Billy Talent's three shows in SA

Try Honesty is the monster single that broke Billy Talent and its eponymous debut album wide open to the tune of triple-platinum sales back in Canada in 2003. It was only after Billy Talent demonstrated its lasting mettle in the wake of 2006's "Billy Talent II" with three more platinum sales awards, a sold-out show at Toronto's 20 000-seat Air Canada Centre and, most unexpectedly, a number one debut in Germany to match the one already notched at home, that they were finally acknowledged as one of the most popular and successful bands in Canada.

Billy Talent have played sold-out shows in Canada and the US and had success in Europe as well. They have shared the stage with Green Day, The Black Eyed Peas, Iron Maiden, Santana.

Billy Talent band members are vocalist Ben Kowalewicz, guitarist Ian D'Sa, bassist Jon Gallant and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk. They have been playing together for 15 years.

"The early '90s kinda shaped us"

"We grew up in the early '90s, when all these amazing bands came out - Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and Jane's Addiction. All these amazing things, we grew up with, and as time progressed we explored punk - The Clash, the Pistols and things like that. We explored that avenue and, I guess, over time, as a progression, you kinda revert to a time when things made the most sense. And, I think, the early '90s kinda shaped us and our psyches and who we are and why we even play music," said Kowalewicz.

"People are always saying: 'You sound so different from record to live.' And some people really like the way the records sound, some people really like the live stuff," he continued. "So one thing that, I think, we really wanted to do with our new album, "Billy Talent III", was to amalgamate both, so that it sounds really big and heavy but there's still, like, this feeling that's really visceral and alive.

The shows are:

7 August: 3 Arts Centre, Cape Town
Ticket prices: R150 Pre, R200 Gate

8 Aug: Oppikoppi. Sexy. Crooked. Teeth. Northam

10 Aug: Wave House, Gateway, Durban
Ticket prices: R100 pre, R150 gate

All tickets are for sale at www.ticketbreak.co.za.