Call the police! Durban alt band, “The Rocc Lobsters”, are killing it!

The Rocc Lobsters, who played at Splashy Fen, Ballito Pro, and even opened for Casey Lowry, are making their mark on the music industry in Durban, even though they are new to the scene. Dylan Manggos, Evan Williams, Jordan Manggos, and Yaseen Margro make up the band.

Jordan and Dylan’s late grandfather always encouraged their passion for music. He joked around, saying they should form a band called “The Rock Lobsters” and only play “when the tide was high.” Originally, it was a little joke that turned into this ever-growing reality.

Initially, the boys were not nearly as serious as they are now. The Rocc Lobsters originally started as a jam band. Dylan and Jordan were trying to revive Park Town, their band at the time, while having a little fun on the side by jamming with The Rocc Lobsters.

The band was formed in early 2022 on shaky grounds. They were all first-timers on their instruments: Dylan on drums, Yaseen on guitar and Jordan on lead guitar. “Evan just spawned,” said Dylan. While performing at Westville Warehouse, Evan’s name was recommended to Yaseen. He then came down for one band practice because they needed a bass player (bassman). Jordan had to play bass lines with a pitchfork before Evan joined.

The boys started off playing roots reggae but have moved to “liquid rock”. Bands such as Ocean Alley, Sticky Fingers and Parcels inspire the young artists.

Two musicians have classic rock, hard rock, and metal influences in the band. Evan is a classically trained musician on piano and violin, while Yaseen has a 3000-year-old voice, which is quite majestic. Evan does not play the bass guitar as just a bass guitar. “He’s like a lead bassist,” said Jordan.

The Rocc Lobsters have a lively stage presence. Their performances have an air of improvisation, which works quite well for their brand. The band religiously planned for Splashy Fen 2023. However, once on stage, Yaseen started playing something different, and they ran with it. It was a total slay. This was, however, a major learning curve for the boys. They had now learnt the structure of a set: how to carry the set, make it flow, and have banger endings. This collection of artists is not the typical band with a written-down setlist. They truly just go with the vibes, and it takes a certain level of skill to be able to “roll with it”. A major part of the performance aspect is reading the room, which they do pretty well. They play an original set and sometimes a few covers. It is a raw representation of guys playing music and enjoying themselves.

“It’s all improvised. I try to bring at least a few things from people that I found, like Michael Jackson and Eric Clapton.”

-Yaseen Margro

One can’t predict the night, hence the improvisation.

They were one of the opening acts that performed at Casey Lowry’s Day Out on Friday, 22 December 2023, where there were a few hiccups. The sound check took longer than usual. It was a delayed event due to the set-up by the event organisers and sound crew. Despite this mild hurdle, The Rocc Lobsters pulled off a fantastic show.

Most of the discography is written by Yaseen but composed by the band together. The songs that Jordan writes “come ready-made,” laughed Dylan. Jordan wrote their first release, Koala.

I find it quite interesting that each album cover features an animated version of a band member to introduce themselves into the music world as individuals. Yaseen is on the album cover of their single, Koala, while Jordan is on the album cover of Icarus, their latest release, which they started writing at the beach. A big part of their brand is being individual frontmen of what they do so that people can identify with them in different ways. They want the public to follow their journey and feel like they are a part of it. The Rocc Lobster’s is not a brain powerhouse. Everyone does their thing and has significant and valued personal input.

Koala, the first song they started recording, took three re-records over two days. The album cover was designed by their good friend and mentor, Arnold Phillips, also known as Aewon Wolf, who is involved with their record label Loop Evolution Records. Jordan took over from there, designing the album cover for Icarus. The band is collectively working on their next album cover, which will contain the face of bassist Evan.

Their biggest gigs were Splashy Fen and Ballito Pro, while Casey Lowry is the most prominent artist the band has performed with. “The experience of Casey Lowry was absolutely amazing. Splashy was the most engaging, accepting crowd we’ve ever played to and the biggest. Yoh, it was just wild. We were nervous as heck going into Splashy. We’d only played tiny shows before then,” said Dylan, the band’s drummer.

The boy’s first gig as The Rocc Lobsters was Collegians in August 2022. It was a great setup, but they played to a small crowd, mainly consisting of family members. Talk about support! The band started with humble beginnings and sketchy gigs and went upwards and onwards from there.

“Splashy was definitely an eye-opener,” said The Rocc Lobsters, who have yet to reach their big break. The music festival showed them that they are more than capable and are equipped with the vocals, vibes, and talent to reach their goal of playing on bigger stages with bigger crowds. Splashy Fen is a good roadside for the directions they need to follow. During Splashy, they weren’t as close as they are now regarding skill level, product and brand. “So it could never have been a break then,” said Dylan.

Their performance at Casey Lowry was much better than that of Splashy Fen.

“Everything has just…like just our whole band chemistry, the instrument confidence, the skill, like at the beginning, we were all sort of getting into it.” They were tip-toeing around each other. “There’s a lot to think about when you’re not really versed in your performance. In terms of what to play and when to play and all of that. So, now that that is gone, the planning of the music is so natural.” They’re all still learning.

They’ve reached a point where they can have unthinkable fun onstage. The band very much goes with the flow and follows the vibe of the crowd. They are definitely cooking!

One can really see exponential growth in the span of 8 months. They’re moving to a place where they would want to play music full-time, which is not what they were planning for this year. You can only imagine the heights the band will reach once they fully set their mind to it. “So surely it’s up and up from here,” said Evan.

The band was not supposed to play at Ballito Pro 2023, but they snuck on stage, played a three-song set, and then dipped. That was the wizardry of Aewon Wolf, who was tight with the promoter and stage techs. Although the band was not a part of the lineup, they still made it happen.

“We weren’t really supposed to be there, but we rocked up, we played our set, and I think we smashed it with the time we had as well.”

-The Rocc Lobsters

This was a big learning curve for the band. Ballito Pro, which was quite a big gig, shows how dedicated the boys are. It was challenging as well because there was a lot of anxiety going on, knowing that they were not supposed to be on the stage, but once the young artists were on there, the imposter syndrome kicked in. “We had to zone everything out and just perform,” said Jordan. They take their motto, “dance and have fun”, onto the stage while trying not to worry about anything else by focusing on each other and the music.

“At the end of the day, we’re the first listeners of our music. If music is for the listeners, then it’s for us; if it’s for the writers, then it’s for us. Either way, we make sure we have fun.”

At Casey Lowry, the Rocc Lobsters were so in tune with themselves and with the music that one could not help but groove along.

Taking it step by step, their goal last year was to play at Splashy Fen and release their first single on all streaming platforms. They surpassed this by releasing two singles and playing at Ballito Pro as well as The ECR House and Garden Show. It is safe to say The Rocc Lobsters absolutely smashed their year goal. In such an ever-changing environment, planning long-term is tough to do. However, the band has big plans for this year.

“I think for us, one of our main goals is to be self-sufficient within the band and within our music,” said Yaseen. Once they can get the self-sufficiency under wraps, they can start looking for the 5-year plan.

This year’s big step is making the jump to being professional musicians. The boys want to play at bigger festivals like Rocking the Daisies.

“We believe that we are fully capable, and it is definitely something we can achieve. We’re ready for Daisy’s now.”

The multitalented young artists would surely rock Rocking the Daisies.

Their social media page @therocclobsters is collectively run by the musicians. They each have responsibilities. You can really see the effort put in by each member. Dylan is seen as the financial guy, while Evan is referred to as the “vibe merchant”.  

What truly is spectacular is that the music is one artwork with four different artists contributing to it. Each member has their own story and experiences, which they add to this art because music is art. It tells different stories in one collective piece, and you can see the combination of different experiences and lives as the end result.

“There’s a lot more coming from the Rocc Lobsters; we are only just getting started now,” said Jordan.

Their upcoming release, “Running”, is a semi-live recording and will be released on February 9, so keep an eye out for it on their Instagram @therocclobsters. Streaming platforms, such as Spotify, serve as a CV to show the band’s relevance and for the public to relive the nostalgia after a performance. Their music leaves the listener wanting more.

The Rocc Lobsters are live performers who thrive the best on stage (“when the tide is high”). One thing that can be said is that they definitely take the highs and lows of the music industry with a pinch of salt and see everything as a learning curve. With their positive attitudes, determination, and killer tunes, this up-and-coming new band is bound to break through the surface of the music scene.

Stream their music on Spotify, Apple Music and everywhere else @therocclobsters

Record label: Loop Evolution Records

Yaseen: @_yaseen.m_

Evan: @bassmanev

Dylon: @shwarmadyllo

Jordan: @jordanmanggos