10 Questions For: Simon van Gend

This Cape Town-based folk band also creates music that combines elements of the rock and indie genre. They will be performing at the Interplanetary Folk Festival, which will take place at Blah Blah Bar from Monday, 26 September to Sunday, 2 October 2016. Acoustic guitar player, singer and songwriter Simon van Gend answered our 10 Questions.

1. How would you describe what you do for a living?
I work as a freelance typesetter by day to pay the bills. The work comes in sporadic bursts, meaning I have plenty of time to play my guitar and write songs. Music is what holds my head together and gives my life purpose and meaning. I’m still holding on to the dream that one day I’ll be able to do music full-time. Hey, Rodriguez spent most of his life as a construction worker, so I guess I’ve got it easy.

2. What is your most vivid childhood memory?
Bodysurfing at Nahoon Beach in East London, before school, most days in the summer. Paradise!

3. If you could invite any three people, dead or alive, for dinner, who would they be and why?
1. Jamie Oliver - So he could cook for us!
2. Vincent van Gogh - So that I could show him how much his paintings sell for.
3. Someone from the Stone Age - So I could blow his mind with my computer.

4. If you ever found yourself auditioning for a music reality TV show, what song would you sing and why?
‘Ne Me Quitte Pas’ by Jacques Brel, because I’m currently obsessed with this song.

5. How would you complete this sentence? The South African Cabinet should include a Minister of _____________.
Dreams, whose job it is to interpret the dreams of the president and reveal the truth of what really motivates him.

6. What would you say is the biggest misconception about you?
I can come across as a bit serious, but it’s just a defence mechanism. Once I drop my guard I’m lots of fun.

7. What is your (honest) opinion of Cape Town?
Too many defence mechanisms.

8. What's the greatest fear you've had to overcome to get where you are today?
The fear of being true to what I really feel, to putting all my shameful feelings into songs.

9. What's the one thing you'd like to achieve before you die?
To play Carnegie Hall, or some such thing.

10. Which well-known South African personality would you, without a doubt, be able to beat in a dance-off and why?
Oh jeez, that’s a tough one! I’m not much of a dancer – Oscar Pistorius? Khulubuse Zuma?

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ABOUT #CapeTownMag10Q:
CapeTownMagazine.com’s 10 Questions project gets to know some of the Mother City’s most creative and inspiring people. From television personalities and musicians to politicians and entrepreneurs, we find out more about well-known and up-and-coming Capetonians. You can follow #CapeTownMag10Q on Twitter and Facebook to track recent interviews or read more here about our other awesome 10 Questions candidates.

A FEW OF OUR OTHER 10Q CANDIDATES:

10 Questions For Singer and Songwriter Paige Mac

10 Questions For Laurie Levine and Josie Field

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