Press | The Tazers

Short bio

Wizards of South African psych-rock. The Tazers are a Johannesburg trio - Jethro Lock (guitar, vocals), Timothy Edwards (drums, vocals), Werner Jordaan (bass, vocals) - active since 2015. Three full-length albums (Plastic Kids 2019, The Machine vinyl-only 2023, Fantasy Factory 2025), five EPs, four European tours, a 2020 SAMA nomination, and a performance broadcast on WDR Rockpalast.

Long bio

Hailed as the wizards of South African psych-rock, The Tazers have their roots stuck in the '70s while incorporating modern sounds and structures. This Johannesburg trio packs a high-energy live performance that captivates audiences with fuzz tones, three-part vocal harmonies and powerful drum rolls. Audiences are known to always get their feet moving.

The current line-up is Jethro Lock on guitar and vocals, Timothy Edwards on drums and vocals, and Werner Jordaan on bass and vocals. The band officially formed in 2015, but Jethro had been writing the songs that would become The Tazers in his bedroom since 2013 — trying to channel a kind of “electric” energy into his songwriting that he couldn’t find in any other South African act at the time.

Since 2015 The Tazers have been one of the most active rock bands in South Africa. They’ve released three full-length albums — Plastic Kids (2019), The Machine (vinyl exclusive - 2023) and Fantasy Factory (2025) — alongside five EPs (Time Machine, Love Machine, Dream Machine, Fuzz Machine and Outer Space). They describe their own sound as “rock and roll served with a teaspoon of psychedelia” — reverb-soaked guitars, fuzz pedals and the kind of vocal harmonies that draw a line back through the Beatles, the Beach Boys and Cream to whoever first thought a guitar should be made to sound like a chainsaw.

“An old-school sound with a modern-day mentality.”

They’ve played every major music festival and rock venue South Africa has to offer, and they’ve done it consistently enough to become one of the country’s definitive psych-rock acts. This includes performances at the notorious mecca of rock festival ‘Oppikoppi’ as well as ‘Rocking the Daisies’ to name a few. Plastic Kids was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 2020 South African Music Awards (SAMAs), and the music video for the same song picked up multiple film accolades and nominations along the way.

They’re an international band too. The Tazers have toured Europe four times, performing extensively in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Italy. One of their highest-profile international shows was a performance on WDR Rockpalast — the legendary German national TV broadcast — at Crossroads Festival in Harmonie, Bonn. The full set is available on the official Rockpalast YouTube channel. Their music has had regular European radio play, most notably on FM4 in Austria and Radio Fritz in Germany, and the video for “Ready To Die” was aired on MTV Germany.

Their 2025 album Fantasy Factory pushed The Tazers past 50,000 monthly Spotify listeners at peak release. The title track was selected for Spotify’s Editorial playlist ALL NEW ROCK. Their breakout single “Wake Up” has surpassed 2.7 million streams; “Love Machine” over 1.4 million; “A Bomb & A Bill” over 1.3 million.

The slogan you’ll see on their merch — Make Fuzz Not War — sums them up fairly well. A knowing nod to the '60s peace movement, refracted through guitar pedals and three-piece vocal harmonies. Three guys from Joburg, four trips through Europe, and a steadily growing case for being one of the best psychedelic rock acts working on either side of the equator right now.

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