Zebra and Giraffe

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Last updated 27 07 11

Zebra and Giraffe Bio:

With their experimental indie rock, their dedication and passion for their craft and an almost unstoppable desire to create music that matters, Zebra and Giraffe have carved a name for themselves in the hearts of their fans. 

Z&G have endured nothing short of a whirlwind journey of success in a very short space of time. The band, now consisting of Greg Carlin (vocals + guitar), Alan Shenton (guitar), Andrew Maskell (bass) and Darren Leader (drums) have toured across South Africa, played alongside international acts such as Oasis and Snow Patrol, picked up a SAMA award and are breathing new life into rock music as we know it. Now they are ready to stake their international claim. 

Z&G are about to drop their first International release – a 5 Track EP called ‘The Knife’. The EP, which features selected tracks from their debut ‘Collected Memories’, was mixed in London at Metropolis Studios by the acclaimed producer / mixer Cenzo Townshend. Townshend is famous for his work with bands like Editors, Florence and The Machine, Snow Patrol and U2. The Z&G sound is an ideal fit for Cenzo and is the perfect avenue to pave their introduction to an international audience. 

‘The Knife’ EP was mastered at Metropolis Mastering, London by John Davis and includes the singles – ‘Oxymoron’, (mixed by Ken Lewis) ‘The Knife’, ‘In My Eyes’, ‘Arm Yourself’ and ‘Fight! Fight! Fight!’. 

‘The Knife EP’ will be released internationally in May 2010. 

Since its release in May 2008, their debut album ‘Collected Memories’ has produced 7 Top 10 singles and achieved numerous # 1’s on the biggest National and College Radio stations around South Africa. It has sold over 15 000 physical albums in South Africa to date and continues to dominate the charts and rack up sales around the country. 

2009 saw Zebra & Giraffe play alongside Snow Patrol and Oasis to over 60 000 people at the Coca-Cola Zero Fest (April), nominated for Best New Act and Best Video at the MK Awards (March), release of one of South Africa’s first HD music videos for ‘Oxymoron’, as well as release a deluxe edition of ‘Collected Memories’ featuring music videos, behind the scenes footage and an exclusive new track. Zebra & Giraffe walked away winners of the MTV Africa Music Award in 2009 for Best Alternative (beating Coldplay and Green Day), performed at 2009 Joburg Day Concert for Johannesburg’s #1 radio station 94.7 Highveld Stereo and supported The Killers on their SA tour in December 2009 playing to over 50 000 people. 

Zebra & Giraffe was also nominated in 2009 for 4 SA Music Awards (SAMA’s) in the categories ‘Best Newcomer’, ‘Best Rock’, ‘Best Album Packaging’ and ‘MTN Record of the Year’ for ‘The Knife’. ‘Collected Memories’ took home the SAMA award (SA Grammy) for ‘Best Rock Album’. 

Solidifying themselves as one of South Africa’s most exciting, innovative and original indie rock bands, Zebra and Giraffe are nowhere close to slowing down. They have begun writing and recording material for their second full-length studio album that will be due for release in South Africa in October 2010. 

What we can expect from that will be nothing short of brilliant.

Zebra and Giraffe History: 

Carlin grew up in Midrand, a suburb outside Johannesburg, South Africa where he attended Irene Primary School before progressing to high school at Midrand High School, which he graduated in 1999. Carlin first realised his passion for music after receiving a drum kit as a gift at the age of twelve. While at school, Carlin played in a short-lived band called MSG (1997–1999) – the name of an additive found in food products they took off a chip packet. After school, he went on to study Fine Arts at South African university Tuks from 2001–2004, and also completed his honours degree, though he did not pursue fine art further. 

During his time at university, Carlin took singing lessons for several months and bought tutorial CDs from the US. While at university, Carlin was the bassist and vocalist for the band White Lie (2004–2005), a side project of the punk band Remedy. In spite of a radio hit called "Runaway", the band’s run was brief and they broke up because the other band members wanted to focus on their university studies, the band was going nowhere anyway, so Greg called it a day. After varsity, Carlin decided to travel and on his return worked intermittently as a contractor at Standard Bank during 2005 to 2007. He taught himself the guitar (his favourite instrument), as well as piano/keyboard, bass and drums (the only instrument he was ever trained in). 

Carlin was, for a while, an employee of record label, Just Music, where he handled the digital side of the business. He approached the head of the label, Karl Anderson, with a demo of his work and was offered a record deal. 

Carlin produced the band's debut album, Collected Memories, with Darryl Torr from Dear Reader. The album was released on May 5, 2008. Nils van der Linden of Iafrica.com described the album as "the kind of slick but dark electro rock you'd expect a fan of New Order and Joy Division to make". 

"The Knife" was chosen as the album's first single, and Carlin enlisted South African cinematographer Rob Malpage and producer Warwick Allan to make the music video. Warwick had a concept for the video, but had not heard the song; they soon got together and adapted the concept to suit the song. The Knife was #1 for 3 weeks on the Hi5@5 on 5FM and was also #1 for 5 weeks on the PUKFM charts. It went to #1 on other South African campus stations. The video was #1 for a couple of weeks on the MK Top10 music videos in South Africa. The release of the album and the national success of "The Knife" meant the band were "causing quite a stir" according to Music Industry Online. 

At this point, Carlin needed to find additional members in order to enable the band to perform live. Though he was reluctant to assemble a touring group, he recruited Alan Shenton (guitar), Andrew Maskell (bass), Rob Davidson (keyboards) and Darren Leader (drums). "Arm Yourself", the second single from Collected Memories, as well as its music video (again directed by Allan) was released in August 2008. The third single released by Z&G is the hit "Oxymoron," for which an HD stop motion video was shot by the bands still photographer, Marcus Maschwitz and directed & edited by band members, Greg Carlin and Alan Shenton. In January 2009 they released "Running Faster," followed by "In My Eyes," "Fight! Fight! Fight!" and "Pariahs." In total, 'Collected Memories' produced 7 Top 10 singles and achieved numerous # 1’s on the biggest National and College Radio stations around South Africa. 

In May 2010, Zebra & Giraffe launched their first International release – a 5 Track EP called ‘The Knife’. The EP, which features selected tracks from their debut ‘Collected Memories’, was mixed in London at Metropolis Studios by the acclaimed producer / mixer Cenzo Townshend. Townshend is famous for his work with bands like Editors, Florence and The Machine, Snow Patrol and U2. ‘The Knife’ EP includes the singles – ‘Oxymoron’, (mixed by Ken Lewis) ‘The Knife’, ‘In My Eyes’, ‘Arm Yourself’ and ‘Fight! Fight! Fight!’, and will be released internationally in May 2010. 

Zebra & Giraffe released their 2nd long player in South Africa on the 27th September 2010. Production began on this album in May of the same year. The majority of the album was recorded at RBF Studios in Johannesburg. The album was once again produced by Darryl Torr, and this time around mixed by Cenzo Townshend. Three different versions of the album will be released on the same date. A standard edition, a deluxe edition with a DVD documentary on the 'making of The Inside' album & video, and a 3rd edition with the Knife EP attached, also mixed by Cenzo Townshend. The album was written by Greg Carlin, Alan Shenton, and Darren Leader. Once again, Warwick Allan was recruited to direct & edit a video for the title track "The Inside." 

The band will be supporting the release of "The Inside" around South Africa in October 2010. They will be visiting: Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Bloemfontein, East London, Port Elizabeth, Grahamstown, Knysna, Stellenbosch, and finishing up in Cape Town on the 30th October at the 3 Arts Theatre. 

In August and September 2008, Z&G played with pop folk band Dear Reader (formerly known as Harris Tweed) on a nationwide tour, "O’ The Places You’ll Go". The tour encompassed performances in various South African cities including Pretoria (Tshwane), Johannesburg, Stellenbosch, Cape Town, George, Knysna, Port Elizabeth, East London and Durban. The band played at the 2009 Coke Zero Festival, a music festival that took place in Johannesburg on 10 April 2009, and in Cape Town on 13 April 2009 with headliners Snow Patrol, Oasis, and Panic at the Disco. The 5 piece band travelled to Nairobi, Kenya in August 2009 to perform at the MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA's) where they performed with South African rapper, D.A LES, combining the hit singles "The Knife" and D.A LES's "Fire." In 2009 they supported indie rock band, The Killers on the South African leg of their Day & Age tour in Johannesburg on 3, 4 December 2009 and in Cape Town on 6 December 2009. Z&G will be supporting the release of "The Inside" around South Africa in October 2010.