Siren Knight is a symphonic hard rock band with a sound unique to their name and with that, accurately describes this band of five members. Their siren is Naomi van Dyk, the lead vocalist and pianist, and she just happens to mesmerise listeners with her opera trained voice.
Her knights are the four remaining members, Sizwe Maseko – keyboard player and backing vocalist, Wiaan van der Merwe – lead guitarist and leader of the band, Wings their bassist and Thunder their drummer.
The band has an Evanescence / Nightwish feel to it with their songs gripping at a person’s soul, Naomi captivates listeners with her serene voice while her knights create the perfect melody and sound to back it – literally taking you to a place where you want to be, where troubles no longer exist.
“What makes us unique is that all of our members come from different backgrounds and music genres. We managed to capture all of that background, genre, personality and culture and merge it into our music,” said Siren Knight.
The group draws on combining rock, metal, classical and opera, with a touch of jazz, finding a middle ground that gives them their unique sound.
This is their story of how they became Siren Knight.
Wiaan was playing lead guitar at the age of 16, fuelled by his passion for music and despite being told he would not make it, he continued on to play alongside the likes of Doellose Stilte, Monique Steyn, Manie Jackson, Francious from Van Coke Cartel and Aking, among others.
His love for music took him to Witbank Arts Campus where he met with Naomi. “I studied under Sizwe, who at the time was my lecturer,” said Wiaan.
They thought of starting an Evanescence kind of feel when Naomi introduced him to Nightwish, he gave it a listen and they decided that opera rock would be their thing, Sizwe was keen and joined the group – his skill in playing the keyboard started at the age of seven and has since greatly developed.
“We compiled three tracks but something was still lacking, we searched everywhere for a bassist and drummer,” said Wiaan.
Eventually they met with Wings, initially he was jazz trained which added to his unique feel for being a bassist. “I was a pianist in a church’s worship group and really enjoyed the low register of the piano, that’s where my love for bass started,” said Wings.
The group of four went through a number of drummers, some of which could not keep up with the pace of the music. Things looked grim as their search for a drummer strained on, when Wings suggested a drummer of which he knew.
Thunder, who has never owned a drum set in his life, learnt to play by playing in church, he was too loud and played to hard – he was told, but had a natural knack for it.
“He drummed for us and we loved it, he immediately joined the band,” said Wiaan.
Their group now complete, Siren Knight are in the process of recording and publishing their first album which is expected to release next year, and dominate the rock industry.
“We plan to surprise our fans and the rock industry of South Africa with our fresh new genre,” said Siren Knight.
Starting next year you can look forward to seeing them play at nearly every festival imaginable in South Africa, not only that but they hope to net their own record label in the time to come.
“Our music is there to inspire. To create escape from the everyday life for everyone, that gave up on that dream, or still has that dream, but feels to scared to prove to themselves that anything is possible, no matter who you are, where you come from, rich or poor. All you need to do is believe. Take that step with commitment, passion and perseverance, and you can live that dream,” – Siren Knight.
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