Young and Splashy Fun...

Heathrow Airport Terminal Four, London 20th April, 3am.

The guitaristtv.com crew got out of their beds and caught up with an excited Mike De Jager on his way back to Durban, South Africa for a series of live dates in two contrasting sets of surroundings. Mike starts what will no doubt prove to be a hectic schedule playing guitar for internationally acclaimed saxophonist Andrew Young's band at the Sunzone within the Suncoast Casino in Durban.

Mike explained that he has been "practicing like mad" ever since he got 'the call' at his home in Winchester, Hampshire a few weeks back. Andrew's show, which is best described as an eclectic mix of blues, sax and rock `n roll, and the variety of songs featured will not phase Moser guitar whizz Mike, being the chilled and versatile rocker he is. The series of eleven dates run from Friday 22nd April through to Monday 2nd May. Mike describes the experience as a hectic "Breakfast, practice, rehearsal, practice, show, bed, breakfast..."

In the midst of the run of dates in Durban, the "Lord Of The Strings" Mike will break off to make a 225km dash by road to fulfill a lifetime ambition by playing at the world famous "Splashy Fen" festival near Underberg on Sunday 24th April. "Splashy" as it is affectionately known, is where South Africans go once a year to listen to cool music and chill out in a relaxed family atmosphere. You could almost say it's the Glastonbury of South Africa and is a long established music festival founded in October 1990.

The band Fugly is another one of Mike's side projects, and this year they got a very welcome invite to perform at the festival. So, "What's Fugly?" we asked. Mike explained:

"Fugly is a band that I've enjoyed playing in for many years now. Fugly stands for very ugly [Mike laughs..] and is formed from a group of friends with whom I go back years. We're all great mates and we get together, have a laugh and play whatever takes our fancy. Predominately though we feature classic Blues covers together with a dash of Fleetwood Mac here and there, and occasionally we throw in the odd surprise like "Little Wing.""

For the record, I've heard some "Fuglyness" on video and they are a fabulous fun treat for the lugholes. Over the years they have consisted of a variety of outstanding musicians, too many to mention, but noteworthy participants are Clyde Lawrence, Glen Turrell and Shaun Petersen.

Suddenly in the middle of our chat, an announcement came over the tannoy for Mike's flight check in, leaving us to finish off a second most welcome coffee. Off he went with Moser safely tucked under his arm, camera and baggage in hand. Off for a new guitar adventure of which he will no doubt fill us in on when he gets back to the UK in early May.

Cheers Mike, hope you knock 'em for six!

Rob Pope

Guitaristtv.com

Check out some of Mike's videos here:

Let's Rock

1994 Fender Roadshow

Running Free

Blood, Demons and Whiskey

Check out one of Andrew Young's video's here:

Baker Street

Details of Neal Moser's beautiful guitars can be found here:

Neal Moser Guitars

All Photographs by Rob Pope