Here's a brief history of the band, from our humble beginnings to the present, where we're still rather humble.
We are based in Jo'burg & played our first live gig on the 24th May 1996, at The Cave, one of the pubs on Wits Campus. We played this gig 'Trashed-Out Tupperware', 'Sprog' & 'Slug' (Whom later changed their name to 'Slugs of War') & had a blast that night & haven't looked back since.
Since then we have played in numerous other venues and with various other South African bands.
My favourites being 'Urban Assault', 'Sprog' (who have now wussed out on us for money to become 'N.O.A.M.' [Oi! Where the hell did you ppl get the idea about the dots from huh? ;) Well at least they're prepared to let you into their secret about what it stands for. {Naked On A Mushroom, I'm putting this up since their website is now gone & if U don't get the info from me, U never shall.}]), 'Angelic Fraud' (formerly known as 'Rabbi Adolf') & 'Deviate'.
Another really cool SA band is 'Groinchurn'.
We did a number of gigs with 'Brothering' & they rock, Tulsa also guested with us for a few gigs in April '97 on the drums while we were sans drummer.
We've now also played with 'Seed' & 'Plum' which are really cool bands, 'Gutted Remains' & 'Agro' all hailing from JHB.
We also played against 'Obscene Filth' & 'Rapture' in the '97 & '98 BoB heats.
& With 'Bedlam' & 'Crystal Dawn' from Roodepoort.
We had to go all the way to Durban before we got to play with 'Demacretia'.
The newest band we've played with is 'Never Machine Forever' which is from Midrand & Kempton Park (May '99).
A band that's been around for a long time but only returned to the scene again recently & whom we played with for the first time in June '99 is 'Gorelock'.
At 'Metalenium' in October '99 we played with plenty of bands we've never had the pleasure of jamming with, namely: 'Sacrifist' whom we've known for a really long time, but never played with before; 'Shabach' from the Vaal; 'Decay Into Light' whom played their first gig there; & 'Misericord'.
We've also played with some out of town bands, like Pretoria bands 'Mjöllnir' [on the 'Cryo' tour; 'Funeral God' changed their name to 'Mjöllnir' as of 1st November '98] & 'Leek'.
'Tryst' from Bloemfontein, & they were also finalists with us in the T.O.M.S. '98 Battle of the Bands. Another band from Bloem that we've played with is 'Nocturnal Dominion'.
We also played with 'V', from Port Shepston.
In May 1999 we played in JHB with 'Sacraphyx' which hail from Cape Town & now damn good buddies to boot.
In June 1999 we played in Cape Town & then in JHB with 'Grämlich' which are also great people, not to mention one of my favourite bands.
At 'Metalenium' in October '99 we also played with a couple of out of town bands like: 'Dark Millennium' & 'Hollow Point' from Durban.
In April 2000 (hey it was after midnight on the 31st of March, so that's April baby) we played with 'Pothole' from Cape Town, in Cape Town.
In December 2000 we got to play with the Straight Edge Punk band 'Crossing Point' from Durban.
The international bands touring in South Africa that we have played with are 'Krabathor' in February '98, with whom we played a single gig in Vanderbjil Park.
We also played 3 gigs with 'Cryogenic' in October '98, in Pretoria, Vanderbjil Park & @ the Doors in JHB.
Both these bands were really cool people & great fun to play with.
Since moving to the UK in February 2001 we've played with 'Brainchoke', 'As She Screams' & 'Apostasy' in July 2001. & with 'Descent' in October 2001. In February 2002 we played a mini-fest with 'Nadir'; 'Skaldic Curse'; 'TBAC'; 'Acolytes Ruin' & 'Fukpig'. We also played Deathfest 2002 in July with 'Labrat'; 'The Enchanted'; '7th Child'; 'Throne Of Nails' & 'Benediction'.
We hit the air-waves for the first time on the 1st October 1996, on Radio 5, with Gathering of Introverts. It was broadcast on "The South African Music Explosion", hosted by Dave Chislet & Barney Simon.
(Thanx dudes, now how about playing it more often?) It's here if U want to listen to it.
It was an awesome feeling, even though no-one in the band actually heard it, but we've had a lot of positive feedback from friends and fans alike. Now we're hoping to hear it again, so we too, can know what we sound like on the radio.
The same song was released on a compilation CD "13" with 12 other South African Metal Bands on Jan 13th 1997. The CD is going for R60, is 72 minutes long and has 22 original songs on it.
Most of the songs are fucking good but others suck. Over all the CD is well worth it. Where else are you gonna get that much music for so little?
Well the recording that took place @ B# Studios in Boksburg ZA on the 12th of October 1997 went real well & the mixing was done on the 16th of November.
We now have our stuff on CD... Yeehah (or some exclamation of some sort) U should hear the leads that JP (of B# Studios) played on our songs.
The fat sound that we got kicks major butt. I think this should get us going.
I guess we'll submit The Dreamer for radio play as soon as we have more CD's cut & then we can send one to 5fm. & it's here if U want to listen to it.
We're all so chuffed with the recording - it's unbelievable. Thanks once more JP.
On Friday the 22nd On November "The Dreamer" was played at 'The Z000' nightclub by 'Uncle Paul', a really cool radio celeb that tells the grooviest horror stories on South African radio. He insisted that we give him a copy to play on air.
Barney Simon got a copy of the CD on the 16th of Jan, & has already played 'The Dreamer' twice in the last 2 days, (today's the 20th). I'm really hoping that this song takes off & gets us rather well known. :)
On the 26th of April '98 we recorded Rape of Innocents @ Dave's place with Jeff's (Sprog/N.O.A.M.) new soundcard.
The sound quality was amazing, but the timing sucked, so we'll record it again on the 24th of May & that also happens to 2 years since our first gig.
On the 10th of May we recorded Cages of the Mind @ the same place with the same people, but this time everything sounds killer, on these recordings Kerryn plays drums, Marco does vocals & Stef does all guitars, bass & backing vocals.
Since completing our line-up with Tamlyn on bass (Aug '98) we've played our fair share of gigs that have gone extremely well.
We won the semi-final for the T.O.M.S. '98 BoB @ Roxy's & played in the final at the MegaMusic Warehouse on the 7th of November.
We played with 'Slugs of War'; 'Tryst'; 'Sublemon'; 'Study David'; 'Lickerish'; 'Deep Kick' & 'Wasabi'.
This was a really great gig. It was recorded live to be broadcast on Sunday the 8th on 5fm, but owing to technical difficulties was only broadcast on the 15th [which was a sham if U asked me, we were promised 15mins of airtime & got 7 (which was twice as much as other bands, so they were really robbed) & the sound was horrible], & was being videotaped to be broadcast on 'Live@5'.
& now onto the antics for the night:'Slugs! Slugs! Slugs! Slugs! Slugs! Slugs!' The chant rang out as they were announced as victors in the T.O.M.S. Battle of the bands, which runners up 'Wasabi' & 'Sublemon'.
'Slugs of War' stole the show with their antics & comedy driven music & had P.I.T.T. taking to the air & stage-diving all the way. They deserved their victory.... but I can't say I agree with the other choices at all... but then I'm fucking biased.
'Tryst' were fucking awesome & sounded the best we've ever heard them, not that anyone in the PITT was actually listening to 'em... we were way to busy having the mosh of their career. I haven't seen that many stage-divers since the Napalm Death gig back in '93. They deserved to be in the final & I'm pretty sure everyone in the mosh agrees that they should've been in the last three with us included.
But sadly we're Metal bands & even though the gig was well attended, Metal was definitely not the key attraction for the night, or for the judges, with the mellowest music taking top prizes.
On Sunday the 10th of Jan '99 we went to the ever popular B# Studios to Record "Little White Room" for a compilation that will be brought out by 'Witchdoctor' Records in May 1999. & U can also listen to it.
The recording went really well & was completed on the day.
We went back to mix & master the track on the 19th of Jan, & Damn! are our songs are improving & getting heavier... & JP proved that he's the Master of Metal in this country with the way he's made the song sound.
On the 12th of Jan '99 we played live on 5fm for the TDK sessions.
We went on air @ 23h30 & played for 30 minutes.
The show was also broadcast on Real Audio on the 5fm WebPages from Thursday the 14th for a period of 7 days. Those of you not in South Africa that were interested in hearing what we sound like had the opportunity to give us a listen.
The show was awesome & we played well & other than a few dropped sticks (that Marco ran around like a lunatic to collect & put back in Kerryn's reach) & the fact that Marco had trouble speaking between songs, everything went very smoothly.
Eugene (engineer @ the M3 Studio) gave us a great sound. Thanx to Simon Foulds for making this possible, & sorry for swearing on radio even though you told us not to... :)
While we were there we were asked by if we were prepared to be interviewed live during their Metal show between 2 & 4 am.
We, of course, accepted & were live on TV which was broadcast throughout Africa from Cape Town to Cairo. & yes we were loud & rude & swore there too.
But they invited us back & asked if they could create a music video for us, like we'd ever say no to that. So all in all it was a very hectic night.
While chatting once more to the friendly people from BOP-TV we were asked to come & play live for an hour on their show. & even though we were only given 2 days notice to do so, we jumped @ the chance.
So on Friday the 5th of March 1999 played live all over Africa (Digital Satellite TV rules). The show was broadcast from 14h00 to 15h00 (+2:00 GMT).
They've asked us to try get 100 fans to this gig (we can only pray that we get that kind of turn out). & we obviously didn't pray hard enough cos w only got 1 person to the show. This was to cover costs for the studio & engineer & stuff, which we got for free now, cos they couldn't bill us for something we had no control over.
The show went really well, even though we all had more fun & energy during the 90min sound check. But as we've had no feedback on this gig we really have no idea what ppl thought or anything else for that matter.
On the 7th of May 1999 Witchdoctor Records' first release, "New Breed Vol. 1" was released. This is a compilation CD which has 15 of the Heaviest SA Bands on it, including 'Groinchurn'; 'V'; 'Deviate'; 'Demacretia', 'Grämlich' & us.
The first launch gig took place @ 'Y2K' in Durban (where Witchdoctor Records is based) & was well received. This CD should do lots of good things for the bands on it. If you want any info on how to get your hands on one, mail us & we'll see what we can do.
On the 24th of August 1999 we went into the studio [B# Studios to B precise] to record 'The Hand That Feeds' for New Breed Vol.2. which U can also listen to.
& on the 26th we mixed the song. All that we can say is that JP De Stefani is 'god', there was only so much he could do, & it was all miracles.
This is the best we've ever sounded, & Kerryn's drum intro sounds fucking tribal as all hell.
While we were there we also had JP master our soon to be released CD, & U shall all soon hear what a stunning job he did of that.
On the 9th of October 1999 we recorded & mixed 'Morosity' at B# Studios for a Goth/Black Metal compilation. The final product is amazing & well worth listening to.
On the 1st of March 2000 we released our debut EP Three And A Half Years In The P.I.T.T. ...a collection, which we tried to promote with a mini-tour of South Africa [see Past Gigs for info on the tour] between March & April 2000.
We'd also like to extend our thanx to FIAT South Africa for sponsoring our tour to the Cape by allowing us to use a FIAT Ulysse [to view info about the car, all U need to do is click on the Virtual Showroom button on the FIAT page & then find the car U're looking for... It looks like a space age van] for transport. Now if we could only afford to buy this as a tour vehicle, we'd definitely do it without a second thought. :-) Thank you FIAT once again!
On the 3rd & 4th of June 2000 we spent the weekend @ Dave's place recording demo versions of about 20 songs so that we could decide on the tracks that we're going to be laying down for the forthcoming CD "Forced Disillusion", which shall be out before the end of the year.
The recordings went superbly & were mixed the following weekend & dumped onto CD for us to listen & practise to. Thanx once more for all the hard work U put into this Dave, it's well noted.
On the weekend of the 12th of August 2000, we started laying down the drum tracks for "Forced Disillusion" @ B# Studios. We were using 's electronic drum kit so that we could get the exact drum sound that we wanted & make certain that the drum tracks were "as tight as a 2 year old's pussy" according to Stef.
Well Kerryn managed to record the drum tracks for the entire CD in 3 hours, so we were fucking chuffed. & then Lawrence (the dude working for JP) started editing the midi files for the 1st song ['Mists & Shrouds of Darkness'] note for note & that took six hours, & then when he moved onto the 2nd song he realised that he'd fucked up & that he'd recorded drum tracks over drum tracks (when we restarted songs) [he'd set the record options to 'sound on sound blend' rather than 'replace'] so there were like 6 drummers playing on some tracks & there's fuck all we can do now, we have to start all over again.
As can well be imagined we're not terribly happy with this situation, but that's the way the cookie crumbles & we'll just have to deal with it.
Well on the 23rd of October 2000 we finally returned to B# Studios, & Kerryn's drums are now complete & we've even chosen awesome drum & cymbal samples that we're going to use.
The long wait between recordings may actually be worth it, as JP has completely jacked up his studio once more, so there are even more gadgets for him to play w/ to give us the sound we're going to want @ the end of the day.
All the guitars were recorded on the 25th, & we even had Spud doing guest guitar on 'Spellbound' which he co-wrote w/ Stef. & man what a fat guitar sound we managed to get out of JP this time. :-) We're all chuffed, we'll see how good it sounds after a tape clean-up & a rough mix that we can take home to listen to once the bass is completed.
All the vocals were done on the 26th, & towards the end Marco was starting to take a little strain, so Stef did all his backing vocals & then Marco finished up & the vocals that he redid definitely were an improvement on the ones get was struggling with just before taking a break.
The bass was recorded on Hallowe'en 2000 in just under 3 hours, & then the great tape clean-up started for the next couple.
On relistening to the vocals on the 2nd reel Marco decided that they sounded strained & he wanted to redo a couple of songs, & boy was that worth it, the songs have a much heavier edge to them now & they don't nearly as forced as they did when recorded on the previous Thursday.
On Friday the 10th of November 2000 Kerryn resampled more drums & used his own snare for the snare sample, & man does it cut through everything & cause your ears to bleed! WE LOVE IT! & then the cymbals were refined a little too & separated slightly more, & the toms were fiddled with, so now they have a warmth that was lacking in the rough mix.
Marco also redid the vocals on 'Cage In Hell', since it's the opening track, to give them a little more punch, & man was it worth it, it still gives him shivers.
Mixing & mastering took place over the rest of weekend of the 11th of November 2000. & we recorded the "orchestral" intro ('Forced Disillusion' ) to the CD too, & that sounds killer. But it's finally done! The CD is complete, now all that we need to do is get the cover sorted out & then print everything & release the damned thing. Whoo, Whoo!
After a week's worth of listening we realised that the CD was too bassy which was causing major distortion at high volumes, so we remastered it on the 18th of November 2000 & it now sounds much better on our home hi-fi's too, rather than just on the awesome studio speakers that make everything sound amazing.
On the 16th of December we played our final gig... in South Africa and it was also the CD launch of our debut full length CD "Forced Disillusion".
It was also to be our final gig w/ Tamlyn after two and a half years of complete & utter dedication, but owing to some pretty extreme medical reasons she isn't able to play bass for more than a short while @ a time. She'll be sadly missed, especially since we were really hoping to take her to the UK with us next year.
On June 12th 2001 @ 16h00 GMT 'Forced Disillusion' & 'Cage In Hell' were played by DJ Krusker on TotalRock an internet & metal radio station based in London, UK.
& on the 17th & 18th of July 2001 we had 'Flames of Power' played by Mighty Matt Mason during his Lunchbox.
We are starting to make our presence felt, finally!
Our FIRST gig *outside* of South Africa is now under our belt & the initial trepidation of not getting to play again is gone. :-)
We played @ The Standard Music Venue with 'Brainchoke', 'As She Screams' & 'Apostasy' on the 19th of July 2001.
On February 9th 2002 we played at The Rifleman in Hounslow, & were interviewed by Jo from Live4Metal. A transcript of this interview can be found here.
On the 20th of October 2002, after playing our set at the "Helter Shelter" gig we were interviewed by Andy King of Total Rock. Listen to the interview as an MP3 or OGG.
C-Ya in the mosh P.I.T.T.