A Chat with FiveSidedDice (03.04.23)
Founded in 2008 as the musical stylings of a 13-year-old Roscoe Nefdt, FiveSidedDice has been a labour of love for over a decade. Fusing a plethora of styles such as pop-rock, metal, punk, and even a dash of reggae, the South African artist is painting a kaleidoscopic sonic, um, painting. We speak with FiveSidedDice about his EP, Letters To The Devil, future plans, greatest achievements and much more!
OSR: What drew you to music and how did you decide on the name ‘FiveSidedDice’?
FiveSidedDice: I think music has always been something that just felt very comfortable to me, even when I was extremely terrible at it. Though I feel that every human being should create art, even if they don’t share it with the world or if it may be considered “bad”. I think it is something that comes very naturally for all humans; the need to create and express.
The name FiveSidedDice was sort of an inside joke and a band name that my buddy Marko Pretorius came up with when we were just little kids, and I guess it just kind of stuck around for the journey.
OSR: Who and/or what inspires you to make music?
FiveSidedDice: Anything and everything can be an inspiration. Politics, love, life, death, loneliness, happiness, struggle. As I grow older though, I find that writing about more emotive and personal things comes more naturally as opposed to social and political commentary. I guess that is just part of growing up.
OSR: How would you describe your music to new listeners?
FiveSidedDice: I honestly have no idea. A mixed bag. Like putting pineapple on pizza except the pizza base is a frisbee and it’s also on fire. And everyone is gathered around just staring at it. Maybe “colourful car crash” would be an apt genre description.
OSR: What can you tell us about your EP Letters To The Devil? Is there a backstory or theme to it?
FiveSidedDice: I suppose it is a sort of “concept EP” telling the short tale of an enigmatic anti-hero just going through a crazy wild time and experiencing the rollercoaster that is life at a very interesting but rough stage of their time on earth. The theme is chaotic and the backstory is told with a couple of slurred words.
OSR: What do you hope people take from Letters To The Devil?
FiveSidedDice: If anything, a sense of belonging and comfort. I don’t want to normalise the sort of things in the lyrics and subject matter, but I do want people to acknowledge that shit happens. We can turn anything into art though, it’s great. Life can be painfully unbearable but fun at the same time and we should just dance with each other and laugh at the nonsense.
OSR: If you could spend the weekend with any celebrity (not necessarily a musician), who would it be and why?
FiveSidedDice: Oh man, that is a good question. Damn. That is a tough one. Maybe Siddhartha Gautama 😄. Or perhaps Lemmy Kilmeister for a really good weekend if that’s the direction we’re going in!
OSR: What do you think are the benefits and drawbacks of being a musician in this digital era?
FiveSidedDice: The benefits are probably that there is an entire world of connection and marketing at your fingertips, as well as tools, tips, advice, and other great things too. I feel as though the biggest drawback is probably that the entire online realm gets flooded and oversaturated with music because anyone can create and upload their work. But again, is that a bad thing? I don’t know. I do know that only a lucky few with a very large budget have high chances of standing out above the crowd while the rest of us have to rely almost solely on pure hard work and consistency. But also: who wouldn’t prefer a good old spinning vinyl record over Spotify?
OSR: What is your greatest achievement?
FiveSidedDice: Probably being the sperm cell that won the race. Although, looking back, I’m becoming less chuffed about that one. 😄 Jokes aside, I often forget that I managed to somehow graduate from University and get a whole entire Bachelors degree in music and music technology. I still don’t know how I managed that.
OSR: Do you have future plans for FiveSidedDice?
FiveSidedDice: Of course! I’ll be performing and touring with my band Undead Generation when I return again to South Africa, as well as doing many solo showcases across the country. For the meantime though, there are a whole bunch of awesome lyric videos being released for the new EP. I also may or may not have a sneaky new EP in the works made up of little ramblings I’ve created while in the UK on an acoustic guitar in a tiny cold little room.
Many thanks to FiveSidedDice for speaking with us! To find out more about FiveSidedDice, check out his Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
