Biography

Battery9 is a lone survivor, the only "Industrial" act still active in South Africa. And there were very, very few to start off with. Imagine a minority within a minority, and you get the picture.

Yet since Paul Riekert started up the Battery9 machine early in 1995, they were pushing the boundries of how far you could take something that is fundamentally unsafe, dark and heavy – in Germanic-sounding Afrikaans, the politically incorrect choice. Add to that dark humour and a disregard for separating genres, and the act's success becomes all the more surprising.

Perhaps they provide South Africans with a much-needed dose of angst and speed, in this lovely country, where you have the priviledge to be killed for your cellphone in beautiful sunshine - most days of the year.

Battery9 is the brainchild of Paul Riekert, who writes the lyrics and music, and sings, plays, records and produces most of what appears on the CDs in his own studio – the audio arm of One F Music, his music production company. He creates obsessively, for his own projects, for other projects he is involved in, or as producer. On stage he screams/sings and plays bass guitar, and is joined by two very talented individuals: Huyser Burger - the DJ, live action painter and MC, also known as DJ Fokolnonsens, and Cesare Cassarino - the guitar player, best known for his work as a bassist in the South African jazz and session scene.