Skeleton
SKELETON - OFF THE BONE
Nigel Williamson hears tales of hardship from Skeleton
(Transcribed from a FOLK ROOTS article from 1998)
A couple of years ago the American trade magazine Billboard ran a “special report” on the South African music industry which declared that Durban was about to become “the new Seattle”. The musical wags seemed set fair for the capital of KwaZulu-Natal and indeed the city is blessed with plenty of home-grown talent. Durban is today not only home to such established favourites as Joseph Shabalala and Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the magnificent Busi Mhlongo and Madala Kunene, the king of the Zulu guitar, but is also producing such excellent new bands as Skeleton, a four-piece masked group based in Durban’s Phoenix township.
The group’s full-tilt debut album on MELT 2000 was deservedly represented on the free disc with this magazine and it was a delight to discover on the flight from Heathrow to Durban that a track also graces the in-flight entertainment channel on South African Airways.
Yet when I arrived in Durban I was in for a shock. Robert Trunz, the avuncular head of Melt 2000, had come to the harbour front, currently the centre of the recording scene where most action is, to meet the original live music in the city. The centre also offers rehearsal facilities as well as a good blend of gallery and workshop space while providing entertainment. The harbour is a bewildering array of talented artists, performers, sculptors and creative energies. Not known to many this centre is at the heart of everything that is happening in Durban.
Immediately Robert Trunz had to arrange a meeting with “these four masked musicians from Skeleton”, who had arrived there that morning with a single agenda: “Their force. The original passion and driving force.”
Skeleton’s lead singer Themba Mthembu explained how difficult it was to get recognition in Durban. He and guitarist Mandla, the group’s musical director, were spending most of their time at the harbour hoping they would get some contacts who could help them. “We have been working on our music for five years now,” says Mthembu, “but we get very little exposure anywhere here.”
Robert Trunz had already received a demo cassette which he liked. After a few phone calls he was able to get Neil Comfort to come along and arrange to record three songs so he could hear them properly. “It was after the session that I realised how incredible the band is,” he recalls. “There is so much raw, original talent here,” he says.
What made the group even more controversial was the masks which they wore on stage to hide their identities. Just as America had its Blues Brothers, Mthembu explains, Skeleton wanted a visual identity that was strong and memorable.
Despite their troubles, the band have not lost hope and work very hard. They are undoubtedly a real, raw talent that is getting better with each performance. “Even if our people can’t buy our albums they will know our music,” says Mthembu. “At home they only play radio cassettes,” he continues.
Astonishingly, he does not seem discouraged and talks ambitiously about his plans for the next album. Themba formed his first band, Intokozo Club, in his neighbourhood in 1975. Encouraged by Obed Shandu, the influential radio DJ, the then eight-year-old announced his devotion to music and claims to have sung thereafter in church.
Themba says the style of singing he adopted in the early days with “the boys in the townships — they were influenced by maskanda, traditional music that drivers and labourers brought from the rural areas.” Maskanda became popular and has become part of the township culture. But on their album, Imfiliba, recorded in 1998, tragedy struck.
Themba recalls how they were playing at a beer hall one night in Clermont township when a fight broke out. “It was a terrible time. After that somebody damaged my car. They were so frightened they would get shot too. The police quickly moved us and we were released after they found out we were innocent.”
Themba initially did not have the spirit to continue but encouraged by Mandla and Mthombeni, he persevered. Later on, Robert Trunz introduced him to a very rich musical landscape and mental generosity that helped relax the soul. It has these healing powers that he is thankful for.
The band knew that a good recording would help them get a better foothold. In the past two years, Skeleton only played occasionally for the people around their township; for Durban they were strictly an opening band for famous shows.
Themba says that Durban can be the musician’s graveyard for small bands of any stature. On many occasions only 30 people showed up. He needed to get a wider audience. He finished his studies and entered formal employment to support his family.
“I was recommended to go to Robert Trunz,” he confesses, “he was open-minded and saw the best sides.” After finishing Skeleton's debut album, finally released in Britain, this provoked an emotional outburst from Themba.
Produced by Ben Watkins of Juno Reactor, the album has contributions by Mthombeni Zondi, a gifted maskanda guitarist. The album also features traditional musicians such as Busi Mhlongo, Dizu Plaatjies, and the late legendary Mabi Gabriel Thobejane.
Robert’s Memory Lane
Skeleton was truly a group that told stories of youth and urban frustration. This was a band with a justified rage that is similar in many ways to the punk movement. “Sometimes,” said Themba, “it is not easy to support my family but the music keeps me alive. I want my community to benefit and hear my track. All I ask is for the opportunity to play this music.”
In 2025 not much has changed BUT every time I take an UBER in Durban I hear maskanda music played on the radio and even up in the commercial metropolis of Johannesburg the genre is being celebrated with shows especially in Soweto. In Soshanguve the Bacardi movement created a new genre called Baskandi !
There is HOPE – RIP Mr Themba