Based: Johannesburg
Locnville is a South African electro hop music duo. Identical twin brothers Andrew and Brian Chaplin formed Locnville in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2009. The twins are singer-songwriters, song producers and musicians, in addition to being guitarists, drummers and business entrepreneurs.
Their debut studio album titled Sun In My Pocket was released in South Africa in February 2010 and had proven to become a major success, peaking at #1 on the RISA South African Albums Chart and later winning them the award for “best newcomer” at the 2010 MK Awards. Their second studio album titled Running To Midnight was released on July 1, 2011, including a high-definition music video for one of the album’s tracks titled “Stars Above You”.
The twins are related to the late Charlie Chaplin (their grandfather was the first cousin of Charlie Chaplin)
Andrew and Brian Chaplin, were born identical twin brothers in New York, United States on May 14, 1990 to Pam Eichner, an American actress, and Spencer Chaplin, a guitarist.[7] At the age of two they relocated to Cape Town, South Africa, where the family lived together until their parents’ divorce in 1997. The twins then started spending alternate weeks with either parent. Eventually they returned back to the United States in 2001 with their mother and finally moved back to South Africa in 2003 to live with their father. Andrew and Brian discovered their passion for music at the age of six when they got their first guitars. The twins regard the bands Pink Floyd and Oasis as big influences who’s music was regularly played by their parents. Andrew elaborated in an interview: “Our family was pretty musically orientated, so I think we got a pretty good sense of melody and rhythm from a young age.” At a young age the twins started performing at events in and around Cape Town and it didn’t take long before they were discovered by South African record producer Gabi Le Roux who introduced them to Khayelitsha-based artist Given Phike. Soon the twins and Given Phike created the musical trio III
On August 27, 2007, III released a twelve track album, titled What They Say, on a South African mobile phone based social networking application called MXit. They were the first group in South Africa to release music in this format and in this sense made local music history. The album went onto to achieve double platinum download sales status, selling over 500,000 copies in South Africa. The group disbanded soon after and Andrew and Brian Chaplin went on to create Locnville, the name of which is still a mystery, however the twins did say it has to do with their background and the fact that they had lived in both the United States and South Africa.
Sun in My Pocket (2010)
After three months of pre- and post production by Deon Phyfer including two weeks of recording, mixing and mastering at LMX Studios in Cape Town their debut album, Sun in My Pocket was originally released on a music download format with the original title of Retro Electro in November 2009. The CD format of Sun in My Pocket was later released in South Africa in February 2010 after being remastered in the UK by Wez Clarke (Ministry of Sound, Hed Kandi).
Locnville were later deemed the “buzz act” at the Midem International Music Conference in Cannes in January 2010, sparking interest in the duo from international record labels. In May 2010 it was announced that Locnville signed a worldwide deal with Sony Music International.
During September 2010, the twins visited the United Kingdom where they met their fans and worked on their materials. The single “Sun in My Pocket” is also featured in EA Sports FIFA 11.
Locnville was also featured on an episode of the popular MTV series My Super Sweet World Class. They were in the episode, gifting tickets and backstage passes to one of their concerts to birthday girl, Nina Rykaart, of South Africa. It’s been almost 3 years since Locnville, twin brothers Brian and Andrew Chaplin, released their debut album Sun In My Pocket. The two have since earned an international record deal, multi platinum sales status, sold out shows, #1 singles and have even recently partnered up with Superga for their own line of Locnville Edition sneakers.
In an interview, one of the twins, Andrew, stated that the new album was “much more relevant to where we are now”. The other twin, Brian, added that the new album is “not our previous album”; saying in so many words that the new album brought with it new sound and “a seriously intense and fun story”.
Locnville’s second album “Running To Midnight” has been the centre of much critical acclaim after reaching the #7 spot on their national charts in only 7 hours. The first single off the new album, Stars Above You, has since peaked at #1 on the SA Top 40.
Brian and Andrew have taken somewhat of a hiatus for the past few months working on their brand newest offering, C.L.A.P! Part I which was recorded at Flux Studios in New York City with master engineer, Ben Lindell who has worked with the likes of 50 Cent to MG MT.
Locnville’s new record is poised for release in early 2013 with a new single set to hit the airwaves later this year. It seems that these two are once again ready to set the industry ablaze with the signature sound that is C.L.A.P! Part 1.
Brian and Andrew wanted to show a versatility in production which has therefore earned their ‘genre-less’ title by some media publications. The Chaplins are passionate about production and are always trying to push the boundaries. The world awaits to see what Locnville comes up with next.