Woolworths Taste – August 2019

PORTRAIT

JAN RAS

INTERVIEW

KATHARINE POPE

I love Harbour House

in KalkBay.Thethingaboutthis

placeis thatwhenyouneedtoimpressit's

allinone:sea,mountainsand good food!

I lovetheseafoodhere.

I lovetraditionalSouthAfrican

foodtoo,likeoffal,melkkos,

andallthosethingsthatonly

mymotherstillmakes.Ilovesnails.

Chickencordonbleuorbonemarrow.And

runnychocolatecakeforpudding– ora

warmchocolatebrowniewithicecream.

Andpavlova!I can’tcookanyofit though...

I justdosteak,chops,chicken. You know,

theimportantstuff.

I lovelivingin thispartoftheworld.

I comefromtheBoland,andI livedinJoburg

forfiveyears,andthenintheUK.WhenI

camebacktoSAI wenttoJoburgforfive

monthsandthought“whyareyouhere”?It

somehowlostitsappeal.Myincomeshrank

a bitbutit’smuchbetterforthesoulout

here.MysonandI liketothinkofourselves

asboogieboardpros.We’velivedherein

KalkBay,thenaroundthecornerinClovelly,

nowwe’reinGlencairn.Nextstep:boat!

InNoordhoek,wegotovisitthe

farmvillage.CaféRouxis probablythe

bestmusicvenueinCapeTown.It’sgot

a greatvibe.Breakfastatthefarmvillage

is amazing.There’sa sushiplacethereinthe

hotelthatrivalsWilloughby’s[attheV&A

Waterfront]!WealsoloveImhoffFarm.The

foodthereis incredibleandit’sgreatforkids.

Whenweweretouringwith

SpringbokNudeGirls,weused

toeatatNando’sallthetime.

Myorder:a quarterchickendrumandthigh,

lemonandherb.Giblets,extrahot,orlivers,

extrahot,withcoleslaw.I reallyenjoyed

the chicken giblets. I’m very pissed off with

theVoëlvry-beweging– JohannesKerkorrel

andtherest– theeightieswereamazing

forAfrikaansmusic.Thefirstsongwasan

interestingexperience,butonceI gotmy

headaroundtherhythmicflowofthe

language,anamazingartisticworldopened

upforme.It’sa verypoeticlanguage.With

theNudeGirls,andinEnglish,it’smore

basedaroundsounds– I usedtodothe

lyricsafterI wrotethesongsforNudeGirls.

InAfrikaansyou can’t do that. You write

inpoetry.

I havestagefrightallthetime.

It doesn’tmatter– smallcrowd,bigcrowd–

it’s notaboutthem.I canhaveinstantblanks

whereI forgetthewords,andI cansingoff-

keyatanytime.I justhavetowalkonstage

anddealwithit.Sometimesthesoundis

bad.ThenI needtobea goodactor!

I stillloveperforming.Myfavourite

showwaswhenweperformedwithINXS

ontheirElegantlyWastedtour.Theywere

ourfirstbiginternationalact.Wehada

coupleofpartieswiththemaftertheshows.

BeforeI becamea singer,

I wantedtobea fineartist.

I studiedgraphicartatCapeTechafterthe

army,butI didn’tfinishthecourse.I went

anddida printingcourse.It wasterrible!

It wastheendofapartheidandweused

tohaveCOSATUmeetingsinthefactory.

I hatedthejob,sothemorewewereon

strike,thebetter.LuckilytheNudeGirls

started,andI startedmakingmoremoney

throughtheband,soI dropped it. You must

dosomethingyoulove.

NowI’vestartedpaintingagain.

I collectsuper-awesomepicturesfrom

everythingI see.Andit allbecomespart

ofmysubconscious, which then manifests

inmypaintings.

I’dstillliketotourAmericaand

moreofEurope.I’mmixinga NudeGirls

album– werecordedit lastyearandare

finishingit off.We’vegota coupleofshows

comingup.InthemeantimeI’mworking

onEnglishsolomusicandanotherAfrikaans

album.I alsowanttodoanorchestrathing,

butit’sa massiveundertaking that needs

corporateintervention!

@arnocarstensmusic;arnocarstens.com;

@arnocarstensfineart; arnocarstensfineart.com

Nando’sbecausetheytookthemoffthe

menu.NowI'vemigratedtoWoolieswhere

theymakethebestPortugueseperi-peri

chickeninthebag.That’smyfavourite!

I usedtoworkattheSanDiego

SpurinWorcester.I wasa terrible

waiterbecauseofmydyslexia.Themanagers

usedtogatherusandhavecomedyhour

basedonmyspellingdisability.“Let’sread

Arno’sdockets!Onetuner!” I madenicetips,

fromcomicrelief,butI wasn’tanygood.

Weusedtohavefightsandusethesebig

cheesecakeplattersasshields.They fired

me after two-and-a-half years.

WhenwestartedtheNudeGirls

in 1994 therewasnosocial

media.Themusicindustryhaschanged

a lotsincethen– notallforthebetter,but

there’smoremusicouttherenow,andit’s

easiertoaccess.Theprocessofputting

outmusichastotallychanged.Radiois not

asimportantanymore,whichis kindof

liberating.Nowwereleasenewmusicevery

coupleofmonthswhichis more exciting

formusiclovers,I think.

Mostofthetime,a songeither

startswithanopeningline,or

a chorusI starthumminginmy

head.Andthentheproducerswillfleshit

out.Thesedaysmyphone is filled with voice

notesforfuturesongs.

I didmyfirstAfrikaansalbum

three years ago.I was a big fan of

TABLE TALK

MY FAVOURITE TABLE

Arno Carstens

Evenrockstarsneedtoeat!WecaughtupwiththeSpringbokNude

GirlsfrontmanatHarbourHouseinKalkBayto talk sea views, song-

writing and his failed career as a Spur waiter

“Wooliesmakesthe

bestPortugueseperi-

perichickeninthebag.

That’s my favourite!”

36 TASTE AUGUST 2019