BCT: Tell us about your love for music.
RL: For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be an artist and musician.
Growing up in Daveyton, I started to sing in the local church choir.
After high school I worked for two years in Cape Town to fund my music studies that I eventually started in 2015.
In the same year I recorded my first Extended Play (EP) with four songs together with Dutch guitarist Jordi Kemperman and British sound engineer Nigel Hilbourne.
BCT: Are you signed to a recording label?
RL: I am an Independent Artist – and being independent is important to me since I want to keep 100 per cent artistic control over my music.
However, the Germany-based companies ‘RecordJet’ and ‘Soulfood Music’ distribute my album digitally and physically.
BCT: Tell us about your debut album Mamokebe?
RL: From April until August 2016, I recorded my first full album, Mamokebe, at Darkstar Studio in Johannesburg.
The nine songs are all different as I like to experiment with styles, sounds and genres, ranging from acoustic folk, soul, pop and up to indie rock.
I don’t write music according to the books, but follow my own artistic vision which includes the way I am singing, performing, dancing, dressing and directing videos.
I was lucky that after my first EP in 2015 (‘At Last’), I was able to release my first full album ‘Mamokebe’, thanks to the support of a Swiss Foundation which also helped me to produce the music videos for four of my songs: ‘Dlozilame’, ‘Julio’, ‘Mamokebe’ and ‘Njalo’.
BCT: What are your hobbies?
RL: Everything connected to music and poetry: song writing, singing, performing, dancing, acting, styling, directing and producing videos, doing concerts, and working together with dancers, choreographers, editors and other musicians.
BCT: Tell us about your goals?
RL: I am looking forward to my album release concert in Zurich on July 8 in Kaufleuten.
I love to perform my songs live, so I hope that the show in Zurich will be followed by many more festival or club gigs – in Europe, Africa, and the USA or wherever I will be invited.
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