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Top Interviews of 2008

1. Lionel Richie
"I'm a hopeless, die-hard, sappy, disgusting romantic," smiles Lionel Richie. "For the longest time I kept trying to be the macho guy and hang with the jocks, but…" he shakes his head. "It came out sappy and syrupy no matter how I tried to do it."
- Read interview
- Watch


2. Henry Rollins
He’s a hardcore punk rock icon. He’s a Grammy award-winning author. He’s a radio and TV talk show host. He’s an actor. He’s a human rights activist. He’s a stand up comedian. He’s Henry Rollins. And he was in South Africa in February. In an attempt to sidestep the usual 'Renaissance Man' hype, we cut the crap and invited Black Flag's legendary front man to give us a piece of his mind.
- Read


3. Sipho 'Hotstix' Mabuse
Sipho 'Hotsix' Mabuse is a legend. As the driving force behind pioneering Afro-rock combos like The Beaters and Harrai back in the 70s he paved the way for Proudly Pan African acts like Juluka, Stimela, and Sakhile to come. In the 80s he pretty much patented the Rainbow Nation pop path to come with his all-time classic crossover party starter "Burn Out". And in the 90s he pushed the African jazz envelope on genre-free fusion workouts like Township Child. He also represented South Africa alongside Kurt Darren at Madiba's 90th Birthday Bash in London earlier this year. Hell, he once even got our president Thabo Mbeki to play flute for him! So how come so few people under 30 know who 'Hotstix' is?
- Where are our Heroes
- Where are our Heroes: Pt. 2

4. Goldfish
Electro-jazzy hipsters Goldfish have finally released a follow-up to 2005's cult dancefloor classic Caught in the Loop. We caught up with the duo in studio and found David Poole (sax, synths, fx) and Dominic Peters (bass, keys, toys) understandably amped about the prospect of taking their genre-surfing grooves global with Perceptions of Pacha.
- Watch
- Read

5. Seether: Shaun Morgan
He’s the tonsil-toasting axe man behind the only South African rock band to score a pair of Billboard Top 10 albums. He's performed live on stage with legendary Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell. He even used to date alt. rock siren Amy Lee who infamously penned a hit song about him called "Call Me When You're Sober". Who are we talking about? Seether’s fabulously f**ked up front man, Shaun Morgan, of course. We speak to South Africa’s only bona fide rock star about his search for meaning beyond the whole sex, drugs & rock 'n roll myth.
- Listen
- Read

6. Korn
If anyone knows what to make of the Catholic Church giving the Seven Deadly Sins a new millennium makeover by adding seven new mortal transgressions to their damnation list it's KoRn's Jonathan Davis. The lead tonsil-toaster for the Grammy-winning metal legends makes no bones about being anti-Catholic. Hell, he's actually got an image of Jesus beating the crap out of a priest with a cross inked onto his right arm for eternity! Does this mean he's evil? We figured we'd find out and caught up with the ex-morgue worker during his My Coke Fest tour for a rap about religion, tattoos, drugs, tabloid culture and more.
- Watch
- Read

7. James Blunt
Despite his name, James Blunt is a subtle bloke. When he popped over to SA we got up close and personal with the sexy British pop balladeer who chatted about the cult of celebrity, making music with a message and more.
- Watch: Pop Quiz
- Read

8. Josie Field
"Is this going to be scary?" asks Josie Field perched on the edge of a couch in Gallo's offices. The sexy brunette singer songwriter seems oddly nervous about being interviewed about her new album Leyland. Then again, spilling your guts ten minutes before you're scheduled to bare your soul before an all-media audience in your record company's boardroom isn't exactly a dream gig.
- Watch
- Read

9. Valiant Swart
From Boland punk to TV rock doctor and boeremusiek balladeer: the legendary Mystic Boer speaks about his mission to re-map SA's folk music frontiers.
- Watch
- Read

10. Mandoza
A contest of wits. A fiercely matched back-and-forth in which only one can be the chief Ingwenya. No, Mandoza wasn't doing rap battles, he gave Channel24 a go at foosball. Find out where kwaito's champion is at.
- Watch
- Read

11. Tree63
Durban’s Tree63 have been tweaking the spiritual rock frequencies with their passionately catchy pop rock songs of praise and worship since 1996. With a new CD, Sunday on the shelves we figured it was the perfect time to catch up with lead singer, guitarist and pianist John Ellis.
- Watch
- Read

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