Piet van Wyk de Vries
| Piet van Wyk de Vries | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Born |
7 May 1972 Pretoria, South Africa |
| Genres | Alternative Afrikaans |
| Occupation(s) | Songwriter |
| Labels | Independent |
| Website | www |
Piet van Wyk de Vries is an independent South African songwriter born in Pretoria in 1972.
Piet van Wyk de Vries was born in Pretoria, South Africa on 7 May 1972. He grew up in Johannesburg and Pretoria. He attended School in Meyerspark and Silverton. He did his national service in the South African Police as a member of ''Eenheid 19 (Unit 19), from 1991 to 1994. He has done some freelance work in the security sector after that. He was also Director of Security at Wierda Glen Estate during 2010/11.
He started in the music industry by fronting the band "Flying Circus", but soon changed directions by focusing more on music production and studio design. This culminated in 2000 when he designed and built what was at the time the largest digital studio in Africa for Sting Music in Johannesburg. He used this Pro Tools based studio to produce the first Afrikaans album by the artist Dozi (Hendrik Opperman), entitled "Op Aanvraag", which has since become one of the most successful albums of that genre of all time. This album also launched the career of songwriter Stef Kruger.
Before the Dozi album he arranged, wrote and produced music and live items for many South African artists in the English and Black markets, including PJ Powers, Lebo Mathosa and Billy Forrest. He also co-engineered a private recording for Eddy Grant, who recorded a birthday song in South Africa for his wife.
After that van Wyk de Vries switched his focus to the Afrikaans market, where he has produced mostly compilation albums, examples being some of the "Sokkietreffer" and "Bokjol" franchise compilations. He is much better known as a songwriter, and has written for a number of Afrikaans singers. Most notable of these are Dozi, Wynand Strydom and Mathys Roets, the last of which uses his songs almost exclusively.
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