Soweto star band rock indeed!

THEY are young, black and from Soweto but they sing rock and roll!

That is Ree-Burth, a band made up of five young men - Nathi Louw, Tshepo Mohapi Balindele Kubayi, Oscar Limphene and Tumi Mothei.

But when we meet them in Pimville, only three show up.

"Sorry, guys, but the others are in Pretoria," lead vocalist Louw said.

With his thick dreadlocks, tattoos and big sunglasses, Louw is every bit the rock-and-roller one would expect.

"I didn't even like rock music growing up," he said. "People used to tell me I look like (R&B singer) Maxwell and I started listening to him because of that. I was always an R&B fan, though."

He would develop his love for rock music when Masike Mohapi, of the legendary band Harare, heard him playing a guitar.

"I bought a guitar from my neighbour and I used to play it all the time and he (Mohapi) heard me playing and told me I had potential.

"He would later come and teach me for free and that made me a better player. I will always be grateful to him for that," Louw said.

It was through Mohapi that Louw met the "Jimmy Hendricks of South Africa" - Tshepo Mohapi. Tshepo, an architect, is Masike's son.

"I would go to his house looking for his father and that is how we met," Louw said.

Unlike Louw, Mohapi is brash and almost arrogant.

"Every time I go on stage most white people see me as just a black guitarist, but once I'm finished they can't stop talking about me," Tshepo said.

"So far (record companies) Gallo and Sony have approached us with a contract but we haven't made up our minds yet.

"We'd like to remain independent but at this stage we arejust not not ruling anything out."