Armed with nothing but a keyboard, a drum and a mixture of their voices and spunky pop/jazz-driven melodies, The Arrows match a rigorous Christian message with their music and have quickly become somewhat of a global spectacle. Their unique sound is a reflection of the quirky and charming personalities of band members Christie Desfontaine and Pam de Menezes who are redefining the way music is written, recorded and ultimately played.

Formed in 2006 out of the port city of Durban, the duo set out to share their musical and spiritual integrity at bars, clubs and churches.  After the release of their self-titled Ep in 2007, The Arrows gained a following of more 4000 fans and were soon playing in front of concert crowds at many South African music festivals. Their debut single “Next Time” made it onto regional and national radio across South Africa. Before long they were playing the United States where they got the opportunity to record with heavyweight producer Tim Heintz (Shakatak, Aretha  Franklin). “That was the day we started taking what we did seriously,” Christie says. “Up until that point we had no gauge, besides our friends and families, as to whether what we did was worthy of more attention.”

Their debut album, “Make Believe” (2010), has been described as a documentary of the process they have been through as a band, an anthem of hope that keeps them alive and playing. A lot of the songs featured on the album have been written and performed since 2007 and were already fan favorites before the album’s release. “Make Believe really is the special song of the album for me because I actually only finished writing that one in the studio after having a really good idea for the drum part,” Pam says.“We ended up loving it so much that we named the whole album after it. I think also because the content of the song really captures the heart of The Arrows in that period, where we were hoping and having faith and praying that what we were dreaming would become reality. And we still hope today, but in that time, Make Believe seemed like the most honest choice to sum up how the band was feeling and what the album was about.” As a gifted University of Cape Town jazz music major, she explains that the sound of the album - a mash-up of electro dance, classical, folk and edgy-pop elements - is a result of her fascination with fusing different genres and sounds which don’t usually fit, but end up sounding beautiful together. The end of 2010 saw the two on a four-month tour around US and Australia.