Biography

Calling their band "F*ck Off Police Car" and their big single "Burn South Africa" meant they were never going to be mainstream, but that was never a priority for this South African post-hardcore band formed in Bellville, near Cape Town, in August 2003. The simple act of forming an Afrikaner punk rock band at a time when the language was both deeply unfashionable and suffering from all-time low prestige owing to its associations with the old apartheid regime speaks volumes for the chutzpah of its members. In the early 2000s, young Afrikaners found themselves in a similar position to that faced by young Germans after the end of the Second World War. Saddled with the guilt of their parents and feeling oppressed by a conservative religious establishment, they longed for something that would once more give them pride and point a way towards a new kind of Afrikaner identity. That "something" was Fokofpolisiekar, a band that irrevocably changed South African music and paved the way for the success of acts like Die Antwoord. Vocalist Francois van Coke (né Badenhorst), guitarists Hunter Kennedy and Johnny de Ridder, bassist Wynand Myburgh, and drummer Jaco Venter, who had long known one another through their membership of various bands in the vibrant Bellville music scene, originally formed the band as a joke, the idea of an Afrikaans punk rock band being ridiculous at the time. They put the swear word in the name as a deliberate shock tactic to provoke the conservative South African music industry, and soon released their debut EP As Jy met Vuur Speel Sal Jy Brand ("If You Play with Fire You Will Get Burnt"). Its biting social commentary, much of it directly addressing the issues facing Afrikaner youth, spoke powerfully to young people, and the band became an immediate success. One of the EP’s tracks, "Hemel op de Platteland" ("Heaven in the Countryside"), was even playlisted on national radio, although DJs would not say the band’s name for fear of causing offense, preferring to substitute "Polisiekar" or simply "FPK". The band’s popularity continued to grow even as they outraged conservative Christian groups with their outspoken anti-religious views. They toured heavily, in Europe as well as at home, and their music got better and better, evolving in more of an alternative rock direction. They released the acoustic-flavored EP Monoloog in Stereo ("Monologue in Stereo") and two full-length albums, 2004’s Lugsteuring ("Air Disturbance") and 2006’s Swanesang ("Swansong"), which featured the single "Brand Suid-Afrika" ("Burn South Africa") with the unforgettable lyrics "You complain about the state of our nation/Well f*cking do something about it/Burn South Africa." In 2007 the band went on hiatus and its members formed a number of side projects including Van Coke Cartel, aKING, and Die Heuwels Fantasties ("The Hills Fantastic"). In 2008 they re-formed to issue a new EP, Antibiotika ("Antibiotics"), and a documentary film in 2009 telling the band’s story, Forgive Them for They Know Not What They Do. ~ John D. Buchanan, Rovi