Bubblegum Club

Author: Themba Kriger

  • Christian Tiger School on wax

    It’s been just over five years since Christian Tiger School burst onto the scene with their memorable first single ‘Carlton Banks‘. Since then the duo have grown as musicians and producers, with their sound changing along with it, and their live show expanding to include Rueben Crowie on drums. Having played at Sónar in Barcelona, SXSW in Austin, Texas, Primavera in Spain, and CMJ in New York City, they’re making an impression both locally and abroad.

    Over the years their sound has evolved from being rooted in beats and jazz to being more influenced by the likes of house and techno. This is especially evident on their latest release, ‘If You Want To‘. “We were definitely interested and intrigued by the length and structure of techno and house and not necessarily as much looking into hip hop or the beat scene,” explains one half of Christian Tiger School, Luc Veermeer,. “There are a lot of layers that go gradually in and out, it’s the same chord the whole time being held throughout the song and the same bassline. This is something we took from house and techno, filtering a pad or filtering the bassline, making it short or long or only the lows being played. To take away the repetitiveness of it and make it seem like a transition. We definitely tried to make it gritty.”

    ‘If You Want To’ is not only a step in a new direction for Christian Tiger School, but also their first physical release, with Berlin-based label Lissoms releasing it on vinyl. Featuring remixes by Lissoms label head Edmondson as well as Georgian producer Gacha Bakradze and artwork by Niall Greaves, putting together the release has been an easier process than expected for the duo. “It’s almost been too simple. Everything’s been presented and it’s worked out really easily. Given the fact that it is our first physical release it’s been great. We’ve had more trouble posting an EP online, never mind getting a 12” pressed,” says the other half of the duo, Sebastiano Zanasi.

    Starting off 2018 with a physical release, Christian Tiger School are looking to follow it up with the release of an EP in the first quarter of the year, while their collaboration with the experimental British jazz drummer Moses Boyd is looking to be released in April. During the South African winter, Christian Tiger School will be in Europe on tour and looking to spend some time in London after their tour is complete to immerse themselves in the scene there. “We’re always really sad when we have to leave and things always seem to kind of happen before we get there or just after we leave so we want to try and take full advantage of being there and stay there for a while,” Luc states. “Yeah for sure, things usually tend to unfold or happen as we’re leaving so we definitely want to spend more time and network and spend some time immersed in the music we’re really into and try and build a bit of a reputation there,” adds Sebastiano.

    Listen to and order ‘If You Want To’ on Bandcamp:

    https://lissomsxyz.bandcamp.com/album/if-you-want-to

  • PURE wants you to treasure yourself

    “It was amazing being part of this collective voice but I had my own voice that I think for a while was dying to have its day,” explains PURE in an honest conversation about her decision to pursue a solo career. This has seen the former front-woman of Fruit & Veggies, and later The Pranks, do a 180 degree turn, both sonically and personally. “There’s always issues [in bands] and I was tired of that. In my life I was also approaching this massive shift. I stopped drinking. My daughter was the main beacon of light for this shift that happened. When I was fell pregnant it was a chaotic time. I was a mess. I was still in Fruit & Veggies to sum things up.”

    The shift that motherhood had catalysed led her to return to herself and to a type of simplicity that isn’t present in bands. “Soul, neo-soul and the voice prominent music was my first love, before I even got into the punk scene in Durban. I had this weird a cappella thing I used to do with my friends. I think in a sense it’s coming full circle of that. It’s so important because for a long time I’ve been pulled away from myself. Now it’s PURE. Now it’s time to focus on myself.”

    Inspired by a series of events that involved over consumption of drugs and alcohol, and culminated in a painful weekend spent in a tent at a festival dealing with the repercussions leading to an intense period of self-reflection, “Treasure”, the follow-up single to her debut “No Secrets”, explores themes of the self and how we so often neglect the world within oneself, trying to fill the void inside with worldly pleasures rather than through deep work from within. “The idea is to transcend into this glorious and magnificent being, rising high above and taking pride in the scars and pain that have brought you to this place. Projecting a future of hopefulness and powerful transformations through embracing the light as well as the dark in one’s own path.”

    The music video, co-directed by PURE alongside Bastien Lienardy, echoes this interplay between the light and dark parts of the self. A visual representation of a dream she had, the video shows the interplay between these two aspects of the self. “In the video you can see a little bit of friction, back and forth battles and it kind of represents how sometimes we try to fight that dark side but in all fairness it’s very much part of who we are. And the more we try and fight it, the more we give it power.”

    Having found her path this year, PURE is ready to forge ahead and start her journey as a solo artists. “I have a lot of plans for 2018. I feel like 2017 was a lot about getting into the rhythm of being a mom, juggling job, juggling career, trying to make time for this, trying to make time for that, and now I’ve found that balance. I really want to just spread my wings in 2018.”

    Photography by Nick Gorgon

  • Immerse yourself in the nuances of Luca Williams’ Sonecy

    Luca Williams is an energetic and passionate young artist from Cape Town who dreams big, and despite being affiliated with Cruel Section and Straight Feels, has already put into motion his plan to start his own record label. “Sonecy is basically the world that I place my music in and it’s a record label that I just started. The problem I’ve always had was that I’m not sure people understand the extent to which I want to take things and how wild and weird my ideas would be. I want to take responsibility for my vision,” Luca Williams says excitedly.

    Unpacking the name gives more sense to the world he envisions. “Sonic Prophecy. What the future is going to sound like. That’s the type of music I’ve been trying to make lately.” Taking inspiration from the groundbreaking French comic Métal Hurlant which influenced Bladerunner and Akira amongst others, Luca Williams imagines Sonecy as a bright world, filled with neon lights, where sound is synesthetic and music has colour. It is in this futuristic world that he creates his music.

    Photography by Mzonke Maloney

    With two EPs under his belt, ‘Just So You Know’ and ‘Someone, Somewhere’, his sound has been described as R&B, although that was never his intention. He would rather be able to define his own genre so that he can set terms and manage expectations. “If I say I make trap, you’ll say this isn’t Migos, this isn’t Lil Uzi. But if I tell you this is just nuance, that’s the genre I subscribe to. Nuance is anything that can fit into Sonecy, that lives in Sonecy. So it doesn’t have to be my music.”

    He has spent the last year working on his third release ‘Just So You Know 2’ and while the process has been challenging and frustrating at times, he believes dumping and reworking tracks is necessary in order for him to achieve what he is looking for sonically. “My mission in life is to make work that becomes referential. That’s what this year’s been about. I’ve been honest enough with myself to say that this is not going to become referential.”

    Photography by Luke Doman

    The upcoming release sees a slight sonic shift with elements of house alongside soul and R&B but maintains his futuristic outlook. “When people ask me what does it sound like I say it sounds like what I think the future will sound like.” Determined to make music on his own terms, Luca Williams is approaching the industry from an angle most artists don’t take, and won’t stop until he has made his mark on it. “That’s the one thing I see as one of my greatest purposes. To provide a certain sonic palette that is immersive.”

  • The warm crackle of vinyl on Wax Trades

    Likhona Camane is a Cape Town based record collector and producer who releases music under the moniker seventhgaze. Founder of the creative collective and label Lilies, he aims to give a platform to independent musicians on which they can show more than a singular aspect of themselves, with Lilies Radio allowing them to broadcast mixes or podcasts. Lilies Radio’s first show is Wax Trades, a monthly, strictly vinyl based show hosted by seventhgaze.

    The idea for Wax Trades sprang to life at the beginning of the 2016 when he was talking to fellow record collector and producer Fernando about their mutual love for collecting. “I really wanted to do more than just release my own music. I wanted to start doing mixes and stuff like that also. My record collection was growing so I thought might as well try,” explains seventhgaze.

    Having caught the collecting bug at 16 when his mother gave him a record player for his birthday with a copy of Mumford and Sons’ “Babel” his first purchase, seventhgaze only plays vinyl on his show because it is a more accurate reflection of what he is listening to and drawing inspiration from. “When I’m buying vinyl I’m more specific because I’m spending more money on the music itself”.

    He still sources most of his vinyl the old-fashioned way, visiting stores such as Voom-voom Vintage in Observatory, Mabu Vinyl in Cape Town and the vinyl bins of second hand stores. Travel also helped bolster his collection. “I was lucky enough to travel overseas and I collected some records over there.”

    His shows are never genre specific but curated around a certain mood. “I try and see where people from different genres try and keep that mood going.” Spanning time and genres, the show is an insight into the music that inspires and moves seventhgaze.

    For 2018 seventhgaze is looking to bring in some guests to the show. “We’re living in a time where labels are reissuing older records that weren’t heard before. So I want to try and bring people like that onto the show. So more people can hear what’s being made and what was made before.”

    Follow Lilies Radio on Mixcloud to keep up to date with the Wax Trades podcast and the latest additions to seventhgaze’s record collection.

  • Kyle Lewis – a passion for music videos

    Despite being the visionary behind the music videos for some of the leading names in the local scene, including Cassper Nyovest, Riky Rick, Nasty C, Khuli Chana, Tumi, The Parlotones and Toya Delazy, Kyle Lewis still views directing music videos as passion project. “The first thing to be sacrificed is mine pay and my producer’s pay. I want to pump all the money that I have into the visual. It’s important to me that it looks good and that the idea that’s in my mind is executed as well as I possibly can,” Kyle explains emphatically.

    With a bold visual style and thought-provoking concepts, Kyle’s work stands out from the standard performance videos that are so prevalent today. “Making straightforward performance videos are no longer appealing to me, because if you don’t make money from it you need to make it worth your while, and make something you’re really proud of.”

    Describing his aesthetic as dark, Kyle Lewis shies away from producing overly happy work. “Looking at the dark side of the human psyche has always been an interesting place for me because happiness and this frivolity is sometimes a mask we put on for darker inner feelings.” He attributes this attraction to darkness to his dad exposing him to bad horror films as a child. This darkness can be seen in videos such as Cassper Nyovest’s ‘War Ready’, Riky Rick’s ‘FUSEG’ and his most recent offering for Durban rapper Zakwe on his track ‘Zebentin’, featuring Cassper Nyovest & Musiholiq.

    Zebentin also features the artist Pure, who can be seen in ‘War Ready’ and ‘Good Girls’ too. Kyle directed the music video for her single ‘No Secrets’, and he  describes her as his new muse. “She’s willing. As long as it’s art she’s down for it.” The video is raw and real, with the performers completely naked and appearing without makeup or hair styling. “It was all about body positivity. I’m very proud of that one,” Kyle says.

    His videos also often feature more than just his creative vision, with Kyle getting hands on designing and making props such as masks, headpieces and wigs for his videos. “It started off with the necessity for me to make [props], and now it’s just become a thing,” he says showing me a wig he made that Pure wore in the ‘Zebentin’ video.

    From making his directorial debut with Locnville’s ‘Sun in my Pocket’, shot on a 5D and R2000 budget, to epic productions such as Nasty C’s ‘Bad Hair’ and Riky Rick’s ‘Exodus’, Kyle Lewis has grown as a director, becoming more comfortable with his vision and more deft at executing them. Music videos aren’t the end goal for Kyle who hopes to make the move into feature films in the future although he is very sensitive about storytelling in South Africa. “I’m very opinionated about who can tell whose story. That’s why I think horror is a good direction for me because I don’t necessarily have to make it anything cultural that I shouldn’t be saying.” With his bold aesthetic, a feature-length Kyle Lewis directed horror would be a visual feast.

  • 10 years of Moonchild

    “My mom has special powers, she sees stuff before it happens. So she’s an inyanga [healer in Xhosa]. Inyanga also means the moon, so instead of being a child of a healer I choose the moon. It’s about being the child of someone with a special gift,” explains Moonchild Sanelly when asked about her stage name. Born in the Eastern Cape, she was surrounded by jazz thanks to her mother who was a jazz singer and owned a jazz tavern. Weekends were spent at her grandmother’s home where her cousins who were Kwaito dancers would practice. Along with hip hop, these were the sounds she was exposed to as a child.

    Moonchild Sanelly always had a desire to be on stage. Singing and dancing from a young age it was in high school that she formed a group with a few of her friends and started performing Spice Girls covers at school assemblies. “I was a stage kid. I don’t remember thinking about becoming a singer one day. It was just one of those things, I’m going to be on stage, period.”

    Moving to Durban in 2005 to study fashion, her first performances were as a poet in 2006. While she can’t remember being introduced as anything else other than Moonchild, officially  Moonchild the artist was born in 2007.  Instead of trying to fit into the typical rhyme scheme or poetry mold she would let the characters she became on stage guide her performances. This led her to getting a regular slot on King Siso’s show on Kakasi FM. Already as a poet she was already subconsciously engaging with acts of female empowerment. “There was always some form of empowerment, without even me knowing I was empowering. I was just standing up for women. It was just me being myself.“

    Moonchild Sanelly describes her bold style as ghetto funk, a combination of music, fashion and dance. Her performances are energetic and sexy, with Moonchild Sanelly never standing still. Explaining her performances Moonchild says that, “this is how you lose your mind. This is when you lose your morals. This is when you are just free. And then you bring out the girl you always are.” Her lyrics are in a mixture of Xhosa and English and are a reflection of her authentic voice. “It’s literally the way I speak so I’m super expressive that way.“

    The past year has seen her collaborate with a variety of artists which she views as an opportunity to expose people to her music that would otherwise have not been exposed to her work. “I don’t want to change my sound. I want to be myself. But then there are people that will never be exposed to that.” The approach seems to be paying off as more people are starting to take note of her talents. “It’s working out nicely because now people hear one verse in a feature and they go back to the actual album. They know my music because the verse in the feature is already different.“

    Her long list of collaborations include three tracks on DJ Maphorisa’s upcoming compilation, including a track with Shimza  and DJ Maphorisa as well as one with Rude Boyz. Meanwhile her current single ‘F- Boyz’ is getting the grime treatment and will be released in the UK. She’s also got a track with Japan-based Weird Together alongside Kwesta coming out, while her track with Original Swimming Party, ‘Biggest Curse’, is getting an international release. Finally her track ‘Yhu’ with The Kiffness is currently on radio rotation. “There’s a lot of music,” says Moonchild excitedly.

    With so much music in the works an album is not a priority for Moonchild at the moment. “I feel like the features I’ve got are an album on their own. Before I even drop anything. I’ve no pressure to drop an album for next year. I’m definitely doing EPs.” Next year also sees Moonchild going on tour. While several destinations are on the cards, London is confirmed. With her voice reaching so many markets it’s only matter of time before Moonchild Sanelly becomes a household name.

    Credits:

    Photography & styling by Jamal Nxedlana

    Hair & makeup by Orli Oh

    Styling assistant – Lebogang Ramfate

  • Distruction Boyz are the Future of Gqom

    Emerging out of the townships of Durban, the reach of gqom has spread over the last five years touching the rest of South Africa and making an impression on the global underground. With pioneers such as DJ Lag and the Rude Boyz having laid the foundation for the next generation of artists, now more than ever there is an appetite for the stripped down, minimal sounds of Durban.

    Having produced Babes Wodumo’s breakout hit “Wololo”, Kwa-Mashu based producers Distruction Boyz’ 13 track debut album “Gqom is the Future” showcases the duo’s intention of leaving a lasting impression on the music industry with one of the most exciting sounds to emerge out of South Africa in the last decade. Dubbed sghubu, a subgenre of gqom, Distruction Boyz’ sound is softer, more melodic, with more commercial leanings than it’s underground cousin.

    The album features collaborations with rising stars and heavyweights of the scene including Prince Bulo, Benny Maverick, Dlala Mshunqisi, Rude Boyz, Tipcee, Cruel Boyz and even DJ Tira. Favourite tracks from the last year including “2 O’Clock”, “Madness”, “Midnight” and 2016’s nationwide hit “Shut Up and Groove” all make an appearance. With relentless grooves and syncopated rhythms, the 13 tracks on “Gqom is the Future” hit you like a freight train and make sitting still an impossibility.

    With “Gqom is the Future” Thobani “Que” Mgobhozi and Zipho “Gold” Mthembu have assembled an album that captures the vibrant energy of Durban and it’s no surprise that the album has been released in time for summer. With promising initial sales, the Distruction Boyz’ goal of reaching Gold seems within reach. Expanding the palette of what one expects from Gqom, the Distruction Boyz have added new elements to what is an already exciting and evolving genre. The only questions that remains is where the future of Gqom is going to take it next.

  • Programming Music as Performance

    At first glance a live coding show doesn’t seem all that different from any other electronic music show with various electronic sounds emanating from speakers and the performer somehow triggering these sounds from their laptop. Upon closer inspection though it becomes clear that rather than simply playing pre-created loops in a linear fashion, the artist is actually performing using a special programming environment and is shaping their performance through bits of code which generate and affect the various sounds.

    Although live coding has practitioners all over the world, South African representation ends at Aragorn23, a Johannesburg based experimental musician who has been composing experimental, noise, ambient and techno music since the mid-90s. He was drawn to live coding because it was more engaging than what regular electronic music performances offer. “For me finding live coding was a very interesting way around this. Because you’re basically using your laptop and your coding environment as a live performance instrument,” explains Aragorn23.

    Born in the early 2000s live coding is the practice of creating music on the fly using computer source code. Combining algorithmic composition with improvisation, the performances take computer music into the realm of traditional instruments by adding a real time element to them. Pioneered by groups such as the UK’s Slub, performances are meant to be transparent to the audience with projectors displaying the code as the artist generates it. These projections are often augmented with visual programming tools such as Processing, linking the generated audio with visuals to create a synesthetic experience. “It’s this really intense correlation between what you’re hearing and what you’re seeing. So different beats will trigger different visual patterns. Or when there’s a build up in the noise and intensity the brightness changes.”

    The ethos of transparency applies to live coding as a whole with most of the tools performers use, such as SuperCollider and TidalCycles, being open source and people freely sharing their code with others in order to help each other learn techniques and create new works. “In general it’s this very collaborative egalitarian thing, people have GitHub accounts where they upload their code, the SuperCollider community has thousands and thousands of examples.  SuperCollider runs on reasonably old PCs so the barrier to entry is very low. There’s even Facebook groups where people chat about coding techniques.”


    While the centers of live coding lie in the UK and Berlin, the last decade and a half have seen it grow in areas such as South America so that it is no longer a Eurocentric movement. “It’s a much broader community now and it’s not just male dominated anymore, there’s quite a few non-male identified people getting involved which is great,” notes Aragorn23. This is in part thanks to Alex McLean of Slub and Nick Collins who in 2011 coined the term algorave after hearing happy hardcore on the radio on the way to a gig which inspired them to program rave music. This more dance oriented sound has helped live coding reach a wider audience which in turn has led to more interesting sonic explorations. “Nowadays people are experimenting with huge numbers of genres with live coding. There’s a lot more experimental stuff, there’s a lot more sophisticated stuff, especially visually and that’s also because hardware has evolved.”

  • Lex LaFoy: Dripping with Honey Bass

    While her journey into performance began in high school when she and her girlfriends would perform at assemblies, Lex LaFoy already started writing poetry and music as a child. It was the discovery of Durban’s Hip Hop Inqaba Sessions that led her into the world of cyphers. “I was in the same crew as Zuluboy, Raheem Kemet, Sizwe Dhlomo who at the time were called Scatter Brain,” Lex remembers.

    Initially performing as Leigh.L, she would adopt the name Lexicon in 2005 and began focusing on hip hop and performance poetry. Shortening Lexicon to Lex and adopting her maternal surname in 2013 saw the birth of Lex LaFoy. “I feel like she was an evolutionary step in my journey as a person and as an artist. I felt like Lexicon no longer fully represented who I was because I’d come into this newness and I was so hungry for a new expression,” LaFoy exclaims.

    This new expression came via Honey Bass, both the name of her signature sound and her upcoming debut album. Bringing back elements of fun, enjoyment and dancing, the sound was birthed from her work with production trio the Nutscratchers. “We created this song called ‘From the Head’ and it included so much authentic Durban sound as well as the influence of bass that was newly expanding in South Africa. I had stepped into a new realm creatively and I really liked the combination. I love the combination of the bass elements with the rap on top of it,” LaFoy says of the sound’s birth.

    Her debut album ‘Honey Bass’ is a feminine twist on the bass sound. Lex LaFoy’s message is one coming from an empowered, confident, bold, young woman claiming her identity. “It’s about wholeness, it’s about confidence, it’s about a young woman claiming her own in a space that is so-called predominantly masculine. It’s about expression and the freedom of expression. It’s also about the balance of the so-called two extremes that some people don’t understand. Because I have to overcome my own conflict and my own so-called contradictions to see that no, just as I am is perfect.”

    Featuring a number of collaborations including tracks with iFani, Sketchy Bongo, Veranda Panda, RubyGold & Fiesta Black, LaFoy works with those closest to her in a natural way. “Each of those collaborations was really organic. The collaborations that are on my album are with people that are very dear to my heart and I wouldn’t have it any other way,” says LaFoy.

    With the album to be released on the 4th of November with a launch party in Durban, Lex LaFoy is working hard on putting the final touches together. The upcoming single ‘From the Head’ (Remix) is a reworking of her 2012, ragga influenced song that kicked off her Honey Bass sound. “I don’t have to fit into your boxes of what you think is a hip hop sound or what you think is lady-like or what you think is ratchet. I can be all those things and still be content within myself.”

    Photography by Llwellyn ‘Juice’ Makhanya

     

    Credits:

    Photography by Llwellyn ‘Juice’ Makhanya
    Make Up by Charelle Cassie McAllister
    Studio Open Plan Studio, Durban
    Nails by Elite

  • Champagne69 // personifying Joburg’s rhythmic energy

    Since bursting onto the scene in 2016 with their single ‘Booty Sweat’, which blew up the internet, the Joburg based rap duo known as Champagne69 has been releasing a number of follow up singles and honing their sound. While they’re embracing their relative success, they hadn’t actually planned on getting into the rap game. “It started off as a joke to be honest. Because we were considered the ‘Braam Kids’ so we wanted to make a parody of that. We wanted to make a song and a show about it. We recorded our first song with our friend PatrickxxLee. Even the first song’s name is ‘Booty Sweat’ so it was a joke for us,” explains William.

    Having met at the National School of the Arts, William ‘Willestillios’ Nkuna and Siyanda ‘Siyangena69’ Mdlele bonded over their common passion for art. “William was doing 3D and I was doing visual art. It just became a thing of hanging together in the art sense,” remembers Siyanda. From there their friendship circle would grow to include a variety of like-minded people that would lead to the formation of the Onyx parties. “We found that when we go to parties they play the same stuff and nothing really was connecting with the youth. So we had a party that had what we wanted from a party. We threw a lot of parties, alternative parties and ragers and a whole lot of stuff where people can feel free,” says William.

    In their raps they examine the world around them and their experiences in it. On ‘Booty Sweat’ and ‘Wrong One’ they explore relationships and teenage experiments. “At the time we were going through some sort of relationship experiences and just being teenagers and experimenting. Growing pains. So we were going through a whole lot of stories of us being at parties and us being with girls and just going and learning,” explains Siyanda. On tracks like ‘Senzu Bean’ the retell their lived experiences of night times and parties.

    Having worked with producers such as PatrickxxLee and Urban Lunatic, the duo is still very much defining their own sound. “We’re usually working with a lot of synths and heavy 808s with a few instruments that carry a repetitive melody. We’re still finding our sound. Obviously what we work on becomes us but we’re still finding our way through music. Music is always a journey,“ remarks Siyanda. They are working on a project although are tight on details. “We’ve got a couple of tunes together, it’s just a matter of timing to put it out,” explains Siyanda.

    Their aim is to reach a global audience with their music and not just be restricted within local borders. “Music is not an isolated thing. That’s the one thing that every part of the world has in common is that we all share music. We all share the enjoyment of sound. The idea is to create something that we can share with people, not just in Joburg or South Africa but the rest of the world,” says Siyanda.

    With a keen understanding of the importance of aesthetics, they’re style is influenced by anything and everything. “Anything we find cool. We’re trying to be avant-garde street cats. We’re not trying to be normal street guys,” explains William

    While they may have started as a parody, Champagne69 is out to prove that they’re serious about their music. “When things started to pick up so fast you had to adapt to the moment. Now it’s become a thing of if we don’t take this thing seriously it’ll be basically disrespecting the art if we don’t. If you as a listener, you go home, you going to try listen to something and the person that you’re listening to doesn’t take the music seriously how is that going to work for them?” asks Siyanda.

    Photography and Styling: Jamal Nxedlana

    Makeup: Orli Meiri

    Photography and Styling Assistant: Lebogang Ramfate

  • Andy Mkosi wants to visit your bedroom

    A musician, writer and photographer based in Cape Town, Andy Mkosi’s music is influenced by a variety of genres but it was through hip hop that she emerged into the world of music as a performer. Fascinated by the lyrical content of songs, she started writing her own material which she assumed at the time was poetry “but when I recited them for friends in high school, that’s when I started having the confidence and the comfort to share stuff with people, they’d say it sounded something like rap music instead of poetry,” Andy Mkosi recalls.

    Immersing herself in hip hop culture she started attending cyphers in places such as Gugulethu and buying Hype Magazine. “That’s when I was introduced to the fact that people at home were making music of this nature. People like Kanyi Mavi, Driemanskap and so forth.” Her first performance in 2010 convinced her to take music seriously. “We travelled to Gugs that Saturday afternoon and when we got there there was a performance happening and people were just forcing me to go on. I was so nervous. The response was so overwhelming. I think that was a turning point for me to say okay cool, this is what I want to do,” says Andy.

    Meeting OBie Mavuso via Soundcloud in 2012 led to a partnership that saw the two of them create a platform for themselves and like-minded musicians to perform. Initially planned as a once-off event, the Jam That Sessions grew to become a multi-media event that featured artists such as Zoe Modiga and YoungstaCPT, and collaborations between artists such as poets and painters or beatboxers and vocalists. “It was pure art, something which was lacking at the time within the Cape Town performance scene.”

    Since 2015 Andy Mkosi has dropped a number of releases starting with her debut ‘iPressure’ which dealt with the pressures of being a young artist who hadn’t yet put out music laid over a heavy boom bap sound. Her follow up release ‘Ndine Feelings’ spoke to her “romantic affairs or lack thereof”. Soon after she released ‘This Audio is Visual’ which saw her combining her two creative outlets, music and photography and working with a number of artists such as Tsoku Maela and Darkstar. “I collaborated with a lot of people and it sort of pushed me out of my comfort zone,” says Mkosi. The release is accompanied by a self-published book which features an image for each song along with their lyrics.

    Most recently she has been sharing her music through intimate performances. Her Bedroom Tours sees Andy visiting the homes of fans and performing in their bedrooms to audiences of 10 to 20 people. Having performed around Cape Town, as well as in Johannesburg her next stop is Lesotho. She has also recorded a compilation of songs performed at the Bedroom Tours to be distributed at the next show.

    Andy Mkosi already has ideas in place for her next release as she is always writing. “You always have to contribute to the skill everyday. My most recent visit to Germany made me realise that sometimes at home in Cape Town and in South Africa in general we’re so focused on perfection that we forget that there are people waiting on us to share our abilities with them.”

  • Blacksmith Collective is forging a new agency model

    Founded by Diogo Mendonça and Marcus von Geyso, Blacksmith Collective calls itself a production collective rather than a production house. Rather than focusing on the old agency model which sees creatives churn out work 9 to 5, they’ve developed a new model which allows them to assemble teams of the best people for the job, based on the brief at hand. With a network of more than 200 creative partners across South Africa, they are able to tap into a vast talent pool and scale easily according to the project needs. “We can do anything from a 10k event to a million rand full scale production TV ad. It’s just about building the right teams,” says Mendonça.

    Having met at Ogilvy & Mather Johannesburg, the two decided to work together after Mendonça decided to become an entrepreneur and invest in a production house. Bringing von Geyso on to the team, the two built their industry contacts through shooting and producing music videos, especially hip hop. “About a year after that that’s when we decided to branch out and start Blacksmith and do it our own way,” explains Mendonça.

    Having worked with a range of clients, both locally and internationally, the team at Blacksmith decided to do something for themselves and show what they are capable of, resulting in an ode to Johannesburg called ‘The Streets’. “It’s an indication of how our business model works and exactly what we’re trying to do as a business whereby everyone on the project believed in the idea and there was no budget used in this so everyone from the DOP to the cast members to the editor to the producers, everyone really liked the idea,” says Mendonça.

    Thanks to the trust they’ve built with clients, Blacksmith is able to assemble teams consisting of the best people for the job, be it fresh talent or experience. “It’s about fostering the young but it’s also about fostering the best person for the job. Sometimes that’s experienced, sometimes he just has the eye, sometimes it’s the new kid on the block. At the end of the day if it’s for the integrity of the work then cool, that’s what we try and do,” says von Geyso.

    With a unique approach to the industry, the Blacksmith Collective is looking to disrupt the traditional agency model. Von Geyso explains, “We believe that the agency model is not the way things are going to be done in the next two to three years. We feel like creatives wanna be free to do what they want and choose projects they wanna work on and not necessarily sit at a 9 to 5 and push out work. So that’s kind of where we step in.”