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Exclusive: “I'm not SA's Bieber" Matthew Mole (Part 1)

Whenever he plays he has hundreds of teens screaming his name and singing along to his songs in deep devotion. South African folk singer and all-round nice guy, Matthew Mole, sat down with The Juice and told us why he has the tatts and the fans but he’s not the South African Justin Bieber.

First up, you've become a household name overnight and have teens going crazy over you. Is it hard to stay humble?

I’m kind of new to all this so I don’t really know. It’s really not nice to meet someone in the industry that you look up to and they turn out to be a bit of a douche bag. Like, they aren't nice and it’s gone to their heads. I don’t want to be like that.

Good. We agree. Your first gig was at Arcade Empire just last year, could you imagine then that you would soon be the first South African to have a number one album on iTunes? 

No I didn’t. I mean it’s really nice that the teens scream my name but I didn’t expect it. It’s been cool but I didn’t think it would end up like it has.

Alright, so to clear something up, there are rumours that you fancy yourself as bigger than Justin Bieber. Is that true?

I don’t know. It was a joke from the guys at Gangs of Ballet but I don’t think it’s true.

Maybe we should rephrase. Do you consider yourself as the South African Justin Bieber?

I hope not. That guy is amazing and he’s done well but that’s not the image I want to portray. Maybe people are saying it in a nice way but I don’t take it in a nice way. It would be cool if I had his fame and his money though.

People say you have a lot of similarities though...

That’s true! We both have tattoo’s. He probably got his first, but when I got mine I didn’t realise that he had a whole bunch, so he definitely wasn’t my inspiration! I’ve always wanted some tattoos and now that I’m away from my parents I can get the tattoos I’ve always wanted. I have a deer, an owl and an elephant but they are not all animals. In fact, most have some religious inspirations.

Keep an eye out for part 2 of our exclusive interview with Mathew Mole

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