Francois Van Coke remains one of the most important figures in the Afrikaans Alternative scene - and beyond. We find out about what he's been up to.
How did the success of Fokofpolisiekar and Van Coke Kartel bring about your solo career?
I don't think the success of those two acts brought about my solo career, but it definitely helped launch my solo career. I came to a place where both those acts weren't very active. It was in 2014 and Fokofpolisiekar played shows from time to time and VCK just lost our drummer. Jason Oosthuizen went to the USA to pursue a career over there. So, I decided that I need to write more songs and that became my first solo album. I launched my solo career with a collaboration with Karen Zoid, “Toe vind ek jou”. That song blew up and made it possible to carry on, on this solo mission.
What are you up to at the moment and are there plans for more of Die Van Coke Show?
I am busy working on my fourth solo album, it will be out in September 2022. Most of the work is done and it has been recorded, we are currently in the mixing stage.
I don't think we will ever do the Van Coke Show again, it was an awesome ride and I met some amazing people and it was great working in the TV world for a while, but I think the style of the show clashed a bit with the KykNET viewership. It was fun while it lasted and I am very glad that we did it. Even if it only lasted for one season.
Talk a bit about your coffee blend.
We launched Van Coke's Coffee with the Dagdrome blend at the end of last year. I have always been heavily into coffee and I have been approached by various coffee brands in the past to collaborate, but it just never felt right until I connected with Monarch Coffee Cartel. We worked together on a special roast and now I also just drink good coffee all the way! It is available on my merchandise store www.vancokes.co.za
View this post on InstagramHow has the pandemic impacted your career? Hugely. It was a learning and growing process. We had to start to think out of the box and did a bunch of ticketed online shows, I did corporate zoom shows, little privates, recorded at home and actually released stuff that I recorded at home. All in all it was a challenging time, but we came through it and life goes on. Unfortunately we are still under some restrictions and we can't do the big arena shows, but hopefully we will get there soon. Hopefully we can do the big Francois van Coke & Vriende show in September this year. Is there anything else you'd like to mention? The main thing for this year is my new album, I will be playing all around the country this year, so hopefully I will see you at a show soon!
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