Since they first burst out of the sleepy mining town of Witbank some 11 years ago, South African rock sensation Prime Circle has been unstoppable. They stormed out of the gates with their record-breaking debut album in 2003, and have followed it up with a string of massive studio albums that have secured their place as the most successful rock act in South African history.
Prime Circle’s career is an inspiration that has spawned hundreds of garage bands across South Africa, with starry-eyed young rockers hoping that one day, they might make it big the way Ross Learmonth, Dirk Bisschoff, Marco Gomes, Neil Breytenbach and Dale Schnettler did. In a country where rock ‘n’ roll is a precious but rare commodity, that’s nothing to be sniffed at.
Says lead singer Ross Learmonth of Prime Circle’s early days, “It was hard to find people who were serious about music – so I jumped at the chance to jam with guys who were ambitious musicians.” The band, all from Witbank and surrounding areas, emerged from literally nowhere to take the unsuspecting South African rock scene by storm.

Their 2003 debut, Hello Crazy World, rocketed to gold status in South Africa, with “Live This Life” (the 2005 follow-up following suit) – fairly groundbreaking stuff for the fresh-faced newbies to the local rock scene. Singles such as “Hello”, “Live This Life” and “My Inspiration” earned heavy rotation on South African radio, and it wasn’t long before crowds at Prime Circle shows were roaring their songs back to them word for word, building a fanbase that would stick with them for over a decade and more.
2008 saw Prime Circle’s signing to EMI, as well as the release of an album that would signal them as a seminal South African act. “All or Nothing” demonstrated the difference between a good band and a great one. Recorded at Bellville Studios in Cape Town, “All or Nothing” marked a turn in Prime Circle’s musical direction, moving further from their original post grunge, alternative sound to produce more anthemic, stadium rock records. The record raked in the first two Prime Circle South African Music Award nominations of their career, for Record of the Year and Best Rock Album (English).

To date, the first single from “All or Nothing”, “She Always Gets What She Wants”, has received over 789 000 YouTube hits. It is the most-viewed South African rock song of all time on the channel, and cements Prime Circle’s status as the most successful South African rock band in history. Award-winning follow-up singles from the album include “Out of This Place” and “Consider Me”.

“Jekyll & Hyde”, unleashed in 2010, had a lot to live up to - but Prime Circle have never been a band to shy away from a challenge.

The album was mixed in Los Angeles by Kevin Shirley, who has previously worked with the likes of Aerosmith, Iron Maiden, Silverchair and Journey. New York-based Sterling Sound mastering engineer George Marino, who is famed for his work with Guns ‘n’ Roses and Ozzy Osbourne, laid the final touches on “Jekyll & Hyde”.

The first two singles from the album, power ballads “Breathing” and “Turning in My Sleep”, were each nominated for the SAMA for MTN Record of the Year in 2011. As of October 2012, both releases continue to enjoy heavy rotation on regional radio stations in South Africa, with “Breathing” having received over 197 000 YouTube views.

In March 2011, Prime Circle won the Best International Breakthrough Act at the MK Awards.
Over a decade after they first arrived on the scene, changing the landscape of South African rock forever, the band is delighted to announce the release of their fifth album. The title of the enigmatic 2012 release, after months of fan speculation and cryptic viral marketing, has been revealed as “Evidence”.

The first single off “Evidence”, “Time Kills Us All”, debuted on regional and national radio in South Africa in late September 2012 to widespread acclaim. A stadium-sized power ballad, the song indicates the heights the band have scaled since their inception, and the scope that they’re still capable of. Other songs sure to make top the charts are ‘Evidence’, ‘King for a Day’, ‘Change’, ‘Written in Riddles’ amongst others.

The 13-track album features the masterful recording wizardry of Theo Crous, the former Springbok Nude Girl who received a 2011 SAMA nomination for his production work on Prime Circle’s last album.

11 years down the line, Prime Circle have kept their brand of rasping, layered, melodic rock on mainstream airwaves, bringing the heavier stuff to listeners who might not have found it without their help. Ross Learmonth’s is now one of the most recognisable voices in South African music. But for the band, it’s not about rockstardom - it’s really still all about the fans and the songs. Says the lead singer, “Without the fans, we would be nothing. And I don’t ever want to do anything else. Creating music for a living is a privilege, and we never forget that.”

Prime Circle - Discography

Since their debut in 2003, Prime Circle has been the most celebrated rock act in South African history. The band has toured extensively, performing at several major international festivals over the course of their 11-year career, and have been honoured with numerous South African music awards.

Hello Crazy World (2003)

“Hello Crazy World” is the debut album of South African rock band Prime Circle, an award-winning Witbank outfit.
The record reached platinum figures in South Africa, selling over 40 000 units, and was released via David Gresham Records. “Hello Crazy World” remains one of the highest-selling South African rock albums in the country’s history.
The 2003 album spawned the single “Hello”, followed by “Same Goes For You”, “As Long As I Am Here” and “Let Me Go”.
Some editions of the album were accompanied by a bonus disc which featured acoustic versions of four tracks, and one additional track entitled “Daydreamer (What Are You On)”

Live This Life (2005)
“Live This Life” is the second studio album by South African post-grunge rock outfit Prime Circle.
The record was released via David Gresham Records. It sold over 20 000 units locally, achieving gold status, and securing the band as one of the biggest selling South African acts of the year.
Five singles from the album reached the Top 20 charts on the South African national radio station 5FM.

Touring
Following the release of “Live This Life” in 2005, Prime Circle performed at the 46664 Nelson Mandela concert, and toured their native country supporting alternative rock band Live on the South African leg of their “Birds of Prey” world tour.
In 2006, Prime Circle played alongside Metallica, Collective Soul, Simple Plan, Good Charlotte and Seether at My Coke Fest, an annual national music festival tour.

All or Nothing (2008)
The third album from South African rock band Prime Circle, “All or Nothing” was released in South Africa in June 2008, and internationally the following year.
With sales figures of over 57 000 units (20 000 within the first 6 months of release), it is the band’s highest-selling album to date, reaching platinum status. All or Nothing received four SAMA (South African Music Award) nominations – the country’s highest honour.
Recorded at Bellville Studios in Cape Town, the album was Prime Circle’s first release through their new label, EMI. “All or Nothing” marked a turn in the band’s musical direction, moving further from their original post grunge, alternative sound to produce more anthemic, stadium rock records.
“All or Nothing” spawned the singles “She Always Gets What She Wants”, “Out of this Place” and “Consider Me”.
The music video for the latter was shot atop a Johannesburg skyscaper in the driving rain. Says lead singer Ross Learmonth, “It’s a song with an important underlying message, and the video gets that across really well. The weather was as real as the emotion we all injected into the performance.”
The album was promoted with The EA Undercover Tour 2008, seeing the band play 16 shows in intimate venues across South Africa within the space of 21 days. Prime Circle also toured India in August 2009 with the album, performing live at the IPL Finals match which was broadcast to millions of viewers.
“All Or Nothing” was followed by an eponymous live DVD that was recorded during the band’s promotional tour. The DVD included material from their three albums released at that point: “Hello Crazy World”, “Live This Life” and “All or Nothing”. It has sold over 5 700 copies, and was nominated for the Best Global Chart Live DVD SAMA in 2010.
Following the release of “All or Nothing”, Prime Circle played alongside Korn, Muse, 30 Seconds to Mars, Chris Cornell and Kaiser Chiefs at My Coke Fest, an annual national music festival tour.

Awards
“All or Nothing” was nominated in the following SAMA categories: MTN Record of the Year and Best Rock Album (English).
Single “She Always Gets What She Wants” was nominated for the Record of the Year SAMA in 2009. Currently, the video for this acclaimed release has reached over 785 000 YouTube views. Directed by Morgan Dingle and featuring cinematography by David Pienaar, it is the most-viewed South African music video on the website.
The follow-up single, “Consider Me”, was nominated for the Record of the Year SAMA in 2010, the year of its release.

Jekyll & Hyde (2010)
South African rock act Prime Circle released their fourth studio album, “Jekyll & Hyde”, via EMI in September 2010.
The album spawned the legendary single ‘Breathing’ which reached No. 1 status on radio stations nationwide. Singles “Never Gonna Bring Us Down” and “Turning In My Sleep” and ‘Turn Me to Stone’ received high rotation allowing the album sales to soar.
“Jekyll & Hyde” entered local sales charts at No. 1, reaching Gold status within two weeks of its release. To date, it has sold 48 000 units, achieving Platinum sales, and is the band’s second highest-selling album, after its predecessor “All or Nothing” (2008)." 

Production
Recorded and produced by the legendary Theo Crous at Bellville Studios in Cape Town, South Africa, the album was mixed in Los Angeles by Kevin Shirley, who has previously worked with the likes of Aerosmith, Iron Maiden, Silverchair and Journey. New York-based Sterling Sound mastering engineer George Marino, who is famed for his work with Guns ‘n’ Roses and Ozzy Osbourne, laid the final touches on “Jekyll & Hyde”.

Awards
The album “Jekyll & Hyde” earned the band a slew of SAMA (South African Music Award) nominations in 2011.
On receiving these honours, lead singer Ross Learmonth says, “This was a risky album for us to release. It was less commercial-sounding than the previous three, with an overall harder edge. Being nominated in six SAMA categories is the coolest and wonderful recognition for an album that represents who we are and where we’re headed.”

The first two singles from the album, power ballads “Breathing” and “Turning in My Sleep”, were each nominated for the SAMA for MTN Record of the Year in the year of their release. As of October 2012, both releases continue to enjoy heavy rotation on regional radio stations in South Africa, with “Breathing” having received over 197 000 YouTube views.
In March 2011, Prime Circle won the Best International Breakthrough Act at the MK Awards (MK is the leading South African alternative music channel). The awards were distributed based on fan votes.

Evidence (2012)
The enigmatic fifth album by South African rock band Prime Circle is due for release in 2012 and, after months of fan speculation and cryptic viral marketing, the title has been revealed as “Evidence”.
The first single off “Evidence”, “Time Kills Us All”, debuted on regional and national radio in South Africa in late September 2012 to widespread acclaim. A stadium-sized power ballad, the song indicates the heights the band have scaled since their inception, and the scope that they’re still capable of.
The 13-track album was recorded at Bellville Studios, in Cape Town, where Theo Crous held the ‘reins’ as producer with Prime Circle. Once tracked, the final mixes were done in Los Angeles, with Kevin Shirley, who is best known for producing legendary bands such as Aerosmith, Journey, Iron Maiden amongst others.
California resident and 4 time Grammy Award winner Gavin Lurssen, was the mastering engineer on the track ‘Time Kills Us All.’ Lurssen is responsible for mastering records for Tom Waits, Sheryl Crow as well as Matchbox 20 and T Bone Burnett.
Renowned master engineer, Leon Zervos has mastered the full album. Zervos is best known for mastering hits for artists such as Duran Duran, INXS, Avril Lavigne and Maroon 5.