Ard Matthews
Encyclopedia
Art "Ard" Matthews is a South African musician who has served as lead vocalist
Lead vocalist
The lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...

 and founder of the band Just Jinjer since its formation in 1996. He is also a voluntary ambassador of MyLife Foundation Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

 and is currently based in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Early life

Ard Matthews was born in Discovery Hospital, Roodepoort to Dries Brits and Arlene but considers himself a Durban boy after having moved to the Bluff shortly thereafter to be raised by only his mother. He grew up in a strict religious household with little popular music, what he did hear — Nat "King" Cole, Louis Armstrong and Elvis Presley — elicited an innate musicality that won a talent contest as a singer that he entered as a grom at the age of twelve.

In his late high school years, he sat down at a friend's drum kit and immediately found a natural proficiency on the traps. Having no desire to pursue conventional studies after school he enrolled in to The Groove Class, Cresta, South Africa's only affiliate of Los Angeles's famed Musicians Institute, during which time he also started to learn the guitar and discovered a voice that would shape the course of his future forever.

Career

Stepping onstage to sing and play guitar one night at the restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...

 where he worked as a waiter
Waiter
Waiting staff, wait staff, or waitstaff are those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending customers — supplying them with food and drink as requested. Traditionally, a male waiting tables is called a "waiter" and a female a "waitress" with the gender-neutral version being a "server"...

 in between sets by the evening's entertainer, he was immediately offered a regular gig, and was soon making a good living on the Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

 circuit as a solo performer. He also honed his skills and appeal to listeners of all stripes busking on the streets of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. He was befriended and heard by Harris and the drummer asked him to join his band Tri Funk Era.

With the voice and songs of Matthews in place, the group soon transformed into Just Jinger and signed with BMG
BMG
Bertelsmann Music Group, , was a division of Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Japan's Sony Corporation of America on October 1, 2008. It was established in 1987 to combine the music label activities of Bertelsmann...

.

On the 23rd of August 2011, Ard sang a version of the South African National Anthem after the selection of the Springbok squad for the 2011 IRB Rugby World Cup, which was seen as an abject failure as he seemed to forget the words to the anthem.
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