Times are a changing for local muso Donavin
WATCH Cartel Collective's interview with KulumaTV in Durban last month.
‘SOMETIMES you have to fail to succeed.’
So says former Zululand singer/songwriter Donavin Seagreen, who is climbing the ladder in the music industry with his band The Cartel Collective.
The John Ross College past pupil grew up in Richards Bay and relocated in 2000 to follow his dream of becoming a musician.
‘I moved to Durban to try my hand at life, and initially it didn’t really work out.’
After years of trying to make a name for himself, Donavin moved into the hospitality industry as many aspiring musicians do because of the flexible hours, and eventually it took priority as he began creating menus and food for new restaurants in an operation capacity.
‘After doing this for a while I decided to hang up my cook books and spreadsheets and follow my dream of becoming a singer and songwriter.
‘All my eggs were in one basket and luckily for me I recently divorced and found an awesome woman who motivated me and pushed me towards my goal.’
The band
The Cartel Collective came about in July last year as Donavin had an itch to continue doing original music after his previous band, Seagreen Blues, disbanded.
With the luck of the Irish he met musicians in quick succession who had similar aspirations and ideals – Dustin Corrigan on lead, Chad Porter on bass and Jason Fuhri on drums.
‘We began writing music and practicing, and our first show was with CrashCarBurn.’
‘Next we entered Rocktober in Durban and came away the victors, beating 16 bands to the title.’
The band has since released their debut EP ‘Changing Times’, collaborating with artists such as Desmond and the Tutus, Wonderboom and Ard Mathews.
Donavin is also a published poet and his work is available in the Library of Congress annual poetry book of 2012.
‘We are a genuine hard-working band with soul and emotion behind our songs. The name The Cartel Collective is an idea of what music should be – a collection of people putting their all out there.
‘We will soon be releasing our debut video and hopefully get more radio airplay.’
