The internet has been a buzz the last 24 hours with news of Philip Erasmus's epic Frape of Die Heuwels Fantasties's Facebook page.
After splitting with the band, drummer Phillip flooded the 165k strong page yesterday with his video titled “Die Geldwolf Fantasties”. He furthers his bold statement with an image of his blistering hands saying “ I blistered my hands playing for your band #GELDWOLF”.
Ever since the release of their second album Wilder as die Wildtuin, Die Heuwels have come under mounds of scrutiny being accused of being sell outs and hard core fans feeling they have become altogether commercial. This was not helped by their countless performances on festival stages crowded with mainstream Afrikaans pop culture. Not to mention their infamous Skouspel cameo... None the less they came back with a third album and achieved unprecedented success for an “alternative” band in the mainstream.
But it seems Philip has had enough. He has been praised by many in the industry for breaking loose and saying what everybody has been thinking all along.
This is what he wrote this morning:
Why did I make GELDWOLF?
Because the truth didn't matter anymore. What was right didn't matter anymore. It was inconvenient and the story that I had to tell was obsolete. So instead, I made something up. I took all the blame. I committed social media sabotage / suicide. Not because I am better than anyone else but because I want to be a better man one day.
I could have hidden away, let bitterness creep in and lived a life based on the last chapter. Instead I decided to publicly cut it out to have a fresh slate to work with.
GELDWOLF isn't me. It isn't anyone in particular. It's a character. As I was creating this persona who represented everything wrong with the world, I realised that even though I hate him, I identify with him. That selfish gene that we all possess. It will probably always be there but at least I faced it. It took all the boldness I could muster to lie. To have a hard look within and allow myself to be misinterpreted. I made something extremely selfish. And I am a better person for it.
GELDWOLF is a dark comedy piece.
Thank you to all the people who checked in to make sure I'm okay. I am. I probably should have let you know but this was something I needed to do alone.
Love, Phil
After the Facebook raid Die Heuwels finally responded with this message:
And we're back, net van ons kant af: "Ons was op 'n vlug vroeër vanmiddag. So ons weet nie lekker wat aan gaan nie. Klomp sms'e en whatsapps en missed calls het ons ingelig van wat aangaan op Twitter en Facebook en stuff. Die Heuwels se skeiding met Philip kom al 'n rukkie aan. Dis natuurlik nooit lekker nie, maar die drie van ons het besluit dat ons skeiding met hom die enigste pad vorentoe is vir die groep. Watokal hier nou aangaan was nie bespreek of beplan nie. Ons is baie lief vir Phil, maar is op die oomblik 'n bietjie bekommerd oor hom. Miskien is dit net 'n laaste bemarkingsfoefie van sy kant af? hy het sopas eers vir ons toegang terug gegee tot die Facebook blad, jammer vir die wag julle..sien vanaand by die blou hond en môre in Standerton...c'est la vie" DHF
Phil might no longer be a part of the band but he has had tremendous success recently with his video procuction and making music with friends at the Hietfabriek.
I have always been a fan of the group and will continue to enjoy their music, even tough I might now have to fight a few tannies at some boerewors-festival to get to the front of the stage. But what Philip has done took the kind of guts I truly wish more people in this industry had.
When did it truly stop being about the music?
Philip has been replaced by session drummer Sheldon Yoko from Bicycle Thief.
