Bubblegum Club

Tag: musician

  • Converse One Star // For those who live by their own rules

    Converse One Star // For those who live by their own rules

    Converse fans are well aware that the Chuck Taylor All Star is the brand’s iconic silhouette. However, for those who appreciate the anti-hero, the Converse One Star encapsulates the spirit of those who operate against the rhythm, living fearlessly on the edge. Launched in 1974, and built for the basketball court, the sneakers were pulled from the market a year later. When brought back to the shelves in the 90s, the sneakers were associated with grunge and skater sentiments – becoming a statement for those communicating anti-fashion. The One Star has had waves of appearances and has evolved since its inception, with subculture quickly latching onto its ability to capture their aura of defiance. Those who wear the One Star embrace its history and understand that it speaks to their own journey – never asking for approval, and acting in their own way.

    In celebration of the One Star resurgence this and its latest look as part of Converse’s Spring 2018 collection, Converse shines the light on four South African creatives who choose to live by their own rules.

    Moonchild Sanelly – Musician

    What does Converse mean to you?

    Street culture.

    How did you have to fight for your place in the SA music industry?

    By not listening to anyone who had an opinion about what I believe in and staying true to myself. By not being pressured by material things and never-ending bills. Fear is not in my vocabulary. I am a fighter!

    How important is it to find an individual, authentic voice as a musician?

    Image is everything. Taking it seriously is a part of your brand responsibility.

    How do you continue to push boundaries as an artist?

    By being unapologetically myself because I am me! And there’s nothing like me.

    Seth Pimentel – illustrator

    How do you construct your illustrative practice to operate outside of the box?

    I wish I honestly knew. I guess things just happen. I’d go on the rant about being overwhelmed by the creative process and feeling what I create, to the point where I embody it. But that’s just a mundane answer. I don’t think I can do this question justice.

    What drives your unapologetic approach to image creation?

    I guess my own desire to remain myself in the chaos of everything. The older I’m getting the less ashamed I’m starting to feel about my proclivities.

    What are the ways that you have built a creative signature as an artist?

    I really don’t know. I guess this weird sense of consistency. It’s easy to get devoured by the relentless waves of other styles and approaches. But I guess sticking to yourself, finding inspiration from other artists, learning from them, and then creating from what you’ve learnt helps you find yourself. Damn, that was a cliche´ answer.

    Do you see yourself as an anti-hero?

    Yeah, well I never really belonged anywhere. Felt like this my whole life. Still do. I guess I kinda like to think that I epitomize the idea of a Pariah. One of my favourite musicians Aesop Rock has a line that goes “Stepped inside a club like a statue crying blood. Dance floor scattered, staff asked me why I’d come.” A good summary of what it was like as a teenager. Weird how things go now.

    Lorenzo Plaatjies – illustrator

    How do you defy the norm?

    I think I defy the norm through my work –  I’m an artist. But I don’t own an isle or a studio. I don’t use paper, unless I’m printing. Neither do I touch a pencil, to be honest. I work with what’s in my pocket on the go. I work on my phone. Creating paintings wherever I am: on a bus, on the sidewalk, with the homies, wherever. I don’t let norms and stereotypes define how I execute or create.

    How do you translate this attitude into you work?

    I translate it more into the way I work than my work itself. My work is about wonder and beauty, but I don’t let traditional methods or how the status quo do things limit me. I’m not afraid to do things differently.

    How do you feel Converse resonates with you and your practice?

    I think Converse and I resonate well. Converse is a brand I always felt pioneered new waves in creativity, and I’m here to do the same. A Converse One Star sneaker almost suits any fit – it’s adaptable, and I feel the same about myself.

    How do you push yourself to take your practice further?

    I always push myself because I feel nothing I create is ever enough and I hope it stays that way. I’m constantly chasing new goals and an almost frightening vision.

    Siya Ngena – Rapper and one half of Champagne69

    What drove you to step into the SA music scene?

    It really happened by chance. William and I were working on a mockumentary of Braamfontein culture and we started to work on the score and we later put that out and it garnered a lot more attention than we expected, and we took it seriously from then on.

    How does Converse fit into your personal style?

    The designs and colour vary from one to the other so it adds a distinct but simple flavour to every fit, even if it’s the same fit with a different shoe.

    How important is it for you that what you wear represents your attitude towards life and your music?

    To me it’s a necessity. I always try to find a balance between style and comfort. Music and fashion are parallels and I treat them as such. Right now though, I must add, I’m not even in my final form.

    What are the ways in which you are fearlessly constructing your own voice?

    I’m a big fan of anime and gaming culture, and that inspires my lyrics, aesthetics and overall energy. Some people even say I look like an anime character and I’ll carry that energy with me forever.

  • 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.”

  • Moozlie – using her feminine energy as a super power in the SA hip hop scene

    As I walked in the room I could hear Moozlie‘s voice bubbling in the air. We sat down together to have a conversation about her career and her latest project VERSUS which will be dropping on Friday. The slight raspy texture to her voice adds a subtle sexiness that even my recorder couldn’t help but obsess over. After a few introductory giggles, Moozlie began telling me about how the desire she had to be on TV from a young age began to unfold.

    “I always used to present [YOTV’s] Wildroom in my bedroom,” she says, “Even in class. My friend and I always used to do it during lunch time. Just growing up seeing CeeCee, Sifo and all those presenters made me really want to get on TV. I never really thought about myself being a musician. That’s something that just came up in the last couple of years.”

    Being part of what she describes as the “slash generation”, Moozlie manages to juggle her emceeing, presenting and music career like a pro. While she is a veteran at hosting events and presenting on TV, she expresses that she has moved at a slower pace with her music. She has made sure to take the time to learn and experiment more with her music.

    Curious about how she transitioned to the South African hip hop scene, I asked Moozlie how she imagined herself in that space. “I used to host a lot of parties and events. I think after a while a lot of people started t notice how really into the music I was and how when I was on stage it was like I was performing my own songs. So I think in 2014 or 2015 in the SA hip hop scene really blew up CashTime was looking to sign a female artist.” Looking beyond the musical talent, CashTime was also interested in someone who could grab an audience with her presence. And who better than Moozlie. She confesses that music was not something that she had always envisioned as part of her path, but when the opportunity came knocking, she was ready to let it into her life. “And that’s where it started,” she continues, “It started really slow. I spent more time around musicians than I did actually making music. It was a cool way for me to learn about the music industry and what it means to be an artist.”

    Reflecting on the time she spent with these artists, being able to grow a thick skin as well as understanding the need to be patient are two of the biggest lessons she has learnt. “You get a lot of big ideas in your head but it takes a lot to actually bring those ideas to life,” Moozlie expresses.

    Although her work is always about being true to herself, she does not mind sharing the limelight with her two alter egos, Griselda Blanco and Young Mma Br. Griselda is “an absolute mob boss. She was one of the most renowned women in the Miami drug trade, although I do not condone drugs. I think she just had like a kill or be killed mentality,” Moozlie explains. Channeling one of her childhood icons, Young Mma Br helped Moolzie to find her place among the well-known, established artists part of Cash Time.

    Continuing with this train of thought, Moolzie emphasized that being a woman in a male-dominated industry should not be looked at in a negative light. “You should use it as a super power because there are so many female stories that have not been told yet. I think that female artists are incredible, not just in rap but all around. I don’t think young girls who want to be part of the industry should feel intimidated.” For her this super power allows women to translate the fact that women and women’s work is the backbone of society. By working towards changing the narrative of women in this industry as survivors to the view that they are conquerors, Moozlie is hoping that her super power will be able to translate that women lay the foundation into the arts.

    This attitude can be seen with her upcoming project, VERSUS. “A lot of people wanted me to drop an album but I think because I went to the top of the hip hop game and worked with such big artists, I definitely feel like I missed a few stages. So with VERSUS I just wanted to go back a little bit and work with some of the producers I met along the way.” Through these ten tracks Moozlie has tapped into different aspects of her personality. It is a combination of trap, rap, reggae and hip hop, making VERSUS a reflection of the slash generation. “You are going to be dancing, bobbing your head, turning up and chilling in your car. And that makes sense because we live in the slash generation. Although you maybe have particular musical preferences, there are other songs from other genres that many appeal to you too,” Moozlie explains.

    Be sure to check out Moozlie on Instagram to be one of the first to listen to VERSUS!

  • 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.”

  • Exploring Klein’s dramatic soundscapes

    Highly original and imaginative, Klein’s music can seem daunting at first but reveals an underlying familiarity in its curated chaos. “If you get through the first song of the EP you’ll like it because I was aware the first song of the record is so intense,” Klein laughs. A collage of reshaped samples, pitch shifted vocals, piano and synthesised drones, her songs are dramatic soundscapes.

    Born in London, Klein spent a few years in Lagos and Los Angeles as a child before returning home. Raised in a home surrounded by gospel music, her influences range from the Foo Fighters to Disney soundtracks. Introduced to music at 14 thanks to a keyboard given to her by her mother, she hadn’t considered pursuing a career in music. “It wasn’t a thing where I was like, okay I’m going to start making music and be serious about it. It was more like this is kinda fun and for ages it was just like really a hobby. For years I couldn’t really admit to myself that it’s what I liked to do. I never really thought of it as something that would be something that could be a thing. Literally maybe 5 months ago I was like okay, oh crap, I’ve been doing this full time for a year. And was like wait a minute. And got really freaked out. It’s been a slow process over the past few years. Of my kind of accidentally ending up in this world.”

    Coming out on Hyperdub, ‘Tommy’ is her first EP not to be self-released following the acclaimed ‘Only’ and ‘Lagata’. Inspired in part by the attitude of Tommie from Love & Hip Hop. “There were certain things I was unsure of doing, certain things I wasn’t sure of putting on the record and I was like nah Tommie would think this is sick. That you could be honest with yourself. I took that element and placed it in the record.” The record has a darker tone than her previous work and shows a progression in her production. Divided into acts like a Shakespearean production the EP explores Klein’s emotions. “It is a thing where with Tommy I allowed myself to be vulnerable. To really dig deep into how do I feel. Certain emotions. As well as elaborate and finding ways of exploring certain feelings or certain messages.”

    Taking inspiration from the music she loves and twisting it into her own interpretation, Klein has a unique sound palette that reminds you of something you’ve heard before yet sounds like nothing else. “I just like to play around with like mixing all of those familiar tones that I have and I grew up with and finding ways to present it a way that is nice to my ears. So it is a thing where I just tend to make stuff for myself in my own head and then hopefully in due time hopefully people will get it once they take their time with it.”

  • Umlilo is fire!

    Confident and clear, Umlilo’s voice conveys the air of a seasoned performer. Meaning fire in Xhosa, the name Umlilo describes Siya Ngcobo’s performances as an artist. “Fire is something that can give life but at the same time it can be something that destroys completely. The way I see myself as an artist, I destroy people’s perceptions of what an artist is supposed to be, what gender is supposed to be or what music is supposed to be, but at the same time that flame can be something that helps something grow and that helps something develop,” they say. Refusing to be boxed in, Umlilo challenges what people expect from pop music and gender stereotypes. Using their future-kwaai sound as a platform to make people confront their own preconceived ideas, they see their music and aesthetic as a two way conversation. “It’s not just this one sided thing – this is who I am – but who do you think I am? How does that make you feel? How do I challenge that and how do I learn from your perspective? I love that interplay between music listeners and music makers.”

    Influenced by a variety of genres including kwaito, rock, pop, R&B and hip hop, Umlilo sees future-kwaai as a representation of South Africa’s sonic future. “You might not be able to understand it immediately or it’s not as tangible but it’s definitely a sound that’s as unique as South Africa’s cultural landscape but also looks to the future,” says Umlilo. As an artist Umlilo stays away from being genre specific, remarking that “I never want to be stagnant. I never want to be focusing on one genre. I always want my songs to be different from each other. And I always want to push myself to be that artist that’s never bound to a certain genre.”

    Releasing their first experiments as an artist under the moniker Siya Is Your Anarchist, their sound and message evolved from a disruptive space into the more accessible sound of future-kwaai. Their debut as Umlilo came in 2013 with the release of their EP ‘Shades of Kwaai’ which saw them experiment in musical discovery. “How far can I go? Is that too far? Does that sound good?” Umlilo asked of their music when working on the EP. The EP too was a chance for them to learn about production and their voice which allowed their fans to grow with them. “I think the evolution of it has been really great because the more output you make you start finding your sound through that. I think a lot of people who were with me in the beginning of my journey have now figured out who I am as an artist as I’m figuring it out,” they note.

    This journey is continuous as they keep experimenting and pushing themselves and their music. “There is a very distinct Umlilo sound that I’m still figuring out as well. But at the same I’ve got a lot more confidence and I’m still very much an experimental artist. And that excites me because I never want to get bored and I never want to feel like I hit it, this is my sound, this is what I want to do. There must always be an exploration. That’s what makes the journey interesting,” says Umlilo. With a wide vocal range they are able to explore a variety of sonic palettes from hip hop to more operatic sounds. While they used to view this as a hindrance, they have grown to embrace this aspect of themselves. “I used to think how do I put all of this into one,” they recall.

    Having released their second EP ‘Aluta’ in 2016, Umlilo has continued to create more music and collaborate with different producers. The last year has seen them work on numerous projects which will slowly be released over the coming year. June 16th saw the release of ‘Rainbow Riots’, a compilation produced by Sweden’s Petter Wallenberg and featuring queer voices from some of the world’s most dangerous countries for LGBTQ people, such as Uganda, Jamaica, South Africa and Malawi. They have also been working with Jumping Back Slash on a new EP entitled ‘Isambulo’. “I really have so much respect for the work that he does and he’s one of those producers that I really clicked with,” Umlilo says of Jumping Back Slash. A frequent collaborator with Joburg’s Stash Crew, Umlilo has a single with crew member Whyt-lyon in the works and will be playing festivals in Berlin and Stockholm with them. “There’s a lot of things coming out in the next year or so. I’m very excited to finally share things with people who have been following my progress,”  says Umlilo. With a clear message and aesthetic, there is no doubt Umlilo will have a lasting impact on South Africa’s music scene and beyond.

    Photography & Styling: Jamal Nxedlana

    Hair & Makeup: Orli Meiri

    Stylists Assistant: Kyra-moon Halfpenny

    Photographers Assistant: Dhevan Bergmann