He was the bad boy of Idols, and now he is doing the solo thing.  We catch up with Freddie Van’Dango following the release of his album, Tonik.

Tonik hit the shelves in October. Produced by SAMA award winner Dan Roberts, the reviews have been glowing so far.  More recently, a beautifully shot music video for his first single ‘Shadow’ was released on December 12. Watch it here:

Freddie visited KZN with his band, Cowboys of Nibiru, in November – with several gigs in Durban, in Margate and in the low-key South Coast Town of Umzumbe.

East Coast Radio’s Abby Ray chatted to Freddie about life after Idols.

I am pretty sure you’re trying to get away from the whole Idols stereotype, but that’s where people met you and where your career as a musician really took a step up. Are you excited about the journey you’ve been on since then?

Of course, life has changed for me so much. I’ve actually been able to wake up every day and just make music, which is all I want to do. So life is great.

What was the process of creating your album Tonik like? Did you already have a lot of music filed away, or did producer Dan Roberts say ‘start again’? 

It’s a little bit of both. I went into studio only with an acoustic guitar, and some songs that I’d already written, but the whole process of transforming those songs – it was a journey and a half. So we kind of came together and we decided to make – because I was on Idols and people were expecting pop … this is the most pop that I would ever be, if I can put it that way.

So are future albums going to steer away from the pop angle?

Well, every album is going to be different – I can tell you that much.

How did Durban receive you?

I love Durban, it’s been amazing, the curry here is so much better and the people have been so friendly and supportive. It’s just been such a cool experience. This tour was so unplanned, we’re just going with the flow at the moment, we really do feel like cowboys on the road to somewhere, nowhere, I don’t know … but it’s awesome.  

What can people expect from your live shows with the Cowboys of Nibiru, what are you taking to the stage?

It’s definitely rock ‘n roll. We took the pop from the album and converted it into a little bit of rock ‘n roll. So if you like rock ‘roll, then come!

Images via Facebook/FreddieVan’DangoIdolsVII