Mono.Pony Bertus van Zyl Cape Town I, Bertus van Zyl , hereby confirm that the following is almost the truth: Not again… another guy that says he’s not really a musician… ‘I just use music as a traveling tool’. What does that mean? I sound like a ‘tool’… but a big part of it is spot on. When you sit on a beach on your own, the chances are very slim that someone would walk up to you and just start a conversation. That is great if you want to be on your own. If you sit on a beach playing guitar chances are very good that someone will come over to listen to a song, sing with you or play you a song. That’s great when you feel alone. I have met many awe inspiring people because I love music. I take my guitar pretty much everywhere. Whether I want to play myself to sleep after a few glasses of wine or pass the guitar to a newly made friend to play me a song it is worth the hassle to carry my guitar most places I go. I originally started playing drums and I performed with a few bands including Soil 7t7 which I’m still very proud of. It’s fun playing in front of 4000 people. Traveling was slowly creeping up to hit the no. 1 spot on my priority list and the band wasn’t progressing fast enough to feed that hunger. So I packed my bag and started down a new road. I could already strum a few chords at that point but a few weeks after leaving South Africa, I picked up a guitar on a rubbish dump, put some strings on it and playing guitar became a big part of my life. I started writing my own songs and playing open mic nights. I’m still shy today but at that point I was horrible. I couldn’t look any crowd in the eye… but there was some part of that insecurity that kept pulling me back to do it again and again… trying to face it. Today I look back and I’m fortunate enough to have played gigs in 5 different countries and I get to play music with many amazing musicians on a regular basis in some of the most beautiful places on the planet. I’m working on my second solo CD which will be out when I’m done writing it. Music is just a part of my life. Mono.Pony’s tracks Raining in Kathmandu by Mono.Pony published on 2020-10-11T01:29:01Z Kisses and the Ocean Air by Mono.Pony published on 2015-08-28T09:14:43Z Fransman - aka 'Vin' by Mono.Pony published on 2015-07-23T13:54:18Z Down To The River - Live at Station Pub, Franschhoek by Mono.Pony published on 2015-07-23T13:38:47Z Dying Coral by Mono.Pony published on 2015-05-11T18:43:42Z Little Princess by Mono.Pony published on 2015-05-11T18:06:52Z Ocean Song by Mono.Pony published on 2015-05-11T18:06:50Z