Zebra & Giraffe (abbreviated to Z & G) is an

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. The band's debut album, ''Collected Memories'', was released on 5 May 2008.

History

Greg Carlin

Carlin grew up in Midrand, a suburb inside

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

where he attended Irene Primary School before progressing to

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

at Midrand High School, which he graduated from in 1999. Carlin first realised his passion for music after receiving a

drum kit A drum kit or drum set (also known as a trap set, or simply drums in popular music and jazz contexts) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and sometimes other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one p ...

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 to 2004, and also completed his

honours degree Honours degree has various meanings in the context of different degrees and education systems. Most commonly it refers to a variant of the undergraduate bachelor's degree containing a larger volume of material or a higher standard of study, ...

, 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 In popular music, a side project is a project undertaken by one or more people already known for their involvement in another band. It can also be an artist or a band temporarily switching to a different style. Usually these projects emphasize ...

of the

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

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 Standard Bank (officially Standard Bank Group Limited) is the largest bank in Africa, as well as the continent's biggest lender by assets. The company's corporate headquarters, Standard Bank Centre, is located in Johannesburg, Gauteng. The ...

during 2005 to 2007. He taught himself the

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

(his favourite instrument), as well as

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

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.

''Collected Memories and The Knife EP''

Carlin produced the band's debut album, ''Collected Memories'', with Darryl Torr from

Dear Reader Dear Reader is an alternative/pop band from Johannesburg, South Africa. The band was founded in 2008 by singer-songwriter Cherilyn MacNeil and producer/bass player, Darryl Torr. Dear Reader is now the solo project of Cherilyn MacNeil and is b ...

& Harris Tweed. The album was released on 5 May 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 The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

Rob Malpage and producer Warwick Allan to make the

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

. 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

. 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 Vincenzo "Cenzo" Capellini Townshend (born 25 March 1963) is an English record producer, mixer, and audio engineer, and has worked with artists and bands including the Rolling Stones, a-ha, Kaiser Chiefs, U2, Snow Patrol, Florence and the Machi ...

. 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 was released internationally in May 2010.

''The Inside''

Zebra & Giraffe released their 2nd LP in South Africa on 27 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

. 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 supported the release of "The Inside" around South Africa in October 2010. They visited:

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

Grahamstown Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 75,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Gqeberha and southwest of East London. It is the largest town in the Makana Local Mun ...

Knysna Knysna (; ) is a town with 76,150 inhabitants (2019 mid-year estimates) in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is one of the destinations on the loosely defined Garden Route tourist route. It is situated 60 kilometres east of the c ...

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, and finished up in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

''The Wisest Ones''

In November 2011, Zebra & Giraffe went into studio as a three-piece (Greg Carlin, Alan Shenton, Mike Wright) with Grammy Award-winning producer-engineer Darryl Torr at his recording facility in Greenside, Johannesburg. The sessions comprised seven weeks in total, split over a period of six months. The album, entitled ''The Wisest Ones'', was mixed by Will Brierre and Mark Needham in Los Angeles and was released in South Africa in July 2012.

''Knuckles EP''

In preparation for the release of their second extended play, Zebra & Giraffe launched the "Unplugged" tour, playing "stripped down" versions of songs off their previous three albums during July 2014. On 6 August 2014, the band released the first single off the new EP, "I've Been Bad", and revealed the title of their: "Knuckles". The single was released with music video, which was directed by Ross Garrett and produced by Cat Lindsay and Grant Risseeuw for Velocity Films. The song was released for download via iTunes. On 21 August 2014, the band announced tour dates for their South African "Knuckles" launch tour. On 15 September 2014, "Knuckles" was officially released worldwide via iTunes. The EP topped at number one on the South African iTunes store's Alternative album chart.

''Slow Motion EP''

Live performances

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

(

Tshwane The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (; ; ), also known as the City of Tshwane (), is the metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of northern Gauteng in South Africa. The metropolitan area is centred on the city of Pre ...

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronouncing Gazetteer.
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George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

and

. 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 Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band,

The Killers The Killers are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After the band went through a number of short-term bas ...

on the South African leg of their Day & Age tour in

on 3, 4 December 2009 and in

on 6 December 2009. Z&G supported the release of "The Inside" around South Africa in October 2010. In May 2011 the 5 piece travelled to Los Angeles to perform at Passport Approved's Muse Expo. In August 2011 the band embarked on a nationwide tour entitled "The Haal Asem Kwagga Toer" with fellow Afrikaans rockers

Van Coke Kartel Van Coke Kartel is an Afrikaans alternative rock band from Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. Band history Francois Van Coke and Wynand Myburgh formed Van Coke Kartel with drummer Justin Kruger after Fokofpolisiekar went on hiatus in 200 ...

Members

Greg Carlin (Vocal, Rhythm Guitar) Alan Shenton (Lead Guitar) Mike Wright (Drums) Stefan Henrico (Bass)

Awards

Albums and EP's

References

External links

Zebra & Giraffe official websiteZebra & Giraffe MySpace pageZebra & Giraffe Facebook pageZebra & Giraffe YouTube pageZebra & Giraffe Twitter Account

Reviews

Zebra & Giraffe
at Sonicbids.com
Review of ''Collected Memories''
at Modern Optimist
Review of ''Collected Memories''
at Speakerbox
"Zebra and Giraffe @ Klein Libertas Teater"
SA Music Blog, 16 September 2008.
"Zebra and Giraffe Interview about, well, zebras, giraffe’s and being kicked out of a zoo"
SA Music Blog, 21 August 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Zebra and Giraffe South African rock music groups