The Graeme Watkins Project: National Artists

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  • Travels from: Johannesburg

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The Graeme Watkins Project brings a dirty, edgy, rough approach to a medley of pop, indie, rock and electronic genres!“Runner Up” in Idols, Graeme Watkins has returned to the big stage on his own terms, with his highly successful band, “The Graeme Watkins Project”.

But this band is not only about Graeme. It consists of phenomenal musicians who can be individually recognised – Ryno Zeelie (lead guitar), Rudo Pieterse (bass) and Matthew Marinus (drums).

The unit has managed to break the ‘cookie-cutter’ mould of the stereotypical SA-Pop Rock sound by producing fresh sounds!

Some background on the project:

The Graeme Watkins Project band exploded in South Africa in 2011, after the release of their debut album, ‘Corridors of the Mind” – a hot product at most events and festivals around the country.

The group were invited to Los Angeles to perform at A + R Worldwides Musexpo, where they had the opportunity to perform for industry legends such as Larry King, Seymour Steyn and Michael Chugg to name a few!

Whilst performing in LA, the band was spotted by international Producer and A+R specialist, Jeff Blue of Atlantic Records.

In the space of one year, they have produced five Top 10 hit singles from the album.
In 2012, they were nominated for 2 SAMA Awards (‘Best Rock’ and ‘Best Video’), 1 MK Award (‘Best Newcomer’) and a YOU Spectacular Award (‘Best Music Act’). See Speakers Inc list of Bands

The Graeme Watkins Project

2013 has seen their fresh new single, “Fight When We’re Young”, produced by LA-based producer, Jeff Blue. This song comes from their hugely anticipated album, due to be released in the middle of this year.

With a range of songs, incorporating a host of genre’s – from rock to indie, to pop, to deep and meaningful ballads – this band is full of surprises!

Their music has an ADHD inspired beat, which is designed to get the crowd into the mad-capped mind set of the band members – with the intention to get the audience to break out of their comfort zone and to rock out to the all-encompassing movement of this group’s melody!

“The front man’s massive amount of energy got the crowd going and before long I was jumping up and down and happy again. The Graeme Watkins Project performance sufficiently inspired me to purchase a copy of their CD at the door on the way out”
– The Urbanist

“[The album] is the perfect mix of rock, indie and electro and really is a step up for South African music”
– ontheradio.za.net

“You’ll recognise the band’s passionate foot-stamping and wide-eyes with their utter enthusiasm and pride in their music.”
– Looklocal.co.za

“Africa is listening and the fans can’t believe the music they are making”
– takealot.com

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