Bokka rocker

Arno Carstens is the former lead singer of the Springbok N*de Girls, one of South Africa's most successful rock bands. Recently in Dubai to play for migratory herds of compatriots, he tells Lorraine Chandler he dreams up lyrics while watching wildlife kills.

The crowd wasn't as big as it should have been, considering Arno Carstens's solo album is the biggest selling South African English rock album
in recent years.

But when he played at the open-air amphitheatre in Madinat Jumeirah, it was a night to remember. Hundreds of South Africans screamed and swayed as the dishy rock star played some of his biggest hits, all set against the magical backdrop of the Burj Al Arab and the myriad waterways of the Madinat.

Carstens arrived early the previous day, and I met him in the sumptuous lobby of Mina A' Salam hotel, where he looked overawed by his surroundings.

"Man, this is really cool," he drawled. "Most places they build to demand but in seems in Dubai, they build it first, and then the people come."

His band looked out of place in the luxurious lobby, with their wild, unkempt hair and torn T-shirts, yet it is only when Carstens opens his mouth to speak that you know he's a musician.

With his clean-cut Germanic looks, Carstens could well be a movie star, although he could also pass as a well-heeled tourist or businessman.

In some ways, he's so classically good looking that he becomes almost unremarkable. But when he does speak, his choice of words, peppered liberally by expletives, mark him out as a rock 'n' roll man, without a doubt.

His square jaw, mussed blond hair, blue eyes and hunky broad shoulders have set many a girl's heart aflutter, and it helps that 34-year-old Carstens stands a head above everyone else. But it's certainly not his good looks alone that have got him to where he is today.

Carstens was the lead singer of one of South Africa's biggest bands - The Springbok N*de Girls - for nearly 10 years.

Since then, he has gone solo to release two albums, both of which have received huge critical acclaim and been very successful in South Africa.

In total, he has released 11 albums, sold more than 250,000 CDs, won four South African Music Awards (SAMA) and shared international stages with bands such as INXS, The Beastie Boys, Lenny Kravitz and REM. Indeed, there's a touch of REM's Michael Stipes in his powerful vocals.

Like many great artistes, Carstens tried some different routes before getting into the music business. After a year of compulsory service in the army (from age 19 to 20), he studied graphic art at Cape Town Technikon for six months, a time he admits was spent partying, rather than studying.

He had studied fine art in school, but the painstaking work involved in graphic design didn't really appeal to him, so decided to drop out.

He then went on to study litho printing. After a year, he started a printing apprenticeship that he hoped would develop his sense of colour. He was soon disillusioned.

"Yeah man, all that printing and cleaning machines, getting your hands inky. It depressed the life out of me. To be honest, I'm not very good with work," he says with a shrug.

Leaving college was a tough move because his parents, particularly his father, didn't see music as a career, despite the fact it was exactly what Carstens had set his heart on when he was 16.

In fact his father, Jos, now 74, is still unconvinced that his son's career will last and quizzes him about attendance after every concert he performs. "I just hope this music thing lasts," he mutters regularly, according to his youngest son.

Luckily, when he quit college, young Carstens had something to fall back on. He and Theo Cross founded the Springboks in 1994 and the band soon took off in Stellenbosch, a buzzing South African student town that also happens to be in the centre of a vibrant grape-growing region.

It was an exciting time for South Africa, with apartheid being abolished the same year the band was set up. The Springboks caught the imagination of the nation and went on to have a string of number one hit singles.

But in 2001, the Springboks decided to disband, although the band seems to sporadically regroup.

Indeed, in recent years it has regularly regrouped to perform concerts and done work for Aids awareness in South Africa.

In 2003, Carstens released his first solo album. Another Universe became an instant hit, going gold and winning a South African Music Award (SAMA) for best rock album. His recently released second album, The Hello Goodbye Boys, has consolidated his success as a solo artiste.

As I talk to him about his life and his music, I find him difficult to pin down. If I were his schoolteacher, I'd definitely write "dreamy and easily distracted" on his report card.

He seems fascinated by our surroundings and unable to concentrate, but I can put that down to the fact that he has arrived in the middle of the night with only four hours' sleep.

His casual air of "Hey, I'm just lucky to be here" is belied by his performance on stage, which is crisp, powerful and extremely professional.

In the face of such dynamism, it seems likely that Carstens hides behind his 'vague, rock dude' persona. Perhaps there's a highly-driven professional lurking behind the dreamy looks and 'cool' expressions?

I
I ended up getting the last of a lot of things. In school (and at home) we had corporal punishment, which has now been abolished. I was also in the last era of apartheid in South Africa. In the army, I was (part of) the last intake for compulsory service.

I also grew up before the fall of the Berlin Wall.

I just love fashion, art and music - I think they're all part of the same thing.

I'm not much of a sportsperson, except for the fact that I just love watching WWF wrestling, which is like big guys doing a type of soap opera. I was so terrible at sports and at schoolwork (I'm dyslexic) that my mum said I should do something else to keep me busy and that's why I started to play the guitar, at 12.

I see myself as a fine artiste before being a musician. I feel a lot of artistes can be talented in different fields. For example, I think Jennifer Lopez is a better actress than she is a singer. I'd also love to see Johnny Depp's band perform.

I started painting classes this year and am working with oil, something I've not done before. I normally find it difficult to try to do art and music, but I'm going to try!

I wouldn't mind moving to Germany some time. My grandparents were German and I really get on well with Germans. I've been to Hamburg and found the people there were punctual, efficient and soft-spoken.

I've been influenced by a lot of different types of music, including (the work of) Jim Morrison, Nick Cave, the old songs of the Rolling Stones, the Pixies, Shirley Bassey, Bob Marley and Culture Club.

I'm at a very comfortable place with my music. While there would be nothing wrong with making it big internationally, I just do what I do and concentrate on getting my music out there in South Africa and internationally.

I find it very liberating that I can concentrate on the music and don't have to follow any fashion trends. Over the years I've created a place where I can do what I want without conforming. I love alternative rock.

I listen to all sorts of music, including African, Italian and blues music and I often combine elements when I'm songwriting.

Me
Me and South Africa:
I grew up in a bubble in South Africa.

I went to a whites-only school in a small town called Boland, in an area that looks somewhat like Switzerland (in the Western Cape). I was told from a young age that South Africa was the best nation in the world and that whites were superior. Gold was strong at that time so we were strong economically.

But the thing about growing up in South Africa is that it makes you tolerate people from different cultures because we had so many different cultures living in one country.

Coming from that, I have a very good, objective viewpoint of the world. People nowadays don't seem able to get along with each other much.

As a country, we went from experiencing embarrassing vibes around the world during the apartheid era to being very proud of our country, regardless of our individual colours.

I think (Nelson) Mandela was the closest the country got to a Gandhi ? South Africa is very lucky to have him, because I don't know anyone else with that level of insight.

There's a very cool vibe now of blacks and whites getting along, instead of hating each other. My hopes for the country are that it can be an example for the rest of the world. I wouldn't like (our current president) Thabo Mbeki to go for a third term (in office). He has been loved by white South Africans, but holding on to power is making the country unstable.

I'd like to see all of Africa doing well because all the neighbours affect each other, and if things are going bad in a few countries, then the West gets scared of investing in the continent.

South Africa is so multicultural that I see myself as a citizen of the world, thanks to the effects of growing up with so many cultures. This is much healthier than thinking in terms of borders and religions, something that can lead to fights.

Me and the army:
My three brothers and I served one year's compulsory service in the army. But while they fought communists in Angola, I was sent to Mozambique.

I really didn't want to do it and (I came up with) every excuse to get out ? but in the end I did it. It was quite a relaxing year though, as we were just patrolling the area.

The nearest I got to shooting (a weapon) was when a snake came into our bungalow and I grabbed a gun.

Me and the Springboks:
From a young age, I used to sing in the choir. (Carstens has the looks, but not the language, of a former choir boy.)

When I started playing the guitar I was asked to play (the John Denver song) Country Roads. Well, I found it terribly difficult to learn, so I started writing my own stuff.

I can't say whether the music or the lyrics come first to me when I'm writing a song, because it's like a hologram - I get everything all at once.

I was in a school band, but we were really rubbish, and I only formed my first real band (the Springboks) when a girlfriend introduced me to her friend's boyfriend, Theo Crous, who became the lead guitarist of the Springboks.

When we had all the band together we used to go and check out some of the other bands. We used to have jam nights in Stellenbosch (and became fairly well known) so by the time we had our first show, it was a sellout.

(In the early 1990s) there was a great vibe in South Africa because Mandela had just come out of prison - and that was a cool reason to party!

While doing the band, I was either studying graphic art or printing or doing my printing apprenticeship.

My parents, particularly my dad, didn't see music as a career. In fact, my brothers went into forestry, law and communications. You could say I've been closer to my mum, Helena, particularly as (I am) the youngest son.

We started off with a manager who (was involved in dubious activities), but that didn't last long. After that we got a proper manager, Franie Kotze.

When the band started really taking off, I was able to drop my day job to concentrate on music. That was a wonderful feeling.

Stellenbosch was like the Seattle of South Africa. It was booming and there were lots of bands around.

We quickly developed a cult following and (in 2000) we went on to win our first South African Music Award (SAMA) for best rock album, which was a great kick. We were very much a live band. We were supposed to move to New York, but the bass player (Arbo Blumer) had a wife and kid and it never happened.

We had hit the ceiling in our own country and decided to call it quits in 2001, but a year later we sort of missed it and played together again, which we've continued to do (sporadically), but then we decided that we wouldn't play together again unless we did a new album. Otherwise we'd become a tribute band to ourselves.

Myself
In today's music industry, there's a lot of commercial drivel. What's the future for real music?
It's true that there's lots of good music lost on the wayside, but I think the internet is great for checking out new music.

Radio stations are often confined by playlisting criteria. They're forced to play Britney (Spears) and similar artists because they know that's what 'Joe Soap' is going to listen to.

I really enjoy student radio stations in South Africa. A lot of rap stuff sounds all the same, as does American rock, Brit pop and pop. While saying that, I think Radiohead is the best band in the world.

Is it purely talent that takes people to the top in the music business, or is it marketing that gets them there these days?
It's a mixture. There's a lot of marketing, but you've got to have talent.

You're a good-looking guy. Maybe if you had been ugly, you wouldn't have been so successful. What do you think about that?
Sure, it helps for some people, and if it helps with women, why not? There are lots of (successful) musicians who are not good looking.

It's a clichéd question, but how do you stop the success from going to your head?
I've been doing it for quite a while, and I really haven't changed at all, except that I'm calmer than I used to be, but that's probably an age thing. I've still got a lot of school buddies and we see each other as much as possible.

How do you feel about the material success that has come of your music?
I like nice things. There's nothing wrong with materialism (so long as) you're not a soulless (person).

Is there anything in particular that has inspired your music?
I come up with a lot of lyrics watching National Geographic on TV. After an animal has killed another, you'll hear (the voiceover say:) "The quiet rhythm of life returns." That phrase has rhythm and music and I later used it in a song.

Do artists have a moral obligation to use their music to change how people think about the world?
I'm not sure you have an obligation. Not everyone can be Bob Dylan.

I am an entertainer first, but if you can also get a message across to people, that's an extra benefit. Ithink Bono and Bob Geldof do a good job of that, although maybe people sometimes feel like telling them to just chill out.

We (the Springboks) have been doing a lot of Aids benefit concerts, supported by Levi Strauss. In 2005 we got together with other bands to bring out a CD (called CD4) for the cause.

Our government has not been on top of Aids. It feels it can turn a blind eye to it. If you can do something through the media, then that's a good thing.