The Capitals (Band)
The Capitals was a South African indie-rock band from Pretoria, Gauteng. The last remaining member was Conrad Rudolph, who went on to form a solo project called Conbad.
History
1. Formation and line-up challenges (2015-2017)
Travis Mellett, Ricky Eltze and Tanya Redinger formed an acoustic trio called "UpSexy" in early 2015. Travis met Conbad over dinner at a mutual friend's house and played Conbad some early demos of UpSexy songs that they had recorded a few weeks prior. Surprised by Conbad's enthusiasm for the music, Travis invited him to join UpSexy on bass guitar for a few gigs after which Conbad officially joined UpSexy in early 2016. [1] Tanya, who was the lead vocalist at that time, left UpSexy at the beginning of 2017 to pursue a modeling career in Europe and they were forced to rebrand themselves. After a month of discussions around the new name, they decided on The Capitals to "reflect their affection for Pretoria"[2] which is the capital of South Africa. With a bigger focus on running the band as a corporate entity, or "business" in the words of Conbad[3], they saw better growth and ability to get gigs.
However, with Mellett working in the UK for a few months during the release of their first single, Wake Up, the band stagnated a bit as they couldn't tour without their vocalist.[3]
Conbad decided to take over lead vocal roles in the interim and recruited a former guitar teacher, Damian Phillips, to help out on rhythm guitar as well as a friend to help out on bass. On the morning of the gig, Phillips informed them that he broke his ankle falling off of a ladder and wouldn't be able to make the gig. Ricky took a gamble by phoning up another guitarist from the church that he and Conbad attended to ask for his help. This guitarist, one Wesley Ward, had only recently moved to Pretoria from Durban and they had no idea what the evening would have in store for them. With only a few hours to learn their whole set before the gig, Wesley made such an impression on them that he unofficially became part of the band and The Capitals could resume touring. Recounting the story during their press run for one of their later singles, Bright Lights, Conbad shared how Wesley was "singing along to all the lyrics and bringing an energy that made it seem like he played these songs a hundred times before."[4]
2. Departure of Travis, new line-up and new management (2018)
On his return from working in the UK, Travis announced that he would be leaving the band at the beginning of 2018 as he and Redinger were getting married. Conbad officially took over the role of lead vocals.[3]
On the back of making appearances at some of the top festivals in South Africa, the band signed a management deal with Indie Does it PR in September 2018, simultaneously announcing their first nationwide tour for that December, The Capital to Coast tour, as well as a new permanent line-up consisting of Wesley Ward and Conbad's then-roommate Seth Fobian.[5]
3. Crowdfunding "Danger, Gevaar, Ingozi" (2018)
With a new line-up sorted, the guys wanted to self-record their songs, but with some pressure from their manager they decided to try and get professional polish added to their recording and reached out to a local producer, Howie Combrink. They started a crowdfunding campaign to obtain the finances for an EP and managed to secure enough funds to make it happen. They started recording in January 2019, releasing the first single "Bright Lights" on 31 March 2019.[4]
4. Disbanding (2020)
Eltze left the band in March 2020 right before the worldwide Covid lockdowns and Fobian left the band in December 2020 to pursue further studies in Europe.
The Capitals played their last show in December 2020 after which they decided to rebrand as a solo project for Conrad called Conbad.[6]
References
- ↑ Cloete, Pieter (15 September 2016). "Podcast". GrootFM Podcast. Retrieved 17 March 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Genevieve, Vieira (Oct 2017). "Wake Up and discover The Capitals". BluBird Entertainment. Retrieved 18 March 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Painter, Danny (8 May 2019). "Conrad Rudolph from 'The Capitals' gets real with Danny about mental illness and chronic pain!". iono.fm (Radio Broadcast/Podcast). Love Songs with Danny Painter. Retrieved 18 March 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 Kaler, Kather; Anstey, Simon (30 Apr 2019). "2019.04.30 - The Capitals keep the Lights Bright". ChaiFM. Retrieved 15 Aug 2019. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Reporter, Citizen (14 September 2018). "The Capitals sign exclusive contract". The Citizen. Retrieved 18 March 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Beer, Chamone (14 Dec 2020). "Conrad Rudolph, Vocalist and Guitarist of The Capitals". Listen Notes. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)
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