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The Kalahari Surfers is a South African band formed in 1982, primarily driven by a series of studio projects led by an individual known as Swinney at Shifty Studios during the 1980s. The recordings featured various personnel from that environment, with their names altered or reduced to first names to protect against potential persecution. The band was conceived as a fictional collective to avoid any backlash from authorities. Today, Swinney remains the sole member of the group. Their debut release, inspired by the do-it-yourself punk ethic, was the Gross National Product cassette, which was uniquely packaged in a silver spray-painted box and contained 60 minutes of music recorded entirely in a bedroom using a 4-track portastudio. Swinney describes the experience of being a white English South African as "schizophrenic," highlighting the privilege of being exposed to a rich tapestry of diverse social influences while lacking a firm footing in any single culture.

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