Tag: music

  • DOOMSNITE // A new party for young people of colour in Cape Town

    “We are the future, for the kids by the kids,” states Antonio Druchen, one of the organisers of DOOMSNITE, a new party for young people in Cape Town. Antonio along with Qaanid Hassen, Naledi Holtman, Raeez Kilshaw and Likhona Camane created the event with the intention of gathering young people like themselves in one space for celebrating and connecting. Under the guidance of Crayons’ Ra-ees Saiet, they were able to host their first event on the 29th of January. Their hope is that this event will grow and become a space that represent creative freedom.

    Reflecting on the time that sparked the idea for the collective, Raeez expressed that, “I felt as though we [had] all met before, in a spiritual realm.” This is representative of the kind of collective connection they have already created through their time together since meeting at a project hosted by Corner Store called Summer Camp. This was an apprentice programme for young up-and-coming artists in Cape Town to show them that they can cultivate skills in creative practices such as DJing, styling, and photography, and be successful.

    The team refers to themselves as a kind of collective that also allows for each member to work on their individual practices independently too. This allows them to build a brand for their event, and offer each other support, without being completely absorbed by one project. Therefore, their collective is not exclusively about producing together, but also about providing each other with creative and emotional support. This is reflective of the direction that a number of people of colour from Cape Town are taking with regards to cultural production.

    Influenced by underground, English-born hip hop artists MF DOOM, the team curated their first event around this. “MF DOOM’s ability to use music to portray many different characters reflects how music came first for him and for us, it’s the same thing,” explains Naledi. “Inspired by MF DOOM, we find beauty in creating a whole new world of intricate personas, vivid visuals and detailed bodies of music, all behind a mask,” Likhona expressed. Ensuring that the space was representative of the energy that has brought them all together – freedom, creative pleasures and wholesome music – their first party was explosive. Expressive visuals, music and dance coloured the night, and this included performances by Garth Ross and Guillotine Squad.

    In addition to being a space for having a good time, the aim for the party is for it to be a platform that can facilitate networking between young people. This extends the party into an informal support structure.

    Be sure to check out their next event in February at The Living Room.

  • South Africa, What’s Up? Residency at ANTiGEL Festival

    Over the last 8 years ANTiGEL Festival has grown to become one of the largest cultural events in Geneva. By bringing artistic experience to parts of the city that are detached from this kind of engagement, the festival aims to be a reminder of the importance of making spaces for arts and culture. Africa What’s Up is a residency that falls within the festival. Artists from South Africa and Egypt have been invited to put together an evening dedicated to cultural music and cultural production on their countries.

    Photography by Chris Saunders

    Throughout the week-long residency, South African and Egyptian artist have been interacting with cultural producers from Mali, Nigeria and Switzerland. It has also provided a moment of pause and refection. In addition to the time spent networking and teasing out performance plans, artists have been able to engage with one another and the residency organisers in daily roundtable discussions. This expands the purpose of the residency to that of a space for conversations that directly affect artists. These include conversations around womxn’s access to performance time and how this is connected to networks, resources and development. Discussions also included the larger question of access for artists in general with regards to visa applications and funding to sustain their practices.

    Photography by Viviane Sassen

    Even though the residency has a focus on music, it also embraces the importance of cross-disciplinary pollination. This can be seen by the performance element.

    South Africa’s CUSS Group and the Swiss cultural organisation Shap Shap co-curated the South Africa What’s Up lineup, which includes performances by FAKA, DJ Prie Nkosazana, Dirty Paraffin and DJ Lag. Choreographer Manthe Ribane and Swiss electro-soul duo Kami Awori will be presenting their collaborative effort. Having met in Johannesburg, they have combined music, choreography and a visual display to present a full sensory experience.

    Photography by Kent Andreasen

    What is particularly important about the residency is how it encourages cross-disciplinary pollination and has opened up discussion around what it necessary to facilitate easier access to gigs and spaces for African artists. It has also provided a space to draw out how these kinds of conversations need to be translated into pragmatic steps for action.

    Photography by Chris Saunders
  • Film, music and art events to attend in 2018

    Get out your diaries. Here is our list of not to miss film, music and art events for 2018:

    Inxeba (The Wound) is on circuit in South Africa

    When: From 2 February

    Where: Throughout the country

    Inxeba (The Wound), South Africa’s official entry to the 2018 Academy Awards for best foreign language film, will be released in South Africa from the 2nd of February. It will be screened at a number of independent movie theatres as well as mainstream movie houses. The film focuses on bringing questions and realities around homosexuality and tradition together. It stars SA musician Nakhane Touré who has received much praise for his performance as initiate Xolani. The movie’s engagement with gender, sexuality and tradition makes it a worthwhile watch.

    Gaika performs in South Africa

    When: Johannesburg – 8 February

    Cape Town – 9 February

    All the way from Brixton in the UK, the dystopian style of Gaika will be greeting South Africans for the first time in February. His childhood was surrounded by various forms of tech and scientific innovation. His current mode of production is inspired by the digitization of humanity. You can look forward to a live performance of some of his recently released tracks, including ‘BATTALION’.

    Click here for more information about the artist.

    Drop in Drawing

    When: 10 February

    Where: Wits Art Museum

    From: 12:00 – 13:00

    For their Valentine’s Day Edition WAM will be hosting Drop in Drawing, and just as the title of the event suggests, all that is required from participants is to come by the gallery during the allocated time slot. No experience or booking is required.

    If a cheesy Valentine’s Day events such as a film screening or dinner is not quite your thing, we’d recommend giving this one a chance. Let your hand lead your chosen implement of mark making and experiment in a gallery environment. Honestly, what could inspire creativity more?

    ‘Cape to Tehran: Re-imaging and re-imagining personal history in post-Apartheid South Africa and post-revolutionary Iran’

    When: 13 February – 29 March

    Where: Gallery MOMO Cape Town

    Opening Tuesday, 13 February at 18:00

    For this group show a diverse set of artists have been selected largely from South Africa and Iran by the curatorial hand of Sepideh Mehraban. The featured artists engage with complexities surrounding their individual country’s histories and legacies of trauma. Emphasis is placed on personal experiences of both conflict and change through their work resulting in the presentation of a multifaceted discussion. This discussion takes on areas of cohesion and divergence between post-apartheid and post-revolutionary Iran.

    ‘Cape to Tehran’ does not take the form of a sole narrative but instead acts as full-bodied conversation amongst artists from varying geographies and generations. This show serves to juxtapose personal encounters of socio-political turmoil experienced by the artists in their motherlands. They create art as a way of reflecting instead of simply representing their experiences of change and conflict.

    Featured artists:

    Kamran Adl | Shagha Ariannia | Patrick Bongoy | Stephanie Conradie | Rory Emmett | Thulile Gamedze | Black Hand | Svea Josephy | Francois Knoetze | Wonder Marthinus | Sepideh Mehraban | Emmanuel de Montbron | Sethembile Msezane | Neda Razavipour | Kathy Robins | Roderick Sauls | Berni Searle | Rowan Smith | Jo Voysey

    Petite Noir & Slow Jack perform at Kirstenbosch 

    When: 21 March

    Where: Cape Town

    As part of the Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset Concerts, Petite Noir and Slow Jack will be performing on the 21st of March. For those who are feeling a little out of the loop, Petite Noir is a Belgian-born Congolese musician and songwriter now based in South Africa. His EP The King of Anxiety and his album La vie est belle / Life Is Beautiful demonstrate why watching him perform live should be on everyone’s bucket list. Slow Jack was formed in 2015, and has grown to include some of Cape Town’s best musical talent. Be sure to have a listen to their Soundcloud as a warm up for the concert. Access tickets for the concert online. The availability of tickets at the venue is dependent on online ticket sales.

    ‘Bakhambile, Parktown’, 2016 by Zanele Muholi

    Stevenson group show BOTH, AND: commemorating 15 years of the gallery’s existence

    When: 7 July – 24 August

    Where: Johannesburg and Cape Town

    The Stevenson gallery turns 15 this year. A commemorative group exhibition titled BOTH, AND will take place from 7 July to 24 August. This exhibition reflects on the foundations that continue to allow the gallery to stand tall in South Africa’s art scene – being a space that has its finger on the pulse of the art market while remaining dedicated to art history and the development of ideas. Two new directors, Sisipho Ngodwana and Alexander Richards, aim to unpack this through their curation of the show. They will look back and look forward, outlining the history of the gallery, its unique publication programme, local presence and global perspective. The show will include artists who began the journey with Stevenson, namely Zanele Muholi, Deborah Poynton, Nicholas Hlobo, Pieter Hugo, Wim Botha, Guy Tillim and Nandipha Mntambo, and those who joined the gallery’s journey at a later stage, like Robin Rhode, Meschac Gaba, Barthélémy Toguo, Penny Siopis and Moshekwa Langa. New and existing work by these artists will tackle the questions, “How have we, over the past fifteen years, collectively navigated the paradox inherent in the commercial gallery model? And what might the future hold?”

    Red Bull Music Festival

    When: 3-8 April

    Where: Johannesburg

    Just when the weather will be getting a little cooler, Red Bull plans to bring the heat to Johannesburg with the Red Bull Music Festival. Trompies, Oskido, Moonchild Sannelly, Moozlie, Stiff Pap and Distruction Boyz are among the musical stars who will be performing at this exciting explosion of sound. The festival has something for everyone, with artists from genres such as jazz, hip hop, electro, gqom and kwaito. Different spots throughout Johannesburg’s inner city will come to life at varying points throughout the festival. These spots include The Orbit, Newtown Music Factory, Republic of 94, Great Dane, and Kitcheners. Be sure to get your tickets online.

    2017 Fak’ugesi theme

    Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival

    When: September

    Where: Tshimologong Prescinct, Johannesburg

    This year will mark Fak’ugesi’s fifth consecutive run in Johannesburg. The festival is due to take place in September, hosted at the Tshimologong Prescinct in Braamfontein in partnership with British Council ConnectZA. It offers an interactive space to celebrate digital technology, art and culture in Africa. Events and projects that should not be missed at the festival include the Digital Africa Art Exhibition, Market Hack, ColabNowNow, A MAZE and Block party. Dates are subject to change.

  • The Wanderer – Stability through Movement

    In search of a meaningful way to stay intellectually charged and creatively engaged,  Jason Storey said goodbye to his corporate law position in New York and followed his dream of becoming a full-time designer in South Africa. He now explores fashion creatively in its various conceptual forms with the label he started with his sister – Unknown Union.

    When the label was launched in 2010, it took root in a retail store on Kloof Street in Cape Town, and it housed a collection of international brands alongside their own small capsule collection. 2014 saw the siblings open a design studio in Salt River. The same year also saw the inception of a larger collection that reflected upon the art, history and culture they encountered on the African continent. And in 2015 their brother Oscar left his job in the US to join the team. In their newest location on Bloem Street in Cape Town’s CBD, Unknown Union blends art, fashion, literature and music as a way to stay a “community of people that dig the arts.”

    Their latest offering is a collaboration with photographer Cathrin Schulz titled The Wanderer – Stability through Movement. This body of work is a crisp exhibition of Unknown Union’s garments and Cathrin’s extraordinary command of lighting. An additional layer to this visual treat comes in the form of a short fashion film shot by Anna Schulz. With a behind-the-scenes feel, the film opens with the model getting camera ready accompanied by the soothing tone of James Blake’s voice breaking free as the music starts, bringing one into the Wanderer’s journey. I had an interview with Jason to find out more about the project.

    Tell us a bit about The Wanderer – Stability through Movement and how it came into being?

    The Wanderer can be seen as a pilot for an upcoming series and a fruitful collaboration between Unknown Union and Cathrin Schulz. A team of creatives sat down and brought in their expertise as a form of creative exchange. The cultural diversity of the creators brought up a colourful mix of ideas, leading to the story of The Wanderer. The result is the art directed and photographed edition by Cathrin Schulz and a complementary film by Anna Schulz.

    What was the inspiration behind it?

    The source of the collaboration is to merge the creative languages into a synergy. Unknown Union weaves ancestral knowledge into fashion, while Cathrin Schulz infuses spirituality into her visual medium of photography. The red thread is to connect the respective visions and create an effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.

    The series found inspiration in conveying the concept of Human Design, a science of differentiation. The Wanderer is a primal aspect found on both of the artists’ work, to convey a deeper message – a message of interpreting experience, emotions and stories – into a stimulating form of expression.

    What is the message you wanted to convey with this film?

    The medium of film visualizes and highlights the project’s aspect of ‘Stability through Movement’. Its purpose was to portray the creative flow of the shoot, as well as giving access to the different angles of the scenes. The intended message is simple: the beauty of creative collaboration.

    What sparked the collaboration with Anna-Marie Schulz?

    The collaboration was sparked by Unknown Union’s openness to provide Anna Schulz with a creative platform of expression within ‘The Wanderer – Stability through Movement’. It is rooted in creative exchange.

    What can we expect to see from Unknown Union in the future?

    We are going to dig further into current themes as well as unveil some new themes at this year’s runway show on February 10, at SAMW (AW18). In March, we’ll open our newest location in Johannesburg – in Maboneng.

    With The Wanderer – Stability through Movement as the pilot,  Unknown Union’s partnership with Cathrin Schulz promises to bring about sheer viewing pleasure. To watch the film go to their Instagram.

    The Team:

    Clothing: Unknown Union

    Photographer: Cathrin Schulz

    Stylist: Kshitij Kankaria

    Hair & Make-Up: Richard Wilikson

    Model: Cristiano Palmerini

    Filmmaker: Anna Schulz

  • 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. 

  • Art’Press Yourself Festival // Back to the Afrofuture

    Fashion. Art. Music. These are three creative spheres that are often intertwined with one another. The Art’Press Yourself festival, organized by the agency DARAJA CONCEPT, took place in Paris on 3-4 November, and aptly represented this intersection. Described as an afro-urban festival, designers, filmmakers and artists with roots spreading across Europe and Africa were brought together to share their work which tied into the slogan for this year’s festival, ‘Back to the Afrofuture’.  Playing on the cyclical notion of time, this slogan references Afrofuturist thinking.

    The backdrop with the words ‘Art’Press Yourself’ surrounded by adinkra symbols greeted guests as they walked through the entrance of the festival’s location, Pan Piper. This was created in collaboration with POSCO. Festival-goers were invited to sit on a hand-woven chair and use various props representative of the festival and different African religious and mythological stories for photographs. However, the use of the backdrop transformed throughout the festival, with people being given pens to write messages and draw on the white spaces between the letters. This is symbolic of the collective production of language, making a connection to the way in which images have played a significant role in the foundation of African lettering and preservation of knowledge. Considering how young the festival is, it moves towards its importance in bringing together artists and designers and making a collective mark on framing fashion, design and music inspired by African and African Diaspora experiences.

     

    The three levels of the venue allowed for a seamless definition of spaces, making it easy for attendees to navigate the festival. The first level included an exhibition space for artists and designers of all kinds to share their work. Gold jewelry, items sourced made from various African countries, accessories customized by artists, and original art pieces.

    Ensuring that the festival catered for different interjections and reflections on creative practices, the third level of the venue was used for a fashion show, performances, a film screening as well as a talk on Afrofuturism. A display of the dance style vogue by Matyouz Ladurée and Félicia entertained festival-goers during the day on Saturday. Jean Fall, the founder of Cinewax, shared with audiences a video describing different elements of Afrofuturism and its significance as a school of thought and lens through which to view the experiences of black people. This was followed by the short film by female filmmaker Wanuri Kahiuthat uses Afrofuturist motifs as a way to interrogate environmental issues in Kenya, and the globe more generally. There was also a projection of Alexis Peskine‘s movie ‘Raft of Medusa’.

    With the film setting the mood for a conversation which underlines what these motifs are and what they mean, UK-based digital artist Ashley Straker shared the stage with Bubblegum Club’s Editor Christa Dee to have a question and answer session facilitated by Laurie Pezeron (founder of READ! CLUB) about Afrofuturism. The enthusiasm and curiosity expressed through the audience members’ questions highlighted the significance of the conversation and the interpretation of it as a therapy, a methodology, an imaginary, tool for critique as well as a connection to a past, present and future which is expressed through writing, fashion, art and music.

    The festival had an open-ended closure, allowing for conversations and networking to continue post the event.

    To find out more about the festival visit Art’Press Yourself on Facebook and Instagram.

    Below is a list of artists, designers and other participants to get a feel for the kind of collective creative energy that was present at this year’s festival:

    Fashion

    ASO GLOBAL. HARRIS M. MADEMOISELLE BLE. SOUL and ROOTS. KEIKO. SECRET SAMPLE. L’ATELIER DE BOJEL. ICOM ASSO. EKEEYA. KOROSOL AFRICAN ARMURE. KORY WADE. ALICIA DELYSSIME. ITFA

    Accessories

    MA COULEUR A SES MERVEILLES. AYIZANA. NOOR ART. OH LA CRANEUSE. NOIR FLUO EVA SAM. BAZAR WAX. OHEA. AFRICAN STYLIA DECO. NUBYA. DE BENGUE. LA FABRIKAWAX. EBENE CHIC. NATTY KONGO MLKREATIONS. NACHO JEWELS.

    Visual Arts

    LAURIE-ANNE BRACCIANO. ASHLEY STRAKER. HANEEKS. PRINTED SOLES. LEA PALOMA. MARY CREA ART. KIRIIKOO PINEAPPLES.

    Beauty and other categories

    REAL B COSMETICS. KISSORO TRIBAL GAMES. NYEUSI CREA LOCKS. MELLE LEE ZA. SERGE KPONTON.

    My incredible journey at the Art’Press Yourself festival was made possible thanks to the French Institute of South Africa.

  • 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

  • PAINTING W/ MUSIC – Creating a visual footprint for music

    PAINTING W/ MUSIC – Creating a visual footprint for music

    When you are in the mood to dance, there is nothing better than walking on to the dance floor and feeling the vibrations of the music coming through the speakers. Cukia Kimani and Yann Seznec found a way to enhance this experience by creating visual permanence to music.

    Cukia has a background and Computer Science and Digital Arts while Yann has a background in music composition. With their project titled Painting w/Music, they let curiosity and their willingness to experiment take the lead. When asked about how this was done, Cukia replied, “Coming from a Computer Science background I know about all of these different algorithms and then I did visual arts. You know, how to put algorithms to make circles appear all over the screen based on random numbers. But then I was like ‘What happens if I just change this one value to be midi data or frequency data?’” And this was the foundation of the project.

    When Painting w/Music was originally pitched to the British Council, the idea was for Cukia to create visuals based on music that Yann would compose. This would be done by feeding the music into the programming code that Cukia had written. However, as the months passed and Cukia and Yann became more familiar with each other’s work, they decided to add in a new element to their project – a custom controller.

    The controller creates room for a performative, interactive level to their larger project. This allowed those who were interested in the project to be more than just passive observers. Instead they would be able to experiment with how the project works. When reflecting on this addition to the project Yann explained that, “The main thing was moving towards a performance tool which is something I really like working with so I guess this is what happens in a collaboration. You start with an idea and each person involved brings or pulls the project in a way that they are interested in exploring. I think we both ended up being really interested in this idea of building a tool that was kind of applying these ideas of kind of visual permanence of music to a performance. It is also fun because then it means that we can do a performance at the end which was a cool focus for the project.”

    This evolution of the project made it possible for them to be on the lineup at this year’s Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival. With Yann taking control of the music and Cukia managing the coding side of the performance, the audience was drawn on to the dance floor by flashing colours and shapes dancing across the screen along with them. “The core concept was to play a whole set of music, tunes and improvisations that were created entirely with this custom controller box that was built for the project. And then all of that, the music and my actions, the buttons I pressed and the things that I twisted and pulled, all of that created these visuals,” Yann explains.

    Excited by how far their project has evolved since their initial idea, Cukia and Yann expressed that this is unlikely the end of the project. Their curious nature will more than likely see them pushing their project even further.

    Check out their YouTube to have a look at some of the visuals they have created.

  • Music and Technology at Fak’ugesi Festival

    Now in its 4th year, the Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival is a celebration of technology, creativity, collaboration and innovation from across the African continent. The festival includes a range of seminars, talks, exhibitions, workshops, hack-a- thons, films, artists, games, innovation riots and music. With highlights including the Fak’ugesi Conference, Making Weekend as well as Fak’ugesi Beat, a new curatorial partnership with WeHeartBeat that focuses on beats, music and technology.

    The Fak’ugesi Beats program is multifaceted and includes the week-long Fak’ugesi Beats Lab workshop, the curation of panels at the Fak’ugesi Conference and the Fak’ugesi Beats Bloc Party which sees the festival outcomes come to life. Red Bull Studios Johannesburg at the Tshimologong Precinct will play host to the workshop which includes Soulection’s Hannah Faith, videographer Foxy Neela, French Soulection beatmaker Evil Needle, Swiss beatmaker Melodinsfonie, alongside the local Mante Ribane and the Dear Ribane collective working on a collaborative piece the result of which will be showcased at the Block Party and also see the work pressed to vinyl.

    Two of the panels at the Fak’ugesi Conference will be examining the influence of technology on music. ‘Future Beats’ features Joe Kay, founder of Soulection and pioneer of the Future Beats sound, Evil Needle and trap jazz pioneer Masego. The conversation will look at how the digital age as influenced new genres in music and what this means for musicians and artists as a whole. The second panel discussion ‘Sonic Visions’ will be an examination examination of collaboration between film, design and music. With a panel that features singer Nonku Phiri & Rendani Nemakhavhani who collaborated together on a music film, Foxy Neela, Hannah Faith, Mahaneela Choudhury-Reid of WeAreInBloom, and Benoit Hicke of the French F.A.M.E Festival the aim is to have a playful conversation that engages with the audience.

    The Free Workshop Program at the Making Weekend allows the public to gain hands on experience in areas from programming and creating gaming controllers, to robotics and music & film. Led by French/American artist Yann Seznec, the workshop ‘Room to Play’ explores the world of DIY musical controllers and instruments. Making use of everyday objects the workshop will challenge attendees to reimagine what a an instrument is and placing limitations on its function thus challenging the design strategy of commercial controllers. “How do you make a digital instrument that’s more difficult to play? And then thus what kind of questions does that open up?” asks Yann Seznec.

    According to Seznec DIY musical controllers and instruments have had a large impact on the performance of electronic music. “It means that you can do electronic music performances that are more meaningful to an audience. One of the big changes in electronic music in the last 10/15 years was that everything could be done on a laptop. With the downside of it being pretty uninteresting. I think what’s nice about DIY instruments is that it brings new methods of performance to the world,” notes Seznec.

    The Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival will culminate with the Fak’ugesi Beats Bloc Party which will feature the outcomes of the festival’s various collaborations as well as a selection of some of the finest local and international artists including Masego, Joe Kay, MNDSGN, Melodiesinfonie, Evil Needle, Hannah Faith, Nonku Phiri, Christian Tiger School and Petite Noir. “We’re trying to setup an international beat festival and present artists that we feel are making headway internationally and deserve platforms and deserve to be heard. So we feel like we’ve put together a really beautiful lineup,” says Dominique Soma of WeHeartBeat. “We’ve worked with artists that apply the traditional analog way of music making in terms of playing traditional instruments but then creating it in a digital space or through a digital process,” she adds.

    Unique on the continent in its offering, the Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival highlights the importance of the cross-over between culture, creativity and technology in Africa. With the addition of Fak’ugesi Beats the festival is examining the relationship between music and technology and this program will expand over the coming years. “We’re still looking to explore the relationship between the two spaces in the long term. Over the next few years you will see that crossover coming to life a little bit more,” notes Dominique Soma.

  • If Kitchener’s (KCB) is like a home

    “There are venues and there are institutions”, I was once told: a friend attempting to draw categories in Johannesburg’s night-time cartography. Undoubtedly, Kitchener’s (or KCB) falls into the latter group. It’s the ‘go-to’ club when you have no prior plans. It’s the comfort of knowing the sound and crowd to expect when you arrive. It’s the ease of no dress code and affordable entrance fees. It’s the knowledge that you’ll likely see at least ten other people you know. “If the question is, where do we go to party [tonight], we are the first call”, says DJ/manager Andrew Clements.

    Among the audiences, artists and curators of KCB are those who speak of it as ‘home’. “Home isn’t where you come from”, said author Pierce Brown, “It’s where you find light when all grows dark.”

    If KCB is a home, it is one whose family stretches back generations. The pub/hotel was built in 1902 and is regarded as the second oldest building in Johannesburg. It is a testament to the historical centrality of our night venues. Radium Beer Hall, Kitchener’s Carvery Bar (KCB), Guildhall Pub have watched generations of dreamers and workers spill their histories over bar counters — wrestling with the possibilities and futures of the city. Marc Latilla, one of the first DJs to ever play at KCB, has sought to archive the venue’s history: another indication that night-dwellers are often keepers of suppressed urban narratives.

    According to Latilla, by the end of the 18th century, Braamfontein had transformed from farmlands into a thriving middle-class suburb. The Milner Park Hotel, now known as Kitchener’s, was built in 1902, surrounded by German businesses. It served as a drinking hole for British troops, as well as postal riders on their way to Pretoria. In 1902, towards the end of the Second South African War, Lord Milner had a meeting with the notorious commander of the British forces, General Lord Kitchener, in the newly-built hotel. Kitchener had been a brutal warlord: primary instigator of South Africa’s concentration camps, in which thousands of Boers and black Africans were killed, mostly women and children. The name ‘Kitchener’s’ is thought to have arisen from this “auspicious” meeting.

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    If KCB is a home, this is the family’s ugly origins: it’s ancestral elder, a colonial brute, whose legacy continues to cause disquiet among his descendants. Still, his portrait hangs from the mantelpiece, above the figurative fireplace, where his great grandchildren dance and cuss and caress and worship, along with the descendants of his victims. These young ones burst through at night, trampling on grandma’s wooden floors, spilling on the old carpet, brushing past the velvet wallpaper. Each time, confronting history with a cocktail of detachment, denial, and dissent. It is a story of “dancing on graves”, of repossessing haunted spaces. You see it not only here but in the parties at the old train station, Halloween blowouts at the Voortrekker Monument, projected images of Hector Peterson at Soweto’s Zone 6.

    The new generation of revelers took root at KCB in 2009, when Andrew Clements began using and hiring out the old hotel for parties. “This used to be just an old man’s club”, Andrew explains,“where a bunch of 60-year-olds would come every day at lunchtime, have a few beers, and then come back again after work. By 6 or 7 the place would close up”. But as DJ’s re-imagined the dusty Bar and Carvery, and the parties grew, and KCB quickly became a living room for young creatives, experimenters, hipsters, and students.

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    If KCB is a home, then, like any other home, it is not just about love, safety, memory and identity. There is also domestic power and sources of conflict. A strong sense of community often comes with a shared culture: away of dressing, speaking, moving on the dance floor, that has the potential to alienate others. Money, too, can also mess with families. One regular told me that he experienced a class territorialism that would make it difficult for someone who regularly partied at a tavern to party at KCB. To add to this are gender disparities, with femme bodies particularly under threat. Elders and relatives may try to intervene: we’ve seen dance floor dissent at the monthly Pussy Parties, the introduction of a female bouncer, regular and recognizable door staff, and a huge diversity of music genres to boost inclusivity. But families, inevitably, are sources of both contest and comfort.

    If KCB is a home, it is one built on music. For years, DJ’s Rosie Parade and Danger Ngozi, of Broaden a New Sound, have curated its sonic identity,rooted in quality, pioneering music. There are family reunions with regular artists and promoters: 2 Sides of the Beat, Kid Fonque, BeatNN and Subterranean Wavelength. And then there are visits from distant relatives. This year: Tendai ‘Baba’ Maraire, Hussein Kalonji, Tama Sumo and Lakuti. And of course there are family events: Disco de la Mode is a group trip to the beach; Below the Bassline a spiritual gathering around the dinner table, and Zonke Bonke like your uncle’s birthday party.The soundtrack is not from your radio or television. It’s the specially-curated playlists that this family has come to love: exchanging sounds, travels and collections across time and space. Like all good household gatherings, the food keeps coming till the early hours of the morning. At 4am, you’re helping your exhausted cousin out the door. And, as author Wendy Wunder once said of a home: “It feels good to leave. Even better to come back”.

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  • The Siren’s Call video – Visual metaphor of sonic melancholy

    The Siren’s Call” from producer Jumping Back Lash’s latest EP features Nonku Phiri. The video for this track provides the perfect mirror to the electrified melancholy in the sound.

    The opening silhouette of Nonku looking away from the viewer sets up a sense of longing and invokes a nostalgic mood. A grainy black and white video of soft waves crawling onto the beach plays in the background. The silhouette fades as one watches the shoreline recede. Nonku reappears, this time facing viewer, eyes closed and slowly swaying her head in a way that imitates the movements of the sea. She fades and the crawling waves greet the viewer once again. Finally Nonku looks directly at the viewer, unintimidating and open. “And in moon-filled skies we gave love a try…”. The gentleness and vulnerability in her face and voice bring an immediacy and added depth to the lyrics. Mentioning the moon while we see images of the beach references how the moon moves the tides, much like how the lyrics reveal how love creates movements of its own.

    “You’ve been treating me much like the stormy seas…”. The imagery of the ocean in the background become increasingly violent, contrasting the gentleness in Nonku’s voice, but mirroring her words. “Feeling always fluctuate. Stories always end this way…this feeling of love and hate.”. One is immediately confronted with overlapping image of shattering glass, waves crashing into the shores. The video cuts to flashing lights revealing short moments of dancers underwater folding their bodies around each other.

    “Can you hear the siren’s call?”

    The aggressive cutting and swapping between shots, the hazy and overlapping videos and images that fade in and out of one another are a metaphor for heavy bass Jumping Back Lash has crafted.

    “You got me…you got me…you got me…you you you…got me. Cupid’s got my heart in a chokehold. Ain’t no telling when he’s letting go”

  • Maramza: Low-key but Kwaai-fi

    “Low-key” is a phrase Maramza uses multiple times in our half-hour phone call interview and it’s an apt way to describe the ever-evolving producer. I’ve met Maramza, real name Richard Rumney, a few times and he’s always struck me as the quiet, reserved and observant type – someone who would rather listen than talk. When he does talk, it’s usually to ask a question so he can get some insight to process whatever it is he’s already thinking. So that I managed to get half an hour of conversation out of him is quite something. “I’m very introverted, I guess I’m shy, you know?” He explains when I ask him if he considers himself an introspective cat. “I don’t drink, I used to but I don’t anymore. I’ve been partying for over 20 years so when I’m out now, I’m just there and observing, listening to the music and chat to a few people, but I’m not like “Yo, this is my best life, I’m outchea.” That ended a long time ago. Since I’ve been doing Maramza, it’s been like that. The thing with Maramza, the whole idea was to be low-key. When I first started it was this incognito, low-key thing. I was just kinda not feeling Richard The Third and wanted to release a very different style of music. Originally, no-one knew who I was. But then people showed interest and I was like “Now I want the gigs and I want to be known.” If anything, now I want to go back to being low-key again. Which is kinda weird now that I’m on the Bubblegum Club cover.”

    Originally from Joburg, Maramza, then known as Richard The Third, moved to Cape Town in the early 2000s to be part of the fresh wave of electronic music in South Africa. “In the 2000s, I was very inspired by Cape Town electronic music and I think that was a general feeling in Joburg, that Cape Town were the guys who were doing the most forward thinking shit at that time.” He tells me. “African Dope, Real Estate Agents, Felix Laband, Lark and even Goldfish, they were just doing the coolest shit, you know? and I was very inspired by that and that’s essentially why I moved to Cape Town, I wanted to be a part of that. When I got there that was probably the tail end of that era, moving into the kind of Discoteque, electro era and the dubstep era.”

    The move did Maramza well and he soon found himself deep in a flourishing Cape Town scene he’d admired from afar, “For me, it felt like there were days when all of us in that scene were lucky. Discoteque was a weekly event, the dubstep parties were quite regular, it felt like there were quite a lot of venues, for a whole lot of us it just felt like a lot was going on club wise, event wise there was a very enthusiastic vibe happening, and there was just a lot to do.”

    Since then, things have changed a lot in Cape Town. On a commercial level, people are following the global 4/4 to the floor resurgence, and in the underground, young folks are more politically conscious, and aware of identity, privilege, and power. Maramza makes note of this, “I feel that in Cape Town a lot of young people are woke now, you know? They’ve awoken and are looking at things, and a lot of young people are angry and they see things differently. I think similar groups of people hanging out in the 2000s weren’t so concerned or conscious of it, now they are. Especially around race, gender and sexuality. Not being okay with the way things are, justifiably, and not wanting to support things that aren’t willing to change in that way. As a result, I think there’s a transition, I’m hoping that we see the change now. There’s a crew called 021 Lit, there’re Uppercut parties on a Friday, and when you look at those, at the audience there and actually the DJs themselves, and you feel like, now I’m older now- I’m a guy who has been doing this for a long time- I look at that and think “This is what younger people wanna see. These are the DJs they want to see get put on and who they want to see become successful, who they want to hear making music.””

    Adjusting to a scene whose identity is shifting away from your demographic can often be met with resistance. When asked how he’s adapted to the change in culture over the years, Maramza answered thoughtfully, “I think the simple answer is that you just need to be low-key, as low-key as possible. If you’re an older white guy, pull yourself away from any feeling of being offended, or wanting to see things in a certain way, or feeling miffed because things aren’t a certain way. Invariably, that’s going to be your privileged, old-school perspective coming through and that’s just not going to help. You’ve gotta lose that shit, just drop it, it’s gonna cause problems.”

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    It seems Maramza has learned a lot since being called out for culturally appropriating gqom, “I had this thing when gqom started blowing up, I was like “This is so dope, I want to do my own version of this” and I was actually called out on it online in an article. It really got me thinking, “Fuck, well, that’s true. I can’t do that.””  Maramza has since moved away from the sound and is more aware of his place in the world. “I’ve been very lucky, I am privileged, I’ve had a lot of things work out the way I’ve wanted. I just need to listen to other people and connect with the right people, that’s very important. It’s about proximity. Who do you spend your time with? Who are you listening to? You can’t force that but I think if your intention is out there to be like “I don’t want to be in a world that’s a white privilege bubble”, as much as that’s automatically where I fit in, especially in Cape Town, but if you put the intention out there, you’re more likely to be opening up and connecting with people that aren’t a part of that bubble and they will make you think differently.”

    Maramza’s low-key vibe is also about putting others on. When asked what he’s currently working on, he casually replied with “Not much”, and proceeded to tell me more about other artists than his own music. “I started a kinda label project towards the end of last year called “Kwaai-fi”, and I want to do that which really looks to highlight corners of scenes in Cape Town that I think could do with a bit more love and I also would personally think would be nice to connect together. Like the bass music scene, the house music scene, the sjoko joko scene. The guys who I’ve already worked with for “Kwaai-fi”, Terrasoul, DJ Fosta, they all just have a fresh Capetonian, South African take on things. I wanna pursue encouraging those kinds of artists to put out music and remix each other and do it through that platform as “Kwaai-fi”.”

    Maramza has already been such a crucial part of the SA music scene, but this next era might be where he has the most impact. Not just as a producer but as someone dedicated to continually pushing the culture of electronic music in South Africa. It’s important for the old guard to use their knowledge, experience, and connections to help the new wave successfully take over, and through “Kwaai-fi” and keeping it low-key, that’s exactly what Maramza is doing.

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    Photography by Luke Maritz

    Styling by Luke Bell Doman