Daniel Dercksen shares a few thoughts with Chris Chameleon about  Klassieke Chameleon.

Tell me about Klassieke Chameleon?
It is a big production. cello, violin, contra bass, flute, classical guitar, piano and percussion. I'm performing new arrangements (to suit these instruments) of my own work, plus a few classics that have been a part of my life for a long time. 

What can your fans expect from the show?
South African audiences often get the short end of the stick when it comes to live performances. The typical show of a 'big' artist in this country is to come to town with his/her CD with the back tracks on it and then everybody watches them karaoke themselves. This is especially true of Afrikaans music and most of the black pop stuff out there. The English rock scene and jazz scene is an obvious and welcome exception, and the dire financial situation of our rock bands and jazz musicians is a good indication as to the reasons for the other way of doing it. With this production I aim to give the South African audiences something they seldom get to see. Real music made by real musicians in a spectacle of grand proportions featuring al these real, live instruments.

How did the show happen?
Well, due to the reasons i mention above, I wanted to give the audiences something else, something more. I am always trying to push myself into new directions, try new things. It keeps me interested. 

What makes it different from your other shows?
Between 60 and 70% of my average of 180 shows per year feature me on a classical guitar. I tell stories and work my way through 4 octave renditions of 20 years of creative output. For this show, I bring the whole orchestra. It is very difficult to do this sort of thing often, because of the huge funding it requires and just the logistics of putting it together. The look, the feel and the music of it is grander, both in its scale and in presentation.

How long have you been in the industry?
20 years, since I left school.

Why did you leave Boo?
I didn't. The other guys had had enough (granted, it was a very tough life - all that traveling and couch surfing) and decided to call it a day. Rather than sit and cry, I carried on alone, which is how I came to be solo. I think the misconception that I left boo comes from having made a success of a solo career. People then tend to think you left that to do this. The truth is I just carried on as always and finally got lucky. I am, in fact, reforming it in a few months' time.

Are you still going to pursue acting on the side or are you fully focused on your music career at the moment?
I hope to be acting in a TV series early next year. The two are hard to combine. Music requires you to be in a different town every night and acting needs you in the same theatre or studio every day.

What inspired you to go the classical route on this album?
It has always been a part of me. I have a very wide range of musical tastes, this is just one of them, by now I have established myself as an artist that like to take on different things all the time and this is just another case of me doing so.

What artists inspire you?
Harry Belafonte, Abba, System of a Down, Kate Bush, Tchaikovsky. 

What is your favourite food and drinks?
Food: sushi or good 'ol boerekos. Drinks: love water. Like red wine.

Who is the man behind the artist?
A deliberately well guarded secret! I am very protective over my privacy. I think it's important to do, otherwise you stop being a real person and when that happens, you stop attracting real persons and I can't think of a worse social fate.

What do you do when you are not performing/ on stage?
spend most of it on my farm, writing, walking in the veld, horse riding, creating more music and reading.

What makes you tick?
Interest. I think that is my greatest gift. I am a very interested person and it makes life worth living to me.

Where did it all start for you? That moment in your life you knew that you were going to be a musician/ performer?
When I was small, really small, like, 3 years old, I imagined standing in front of a huge crowd of people, listening to the theme music of Paddington bear on record. I didn't know what it was I was doing in front of all those people, but I knew I belonged there.

Tell me about singing with Baaba Maal?
He is truly an extraordinarily pleasant man. Very co-operative en down to earth. I was like, hey dude, you're making it look like this is my song, can't we work in some more of a feature for you. and he said 'I have my own song after this, this is your only moment, I want you to have it'. That is very rare in this industry.

You are hailed as a phenomenon on the South African music front ...one of the most important musicians of our time, and a truly international homeboy. How do you feel about this?
Well, that's one opinion. I guess. it sounds like someone is trying to acknowledge my work and I appreciate that.

How do you handle fame and being a celebrity?
By really being protective over that part of me that isn't.

Does it impact on your personal life? 
All things affect all other things, but I think it doesn't impede my personal life if that's what you mean.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel Dercksen
Published with permission in The Good Weekend (September 12, 2009)

KLASSIEKE CHAMELEON MEDIA RELEASE
Chris Chameleon is taking his very sussessful production, KLASSIEKE CHAMELEON, on a national tour from 6 to19 September and will be visiting Cape Town on Saturday 12  September at the Grand Arena, Grand West Casino. Other cities which he will visit on the national tour include, Bloemfontein, Pretoria, Port Elizabeth, Secunda, Durban and Johannesburg.   Chris says that they have been inundated with requests from all over the country to present the KLASSIEKE CHAMELEON production.   "It is really an honour for me to visit all these cities with KLASSIEKE CHAMELEON. It is a big production with a full band, but it is one of the most exciting projects I have been working on". In this acclaimed production of KLASSIEKE CHAMELEON, Chris impressed both his audiences and critics and received numerous standing ovations at the Volksblad Festival, Cultivaria Festival and Aardklop in 2007, as well as at the KKNK in Oudtshoorn.  Chris adds a classical flair to his music by performing with musicians that accompany him on cello, violin, flute, piano, guitar and percussion.  Innovative, prolific and endlessly creative, Chris Chameleon is currently being hailed as a phenomenon on the South African music front.  He has a style all of his own and a reputation for mesmerizing audiences with his four octave voice range and irresistible stage personality.  His versatile and exceptional talent has won him rave reviews and a total of sixteen impressive awards over the past three years, including a SAMA and a Medal of Honour from the South African Academy of Science and Arts.  Chris Chameleon can take anyone on a musical journey that fuels their aural fantasies, simply with a guitar and his magical and unusual voice. If this last year is anything to go by, Chris Chameleon seems set to become one of the most important musicians of our time, and a truly international homeboy.   

Visit: www.chrischameleon.com

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