Koos Kombuis

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Koos Kombuis (2007)

Koos Kombuis (born November 5, 1954 in Cape Town ; real name André le Roux du Toit ; at times also as André Letoit or Koos A. Kombuis ) is a South African singer-songwriter , guitarist and writer. He sings and writes mostly in Afrikaans , occasionally also in English.

Life

André le Roux du Toit was born as one of three siblings. His mother was a teacher, his father an employee. Even as a schoolboy he was nicknamed Koos. He passed his matric in 1972 at the Hoërskool Menlopark in Pretoria . After completing his military service in the South African Defense Force , where he was assigned to the fire department because of poor shooting performance, he studied at the University of Pretoria for two years without obtaining a degree. He moved to Hillbrow in Johannesburg and had various jobs, including as a firefighter. In 1976 he returned to his parents. In 1977 he spent a year in a psychiatric hospital where he was mistakenly classified as schizophrenic ; At the same time he published Die man met die lang ding, a first short story about a homosexual man in an underground magazine . In 1978 the poem Gebed was published in Donga magazine . He moved to Cape Town and published short stories in Huisgenoot magazine . In 1980 he published the magazine Hunch ; some poems appeared in 1981 in the anthology Brêkfis met vier. His poetry collection Suburbia was published in 1982, followed by a second collection in 1985 with Die geel kafee . In the same year his experimental, semi-autobiographical novel Somer II appeared, which was described as a "punk novel" and is based on Jack Kerouac's novel Unterwegs . With Suidpunt-jazz in 1989, another novel was published, also under the name of André Letoit.

In 1986 he acquired the long-playing record Wie is Bernoldus Nobody from his compatriot James Philipps (1959–1995). It inspired him to make a demo cassette, which he sent to the Shifty Records label . In 1987 he recorded the album Ver van die ou Kalahari in 90 minutes on Shifty Records . He then used his pseudonym Koos Kombuis (roughly: "Koos Kitchen") because he had lived in a kitchen when the name was invented.

Kombuis became a member of Johannes Kerkorrel and the Gereformeerde Blues Band ("Johannes Kerkorrel and the Reformed Blues Band " - the band name ironically refers to the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa ). In addition to singer Johannes Kerkorrel , the band also included James Philipps. Their new style of Afrikaans-language music became known as alternatiewe Afrikaans (alternative Afrikaans-language music) - it gave a new generation of Boers an awareness of different political opinions.

In 1989 the Gereformeerde Blues Band released the album Eet Kreef! ("Eat Langusten !") At Shifty Records. Six of the nine tracks were not allowed to be played on state radio and television , but the album was still commercially successful. After that, the band toured, supported by the alternative Afrikaans weekly vrye weekblad , by universities and joined art festivals on. This tour was called Voëlvry (" outlawed "). The conservative secret society Afrikaner Broederbond in particular tried to prevent the movement from giving concerts.

Kombuis wrote numerous other books and recorded albums. In 1990 the piece Lisa se klavier was released, which was covered by The Parlotones , among others . In 1994 he published the song Johnny is nie dood never (for example: "Johnny is not dead") as an homage to Johannes Kerkorrel - he also sang it after his death in 2002. In 1997 he dedicated an album with Madiba Bay to the then President Nelson Mandela . On his album Bloedrivier , released in 2008, he criticized the government policy for which the African National Congress was responsible. He plays solo with guitar or can be accompanied by his rock band Die Warmblankes (Afrikaans poor blankes = poor white). In addition to South Africa, he mainly performs in Namibia .

Kombuis is married to a Namibian woman and has two children with her. The family lives in Somerset West .

Literary works

  • 1982: Suburbia. Poems. Perscor.
  • 1982: Nou's die kaap weer hollands. Short stories. Human & Rousseau.
  • 1983: My nooi is in 'n tikmasjien. Short stories from Huisgenoot. Perscor.
  • 1985: The geel coffee. Poems. Perscor.
  • 1985: Somer II novel. Perscor.
  • 1986: Breekwater. Short stories. Perscor.
  • 1988: The bar op De Aar. Song lyrics. Table Mountain.
  • 1989: Suidpunt-jazz. Novel. HAUM literary.
  • 1990: Paradise redecorated. Prose. Nemesis.
  • 1998: The tweede reën. Poems. Bitter comix.
  • 1998: Koos se songs. Song lyrics. Mystic Pub.
  • 2000: Seks & Drugs & Boeremusiek. The Memoirs van 'n Volksverraaier. Autobiography. Human & Rousseau.
  • 2001: My Mamma is' n taal. Columns. Human & Rousseau.
  • 2002: Hotel Atlantis. Novel. Human & Rousseau.
  • 2003: Afrikaans my darling. Columns. Human & Rousseau.
  • 2003: The Secret Diary of God. Prose. Human & Rousseau.
  • 2005: Raka - the roman. Novel. Human & Rousseau.
  • 2006: Dieper dors. Essays and columns. Human & Rousseau.
  • 2008: The Complete Secret Diaries of God. Prose. Human & Rousseau.
  • 2009: The tyd van die kombi's / Short Drive to Freedom. Autobiography. Human & Rousseau.
  • 2011: The reuk van koffie. Essays and columns. Human & Rousseau.
  • 2013: i-Tjieng: 'n GPS vir verdwaalde siele. Prose. Penguin.

Discography

  • 1987: Ver van die ou Kalahari (Shifty Records)
  • 1990: No Man's Land & Beyond (Shifty Records)
  • 1994: Elke Boumelaar se droom (Gallo Music Productions)
  • 1997: Madiba Bay (Wildebeest Records)
  • 1997: Blameer dit op Apartheid (Wildebeest Records)
  • 1999: Mona Lisa (compilation; Wildebeest Records)
  • 2000: Blou kombuis (Live with Albert Frost; JNS Music)
  • 2000: Greatest Hits (compilation; Gallo Music Productions)
  • 2002: Equilibrium (Rhythm Records)
  • 2003: Jaar in die son (with Vallant Swart; Rhythm Records)
  • 2008: Bloedrivier (Koos Kombuis)
  • 2009: Koos Kombuis (Koos Kombuis)
  • 2012: Dertien (Koos Kombuis)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ CV (Afrikaans), accessed on July 1, 2016
  2. ↑ a b c d portrait at namibiana.de , accessed on July 4, 2016
  3. ↑ a b c d Portrait on the Human & Rousseau website , accessed on July 3, 2016
  4. ↑ Description of the album at kooskombuis.bandcamp.com (English), accessed on July 3, 2016
  5. ↑ a b Hendrik Michael Grobler Uys: A Psychobiographical Study of Ralph John Rabie. Master's thesis at the University of the Nelson Mandela Metropolis , 2010. Digitized version (PDF), p. 40. ( Memento of the original from January 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / dspace.nmmu.ac.za
  6. ↑ Portrait of Kerkorrel at entertainmentafrica.mobi ( memento from October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (English), accessed on January 1, 2014
personal data
SURNAME Kombuis, Koos
ALTERNATIVE NAMES le Roux du Toit, André (real name); Letoit, André (pseudonym); Kombuis, Koos A. (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African singer-songwriter, guitarist and writer
DATE OF BIRTH 5th November 1954
PLACE OF BIRTH Cape Town