The Leather Omnibus

The Leather Omnibus was a multiracial band comprising students at Rhodes University and residents of Rhini Township outside Grahamstown during the apartheid-era of the late 1980s.

The band played a mixture of covers and original material commenting on the socio-political conditions of the time.

They released one single, ‘Neighbours’ which received airplay on the local campus radio station, ‘RMR’.

The classic line-up was: Leon Lazarus (bass & vocals), Mini Dial (drums & vocals), Brett Lock (guitar), David McCluskey (saxophone), and Nombelelo Futuse (keyboards and backing vocals).

For their final run of gigs in December 1989 at the famous club Jameson’s in Johannesburg, they were augmented by: Chris Letcher (lead guitar), Alan Finlay (keyboards), Vusi Kama (percussion), and Rene Benade (backing vocals).

The Sighs of Monsters

London-based indie rock band, with several South African members – including Brett Lock, formerly of The Leather Omnibus, Occam’s Razor and One Large Banana – formed in 2014. Members — Dean Sobers (vocals, guitar), Brett Houston-Lock (bass), and Chris Houston (percussion, violin), sometimes augmented by David Toube (keyboards) and Brett Collings (drums).

Their debut album Ground was released in November 2014, followed by Lie in January 2017, Dust in April 2019, and Present in June 2024. Singles include “After Charlie” (2016), “More Than Blue” (2021) — a collaboration with South African poet David Chislett — and “Bird Shot” (2022). BBC broadcaster Tom Robinson described one of their tracks as “a work of howling genius”.