By Liny Kruger

Published Friday, 24 September 2021 12:01

Underground Press had the opportunity to sit down with Corné Pretorius and ask him about his debut album, HALFVOL.

Congratulations on your album, HALFVOL Corné! How long did it take you to record the album and who are the role players?

Thank you! We started recording back in February 2020 already. Richard Onreat, Hunter Kennedy, Francois Van Coke, Margot Rothman, Pierre Greeff, Fred den Hartog, Johnny de Ridder, Lokie Rothman, Jurgen von Wechmar and Tim Lengfeld have all played a part in the making of the album.

Your single 'HALFVOL' has had over 60 million impacts on the radio. How does it feel to have such success on radio as a new artist?

It feels unreal, to be honest. It is an amazing feeling that people are enjoying my tunes.

The latest single release LIEFDE IS N WERKWOORD is a song that you did with Hunter Kennedy from Die Heuwels Fantasties. Tell us more about your working relationship with him?

Hunter and I just clicked from day 1. Hunter, in my opinion, is the glue that kept this whole album project together. He has been super dedicated to the whole process and we have also become good friends. I think things would have taken much longer and the road would have been a little harder for me if it was not for Hunter.

What is the best advice that you have been given by another artist?

Who are you? What do YOU want to sing? Pretending is just plain exhausting.

What does the road ahead look like for you for Afrikaans Music in general?

More and more artists are risking to be themselves, so the result is that we are getting a lot of interesting new Afrikaans music at the moment. This is very exciting.

Which song is your favourite on the album?

This is my first album, so all ten of them are special. Each song was a unique experience to record.

What are you planning for the rest of the year?

I am working on a collab with Synth Peter – hopefully, we will release it this year. Hold thumbs!