Bubblegum Club

Author: Bob Perfect

  • Diamond Thug release their debut album ‘Apastron’

    Diamond Thug release their debut album ‘Apastron’

    My first experience of Diamond Thug was when I booked them for a gig at Cool Runnings in Durban along with Thor Rixon as part of their first nationwide tour about 4 or 5 years ago now. If you’ve been to Cool Runnings, you wouldn’t expect the 2 acts to sell out the place, but we had a packed room and the audience took in sounds which were unfamiliar to Durban at the time, with open hearts. They were new to the game, but they were professional, ambitious and put on a moving performance to an unfamiliar audience. I knew then that I’d be watching them on big festival stages down the road.

    A few years later, that became a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy when I booked them for an ambitious music festival called Outland that weirdly enough led to me writing for this site. At that time, I saw a band on the verge of breaking out. The years of touring together were paying off. They were captivating and had the crowd hanging on every note. I found myself floating in a beautiful sea of sound under the stars in the Midlands, with waves of intricate melodies and enchanting vocals crashing over me. It was as clear then as it was the first time I saw them, this was a band who was destined for big things.

    Those ‘big things’ have been happening. They’ve recorded in New York thanks to Converse and played at SXSW which is quite the feather in a musician’s cap. They’ve toured Europe and are looking to go back. And even local festivals and promoters are starting to give them premier slots and are being rewarded for it, if the glowing reports of their performance at Lush this year are anything to go by.

    It’s on the back of all of this, the years of putting in the hard work on the ground, that Diamond Thug have released their debut album ‘Apastron’. And, well, it’s pretty much a masterpiece. I mean, it’s just an incredibly beautiful album where nothing sounds out of place. Every note, every chord, every beat sounds like it’s meant to be there. Diamond Thug weave elements of pop, electronica, psych and even elements of country with the fullness of sound that reminds me of stadium rock. It’s intricate and deliberate in its execution but provides an easy listening experience on the surface. If you want to dig deeper, there are many layers to peel away on ‘Apastron’.

    There’s no doubt in mind now that Diamond Thug are going to be huge. I mean, now that I know that they’ve already racked up over 2 million plays on Spotify, but still. The saying goes that it takes 10 years to become an overnight success. With ‘Apastron’, Diamond Thug might just knock a few years off the adage.

  • The Big Hash dropped out of High School to Chase His Rap Dream

    The Big Hash dropped out of High School to Chase His Rap Dream

    When you quit high school to pursue your rap career, you sure as fuck better make it. If you don’t, your parents and classmates will never let you hear the end of it. Not that having a Matric guarantees any kind of success, but such are societal pressures. The Big Hash calls himself a professional dropout, and while he looks moody in all off his Instagram photos, things seem to be going pretty good for the 17 year old rapper from Pretoria who has been racking up the plays on Soundcloud.

    According to his raps he’s making a couple grand a show, which isn’t too shabby and not exactly a brag compared to other cats who lie about stacking racks, so I think it’s probably accurate. His single Exes on the Weekend has racked up over 41k plays and every song on the Life + Times of a Teenage Influence EP has amassed more than 10k plays, which indicates that The Big Hash does indeed have some influence, and it’s likely to grow. He has an easy listening sound that has you imagining that your run down Golf is a Bentley as you roll down the streets.

    Lyrically there isn’t much new being said and, personally, I don’t want to hear anyone rapping about guns unless they’re actually strapped. But the package is slick and The Big Hash does the job he needs to do to get his point across over punchy 808s and dreamy keys floating throughout the 6 tracks. Modern rap is all about the hook and that is evident throughout the young rapper’s catalogue.

    I’d like to see The Big Hash experiment a bit more in future releases, but for now the 17 year old is making better songs than many artists who have a few years on him, and I have a feeling we’ll be hearing plenty from him over the next few years.

  • Nodiggity are Audio Visual Curators for the Lovers

    Nodiggity are Audio Visual Curators for the Lovers

    If you are a hater, Nodiggity are not for you. For real, if you have hate in your heart, don’t even bother reading further and most certainly don’t click their mixcloud link because, in their own words, “Nodiggity is for the lovers, by the lovers”.

    This dope duo of audio and visual curators from Cape Town consists of two talented womxn who are making their mark through djing, design and whatever mediums and platforms that are available to them (I mean, they have T-shirts called NodiggiTees available on Insta). They’re pro-femme, pro-queer, pro-POC and very pro creating and curating spaces for femme, queer, people of colour to get the fuck down in comfort and style as a way to subvert the traditional Cape Town nightlife experience.

    Listening to them talk on ‘The Cooking Question’ podcast, I actually feel pangs of jealousy because I realise that I’ll never be as effortlessly cool or comfortable with myself as these 2 femxles. While they’ve only really known each other for just over a year or so (after Jordan slid in Nickita’s DMs after her performance at Mother City Live Festival in 2016), they have the rapport of life long besties. I actually highly recommend listening to the podcast to really get a feel for who is behind the audio and visual delights.

    In terms of the audio delights, Nodiggity have put out a few sick mixes on their mixcloud and soundcloud pages which show off their immaculate taste in music. They describe their djing style as a “House, gqom, jazz and jazz hop – same Whatsapp group”, which is pretty accurate although I’d add soul and R&B in there too. House tends to be the base they work off of but they don’t shy away from the snares of hip-hop and gqom, and the jazz influence often shines through with a love of keys. They mix the classics over new school beats. They mix new school vocals over old school beats which makes their mixes sound timeless but, at the same time, incredibly current. Give their latest mix a listen below then go catch them live at a venue near you.

  • Musician RHEA BLEK : The Goddess of Finesse

    Musician RHEA BLEK : The Goddess of Finesse

    Rhea Blek calls herself The Goddess of Finesse (aka Finessa). It’s apt because she has an impressively delicate touch and skillful use of her voice, which is pretty in line with the definition of ‘finesse’. Rhea is singer/songwriter born and bred in the city of Durban, which you can kinda tell if you’ve been paying attention to the sounds coming out of the 031 lately. Although she says she creates genreless music, Rhea is part of a growing group of brilliant young women in Durban, like Red Robyn, Nipho Hurd, and Victoria Raw, who are making incredible neo-soul, R&B and jazz influenced songs that touch the soul. And I don’t even believe in souls.

    Rhea is firmly her own woman though, and while she may be playing in similar spaces, she’s doing it completely in her own way. On the opening track of her debut EP THIIIRD WAV, ‘Terms and Conditions‘, she opens up by confidently asking if she can shoot her shot and get down to business with a fine-as-hell man, with no strings attached, terms or conditions. Although, she also admits that she wouldn’t mind a little l-o-v-e, she’s happy to just get what she wants if the fine-as-hell man is down with it.

    Track 2, ‘Clyde‘, is a take on Bonnie and Clyde, but, as Rhea explained on Facebook, “this time, instead of Clyde running around and doing the crimes and Bonnie being down for it, it was Bonnie being the boss and Clyde being a loyal lover and partner in crime. That’s why the hook says ‘ride or die, sink or fly with me’”. Apparently a friend was supposed to do a verse but “the niggas were like ‘what you wrote is too hot, the song is yours, just write for the whole song’”.

    ‘Clyde’ is actually what inspired the whole EP, or, as Rhea puts it in another Facebook post, “After that, we decided – you know what? We’re making an EP, that’s what the fuck we gon’ do!” She also explains the concept for the album in her candid post, “I thought about centering it on love and on a love story with someone that started since we were kids, that’s where ‘TEENAGE DREAMS’ comes in.”

    ‘Teenage Dreams‘ is the last track on the EP and it’s a cute love song. According to Rhea, “That song is a story of how and where the love began and how long its sustained to the present. It’s just a big thank you to the dude and appreciation for the love. And it’s called ‘TEENAGE DREAMS’ because the love is so amazing it feels like we’re teenagers in love and we’re dreaming.”

    Rhea has been racking up the gigs around Durban and has even made a few Gauteng trips of late, and now that she’s put out some music, she can’t wait to put out more. She’s actually working on a follow up EP already and will be part of the We Are One Festival in Joburg alongside the likes of Moonchild, DJ Doowap, & Nonku Phiri on the 31st of March. Make sure you look out for The Goddess of Finesse, you’ll be impressed.

  • 1991 Put Out Dope Electronic Music That Cape Town is Known For

    1991 Put Out Dope Electronic Music That Cape Town is Known For

    Growing up, I always admired Cape Town’s electronic music scene. With the sounds of Sibot, Markus Wormstorm and Richard The Third  finding their way to me through SL Magazine’s compilation CDs, I got a taste of a scene I’d never get to experience but would always revere through their releases. These days, while I get to visit Cape Town every now and again, I still find myself in the same position of admiring it’s electronic musicians from afar because either they don’t play live or I visit at the wrong times. At least we have Soundcloud, and lately I’ve been racking up the plays on Cape Town label 1991’s page.

    I don’t really know all that much about 1991 other than that they’ve been going for about 2 years, their aesthetics are on point, and the music they put out is either wavey or ravey.

    If you check out their website, you’ll be treated to slick design, with them using stamps featuring butterflies and Olympic rings as album art, giving things a nostalgic feel. Something about it (probably the rings) reminded me of those Olympic promotional playing cards Caltex once gave out in the 90s.

    So far, 1991 have put out music rom 3 artists over the 2 years with most of it coming from Gourmet (wavey) and Maxime Alexander (ravey), with one track by the brilliantly named Constantia Mom (bit of both).

    Maxime Alexander image from MA14

    Gourmet makes what he calls Spaghetti Pop which actually reminds me a bit of Thor Rixon’s earlier work with a touch of future bass and chill wave goodness. Thor even jumped in on a remix of Gourmet’s ‘Good With a Nose Bleed‘ a while back. Gourmet’s latest release, ‘Jamaica‘, sets the scene for a night spent under the stars, on the beach in Jamaica, naturally.

    While Jamaica is very chilled, the next track on 1991’s Soundcloud isn’t. ‘Fake It‘ by Maxime Alexander gets ravey with some dark and methodical acid techno. I’m already dripping in sweat with my jaw clenched tight just sitting at my desk. I can’t even imagine what this dirty, dirty, dirty piece of electronic music would do in a dark club.

    They might not have the deepest lineup, but for my money, 1991 have been putting out some of the dopest electronic music that Cape Town is known for.

    Still from ‘Cashmere’ music video by Gourmet
    Still from ‘Yellow’ music video by Gourmet

  • Garage Rock Band Mouse Make a Rip Roaring Racket 

    Garage Rock Band Mouse Make a Rip Roaring Racket 

    I hate band origin stories. Fucking loathe them. “Oh, how’d you guys get together?” “Well, the lads and I were all friends in high school and we loved Foo Fighters so we decided to start a band,” or worse, “The label put us together.” But, I like Mouse‘s origin story. I fucking love Mouse, in general, but I think their Origin story is serendipitous and cute. They met, quite simply, because Damon (guitar, vox) put out an ad out on Gumtree. Chris (drums) found the ad whilst browsing online, hit Damon up, and now they’re travelling the country and, pretty soon, the world, making a rip roaring racket.

    Ok, that’s not exactly the most compelling story, but the thing is, rarely have there been two people so perfectly suited to make music together. Two good-natured but awkward, nerdy loners, equal parts naive and cynical, one, a guitarist, the other, a drummer, finding each other through the internet’s classifieds, and being such a perfect match, just seems like some sort of providence, or a statistical inevitability. Idk, either way, I’m stoked it happened because Mouse have by far been my favourite addition to the Durban music scene in the last few years.

    They’re on the garage/psych rock wave that’s been popular amongst white people who wear leather jackets over vests with skinny jeans and slops, but they themselves couldn’t give a single fuck about fashion or image. Like Black Math who came before them, Mouse fit in that uniquely Durban psych-influenced garage rock space that seems to have more grit and less pretension to it than many bands playing with similar sounds. What can I say? I’m partial to high pitched yells over distorted guitars and playful and experimental drum beats. Mouse hit that sweet spot for me and a steadily growing number of people who know what’s up.

    Mouse have been racking up the miles and consistently been getting booked around the country for the last year and a bit. With many trips to Joburg under their belt and a handful of ventures to Cape Town, as well as highly raved about sets at Mieliepop and Endless Daze, Mouse are starting to hit their stride as they get wiser to the game and more experience under their belts. They’ll soon be jetting off to play in Reunion Island, and they’ve been in talks with promoters in Europe about a possible tour, which I assume will lead to more tours because Mouse are one of those bands that once you’ve seen them live once, you’re hooked.

    In the last 4 months, Mouse have been on a tear with musical releases. We’re talking 2 EPs, a track on a hip compilation and a 12-minute song just for good measure. Serendipity had me at Red Bull Studios in Cape Town the same time they were recording Balaclava which just has this ferocious driving surf-rock influenced guitar riff that gets taken all over the place and is a trip to listen to. They recorded it as part of the Psych Night/Red Bull/Vans God Save The New Wave compilation and it’s the stand out track of the 5. No disrespect to the other bands, I just couldn’t get through their songs without going back to Balaclava and rocking the fuck out. I might be biased but I’m also 100% correct.

    I’ve also been bumping their Red Saint EP on repeat for the last month or so, mostly for the guitar riffage that kicks in about 30 seconds in on the opening track Eliminator. It starts out slow but turns into a real snorter that seeks to knock your block off. I suggest wearing a helmet to avoid injury.

    Their latest release, Wave, is a 12-minute monster that highlights the duo’s creativity and stamina. The drums sound a bit like they were recorded in a bedroom, because they were, but that’s the charm of “garage” rock. It’s over 12 minutes long but never gets boring. Like the title suggests, the song builds and breaks repeatedly like waves crashing on the shore/your face. Sure, it’s a bit indulgent, but all Chris and Damon want to do is make some noise together, and you’d be hard-pressed to find two people better suited to do it.

  • Cordovan Ghostal takes things one track at a time

    Cordovan Ghostal takes things one track at a time

    One of the eternal struggles of being an online music connoisseur is when you find a dope artists who you know has a trove of sick tracks on their computer, but has only put out the bare minimum of music online to get you hooked and wanting more. I’m almost certain Cordovan Ghostal (Kabelo Sediba) is one of those artists.

    I’ve done some digging but have only managed to dig up a handful of releases from this mysterious South African producer. His Bandcamp has one song on it from 2016 and his Soundcloud has a demo, 2 remixes and a collab with British MC Daniel Triple OG. That’s it. The cat has been putting out music for 2 years and that’s all I can find. Which is a shame, because the enigmatic 22 year old producer who bounces between Jozi and CT, has a knack for making the kind of synth laced hip-hop beats that reminds me of early Tyler, The Creator. That’s probably because like Tyler, Cordovan Ghostal is inspired by N.E.R.D/The Neptunes, as well as jazz, 90s R&B and apparently early Jungle, although I don’t hear much of the later in his limited selections online.

    His earliest work that I can find online is that singular Bandcamp release I mentioned earlier, a repetitive and moody post rock track called ‘Wall‘. The imagery for ‘Wall’ has an OFWGKTA vibe to it although the song feels like something Ian Mackaye might have made if he got into codeine instead of straight edge. His latest work on Soundcloud is vastly different though. None of the guitar or morose wailing of his first release. Instead it’s all high-hats, synths and groove, perfect for nodding your head and smoking a blunt too.

    In his press release, Cordovan says that he wants to score films and make soundtracks to video games, which, from the few things I’ve heard from him, seems like a good move. The cat can really set a mood, you know? He also says he’s taking things one track at a time, I’m just hoping for more tracks and less time.

  • Move with Batuk’s Latest Single

    Move with Batuk’s Latest Single

    By its title, Batuk’s latest single should give you a fair idea of what you’re in for. No, they’re not telling you to get out the way, but rather to move that ass of yours to the tropical groove. ‘Move!‘, the first single off the Pan-African duo’s upcoming 7-track Move! EP and Kasi Royalty album is an up tempo jam that’s sure to get you shaking what your mamma gave ya on the dancefloor.

    While their most popular single to date, ‘Call Me Naughty’, had a bit of a darker vibe to it with the deeper bass tones and repetitive house beat (although it still had plenty of grove to move to), Move has a much more jovial feel to it. They call it an ode to their township roots that shaped them although personally, it sounds like a party on the beach. Truth be told, this would have been perfect for December but there’s still enough Summer left to slip on a floral shirt, sip on a cocktail and sway those hips to the sounds of Manteiga and Spoek Mathambo.

    You might remember Batuk being a 3 piece but the trio is now down to 2. Spoek Mathambo has taken over production fully from Aero Manyelo whilst Manteiga handles most of the vocal duties. Spoek’s production on Move adds a layer of pop sensibility that makes it a bit more accessible to the general public than some of the group’s earlier work, which might lose them some of their earlier fans but will certainly help them pick up a few more. Manteiga fully embraces the front woman role and comes through with 2 verses of raps that are full of attitude and spunk, whilst Spoek casually drops a few bars in the second verse but takes up very little space on the song vocally.

    The video for the song is a visual feast of dancing in settings that’ll look familiar to many South Africans. Kitchens, lounges, backyards, the beach and even an M3 serve as the backdrop to gyrating bodies. The only real crit I have is that a Playstation doesn’t make 8-bit sounds, but that’s just the nerd in me being pedantic.

    Give Move a watch and a listen below and look out for more from the Mozam and Mzansi connection in the next few months.

  • Robin Thirdfloor is More Than a Musician

    I first came across Robin Thirdfloor in 2016 when I was booking acts for Outland, an ambitious music festival that was fun for the one time that it happened. I was looking for young hip-hop acts who were doing cool things but hadn’t really been on festival lineups. Sthembelo Dlamini, our hip-hop plug at Durban is Yours, recommended a few acts but 2 in particular stood out, ByLwansta and Robin Thirdfloor. Both these cats have since carved unique paths for themselves in the industry and have achieved impressive feats, both locally and internationally, which says something for Sthem’s ear for talent.

    This is about Robin, but you should definitely google ByLwansta if you’re not familiar yet.

    At the time, Robin was promoting his Sounds Empty Pockets Make EP, a homage to old school hip-hop that was all about being young and broke, which is always relatable. On the EP, he told the story of a young rap dude with a fake gold chain who just wanted to be like Biggie and Pac and to do his mama proud.

    I’m pretty sure his mama is proud by now, and if she’s not, she should be. I mean, off that EP the young rapper went from Umlazi to SXSW, which I’d consider to be a pretty big deal. Coming off of that career high, Robin dropped his ‘Bhotela’ EP, exclusively to Deezer thanks to locking down an ambassadorship with the streaming platform.

    Bhotela is vastly different to S.E.P.M and Robin seems like a vastly different person from the kid he was in 2015. There’s more confidence in everything he does now and Robin seems more certain of the path he’s walking. While S.E.P.M was an ode to old school hip-hop from the States, Bhotela is an ode to Umlazi and draws from kwaito and hip-hop to deliver something more distinct.

    Every time I chat to the young rapper and entrepreneur (he has a side hustle called Somdanger Concepts), he always has new questions about the industry and how to navigate it. He’s constantly calculating his next move and putting in the time and effort to make sure that everything he does is just right. From visual aesthetics to sponsorship proposals, Robin makes sure that everything is on wax which is why I don’t doubt that 2018 will be the year his pockets start jingling.

  • Nonku Phiri Doesn’t Have To Try Be Anything

    I assume everyone reading this website knows who Nonku Phiri is. Well, you know her work, at least. The multi-talented creative has featured on a handful of hits, both as rapper Jung Freud and as ‘herself’, has collabed with some of the most respected names in the game, and put out two vastly different singles, in the few years she’s been putting out music. She’s also an illustrator who has done work for other local musicians. Oh, and she has her own record label, Albino Black. It’s all been so multifaceted that while she’s shown her range of skills it’s hard to say that any of us really know who Nonku Phiri is from her work so far. This year though, we’ll all be getting to know Nonku a lot better.

    I had the pleasure of getting to know the songbird a little bit better and get a feel for what she’s got going on this year via a short Skype call a few days after her New Year’s weekend Afropunk and Smoking Dragon sets. She was a bit tired but still lively, “It’s just been a long year so I’m feeling a bit in need of a break. Nothing too hectic”.

    Since it’s the new year, I opened by asking her if she was the resolution type, “Nope. I do think one does need to have a plan for each year but I like to leave room to expand. I have plans for what I want and plans to achieve through the year and then everything else that falls in between is like leaving room for surprise and seeing what the world has to offer.”

    Her plans for this year include kicking off the year by putting out a fresh single and finishing off the EP she’s planning to release around June. “There’s a new single coming out soon,” she tells me and wryly follows up with, “I’m not gonna give you dates but it’s coming out soon.” Nonku plays her cards close to her chest, she wouldn’t even tell me who she was working with on the project. “You’ll find out when it comes out. I’m just working with someone I’ve been working with for a while.”

    “I plan on putting out a lot of music this year. I’ve been producing as well so…” I interrupt her by asking her what it’s like moving from just being a vocalist to producing as well. She corrects me by saying “I’ve never just been a vocalist,” and goes on to answer the question,“I’ve been solo for the last 3 years, been travelling and kind of have a different approach in terms of the live set. A lot has been learnt in terms of, as you said, being more of a vocalist and using the voice as an instrument, versus standing there and having backing tracks. It’s been fun to explore that side of being more hands-on with how the music gets done versus stepping into a booth and just writing.”

    Because of how much she’s collaborated, I ask if she’s looking forward to having more control over the music. “I’ve had control over my music the whole time, I just think the collaborative part of, I guess, the formative years was just based on kind of challenging myself and getting out of my comfort zone.”

    Nonku then gets into what about collaboration she thinks is so dope. “It’s being able to create something that can’t ever be duplicated with any other individual. Being a musician or being a creative will always have a collaborative element to it. I think for me it was being young and, you know, not necessarily having one thing that you’re solely focusing on genre-wise. Going from boom-bap, experimental hip-hop beats, to then doing house music, then having a stint, like, rapping, and then getting back to just making music.”

    Circling back to the question of control, the musician continues, “I think the only thing that I would say is that it’s not about having control, it’s about finally being able to have people understand me outside of the collaborative part. Featuring on a track doesn’t necessarily mean that one’s just a featuring artist. I just feel like there’s a contribution, or a story, that can only be told by specific people or when you work with specific people.”

    “Everything I’ve worked on has always had a touch of me. Nothing else I’ve created through collaborations has been the same.” If you’ve heard her music, you know this is true. We get into the growth that comes with working with talented people across so many different genres. “The sonic side is something I’ve always been exploring and I guess you always learn or get influenced by the different genres or whatever. I’m using my voice and being able to come in and not just have to sing words, you know? Vocalists are kinda underrated in that sense. They are producers in their own way,” she says in reference to the earlier vocalist versus producer comments.

    Nonku sees the last three years since she’s moved back to Joburg as an incubation period. “I think it’s been a stage of incubation, a stage of exploring myself. I mean, before this I wasn’t really travelling overseas or playing to different audiences so I think It’s been a very beautiful growth period and, I don’t know… I just think Joburg always has all these negative connotations attached to it, but it’s home for me. This is where I was born.” Although she grew up in Cape Town, she was born in Jozi and moving back gave her “time to just figure out who I was at this particular phase as an adult.”

    “It’s just been a really great mirror in terms of what you surround yourself with. I don’t think the influences have necessarily come from the city, but I think it’s been a space that’s allowed me to just be… “ she briefly pauses and then lets out, “without having to try be anything.”

    And I guess that’s the thing with Nonku, why it’s so hard to pin her down – it doesn’t feel like Nonku is really trying to be anything, she just is. She’s a creative spirit expressing herself, and she plans to do so in a myriad of ways this year. She’s keeping things hush for now, but she’s clearly excited about putting everything she’s learned up to this point into a definitive release that encompasses all her talents. Look out for Nonku’s name, voice and visuals in 2018. You’ll be glad you did. 

  • Fortune Shumba and Dubokaj Collab on an Emotional Dub Release

    I know pretty much fuck all about Reggae and Dub other than the UB40 tapes my mom would play in her Uno Fire, and nights out at Cool Runnings. I also saw Damian Marley live in a haze of smoke at Blue Lagoon for Zakifo. That’s about it. Other than that, they’re not really genres I’ve ever gotten into. Like, I smoke a lot of weed, but not enough to bop to dub at home. And reggae has just kinda always felt like Gospel music for Rastas.  

    So, that I find myself listening to ‘Dubokaj Meets Fortune Shumba’ on repeat is a new experience. I find myself entranced by the experimental reggae and dub beats of Dubokaj and hypnotised by Fortune Shumba’s soulful vocals. On Soundcloud, the release is tagged as reggae but 3 of the 7 songs are dub mixes. I’m not great at telling the difference tbh. Dub is what reggae sounds like when played in the bath, right? Cause this definitely has that dreamy underwater feel with synths echoing through the haze.

    Lyrically, Fortune cynically explores lust, love, and relationships. From the opener of Trinidad Babies, in which he swears it isn’t a love song, to the moody Nobody in which he laments through a vocoder how much nobody knows how much he misses “you”, Fortune takes a more emotional and sentimental approach than I typically wouldn’t expect from music I typically associate with potheads.

    I don’t know too much about the swiss producer Dubokaj, unfortunately, although his work on this project makes me want to explore more of his catalogue. I do know, however, that Fortune has shown he can’t be pigeon-holed and has added his touch to a variety of beats by collaborating with a wide range of artists over the last 2 years. From his ‘Dawn EP’ in 2015, to now, the back-up dancer for Moonchild has steadily been putting together a body of work that’ll see him in the foreground of stages in days to come.

  • Esa Brings The World To Churn

    It’s been 13 years since Esa Williams last lived in South Africa. In that time, the dynamic producer, musician and DJ has racked up a career that any electronic artist would be proud of. We’re talking more mixes than a young Tom Cruise, a residency on Worldwide FM, his Boiler Room set at Amsterdam’s Dekmantel Festival is real journey that highlights his passion for blending rhythmic bands from across the globe together, and he’s played all the festivals and clubs your friends who are clued up on the European scene want to go to. Oh, and he’s playing at the boutique electronic music festival Churn this weekend. Which you should definitely go to if you’re in Joburg or can afford to road trip to the Tweefontein Melkery. 

    Esa has been around the block a good few times but still gets mistaken for a new artist. I jokingly asked him if he’d done a lot of interviews since his answers in our email exchange had that polish of a seasoned vet, “Yes, indeed, many many interviews because every year I’m the new artist. Which is very funny, but I think works in my favour and hope it’ll continue, where I can also present something new and interesting every year.”

    “I’m from Cape Town, the Cape Flats and grew up in between Athlone and Bonteheuwel. It came with it’s challenges at times but I was lucky and had parents who always pushed forward to give my sisters and I the best,” Esa tells me when I ask about his early life. Esa credits his father with setting him on his musical journey. “My late father was a policeman and also a DJ and I guess all my initial music education was through him. This is also how I had my first experiences with people dancing to somebody playing records and tapes. Another person who also played a massive role with my music was my cousin Kamrudien who was also sadly killed on the Cape Flat earlier this year. Alongside my father, the two of them played at private gatherings, family weddings and some of the clubs on the Cape Flats.”

    It seems music runs in Esa’s veins, so I asked if he was gifted with an ear for music or if was it something that developed over time. He told me, “I think it must have been a gift from the gods since I don’t see myself doing anything else. But, it’s been a proper journey. Exploring and developing new ideas and thinking it’s something that’ll continue because it’ll mos be boring to listen to one style of music for the rest of your life.”

    If you’ve heard Esa’s sets and mixes, you know he’s definitely not boring because of the myriad of styles that he blends together. Esa has picked up a lot from moving around over the years. The move overseas has done him good, even though it’s been a long journey from the Cape Flats to London, which he now calls home.

    “I’ve been living away from South Africa for 13 years now. When I arrived here back in 2004, it was in the middle of winter. In Aberdeen, Scotland, of all places. Which, at the time, I didn’t even know existed. I then spent the next 2 years there, working along the east coast of Scotland, visiting many small villages day to day selling energy.”

    Even though he was far from home, he was able to connect with the Scots thanks to a few similarities to home. “What was funny is that I felt a connection through the Scottish attitude and language dialect. It was weird as there was certain words they would say, and I’d think “Yoh, did the bra just say something in Afrikaans?” It was kak funny, but it was the best way to slowly ease myself into the UK, looking back now. From Aberdeen, Esa then moved to Glasgow where he got most of his UK club culture experience. “I was really lucky. In the 7 years I spent there, I managed to be involved with most of the Glasgow ‘underground’ music scene. From Sub Club, to Soma Records, Jackmaster, Rubadub and finally the last Scottish project which was Auntie Flo, which was when I also moved to London, about 4 years ago. London has been really good for me since I felt Glasgow was a bit too small after 7 years. I was looking for a change in scenery too.”

    “It’s an amazing city but equally scary. There’s no time to waste. You got’s to be on top of your game and most importantly be open minded,” he tells me when asked what it’s like living in one of the modern cultural hubs of Europe. I asked if it was possible to juxtapose Cape Town and London but he said, “I can’t really juxtapose London and Cape Town since most of the time spent before arriving in London was in Glasgow and for me I felt it was a natural progression to where I wanted to go as a person and artist.”

    That being said, things are obviously different when he comes back to his hometown. “Whenever I visit Cape Town I always have this positive expectations but it seems like things are moving backwards, especially in the communities I grew up in. It saddens me but this in some way has also been an inspiration for me to push on harder with my goals and aspirations, with a hope that it can have some positive effect back home.”

    Esa has been using his influence overseas to promote South African artists. “I’m proud to be part of the movement pushing South African music internationally and have always looked back to my roots for inspiration since I first left the homeland. It’s also been a pleasure to have met and befriended so many talented people who are all pushing the boundaries and sharing the sounds of SA worldwide, with the likes of Nonku Phiri, Portable, DJ Lag, Floyd Lavine, DJ Okapi, Cards on Spoke, Nozinja to name a few.”

    Looking forward to the weekend and his set at Churn, Esa is hyped to share what he’s learnt over the years with fellow South Africans, “I’m really excited to finally have the platform to showcase what I’ve learnt and my experiences, how better opportunity to do it at Churn Festival on the 2nd December, I’ve prepared a special set with something unique but also sounds that are familiar to remind us of our heritage as South Africans and our beautiful country.”