Kloudink; Meet the ‘Sad-Boy-Shoe-Gaze-Soft-Rock’ Band You’ve Already Heard Of
- Ashley Allard
- Feb 11, 2023
- 4 min read
If you haven’t heard of the group making waves on the South African alternate scene, what are you doing?
Kloudink, late to their sound-check and already a couple of beers in, sat down with me before their performance at Aandklas and told all. If you were lucky enough to catch them touring the Garden Route, you would recognise all the faces around the table, not only Theo and Johan, the original founders of Kloudink, but the rest of the musicians, too. I even had the honour of meeting the band dad.
If you don’t already know them, allow me to introduce Kloudink: Theo Mulder met the other founding half of the band on a rugby field riding a bike shirtless, and Mulder took an interest in Johan’s eccentricity. Then in a folk cover band with another friend of his, Mulder needed a lead guitar player, and the friend recommended Johan Theron. Theo recognised Johan’s talent, which he considers greater than his own, and together they decided to form their own band. When the time came to decide on a name for their new creation, Theo was adamant that it should include the word ‘kloud’ – ‘kloudwhale’ being a strong contender. However, in a prophetic sense, the first name they brainstormed became the one they settled on. And thus, Kloudink was born.
The new additions began to trickle in; a mutual friend asked Markus Filter if he could play the drums for a show, he “luckily said yes” and has continued playing the drums for them ever since. Siba Tanaka Holani met Theo and Johan whilst playing in another band. The two bands played at a couple of shows together, but Kloudink needed a bassist, and Siba stepped up to the job. So, essentially, Theo goes around poaching people.
If you want to get more of an essence surrounding the band members, Siba laid down the different archetypes; Markus is “the shy one, that gets unleashed on rare occasions”, Johan is “the member you worry about but is also the chaotic good”, who also shares the Flirt archetype with Siba. And finally, the co-dad of the group, with Stefan, is Theo.
Stefan Filter was picking up his little brother, Markus, and ended up clicking with the band incredibly well. But, he was not crowned band dad until a very particular moment; playing a show at City Varsity Studios, Theo dropped his pick mid-song. Panicking about needing to play with his fingers, he looked down and saw Stefan, down on one knee, with the pick in his hand as if proposing. And then they knew he was the one. Stefan had always loved the music industry, but, according to Stefan, Markus has always been the more talented musician. Finding a way into the music industry, Stefan now “does more than some venues do”, helping out the band wherever he can. Since that fateful shirtless bike ride, multiple performances and weeks of touring have brought the band closer together and made them a family.
All of them have had crucial role models in their musical journey, from the guitarist at Siba’s church to Theo’s dad being a part of a well-known Christian group to Fokofpolisiekar’s influence over Stefan. Music is essential to all of Kloudink; Markus, for example, Jaguar Sun’s number one fan, is the King of Spotify Wrapped with something like 90 000 minutes of music listened to. Listing bands I had never heard of (which, honestly, isn’t that difficult to do), Markus explains that Kloudink’s sound cannot be pinned down. Markus likes how the “setlist jumps around” and that there are “no limitations”. Siba, however, believes he has found the perfect label for Kloudink’s genre “sad-boy-shoe-gaze-indie-soft-rock” (or just “indie”, he adds, laughing).
Theo and Johan write Kloudink’s lyrics, and they both agree that their songs are often a snapshot of what you feel at a particular moment. Johan explains that “the meaning of the song never comes directly” and that he will often create something in the moment, evaluate what he had been feeling, and find meaning thereafter. Theo adds that his songs are often “pictures of [a partiuclar] time of [his] life”, and then, apologising for the cliché, says the song “writes you”.
I was told to thank Luke Veysie, Kloudink’s incredibly talented cinematographer, for the masterful music videos. A favourite called ‘I Don’t Mind” follows a rather Sisyphean storyline: Theo explains how the concept of the video explored Mulder trying to reach a breakthrough but getting stuck in a cycle, nowhere near the finish line, but the more you work through it, the more likely it is that you will quit. It ends with Theo breaking a chair and, therefore, “breaking the cycle”. Although it wasn’t a conscious decision, Kloudink’s music videos offer a view of South Africa – both city and landscape – that portrays the youthful, creative hub-side of the SA that is not often shown in media.
Kloudink had a good 2020; Lockdown encouraged them to channel their creativity, and Theo and Johan spent many hours together writing and composing. It was in 2021, when everything started opening up, that the duo faced some difficulties, like being separated across provincial lines. But, in 2022, they began performing live again and formed the family they have today.
Although Kloudink is on a roll, the band often experiences rollercoaster periods, where they find that everything goes quite fast, and before they know it, they are somewhere entirely different with no idea how they got there. When facing these times, the band likes to slow down and take a moment to retrospect and think about how to move forward. And Kloudink has reached such a moment once again. But, although this is a period of rest and rethinking, Kloudink will be back and better than ever before you know it!
Images taken by @shutterbug.png on Instagram
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