Formed in August '97 and securing a record deal after only their second live gig the core line up of NAKED is the super talented Kaolin Thomson (vocals, flute, sax, keyboards, percussion), Sean Outim (bass and drums) and Crallan P (guitar, vocals). Within only 9 months of gigging, Naked have racked up performances at some of South Africa's highest profile gigs, including the Radio 5 State of the Nation concert, Oppi Koppi festival Aug. '98 main stage, Grahamstown Festival/5 Roses Tea Junction, M Net Live @ Five - concert to the people, the Mandela Freedom day celebration and the Synergy '98 New Years Eve Festival.
The hype surrounding the band does not stop with the music, 22 year old Kaolin (the main creative force behind the band) has gathered together an impressive array of accomplishments, which include an award- winning sculpture that sparked a frenzied parliamentary debate on censorship. A multi-instrumentalist in every sense of the word she is a vocalist, saxophonist, pianist, flautist and percussionist. She has recently added songwriting and production skills to her ever-expanding musical talents, which include composing the theme for Africa's top cable television station 'M Net' All Africa Film Awards.
Kaolin's creative collaborations include the likes of Tananas, Paul Hanmer, Pops Mohammed, Landscape Prayers, Henry Ate, the Original Evergreen and Wendy Oldfield. She also worked with Brian Eno (U2, Roxy Music) on a recent trip to London. Great interest has been displayed in her songs by several leading international publishing companies, while the band has just signed a long term management deal with L.A. based Bill Siddons & Associates. Siddons is the globally respected artist manager whose previous clients include the Doors, Crosby Stills and Nash and currently Jonathan Butler. He says, "Kaolin is a fresh, lovely and multi talented new face on the world stage who's music is in your face and latches on to your libido… America will love her."
These accomplishments make her more than worthy of selection as one of
the Top 100 Benson & Hedges Young achievers and one of Cosmopolitan
Magazine's 35 Awesome women of '98.
Naked's self titled debut single was released in mid '98 and soared to number 2 on 5FM's national Top 40 chart in August 1998 as well charting on nearly every AC and campus station in the country. 5FM's Derek "The Bandit" 's funky "NUTBAG" dance remix of the single was included on the Sony Dance Pool compilation released at Xmas '98. Following on the success of the single the band embarked on their first successful sold out national tour
NAKED…The album…..
After weeks of intensive writing,arranging and rehearsing the group entered
M2 Studios with producer Neal Snyman to begin work on their debut album
"Bone needs flesh" . Completed in early January the album features
several live favourites honed razor sharp by constant touring as well
as a batch of brand new songs that reflect the growing creative strength
of the group. The first single "Dirty World" is a slice of hard
edged pop with a huge hook that literally screams smash hit ; Kaolin's
evocative and moving "Wash your hands" is an aural reflection
of her experience with HIV babies during a stint at the Salvation Army
; "Sea World" cooks up a storm venturing into acid-jazz/drum
'n bass territory that features some hairaising flute & vocal ; the
poignant "What do you know" and the smoky erotically jazz tinged
"Get Fresh" showcase a softer,ambient side of the band's writing
.A potential chart stormer is "Falling" with it's insistent
and relentless rhythms,
'orbital ' electronic samples and atmospheric guitarwork.In essence the
band describe their music as 'hedgepop…hard edged pop)……..The
full song lineup is :
Falling
Dirty World
Naked (Missionary Mix)
Get Fresh
I Wonder
Wash Your Hands
Sea World
Secret Mind
What Do You Know
Sometimes
Dirty World (Brave Face Remix)
Wash Your Hands (Stone Cold Remix)
Naked (Nutbag Remix)
"Naked have the makings of greatness… their music is innovative
and exciting" (Mail & Guardian Aug 98)
NAKED BIOG - SHORTER VERSION
She might be living in the fading years of the 20th century, in a country
at the farthest
end of the African continent, but Kaolin Thomson is, in an abundance of
ways, a modern-day
Renaissance (Wo)Man.
In the space of just 21 years, this towering, imposing and stunning woman
has gathered
together an impressive array of accomplishments that most people can only
dream of in a lifetime.
In 1996, a scant two years after democracy here, Kaolin ignited South
Africa's fine art
scene with an audacious, award-winning sculpture - an ashtray shaped like
a vagina - that had
Parliament in a frenzied debate over censorship. She's also a committed
triathlete, easing from
pounding the tarmac to canoeing to swimming with a naturalness that comes
only to a gifted few.
And then there's the music.
As a vocalist, saxophonist, flautist, pianist and percussionist, Koalin
gives true meaning to that frequently used word, multi-instrumentalist.
And now, as the main creative force behind Naked,
she's adding songwriting and production skills to her ever-expanding musical
talents.
Fine art and physical accomplishments aside, it is unquestioningly music
that infuses Kaolin's life
and drives this remarkable woman's unceasing quest for new creative horizons.
For Kaolin, the fascination with this thing called music began at an
early age when she
learnt to read music before words. Beginning with piano and percussion,
she had graduated to the
flute at the age of nine before moving onto study both Classical and African
music at school.
With such an array of skills, Kaolin became a sought-after session musician,
working with
Landscape Prayers, Henry Ate, Pops Mohammed, the Original Evergreen, Wendy
Oldfield and Tananas.
The diversity of Kaolin's creative collaborators gives some sense of
this artists' wide-ranging
musical sensibilities: From Michael Nyman's piano compositions to the
poly-rhythms of World
Music and now trip-hop, acid jazz and rock, all form parts of Koalin's
musical puzzle
and journey.Although she's still involved in several other projects (including
Man Walking with Steve
Newman and Ga 'Inja), Naked is clearly Koalins real musical love.
Formed in August '97, the core line-up is Koalin (vocals, flute, sax,
keyboards,
percussion), Darrell Mordecai (bass, vocals), Krallen Potgieter (guitar,
vocals) and Sean OuTim
(drums). A recent addition to the band is DJ Pierre who scratches and
mixes off vinyl during the
band's live performances.
"For me, we really needed this other dimension of sound that Pierre
adds," Kaolin says.
"I'm extremely interested in the interplay of ancient instruments
like flutes and the sound
that can be generated using a turntable or a sampler."
She also finds working within a group of young musicians hugely stimulating.
"I've found
the older the musician, the more set in their ways they tend to be. With
Naked, however, the
guys are eager to take creative chances and this makes bringing my songs
to them a thrilling
experience."
Songwriting is, in many ways, the aspect of Naked that's most rewarding
for Kaolin. And
her natural gift in this arena is apparent in the two tracks on Naked's
eponomously titled
debut single. In Naked, Kaolin's breathy, exposed vocals interplay beautifully
with the guitars, rhythm
section and almost eerie sampling to create a song that's a masterpiece
in the study of sexual
obsessions. The other track on the single, Sex Goddess, is the flip-side
of this: a
raunchy, in-your-face declaration of one woman's confident sexuality,
delivered in a rocking style
that more than reveals Nakeds musical range. Both songs display Kaolins
abilities as one of the
most insightful, humorous, penetrating, affecting and just plain splendid
lyricists working in South Africa today.
Kaolins' recent work in London with the likes of David Byrne and Sinead
O'Connor and the
interest displayed in her songs by several international publishing companies
are
sure-fire indicators of this artists' ability to cast a musical spell
over the globe. But, in
typical self- restraining style that belies her age, Kaolin is approaching
this next phase of her
career with caution. "Sometimes you have to understand that the hype
about your work is a little
premature. I'm right at the beginning of something here in terms of being
a performer, a band member and
an artist. There's so much to learn in the road ahead."
