Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 130, May 2020 | Page 21

LOCKDOWN
Images: Jetline Action Photo & courtesy Jarrod Aston-Assenheim
In 1986 Jarrod was asked to join the band Cinema,
having met band members Chris Frank and Ian Vine
the previous year at the legendary 702 Concert in
the Park, which drew over 100,000 to Ellis Park in
Johannesburg. “They were having problems with their
drummer, and asked would I be keen to play with
them, so I said cool, let me know, whenever you’re
ready, and they soon phoned me to ask if I would like
to play at their regular weekend gig at Gold Reef City,”
he recalls.
Having sung back-up on Face to Face tracks, Jarrod
then began singing lead for Cinema, but says it almost
happened by accident. “One Sunday at Gold Reef
City, I’d had a couple too many beers and Ian asked
if I wanted to sing a song, so I sang John Lennon’s
Imagine. When Ian left the band soon after that, I
found myself becoming the new lead vocalist.”
Initially, Cinema were known as a cover band,
playing well known songs by the Eagles and Beatles,
amongst others, but by the time Jarrod joined, Chris
had already written the basis of a new song, My Kind
of Girl, which would turn out to be a major hit for
them in 1987. “It was really a simple song, no deep
meaning in the lyrics, just three basic chords… but it
became a hit, and it served me well. Still, I like music
to be a bit deeper, something that tells a story and
really resonates with listeners, like Lennon, Dylan or
Springsteen’s music. People resonate with melody
and beat, but when they really connect with a song or
band, then it works so much better,” he explains.
Time to Move On
Jarrod was with Cinema for 12 years, from 1986 until
1998, and says they enjoyed success both home
and abroad, notably with the song Strangers Again
in South East Asia. “Quite surprisingly, many years
after the song was released, we got to number one
in several countries – the Philippines, Malaysia and
Thailand – and we still get royalties for that song, even
now, because it’s still getting played in the Philippines
and Malaysia. Also, the song is a big hit in the karaoke
bars over there!” says Jarrod.
“I think somebody must have picked it up somehow
in 1996 and started playing it on the radio, and I
found out when I got a couple of fan letters from the
Philippines saying how much they loved the song.
The record label looked into it and found out we
were being played there, so we toured the region for
six months in late 1997, along with the Irish band
Boyzone.”
However, the tour was the end of the road for Jarrod
with Cinema. “We played some concerts and small
clubs, but I didn’t think the record label did a good
enough job promoting us, so I was a bit frustrated.
Also, six months of living in Asia really got to me,
because I’d had enough of travelling, and I had a
family now. In those days communicating with home
wasn’t as easy as it is now, and making a call on a
cellphone to SA was really expensive, more than R50
a minute! Also, I felt I had lost my creative flair, and no
longer enjoyed writing and performing music.”
“I’d had 12 years with Cinema, after two years with
Face to Face, so 14 years of my life was dedicated
to playing in a band. Now I was drinking a lot, and
smoking, while my wife back home was pregnant,
and I just felt It was time to mature and get into the
business side of the music industry instead of playing
and touring. So when we got back, I decided to
call it a day and left the band, after honouring
two or three more months of gigs,” he says.
Moving Into
Management
Today Jarrod has four
companies in the music
industry, all involved in
management, distribution
and marketing, and he
says he finds it a lot
easier working behind
the scenes. “Touring and
playing live gigs is a tough
life, with a lot of late
nights and early mornings.
We found that even with
relative success locally, it
was tough to earn money
and pay the bills. Also,
Cinema became known in
SA during a tough time for
this country, when we were black-listed overseas,
so it was tough to find success outside of SA. Now
we have incredible technology and social media that
helps artists, and I can only think what could have
happened for us if we had been around now.”
“Today I work from home, making a good living
mostly by streaming content and live concerts, and
I can clearly see the huge changes in the industry
over the last 35 years. These are exciting times for
the music business. That said, the industry is now
even more competitive, with more disposable music
being produced, and artists must now have a solid
gameplan, across radio, TV and social media, to be
seen and heard. There is an interesting stat that says,
in order to have a successful music career, you need
1500 dedicated fans, who will stream your music, buy
merchandise, attend concerts, and share posts. If you
can put together a plan and get to that level, you can
make it in the business.”
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