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Get To Know Prime Circle

News
18 June 2017
The popular Mzansi rockers hit The Voice SA stage in the next live show (25 June), as does coach Lira.
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Since they first burst out of the sleepy mining town of Witbank some eleven years ago, South African rock sensation Prime Circle has been unstoppable.

Prime Circle’s career is an inspiration that has spawned hundreds of garage bands across South Africa, with starry-eyed young rockers hoping that one day, they might make it big the way Ross Learmonth, Dirk Bisschoff, Marco Gomes, Neil Breytenbach and Dale Schnettler did. In a country where rock ‘n’ roll is a precious but rare commodity, that’s nothing to be sniffed at.

The band, all from Witbank and surrounding areas, emerged from literally nowhere to take the unsuspecting South African rock scene by storm.

Their 2003 debut ‘Hello Crazy World’ rocketed to gold status in South Africa, with ‘Live This Life’, the 2005 follow-up, following suit.

It wasn’t long before they signed to EMI, and then released the album that would signal them as a seminal South African act. ‘All or Nothing’. It also marked a turn in Prime Circle’s musical direction, moving further from their original post grunge, alternative sound to produce more anthemic, stadium rock records. The record raked in the first two Prime Circle South African Music Award nominations of their career, for Record of the Year and Best Rock Album (English).

To date, the first single from “All or Nothing”, “She Always Gets What She Wants”, has cracked a million YouTube hits. It is the most-viewed South African rock song of all time on the channel, and cements Prime Circle’s status as the most successful South African rock band in history. Award-winning follow-up singles from the album include “Out of This Place” and “Consider Me”.

The first two singles from next album ‘Jeckyl & Hyde’, power ballads “Breathing” and “Turning in My Sleep”, were each nominated for the SAMA for MTN Record of the Year in 2011. In March 2011, Prime Circle won the Best International Breakthrough Act at the MK Awards.

Over a decade down the line, Prime Circle have kept their brand of rasping, layered, melodic rock on mainstream airwaves. Ross Learmonth’s is now one of the most recognisable voices in South African music. But for the band, it’s not about rockstardom – it’s really still all about the fans and the songs. Says the lead singer, “Without the fans, we would be nothing. And I don’t ever want to do anything else. Creating music for a living is a privilege, and we never forget that.”

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