Up close with Arno Carstens

SOUTH Afrcan rock star, Arno Carstens will be performing life at Suncoast Sunzone on Friday night as part of his Arno Carstens Unplugged coastal tour. Lorna Charles chatted to him and found out he’s a maniac when given a machine gun, has a bucket list and wants to meet a real live ET!

• What has been the highlight of your year so far?
  Being part of the pilot for the TV series The Message. I ran around for two weeks shooting up Joburg with a machine gun! Loved it, what an experience!

• What is your favourite restaurant, shop, mall and local leisure activity in our sunny city?
  iwantmycoffee which is across from Wavehouse in Gateway – it looks onto Chris Saunders Park from the north. Leisure activity… going to the beach.

• What is the album you currently can’t get enough of – and why?
  James Blake – Overgrown. It’s superstylish beautiful music.

• What is your favourite meal and worst?
  Lamb shank is my favourite, bread is my worst!

• How do you keep fit?
  I run and train at the gym, but it’s been slow….

• The three things that make South Africa great?
  Nandos, my friends, our flora and fauna.

• The word or phrase you most overuse?
  Where is the remote?

• Is there one thing about yourself that you’d love to change?
  I’d like to get fitter and clean up my act, so that I’ll be around longer to hang out with my son, Hayden.

• Personalities you most admire – and why? Your Inspiration musically?
  I admire the classic dead artists… Bob Marley, Jim Morrison, and so on. I’ve always been a Nick Cave fan but there are loads of great artists out there.

• Do you come from a musical background?
  I don’t really come from a musical background but my family loves music.

• What it is the funniest thing that ever happened to you in a live performance and how did you get over it?
  I ran backwards on a catwalk and kept going till I ended in the audience… stupidest crowd-surfing mistake ever! But after the shock I continued singing and life carried on.

• Name three things on your bucket list?
  Visit the Arctic before all the ice melts. Meet a real live extraterrestrial. Become an astronaut.

• Can you give your fans three things about yourself that most people don’t know?
  I like the smell of burnt human hair; I was captain of the Reptiles rugby team… And I like women’s clothes!