The Muffinz still doing what they love

Any musician who has been part of a group will tell you that it’s not easy. Some of our country’s most loved music groups, Bongo Maffin, Malaika, Liquid Deep and, more recently Muzart, have broken up and, more often than not, the break-ups are messy.

A lead singer gets too big-headed and wants a bigger slice of the pie than the rest of the group, or a band member feels underappreciated and believes he would be better off going solo … Whatever the reasons, we are yet to see a group split and its group members continue to thrive as solo acts. It’s been five years since musicians Simphiwe Kulla, Mthabisi Sibanda, Gregory Mabusela, Karabo Moeketsi and Sifiso Buthelezi formed soul group The Muffinz – and the group is getting stronger every day.

In fact, they will be performing with Zahara at the Khaya FM Live At The Bassline on Saturday and are planning to take their music to American audiences with a tour this year. “We’ve found a musical formula that works,” says the group’s lead singer, Kulla. “The five of us together are one instrument and the more you play an instrument, the better you get.”

He laughs when asked what has kept the band together. “Good relationship management,” he says. “But on a serious note, we are all on the same page when it comes to The Muffinz. We are a business before we are friends or brothers. At the end of the day, this group is what feeds us and nobody wants to mess with their livelihood. And because we know each other so well, we may disagree on things, but we don’t really have any hectic fights.”

The Muffinz burst onto the entertainment scene in 2012 with their debut album, Have You Heard?. They won Best Group at the 2013 Metro FM Awards. Last year, they released their second album, Do What You Love. Speaking on their performance with Zahara, Kulla says: “We’ve performed with Zahara before. We’ve beefed up our repertoire so people can expect an electrifying performance from us.”