Dear Jacobus,
Firstly, you have one of the most Afrikaans names in the world – I hope you know that.
Secondly, I would like to thank you. You have no idea who I am or the impact you have had on my life.
Music has been a great passion in my life. Having attended my first music concert, the 5FM Birthday Bash, at age thirteen I was left in awe of the sounds of Max Normal, Perez (on the b stage I might add) and a small band from the UK called Feeder. From that moment I found solace in music, especially live music.
I can contribute many of my memories to songs, good and bad. From breakups to triumphs, I can hear familiar tunes ringing in my ears. I also lived through the time where you found great satisfaction in crafting the perfect mixed CD. Songs like ‘Hit or Miss’ and ‘Cigarettes and Cinnamon’ had such a profound place on my CDs, that I can often line them up in the order of the sounds preceding them in my memory.
I write all of this because I am not sure the impact that Jax Panik had on my life and I am sure so many. The enigma that was Jax Panik was such an awesome part of my youth(ish) and I can’t help but search the streaming services for half a chance of seeing the two albums of yours that made me want to jam. I wrote a bit of a novel a few years back – it was rejected by all the big publishers – and in the submission I mentioned that I wanted to write a novel that was like ‘Jax Panik on paper’.
I have only ever ‘fan-boyed’ a bit on one SA artist, Bouwer Bosch at a wedding. He and the gang of thieves that was/is Straatligkinders had a big impact on my formation of music taste. If I ever met you, I would want to hug you, high five you (maybe a bum tap) and thank you for your unwavering (two albums) commitment to make fucken cool music.
Neil
