The WHITE COLLAR CLUB

Debut album AFTER HOURS and Upcoming Performances.

Shiraz Jogee, Geran Steyn, Yati, Patrick Craig, Paul Morrissey,Jeremy Douglas, Sello-Sintu Maroga and Nathan Groener.

Eight men with diverse stories and one common core idea: this is the White Collar Club. A collective of men from various parts of the world, the White Collar Club is vocal collaboration like no other. Some from music schools; some from internationally acclaimed vocal ensembles; some from funk and soul bands; others from rock bands; performing to thousands of fans across hundreds of stages and supporting top artists on tour – each member of the White Collar Club adds his own ideas to form one unique sound.

Soulful, artistic and charming, each of the eight members is the epitome of the modern gentleman. Constantly inspired by some of the greatest musical minds in history, they shared a vision of using their training, exceptional talent and years of performance experience to create a new sound and an album that’s as emotionally engaging as it is groundbreaking.

Collaboratively written within the group, each song on the group’s debut album “After Hours” was released in August 2013 and brings together each of the member’s wildly different backgrounds – for an honest, raw, bold and richly textured experience.

Jeremy Douglas and Paul Morrissey wrote most of the songs. Jeremy comments: “When Paul and I were writing the album, we were both listening to a lot of soul artists like Donny Hathaway and Lauryn Hill (as well as some more recent faces like Sam Sparrow and Frank Ocean). A lot of the albums from these artists back then had quite a darkness to them which definitely came through in writing of After Hours – it can put so much feeling into a song. When I sit down to write a song, I have to pull from things I know and it has to be honest, and often stated as simply as possible so people don’t have to guess at the story I’m trying to tell. Storytelling is the most important part of song writing for me, which really comes through in a song like ‘Evil’, where I try to paint characters and situations for people to dig into.  It’s very important to me that the stories speak to experiences common to as many people as possible. Everyone knows about being wronged or cheated (even if its not in love). As far as a theme or a concept goes, Paul and I shared a lot of stories about growing up, loving people, being hurt and questioning a lot of it, a lot of the time. We weren’t grabbing at abstract concepts, just honest articulations.” 

Paul Morrissey adds: “When I started writing the music for “After Hours”, I decided to draw inspiration from my own experiences. I wanted to write about my emotions, about my thoughts, and let them inspire the music. In order for me to do this honestly, I had to put myself back into these situations in my imagination and write from that perspective. Although it was hard at times to revisit the more painful memories, the result is a collection of songs that speaks from and to the heart.”

WCC has performed at various festivals, corporate functions and other prominent events including Heart FM`s Women’s Day Lunch, Nedbank Million- Dollar Golf Challenge, Rocking the Daisies Music Festival, Synergy Live Music Festival, Up the Creek Music Festival, MTN Concert in the Park, National Women’s Awards, Woolworths Annual Charity Dinner, J&B Met, Queens Plate, 5fm Women’s Awards and many more. The group has also appeared alongside top local and international artists, including the SA leg of Imogen Heap’s Ellipse World Tour, and the Ard Matthews & Friends Annual Benefit Concert.

Upcoming Shows:

Saturday 10 November:

Discovery Big Walk Finish, CPT

10:00

Saturday 30 November

Synergy Live Music Festival, CPT

13:00

Website and social media links:

www.whitecollarclub.net
Twitter: @CollarClub
Youtube: WhiteCollarClub

The White Collar Club goes beyond musical moments to create an emotional journey – a full experience that’s as real on stage as it is on the album.  Listen to After Hours here:  www.soundcloud.com/whitecollarclub