Joint State are an exciting new four-piece rock band from Cape Town who are looking to make their mark on the South African rock scene with their just-released debut album, 'Nothing Works Like Water'. The band began officially in late 1999 and the current members of Joint State are Chris Munro (lead guitar & vocals), Martin Munro (drums & percussion), De Villiers Visser (rhythm guitar), Reghardt Herbst (bass guitar).
This current line-up evolved from a number of other successful SA bands, including Mills Park and Solemn, that had recorded a few demo’s and EP’s but had never had any real commercial success. Then the Munro Brothers, Chris and Martin, decided to form a new band, together with their friend and guitarist, De Villiers Visser, and bass guitarist, Reghardt Herbst. The band was initially known as "Escape", and the band’s early set lists featured new and original songs, mostly written by Chris Munro, alongside a few covers.
A few local gigs followed, before the band recorded a few demos at the City Varsity campus studios in Gardens, Cape Town, while Chris studied sound engineering. The band then began building a strong following locally and played many gigs around Strand, Stellenbosch, Somerset West and Cape Town.
In early 2002, Chris Munro left to work in London for six months, and also to promote the band’s demo CD. After gigging and jamming with a few unknown British groups and writing many new songs, Chris decided to return to SA to start work with the band on a self-financed album. While De Villiers and Reghardt were away on their studies, Chris and Martin Munro worked extensively on the new material as well as the three covers they had decided to include on the album..
The set of songs for the album was planned and arranged, and recording began in November 2003 at the Tin Pan Alley Recording Studios in Cape Town. The album was engineered by Richard Harriman, and produced by Richard Harriman and Chris Munro. The drums and percussion were done by Martin Munro, and the rest of the instruments, including lead guitars, rhythm guitar, bass, vocals, backing vocals, piano and synths, were administered by Chris Munro. After extensive production and mixing sessions, the 'Nothing Works Like Water' album was completed by the end of 2003.
Joint State are scheduled to officially release 'Nothing Works Like Water' nationwide in July 2004, and will begin gigging extensively with the reformed band throughout the country over the next few months. The album contains twelve tracks, of which nine songs are originals and three are covers.
Joint State’s style of music is essentially a fusion of original Brit rock, alternative rock and the late Seattle grunge period and its predecessors, as well as many different influences spanning the ‘60’s through to the ‘90’s. The band describe their sound as: "a new sound, which is a combination of all the great bands and artists of our time, which have influenced our lives".
The band’s large set list has grown over the years and varies depending on the type of venues they play. The band’s usual two-hour set includes selections from the approximately 50 songs written by Chris Munro since 1997, alongside covers by The Beatles, The Verve, Sublime, Depeche Mode, Foo Fighters, and the Manic Street Preachers, all of which the band have rearranged to their own style of music and are adapted to suit the audiences.
Joint State have set themselves high goals and are looking to make a name for themselves in South Africa, the US, Britain and eventually the world over the next few years. 'Nothing Works Like Water' will certainly help them get there!
