Recently, KONGOS has received significant radio airplay, so you’ve probably heard one or two of their tracks on quite a few occasions. Why? Because these South African-born brothers are doing something a little different… and it’s paying off.As the sons of South African music legend, John Kongos, the four brothers have certainly led an interesting life. They grew up in South Africa and London and currently live and work in Phoenix, Arizona. Now they’re on their way back home to tour the country. All we can say is, make sure you’re there.

What was it like having a world-famous South African musician for a father? Beneficial or a bit crazy?
Definitely beneficial – having someone who has done what you are trying to do supporting you is invaluable – his experience has helped us in every aspect of our career. If you’re going to follow in someone’s footsteps it’s nice for them to be cool footsteps – don’t get us wrong though… he still finds ways to embarrass us

Your single, ‘I’m Only Joking’ is topping the charts all around South Africa. What or who inspired the lyrics for the song?
We’ve decided that with this particular song, we like to leave that question up to the listeners – it’s been really interesting and sometimes funny hearing people’s theories. Musically, it’s heavily influenced by Burundi drums, African tribal music and Eastern melodies.

Your favourite venue in the US is The Lost Leaf where you’ll sometimes play three-to-four hour sets. What do you do in four hours that other bands do in 45 minutes?
The Lost Leaf is this little historic house that’s been converted into a bar/art gallery so it feels more like a house party than a show. It’s a really good vibe and draws a very open-minded crowd, so we stretch things a little – we play a wide variety of originals, improvised fusion, crazy mash-ups and some selective covers (mostly rare Miley Cyrus B-sides). We’ve played about thirty or so shows at The Lost Leaf (which is about 100+ sets) so it’s been really good for keeping our sheeeit together.

Being brothers, you’ve said you fight a lot. Are you more likely to fight over music or girls?
We’re more likely to fight like girls over the music.

What’s the weirdest/funniest/dirtiest thing a fan has ever said to you?
At a show recently this girl came up to me and said &**## _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ @#!$& @@#$$. I couldn’t understand a fucking word she said.

Which one of you is:
a.) The quirkiest? Jesse – he marches to the beat of a different drummer… which is really confusing given that he actually is the drummer – ba-dum tshh.
b.) The loudest? Outside of shows, Johnny – he even talks to himself loudly… but we’ll blame Jesse and his drums if we lose our hearing later in life.
c.) The most popular with the girls? Dylan – he’s a ladies’ man – you can tell by the way he uses his walk, no time to talk.
d.) The one who’s always up for a party? Danny: ‘Like with cake? Then me, for sure.’

Your songs are a mixture of a southern American twang mixed with African beats, which is a rare combination to say the least. How would you describe your sound?
Post-post-pre-post-pre-post-modern with a vintage feel. Really, it’s a culmination of our influences from all over the world, from every era, with the four of us added in.

If you could play alongside any band, who would you choose and why?
Tinariwen – we’ve been fans for years and just saw them in Los Angeles a few months ago . Without a doubt one of the best concerts we’ve ever seen.

Which South African bands are you into right now?
Jack Parow, BLK JKS, Shadowclub, Tumi and the Volume, Zebra and Giraffe, Taxi Violence, Beatenberg… the list goes on, discovering some really great South African bands lately!

Do you prefer recording or playing gigs?
Couldn’t really pick. Playing live is a lot easier than recording and more fun in some ways – you get immediate feedback from the audience, which is great… especially for the ego. Recording, for us at least, is quite difficult – we’re very meticulous (a.k.a unable to make decisions) and can be perfectionists (a.k.a procrastinators). It pays off in the end, though – when you’ve spent enough time away from a record, you can go back and listen more enjoyably, without such a critical ear.

You’re about to tour South Africa. What can fans expect?
Just four guys playing music that’ll get you moving – no big pyrotechnics or production (maybe next time around, the budget will allow for fireworks that spell out our name, synchronized swimmers, and a giant animatronic Candice Swanepoel). We’ll be playing material from the upcoming album and a few from our first album – if you have half as much fun as we do, you’ll have twice as much fun as people who don’t come to the show.* We’re really looking forward to seeing and meeting some COSMO readers at our shows!

*results may vary. T’s and C’s apply.

For a full list of South African tour dates, visit the Kongos website.

Below, watch the official music video for the hit song, ‘I’m Only Joking’.