StereoType Records

Who Is Darren Petersen: Featured StereoType

Who Is Darren Petersen?

The resident StereoType Records drummer has been making girls blush and band members feel short at performances around the world, and this talent Capetonian drummer is getting more and more popular with each passing performance. Today we take a quick look at the man behind the bass drum.

• Darren Petersen (affectionately known as DP in the StereoType Records Band)
• Home City: Cape Town South Africa
• Instruments: Drum kit, Vocal’s, Percussion and Piano
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/Darren_Petersen

When did you first start in music?

At the age of 8 I joined the school choir and started singing lessons and soon after began competing in eisteddfods.
At the same time I picked started taking classical piano classes.

Piano Lessons? An odd start for a drummer isn’t it?

I first started studying classical percussion when I was 9 years old at Beau Soleil Music College. At the time, my parents where taking my older brother to audition for touring musicals and opera’s that were coming to local theatres. I picked up quickly on this and soon I was being sent to auditions along with my brother.

Did anything ever come of the auditions?

I was cast in the internationally acclaimed musical EVITA by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice and I also performed Carmina Burana with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra . Soon after that I was cast as one of the lead roles in the Award Winning British touring musical Honk!

It was tough, I was 11 years old and we were performing nights and I was still having to get up early for school after a sold out show at the Artscape the evening before. As my schooling went on I continued to compete in the vocal solo eisteddfods and also took music as a subject once I entered High School.

When I was a (very) little older I joined the Cape Philharmonic Youth Orchestra for four years and Played ad hoc for the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra during the last two years of High school.

That’s still quite a lot of singing and not much mention of the drums…

Towards the end of High school I moved over to drum kit due to there being a opening in one of the music schools bands, and from there drums just took over… I remember when I was 16: I attended the Grahams town Jazz Festival and took part in their jazz program. It was my first exposure to real jazz, and it totally blew my mind!
The following year I went back on a mission to make The National Schools Big Band (it was made up of the best young players from all over the country,we were required to go through a grueling audition process) and that year I made it! Shannon Mowday led our band that year and became one of my mentors and close friends.

You’ve done many shows with the StereoType Records band, especially as Chad Saaiman‘s lead drummer. Was the show circuit something new for you?

I started working professionally when I was 15 years old, doing tribute shows at various theatres around Cape Town, so no, it’s not something new.

A few of the shows:

• Myths and Legend’s- Baxter theatre and Theatre at the Pavilion
• Footsteps to Freedom- Theatre at the Pavilion
• Motown Magic- Roxy revue bar Grandwest
• Under The Influence of Love- Roxy revue bar Grandwest
• That Crazy lil thing – Barans theatre
• Crazy lil thing called LOVE – Barans Theatre
• 007 Tribute- On Broadway Theatre
• That 80’s show- Theatre at the Pavillion
• Symphonic Pop’s – Artscape theatre with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra

That’s quite a history! Recently you’ve returned from a European tour with the artists EJ Von Lyrik, Teba Shumba and Mr sakatumi. What was the experience like?

The only sad part of the tour was that it took place over the 2010 World Cup Period. We were touring EJ Von Lyrik’s latest studio release over the 2 month period and played some of the major festivals such as Rio Loco(France) and The Paleo’ Festival (Switzerland). There were also other big South African acts that were touring Europe at the same time, which was cool. There was Freshly Ground, Johnny Clegg, Hugh Masekela, Mahotella Queens, BLK JKS and Thandiswa Mazwia.

We travelled and performed across Amsterdam ,Paris, Dortmund ,Vienna , Nyon, Bern ,Geneva, Toulouse , Marseille, Zurich, Den Haag, Carcassone, so that’s Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, Austria and France! Some of the highlights were to be surrounded by great international artists, such as N.E.R.D, Jamirquai , Motorhead , Crosby Stills and Nash, Paulo Nutini, Zap Mama, 340ml , Iggy and the stooges, M and the list goes on and on.

Which local musicians have you played for over the last couple of years?

(at this point, Darren is able to rattle of what seems to be the who’s who of SA music – here is a list)

• Loyiso Bala
• Zwai Bala
• Phelo Bala
• Tkzee
• Kurt Darren
• Nianell
• Juanita du Plessi
• Chad Saaiman
• Keeno Lee Hector
• Lloyd Jansen
• Karin Kortjie
• Emo Adams
• Richard Ceasar
• EJ Von Lyrik
• Ill Skill’s
• Zolani (Freshly Ground)
• Buddy Wells
• Mr sakatumi
• Jody Williams (Idols)
• La vuvuzela
• Olga Kern ( Worlds best Classical Pianist,Russia )
• Dan Shout (Johnny Clegg)
• Teba Shumba
• Unathi Nkayi (Metro FM)
• Wafeeq ( Idols )
• Byron Clarke
• Monique Hellenberg
• Gang of Instrumentals
• Gazelle

So, what’s in the pipeline for the foreseable future?

Well, naturally I am the resident drummer for the StereoType Records band, so it’ll be business as usual on that front. I’m also working on “Remember The Time – A Tribute to Michael Jackson” a show that will be coming to the CTICC. I am co-musically directing the show with my brother Kyle Petersen.

I have also been invited to tour the USA for a month from February next year. The tour is for 18 shows and I’ll be playing for the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra starting off in Miami and ending off in New York City.