I Was Elvis' took them to new heights with extensive national airplay.

No wonder they headlined Oppikoppi multiple years running, they were just untouchable live.

We talked right through their career and Paul was astute, well-spoken and a real laugh throughout. Also, he remembered everything really clearly, which was a real treat. This episode is a proper full circle moment and I am super proud to be able to have recorded it. Thank you so much to Paul and Kerry-Anne for making this happen.

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Fokofpolisiekar are a household name in South Africa, and rightly so - their honest, insightful and highly intelligent lyrics are delivered with powerful, intricate guitar work, propulsive drums and bass, and Francois Van Coke's raw-throated vocal. And it's this magic combination that formed a band who truly connect with people, on multiple levels and across genres and walks of life.

The band's history is well summed up in the epic documentary 'Fokofpolisiekar' - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.0eafcf3f-cc57-9552-80ed-bf687d8c6276?autoplay=0&ref_=atv_cf_strg_wb

And Francois has now told another side of the story in his awesome book, 'Hoe Ek Dit Onthou' - https://woordfees.co.za/en/program/francois-van-coke-hoe-ek-dit-onthou/

Fokof continue to be very active, both as a band and in their various side projects including Van Coke Kartel and AKing. Their last album 'Dans Deur Die Donker' came out in 2023, so there's a lot of creative mileage left in the tank - and it's befok.

In this short but awesome chat we tried to get to the heart of what made Fokof so great.

Find out more about Fokofpolisiekar here: https://www.fokofpolisiekar.co.za/

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