The inaugural Afropunk Johannesburg festival will take place this weekend.
The festival that started in Brooklyn, New York, has made its way onto the African soil.
As part of the festival, Afropunk hosted a battle of the bands competition. The winners will get an opportunity to play live at the festival. The competion was held in Tembisa on 16 December.
The competion ended in a tie with bands Automatic Live and Stiff Pap proving that they were the cream of the crop.
SowetanLIVE had a quick Q&A session with Automatic Live to find out what we can expect this weekend:
SL: How do you feel about winning the inaugural South African Battle of the Bands?
AL:We are very excited. We went in just wanting to be on stage and see how people felt about the band so the win was a great achievement.
SL: How would you describe your sound?
AL: It’s a mixture of kwaito, reggae, rock and many other sounds that I grew up listening to.
SL: What message do you communicate through your music?
AL: I speak about love, hope and many other things that happen in life.
SL: What are your plans going forward?
AL: Automatic Live is a live band so we expect to perform, travel through South Africa and give great performances. We also love playing at big festivals, like Afropunk and Battle of the Bands, amplified by EDGE.
SL: What can audiences expect from you at Afropunk?
AL: They can expect some amazing things from us and they can expect to be pleasantly surprised.
SL: The festival is also known for its fashion, what is the best fashion advice you’ve ever been given and by whom?
AL: We are a band as well as a brand. We have a fashion brand called Hola Punk, running since 1996. We take constant advice from our fashion guru and stylist, Joy Tola.
The winners of the BOTB competition walked away with R15 000. The competition was held in partnership with Hunters EDGE.