Janie Jones

Janie Jones, played their debut showcase live gig at the Mercury Live in Cape Town, as a support for Henry Ate, on Friday 7 March. The band started the gig with Natalia on guitar and vocals and Stacey Bass on bass and backing vocals. The two played 'Girlfriend', 'Kids In The Clubs' ("Well all the kids are in the clubs, getting drunk and doing drugs, and that DJ music sucks, when the kids are in the clubs"), 'What Can I Say (When You Look At Me That Way)', 'Hold', 'Beach Girl', and 'Move On'. Then the band's new drummer Rafi (14) joined the band onstage for the last two songs of the set, 'Trip', and the band's huge mp3 smash hit, 'GFY'.

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March 2003 - Janie Jones Record 'Girlfriend'

'Girlfriend was recorded at Street Level Studioson the 18th of March 2003. The single was produced by James Stewart and Stephen Segerman and engineered by Chris Tait.

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May 2003 - 'GFY' released on the 'Wicked Demos' compilation.

This solo demo by Natalia was included on a Wicked Rock demo compilation featuring the pick of the new SA rock bands including The AK Massive, Soil 7t7, Pyramid Tongue, Joe Public, Forest Moon, Springcan, Track 4, and Happy 420.

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3 July 2003 - Janie Jones at The Lemon Connection

Debut gig for the band's full line-up - Natalia (guitar, vocals), Stacey (bass), Alex (guitar), Rafi (drums] - supporting Myburgh at The Lemon Connection in Durbanville.

Set list: '9-5', 'Always And Forever', 'Beach Girl', 'Hold', 'Trip', 'What Can I Say', 'Girlfriend', 'Red Mustang'.

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10 July 2003 - Janie Jones at the Mercury Lounge

Secong full gig with full line-up - Natalia (guitar, vocals), Stacey (bass), Alex (guitar), Rafi (drums] -supporting all-girl trio, Mitsoo, at the Mercury Lounge. Excellent gig and the band impressed the full venue. This gig was filmed by Robyn Cohen from Film Africa for forthcoming projects.

Set list: '9-5', 'Always And Forever', 'Kids In The Clubs', 'Beach Girl', 'Summer Fades', 'Trip', 'Girlfriend', 'Red Mustang', 'GFY' (encore).



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THE BAND MEMBERS:

NATALIA (Guitar, Vocals, Songs)

Natalia was born in 1986 and raised in Johannesburg until she relocated to Cape Town in 1995 where she now lives. Natalia is currently at High School where she is studying music and art for Matric.

Natalia attended the Waterfront Theatre School under the tutelage of Delia Sainsbury and has taken roles in a long list of school operettas and other musical and theatrical productions.

Influences:

Natalia has always been exposed to a large and broad range of music, predominantly rock. It was the Rolling Stones 'Greatest Hits' that welcomed her home from the nursing home and which introduced this infant to a world of beautiful noise.

Among her many special influences are PJ Harvey, Aimee Mann, Rodriguez, Ben Kweller, Bic Runga, Lucinda Williams, Patti Smith, The Beatles, Shelby Lynne, Tori Amos, The Doors, Edi Brickell, Bob Dylan, and '70's punk like The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, Blondie, The Tourists, and, of course, The Clash ("She's in love with rock and roll Whooah!").

Career Details:

Natalia is now 16 and has been playing guitar, singing and writing her own material for the past four years. She recorded her first demo, 'Fly Away', at VX Sound Studios at the Video Lab Studios at the Waterfront in March 2001. During April 2002, she recorded her second set of demos at Tim Parr's 'Front Ear Studios'.

Two songs – 'Bright Young Thing' and 'Ugly' - were produced by Ben Amato (Colorfields, The Branch). Both are original songs written by Natalia.

"He [Ben Amato] recently contributed to emerging talent Natalia's song 'Bright Young Thing'".
SL magazine, December 2002

Natalia made her solo debut appearance at the 'Mountain Of Music' Charity Concert at The Jam/206 (now The Mercury) on Tuesday 30 April 2002. Natalia appeared alongside Venessa Nolan, Simon van Gend, and Two Wise Men on the 206 acoustic stage. Headlining the bill for the rock stage upstairs at the Jam were Karen Zoid, Kobus!, Kelvin Declined, New World Inside, Hog Hoggidy Hog, and Flow.

Natalia's set-list for her 'Mountains Of Music' appearance was: 'Always And Forever', 'Paradise', 'Ugly', 'Michelle' *, 'DJ', 'Summer Fades', 'Bright Young Thing'. (*by Anouk)



On Friday 4th October 2002, Natalia spent an afternoon in the Street Level Studios in Cape Town and recorded 10 solo tracks with Richard Black and Chris Tait.

To date, 'Beach Girl', 'Bright Young Thing', 'GFY', and 'Ugly' have charted in the Top 5 on the SA Rock Digest Top 30 mp3 charts, and other tracks from those Street Level sessions, including 'Beach Girl', are also available at http://www.samp3.com.

Live at the Mercury Lounge:

On Thursday, December 5th 2002, Natalia appeared at the Mercury Lounge as support to Minus. The SA Rock Digest had this to say about the gig: "There's a big buzz about this rock double feature at the Mercury Lounge on Thursday 5 December. Minus have emerged during 2002 as one of the most popular bands on the UCT 'Varsity' circuit. Supporting Minus will be a much younger solo rock act currently drawing a lot of attention on the 'High School' circuit on the opposite side of Table Mountain. Natalia is a Camps Bay student who first appeared at the Mercury Lounge (then 206) on the prestigious 'Mountains Of Music' bill earlier this year. and , her first two demo releases on SAMP3.com, have received consistent downloads at SAMP3.com and her first recording proper, also due in 2003, should include 'Girlfriend', 'What Can I Say', and '9-5 (Poppy Quest)'. 2003 is the year Cape Rock explodes, catch these recommended two acts at the Mercury Lounge on Thursday"

Natalia's set-list for the gig was: '9-5 (Poppy Quest)', 'Ugly', 'Summer Fades', 'Breakdown', 'What Can I Say (When You Look At Me That Way)', 'Beach Girl', 'Girlfriend', 'GFY'.

2002 Year-End Charts:

In the SA Rock Digest's end-of-year charts for 2002, 'Ugly' was at #10 on the Top 50 Songs of 2002 list. 'Beach Girl' was also played on the SA Rock Digest's year-end 'Best of 2002' two-part program on SAFM on Friday 27 December.

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STACEY (Bass, Backing Vocals)

Stacey (aka Natalie Jordaan) (16) is a high school pupil from Cape Town who bought and began playing her famous red bass guitar during 2002 and joined Janie Jones soon after that. Stacey also sings backing vocals and adds a strong and dynamic visual presence to the band.

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ALEX (Lead Guitar)

Alex Baker (17) is also a high school pupil from the same school as all the others in the band. Alex also plays drums and bass, but is mostly regarded as a teenage guitar prodigy and is studying music as a matric subject, and is being privately tutored by Richard Prior of the Boulevard Blues Band. Alex joined the band in June 2003 and immediately added the essential missing lead guitar ingredient to the line-up.

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RAFI (Drums)

Rafi (14) is also a high school pupil from Cape Town who started learning drums during 2003 and joined the band in February. His progress has been described as "Remarkable" by those who have witnessed his rapid growth as a drummer.

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DISCOGRAPHY:

• ‘Fly Away’ – Natalia (guitar, vocals). Words and music by Natalia
  Produced by Jorge Carlos at VX Sound Studios – March 2001
  
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• ‘Bright Young Thing’ – Natalia (vocals), other instruments (Ben Amato). Words and music by Natalia
  Produced by Ben Amato at Front Ear Studios, Gardens, Cape Town – 1 April 2002
  Other tracks recorded at this session – ‘January’ and ‘Red Mustang’
  Listen to an mp3 of Natalia's Bright Young Thing.
  
  
• ‘Ugly’ - Natalia (vocals), other instruments (Ben Amato). Words and music by Natalia
  Produced by Ben Amato at Front Ear Studios, Gardens, Cape Town – 10 April 2002
  Listen to an mp3 of Natalia's Ugly.
  
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• 'Always And Forever', 'Beach Girl', 'Bright Young Thing', 'Turn The Page', 'DJ', '9-5 (Poppy Quest)', 'Girlfriend', 'Summer Fades', 'GFY','What Can I Say'.
  
  Natalia on vocals, acoustic guitar (Ibanez) and electric guitar (Fender Stratocaster). Words and Music by Natalia. Produced and recorded by Richard Black and Chris Tait at Street level Studios on Friday 4th October 2002.
  Listen to the demo mp3 of Beach Girl by Natalia.
  Listen to an mp3 of GFY by Janie Jones.
  
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• 'Girlfriend'
  
  Recorded at Street level Studios on July 3 2003. produced by James Stewart and Stephen Segerman and engineered by Chris Tait.
  
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• 'Summer Fades', '9-5', 'Always and Forever', 'Kids Are In The Clubs', 'Beach Girl', 'Red Mustang', 'Trip', 'Girlfriend', 'GFY'.
  
  Tuesday 29 July 2003 - Janie Jones record their first set of demos as a full band - Natalia (guitar, vocals), Stacey (bass), Alex (guitar), Rafi (drums] - at Street Level Studios. The sessions were engineered by Richard Black and Chris Tait, and were produced by Stephen Segerman. 'Summer Fades', '9-5', and 'Always And Forever' were mixed on August 7.
  
  

MUSICIANS:

Natalia: Vocals, Guitar
Natalie "Stacey Bass" Jordaan: Bass, Backing Vocals
Alex Baker: Lead guitar
Rafi: Drums


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UPCOMING GIGS:

Saturday 16 August - Mercury Matinee (2-6 pm/R30): with The Rudimentals, Zero Tolerance, and Alley Cats

"At The Foot Of The Master" - Natalia playing some of her songs for Rodriguez in her garden during his second SA tour in September 2001.

CONTACT EMAILS:
natalia@sarockdigest.com
janiejones@rock.co.za

"This webpage is dedicated to the memory and spirit of Joe Strummer... Go easy, step lightly, stay free!"