In August 2006, when Potchefstroom was accustomed to cover bands playing at weddings and pubs, a musical revolution started in the small university and mining town when rock band STRAATLIGKINDERS emerged. Lightning up the streets of Potchefstroom with their fun-inspired Afrikaans rock, they soon became a nationwide phenomenon with their creative strategies and fresh offerings to the music industry of South Africa. The town has rarely ever seen a band actually making a name for themselves, and their rise was quick and unexpected – turning them into a rock powerhouse as they racked up thousands of views on YouTube whilst securing themselves a loyal fan base across the country.

They soon garnered an array of awards, ranging from nominations for two SAMA awards, two ATKV awards, seven VAMT awards, four MK awards and a few Huisgenoot Tempo awards. They became winners of one ATKV award for Best Newcomer in 2008, three VAMT awards for Best Alternative Group in 2008 and 2009 and Best Spiritual Album in 2009. They were also crowned Group Of The Year and Campus Hit Of The Year in 2009 at the MK Awards. All of these awards were voted for by the public.

Up to date, they have released four full length studio albums and twelve music videos whilst topping video charts on MK Top 10 and radio stations nationwide. They have also been play listed on MTV Africa with their collaboration on Desvalido with African Hip Hop giants Koldproduk. Desvalido was featured as main downloadable track on the Nokia Music Store in September 2009; the video also spent four weeks at number one on the MK Top 10, topped campus hit parades on TuksFM, MFM and PukFM, as well as got nominated for a Campus Hit Of The Year Nomination at the MK Awards.

Since Potchefstroom is predominately an Afrikaans town, the decision to sing in their mother tongue when they formed STRAATLIGKINDERS played a huge role in connecting them with their public and, playing a genre associated with a youthful audience, they couldn’t have found themselves in a better niche. Their mass appeal to the youth of South Africa is predominantly ascribed to their honesty and admittance to their own frailty in their lyrics and music. But after four years of extensive touring, three studio albums to their name, (at that time) eight music videos charting on national television and numerous radio hits later, the band reached their prime. As with all things, the band had an expiration date and instead of waiting for the date to come, STRAATLIGKINDERS made the decision to take a creative break for members to venture into other music avenues.

During this time, lead singer Bouwer Bosch formed part of Dans Dans Lisa as well as released a solo album, drummer Ruan Kruger formed part of Ekhouvanjou,okay! and together with bassist Hein Kruger and guitarist Benjamin de Jager, Moses Metro Man. Hein Kruger also joined Winterstasie.

Whilst fans were sure it was over, STRAATLIGKINDERS knew that in this case their break did not mean ‘break-up’. Two years after the release of their last album, STRAATLIGKINDERS returned wiser and more matured to the South African music scene in 2012 – bringing with them the accumulated knowledge and creativity gained from working with various other musicians and in other genres.

The band reinvented themselves with a new fresh sound and an objective approach in songwriting. They learned to put more effort into the composition of their music, as opposed to just throwing verses and choruses together and have all grown into their own different writing styles and are more focused on perfecting their songs rather than just writing and recording it.

The band signed with EMI Music South Africa for the release of their fourth full-length studio album, which was recorded during August and October 2012 at Lightstain Studios in Potchefstroom, and released in November 2012. The album is entitled KONINGS MET VERSKONINGS and is produced by Ewald Jansen van Rensburg and Francois de Klerk. In March 2013, SLK received two Ghoema Award nominations for ‘Best Group’ and ‘Best Rock’ for this album, of which they won the Ghoema 2013 award for ‘Best Rock Album’. The album also received a Tempo Award Nomination for ‘Best Alternative Album Of The Year’ in June 2013. Up to date, they have released four music videos from the album, for their singles ‘Duiwel Dans’, ‘Voete van Klei’, ‘Petrus’ and ‘Sketse’.