I recently met the masters of new music called Limpop, Afrikaner boys Xander and Nick Mathews from Gazelle. Their show was at  The Social Club, one of the coolest clubs in Paris. If you find yourself in the city of romance, do check it out! The audience can be quite young, but the line-up is cutting edge new music.

Their show was a brilliant audio-visual fiesta – the stage dressed with African prints, Xander looking like Mobutu Sese Seko and Nick, like a guy from Lesotho if he was living in space! You could tell they’d put a lot of time and effort into the production. They had a dancer looking like an 80’s township disco queen wearing a mini skirt, white shades and leopard skin scarf; and a drummer in a Zulu vest!

Xander shared his passion of visual aesthetic and told me he was previously a fashion photographer. Gazelle juxtaposes images to make a fashionable African collage. He reminds me of Bjork or M.I.A. – both with a strong visual artistic direction. Xander’s biggest influence is his South African background and you could see his love for his homeland. He grew up in Limpopo listening to his parent’s disco records and the traditional sound of the workers on the farm. In his music he fuses both elements and twists them to make a funky new hybrid. No wonder they get described as futuristic Afrikaans disco!

He went to hang out in Le Baron, a posh bar in Paris favoured by musicians, actors and models – definitely another place to check out, but be dressed to kill, ‘cos the bouncers let you in on appearance alone! We spent the night pimping out on a low budget, dancing to disco, hip hop, rock and a few African songs, while Gazelle showed me the latest SA dance moves called rocka chall!