Bellville-based electronic rockers Die Heuwels Fantasties are a relatively new name on the local music scene. But you've certainly seen (or heard) the members before.

Frontman Pierre Greeff is vocalist for Lukraaketaar. Johnny de Ridder and Hunter Kennedy play for Fokofpolisiekar. And Kennedy does double duty with aKING.

With all four groups hailing from Bellville, the suburb is certainly a hotbed for young musical talent. But with so much member overlap, is there any competition between the bands?

"Everybody down there is friends. We all have positive attitudes and we motivate one another," Greeff tells us after their recent performance on 5FM's 'Live to The Power Of 5' show.

"You can't be generic and all the styles are very different, so you don't really compete."

Friendly competition aside, the trio's self-titled debut album features the talents of aKING's Laudo Liebenberg, Fokofpolisiekar/Van Coke Kartel frontman Francois Van Coke and Jack Parow on a handful of songs.

It's an astute move: 'Die Vraagstuk' featuring Parow is definitely a standout, best described as an Afrikaans version of Baz Luhrman's 'Sunscreen', with a rap twist.

"I decided to include the song on the album because it fit," says Greeff of the song.

"It is darker in tone, but it was just a fit with its position on the album. Jack has been rapping for as long as I can remember, so it was just right to include the song."

Like 'Die Vraagstuk', much of their first album deals with tales of lost love and the adventures of the good old days, but planning a new song might involve less than one thought.

"We just sit around and talk about stuff," reveals Greeff. "Most of the time, things that we talk about become songs.

"If you just listen, then you'll find a song in there somewhere."

It's a practical mindset that extends to other aspects of the band - from juggling responsibilities ("Myself, Laudo [aKING] and Francois [Fokofpolisiekar] have weekly meetings to discuss what's best for the three bands, in terms of members' schedules and the like") to self-promotion.

Getting your name out there in the digital age can be a daunting task, so the band have embraced Facebook.

"It's the cheapest way to communicate with our fans," Greef reasons. "I think that it's idiotic for a band to not use Facebook. Our fans on the site have jumped to just over 13 000.

That fan interaction is clearly important for the band, who issued their first single 'Pille Vir Kersfees' on a unique memory stick.

"We took it easy in the beginning. We released the paid single on the memory stick, and soon after we discovered that international bands were doing the same thing. We thought it was something unique and in that way, we could also give something back to our fans."

The fans have reciprocated and, in a few short months, Die Heuwels have garnered a huge home crowd following. Up here in Gauteng it's no different, although, Greeff believes that people in Pretoria are friendlier.

"People are different. Johannesburg is friendly," he reckons. Band photographer Liam Lynch quickly jumps in and corrects Greeff by sarcastically nodding his head and saying: "Pretoria".

Greeff reluctantly agrees, and elaborates on what he meant: "Like I said, people are different. We played at the Mystic Boer recently, and we had 1000 people there. So we have fans all over and they're all different."

And what can those eager fans expect in the future?

"We'll definitely collaborate with other artists again, but we would also like to do cover songs. I'm a huge fan of Lucas Mare, so I would like to cover some of his stuff. But we'll probably collab with Jack again.

"I guess a couple of remixes might also be on the cards."

But for now there's plenty of touring to do. Catch them at this year's Oppikoppi festival, which takes place from 7 to 9 August in Northam.