After 15 years of performing with various bands, Muizenberg artist Alex Muller has released her first solo written EP, under the name We Kill Cowboys.
Music has been an integral part of Alex’s life from a young age. She has a vivid memory of being played Nina Simone at the age of 3 and demanding it to be played on a daily basis for the months to come. From that point on it was clear, music was her language.
From the age of 7 she became obsessed with playing the piano and it was then that her musical journey began.
Alex grew up in the local underground scene, performing at skate parks and venues with her first punk band, Just Jack, at the age of 16. She fronted the band, played trumpet and soon began sharing the stage with her musical idols such as Hog Hoggidy Hog, Fuzigish and The Rudimentals.
A few years later, she met her best friend and musical soul sister, Dominique Otto.
They dreamed of playing in a band together and after a few years, their dream came into fruition and Peachy Keen was formed.
The band blew up the underground South African music scene from the start and soon signed with Sheer Music. The band toured extensively, performing and headlining most of the festivals around South Africa.
During this time, Alex also worked as a music promoter, booking events for various venues around Cape Town, as well as organising tours for travelling bands.
After a five- year run, Alex fell pregnant with her first child and began her next chapter in life.
Now a mom, she started working as a studio manager at The Body Architects Tattoo Studio, while still performing and touring with various well known bands around Cape Town. After three years working in the tattoo studio, she became a full-time tattoo artist and then went onto becoming a co-owner.
During this time, Alex missed writing and performing her own music. Besides her love of punk music, Alex was always drawn to old Appalachian country music, as well as grunge and psychedelic rock. When the Covid-19 lockdown hit, Alex took the opportunity to finally start writing her own songs again.
Once lockdown levels eased sufficiently, she got together with her life-long friend, Jon Shaban, and started recording her music at Sit The Folk Down Studio and a new musical project called We Kill Cowboys was born.
“I just wanted something other than my real name and because of the Appalachian country influence and this being a more alt country feel, came up with that name,” says Alex.
Writing about views on world issues and the human condition, her music comes straight from the heart.
“The album touches on very real human conditions, things such as the way that humans take from the planet and from each other, man decimating forests and it’s majestic eagles losing their homes because of greed. Judging each other because we don’t understand the others point of view and therefore isolating ourselves. Being afraid to show our true self because it doesn’t correlate with the idea we have of ourselves, or the idea that we perceive others having of us. People suck, man… we can do better. It’s not all doom and gloom though, as there are a lot of great humans out there making a difference. I feel it’s important to bring these issues to light.. to help us think about the small changes we can make everyday.”
To make it even more special, she’s had the pleasure of having some of her oldest friends who she grew up with in the local punk scene record and track her first solo written songs.
Last week saw the release of her debut EP Let It Burn. Click here to listen to the track.
