Cotton Fest Comes To Cape Town, And It’s Going To Be Wild

Nov 29, 2022 | Music, Community

It’s hard to imagine that in relative terms, Cotton Fest has only just arrived on the scene. Its impact on the musical and cultural wave in South Africa is already phenomenal; consolidating into one space the pulsing heartbeat of hip hop, rap, pop culture, fashion and creativity emanating from the new generation, right through to the OGs who have a thing or two to teach. The first Cotton Fest was launched in 2019 – and stayed alive in the midst of the pandemic with the exception of 2021 – only to return again this year, now with a highly-anticipated entry into Cape Town. 10 December 2022 sees Paarden Eiland Park transformed into ‘University of Cotton Fest’ – this year’s theme – featuring over 100 performers and artists, alongside incredible spaces and installations, designed in partnership with Cotton Fest sponsors. Mother City, brace yourselves.

Although Cotton Fest is young, it was forged with the grit and hope of vision of the late Rikhado “Riky Rick” Makhado – who leaves behind an indelible legacy, among it Cotton Fest. Seeded in collaboration with festival producer and maestro, Alain Ferrier, the show must go on; and as Alain tells us in our conversation, that is precisely how the festival had been laid out to be; a concept and story that could live on beyond he or Riky, and that was driven by the community of South African creatives.  Alain says, “Cotton Fest has and will always be a collaboration between two people, Riky and myself, primarily with me as the behind-the-scenes production, and with Riky as the creative and ‘the face’. I started in festivals and events in 2006, helping to launch Rocking The Daisies while doing illegal, underground raves in Paarden Eiland with some friends. It was never a career choice – trust me – but it has been my life’s and the thing keeps me on my toes like nothing else can. One of the artists that kept coming through our radar was Riky Rick. We started booking him more and more for shows. From 2012 to 2016, I must have booked him 30 times. We became friends, and there had been this loose conversation for a number of years of doing a festival. In 2018, I called Riky and said look, this is the time to do something celebratory under your banner and guided by your vision – where we could create an environment in which it wasn’t an egotistical festival about him, but rather a concept in which he could gather minds and creatives that he felt needed to be seen or heard. For the culture, you know?” At first, Riky was hesitant – and then one day, he called Alain saying ‘’we need to do it now, this December.” 

With Riky Rick’s passing, a wave of heaviness and poignancy rippled through the country; but it could not deter from their initial intention for Cotton Fest, as Alain explains, “When we were conceptualising Cotton Fest, we didn’t want to call it ‘The Riky Rick Show’ – ironically, so that if anything happened to anyone of us, or the format shifted, we could rely on the brand to continue to be built around culture itself, rather than a personality or performer. Naturally, all of the things that we both loved came through; fashion, art, music, street-culture, the kids, Johannesburg as a city. We had very clear job roles, and fed off each other in terms of energy. We launched the first year, and lost shit loads of money – I’m talking shit loads – as you do in your first year where your dreams are not bigger than your pockets.” With this in mind, Cotton Fest is a ground-up and grassroots festival; and it has grown from strength to strength. The first edition in 2019 saw 50 artists perform, then to 100, and now the Joburg festival is a two-day experience with at least 120 performers across three stages. The vision for Cotton Fest is to highlight a range of artists at various stages in their career; from emerging talent, to more established MCs, DJs, trap artists and then towards headliners. This brings many minds under a unified vision; with the festival itself acting as a party, a networking space and a catalyst for growth in the industry. 

For the Cape Town edition, the line-up is set to energise the crowds in a big way; with ANATII, A-REECE, blxckie as just some of the headliners; our girl Dee Koala takes the stage too, and CEC’s extended family from Broke such as International Pantsula and Insertcoinz. The line-up is comprehensive, and designed to showcase the diverse cross-pollination of talent across South Africa. Though, a Cape Town hiphop extravaganza wouldn’t be right without the King of Kaapstad himself, YoungstaCPT. Alain tells us that Youngsta has been extremely influential in Cotton Fest coming to the city, saying “Youngsta has been a super supporter of the festival, and he’s come to every single one of our shows. He and Riky had a very special connection, and when Riky passed away – he showed up for us all in a very big way. We felt it was a safe first step for us, after everything that had happened, to go to Cape Town.”

The festival also will host a variety of spaces alongside the musical component; with fashion showcases highlighting young designers, and even street-skating competitions held by Day Marumo of Perfect Weather Skate Foundation. Cotton Fest Cape Town is going to be a decisively exceptional end to our first year recovering from the pandemic – with deep losses and uncertainty – but it’s spaces like this that keep pushing hope, joy and opportunity for this beautiful country. We are here for it.

Get your Cotton Fest CPT tickets HERE! 

 

 

Written by: Holly Beaton
Published: 29 November 2022

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za

Benjamin Fisher releases nostalgic track ‘What It Was’ through The Good Times

Nov 28, 2022 | New Release, Music

Although Benjamin Fisher’s first single was released independently, but listening to that first release the natural talent is clear and abundant (I Don’t Need No Other). Now, he is back with the latest track ‘What it Was’. 

It’s visible, too, in his latest single, his first through Netherlands-based The Good Times Co. “What It Was” is the kind of song that emerges so fully-formed that it’s hard to imagine that this is only Fisher’s second commercial release. Riding on an easy groove and backed by a steadying beat, the song trades in nostalgia while remaining as far away from nostalgic pandering as one can get. Instead, Fisher offers up an embracing song that is streaked with melancholy, ultimately moving towards a heroic pinnacle where all things can be at ease – all carried by the warmth of his voice. 

 Benjamin’s first memory of hearing music in a way that wasn’t just as someone receiving it but as something he wanted to be part of came when he was about five or six years old. He was listening, as young kids do, to a children’s song that his teacher was playing through a CD player. When the song finished and the rest of the class moved away, he sat there transfixed, enthralled, feeling the magic of what was coming out of the small music player. Benjamin’s musical career is a continual reference to this moment.

Listen to ‘What it Was’ HERE

Benjamin Fisher social Media Links: Instagram | Tik Tok

Released by The Good Times Co. For more info contact [email protected]

Do You Drink Too Much? | Navigating Binges, Booze and Post-Party Blues

Nov 25, 2022 | Lifestyle, Navigating Reality

Picture the scene. You’ve met up with a friend at one of your local bars for what inevitably won’t be just the one beer you agreed on having. “I can’t go too wild. I have some early meetings tomorrow morning,” he says to you, a kind of innocent reassurance that this will be just a calm catch-up. Time passes, one beer turns to two, to three, to four. You stop counting after a while. You have to go to the bathroom, you say, the words not yet slurred enough for you to know you need to stop drinking. Staggering but not quite stumbling, you make it to the bathroom, which you know will later be used almost exclusively for people to “powder” their noses. You empty your bladder and catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror. You look rough, really rough. You have a good hard look at yourself, it’s time for that little mirror pep talk, because you could swear the room has never felt like it was spinning this much. While you were away, your friend bumped into some acquaintances. It seems there’s an event at this club nearby and to be honest, you have enough alcohol coursing through your veins that it doesn’t take much convincing to get you into a car. The club is dimly lit. It always is in fairness. You need another drink. Maybe two, gotta keep it going. “Do you want half of this?” the acquaintance says, signalling to a speckled pill in their hand. Fuck it, who cares, you’re mashed. The rest of the night is a blur. You have flashes of you dancing. Did you have even more to drink? Probably. You remember drunkenly flirting with someone you saw out at the bar. Did we make out? Does it even matter? You come to, slumped on a sleeper couch in your apartment. It’s noon. “What the fuck happened last night, weren’t we supposed to only go out for one drink?” 

For a lot of people, it’s  never “just one drink”.

After some recent self-reflection and a Halloween party where I’m pretty sure I consumed enough beer that my liver only recently recovered from, I posed myself this question. Am I drinking too much? Simply put, the answer is most certainly yes, and within South African drinking culture, I am definitely not alone. The statistics surrounding drinking culture in South Africa are pretty intriguing in a morbidly fascinating kind of way. Admittedly the percentage of people who engaged in drinking is lower than I expected at 31% of the population, albeit that third of the population drinks exceedingly heavily. 

“Among those who consume alcohol, nearly one in two men (48.1%) and two in five women (41.2%) engage in heavy episodic drinking.” according to a 2011 report by the World Health Organisation. Now here, I feel it is important to clarify what the WHO classifies as heavy drinking. In this classification, I think the context within South Africa becomes even more concerning. WHO statistics measure heavy drinking as 60g or more of pure alcohol on at least one occasion in the past 30 days. AWARE breaks this down for us in more manageable terms. One unit of alcohol equates to about 10ml or 8g of pure alcohol. Let’s apply this to what you might have on a night out. 

Malibongwe Tyilo did precisely this in an article for the Daily Maverick.

“…a standard glass of wine (175 ml) is 2.1 units, a cider 1.5 units, a single spirit mix as one unit, while a regular draft beer is three units. By those measurements, four glasses of wine in one sitting is a form of heavy drinking; the same would apply to drinking three draughts or three double spirits.”

Uhmmm, three draughts. I had that yesterday with lunch at Blondie without even batting an eye. Let me draw your attention back to the WHO’s measuring parameters. 60g of pure alcohol in the span of a month. I just had 72g of pure alcohol with lunch before coming back home to work on this article, yikes. I do realise that there’s a kind of slapstick comedic irony to me only seeing this stat after apparently engaging in heavy drinking, but I wouldn’t say that having three draughts is even close to being out of the norm in South Africa.  Maybe that is part of the problem. Perhaps the drinkers in South Africa, obviously me included, have been engaging in the overconsumption of alcohol for so long that we have shifted the parameters not concerned with the guidelines set out by health care professionals but rather with our own twisted indulgence. 

Here’s the thing, it’s not only that binge drinking is a problem, it’s the sheer frequency of these heavy drinking sessions. Let’s be honest. We, as South Africans, don’t need an excuse to get some drinks. Many of us have convinced ourselves that we should just quickly go and grab some drinks with colleagues or friends after work. A quick drink or two, to reward ourselves after a long day’s work. A quick drink or two as a form of celebration. A drink or two while we watch sports. When we’re bored. When we feel down. When we want to numb our feelings. When we think it’ll give us liquid courage on a date. When we need an escape. The list is frankly seemingly endless. South Africans have to a large extent, made drinking culture part of almost every social occasion. Joyous or emotionally dreadful, it seems the drinks are ever-present.

Given the fact that we can now say that a lot of us drink not only regularly but, as outlined by WHO, far heavier than we probably should, it’s only right that we mention the impact this deeply ingrained drinking culture has not only on us as individuals but on our communities. Now look, it’s no secret that humans aren’t necessarily the best at internalising long-term consequences. Despite how fun it may seem at the moment, there are some real and potentially severe consequences associated with alcohol abuse, both physically and psychologically. Let’s not forget alcohol is, at the end of the day, a depressant. That hangxiety and post-party blues don’t magically appear. As stated in the WHO report, “An expansive literature shows that alcohol intoxication can increase dysphoria, cognitive dysfunction, impulsivity and intensity of suicidal ideation.” – so, the hang-xiety blues are not just in your head; they are a common feature of drinking alcohol, at varying levels and quantities depending on each person. In a culture where drinking equates to sociability – these effects are often laughed off or deflected as ‘par for the course’. 

Beyond the immense negative impact that alcohol abuse has on our mental health, we can not, and should not overlook, its tremendous negative impact on our communities. South Africa not only has the highest recorded percentage of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) but is, unfortunately, also one of the nations where gender-based violence and femicide statistics are sickeningly high. According to statistics released by the Western Cape government, 67% of domestic violence in the Cape Metropole was alcohol related, 69% identified alcohol/drug abuse as the main cause of conflict leading to the incident of physical abuse and 76% of domestic violence in rural areas in Western Cape was found to be alcohol related. And unfortunately, the abuse of alcohol cuts even deeper into our communities due to just how prevalent driving under the influence seems to be in South Africa. More than half (58%) of deaths on South African roads are linked to alcohol consumption, and we all know that this stat is far higher over the festive period.

Now look, I know summer is here. We are all ready for sundowners, wine tastings, a lunchtime beer or two (remember, it can’t be three), family gatherings and the wind down to the year. We’re ready to pop champagne or an overly sweet sparkling wine as the clock strikes midnight to herald the start of 2023. And I know I’m the last that should be preaching mindful alcohol consumption. But maybe more of us should be asking, “Am I drinking too much”? If the answer is yes, know that there are myriad of resources available centred around community-care – and that the stigmatisation of sober-leaning lifestyles is becoming more popular – there are many ways to live, and even more ways to celebrate being alive. 

 

If you think you need help quitting or even just reducing the amount of alcohol you consume, take a look at: 

Monument  

Tempest

Alcoholics Anonymous South Africa

Al-Anon

Sanca

Therapists for Addiction in South Africa – Findhelp

Published: 25 November 2022
Written by: Casey Delport

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za

The New Originals on Building a Creative Exchange Beyond Borders

Nov 24, 2022 | Interviews, Fashion

There is a web of connection being built around the world – it has been happening for some time, and from our vantage point in South Africa; we are finally being seen as the immense wellspring of ingenuity that we are. Right at the nexus of this cross-pollination and cultural exchange is creativity. This force, within all of us, is driving us out of the rigidity of society’s demands – soaring us to new heights, new visions and among new friends. The New Originals are a brand that express this in the very fabric of their brand DNA, and their interest in South Africa – specifically Cape Town, with Johannesburg soon to follow, traces its root back to the Broke family, and photographer Nick van Tiem – who, through shooting Andile Dlamini for a few years, introduced The New Originals, and thus a collaborative union was forever formed. In the space of two years, TNO founders Rizky Lasahido, Maru Asmellash and Eben Badu have travelled to Cape Town – immersed themselves in the culture, now stock their brand at Lemkus and will return next year to deep this relationship between Amsterdam and Cape Town – beyond borders or difference, and solely to cultivate a new future of creative collaboration and opportunity. The dynamics of friendship, design and passion are the principles; The New Originals is the vehicle. As TNO’s tagline states, ‘performance clothing for creatives’ – this is the era in which creatives are paid their dues, and recognised as intrinsic to seeding the future. At Connect Everything Collective, we could not agree more. 

“We originally started out as a blog around 10 years ago. We were just a group of friends posting about things that were going on around us – we all went our own way in our creative career paths, and then around 6 years, the three of us came together to build the brand, focused on clothing as a way to tell the story of creatives. We are very motivated by creatives across different industries and skill sets, and coming from Amsterdam – we grew up around really influential, dynamic creatives behind brands like Patta and Daily Paper. The New Originals is our contribution to this wave.” Eben says in our conversation. Central to the TNO vision is collaboration and community, with their site acting as both an e-commerce platform and a home to tell stories about their friends and peers in music, art, performance, fashion and design. It is about capturing the zeitgeist emanating from Amsterdam, and recognising ones emanating elsewhere across the globe. On this vision around collaboration, Maru explains, “As a brand, we are based around a group of people who share common interests. Our vision is to be a bridge and a space for people to connect from different spaces that normally might not get in touch – I think our tagline, “thinking out of the box” is the common thread among us all who are involved in or connect to the brand. A big part of this is our activities and programming that we do, which brings people together. The root of this is that we started as a DIY company without capital, and based everything on our community – we believed that we could pull this off purely off how inspired we were from the creatives around us. I think that’s why, wherever we go, there’s this energy around us, because we started with human capital instead of financial capital, and that will always be our main focus. Creative communities will always have people as their bottom line, before anything else.”

Cape Town has a special place in the TNO’s expanding universe, and with many amazing collaborations being able to take place digitally – Eben, Maru and Rizky did a one up and flew down to experience the Mother City in all Her glory. Eben says, “Nick van Tiem put us on with Cape Town, specifically with the Broke Boys. Earlier this year, we visited – and we wanted to expand on the work we had made a few years ago. We did a pop-up store and an event, and it was our first time seeing the Broke family in real time. Instagram has its limits – when you’re there at The Clubhouse, or at Lemkus or at INFLUHKS – that’s when the magic happens. We will be back next year to do part two.” With many brands honing on ‘community’ as an ethos or framework, with The New Originals – it’s the essence of what they do. Their original work was throwing cult-status parties in Amsterdam, and through that the brand was born; for TNO, the energy of people together under one banner can never be replaced. Maru explains what Cape Town meant to them, “The energy in Cape Town is incredible. We are aware of the rise of Ampiano taking over the world – people are talking about South Africa. What we experienced in the city was our mutual ideas. The style in Cape Town, and in South Africa, is wild. It’s one of the few places I’ve experienced recently where subculture is boiling and bubbling. In the age of social media, everything becomes so saturated so quickly; South Africa still has facilities to nurture sub-cultures, individualism and collective expression. There is so much acceptance among people that I don’t really elsewhere, there is a spirit of believing in what you are doing. We want to be a part of this, and what this is all about. Yes, we can hear the music, but what is happening behind it? We can learn a lot  from you in South Africa, especially in Amsterdam or London or Paris – where community-building is almost a slur nowadays, people throw it out there but it can be so exclusive. We were granted access to a community and culture that inspires us to do better where we come from.”

As for the future of TNO, Rizky reminds me that they are a young brand, so there is a lot left to do and build. He says, “We are starting out, really. We want to create further extensions of communities and bridges around the world, and tap into varying collectives in different cities. Our clothing drives that, but it’s really about meeting up and hanging out – that’s never really been possible before in the world, so it’s a new frontier. We want to highlight the fact that many people like us are starting companies and being creative, and it’s something that’s happening around the world – so if we can map it out, and bring people to Amsterdam, or visit their home cities, then we are achieving our vision.” The New Originals are a potent example of what it means to be young and create a company today – in the trenches of capitalism, consumption and chaos – there is a light shining out from all over the world, doing beautiful work and creating waves. We just have to be bold enough to search each other out, and then anything is possible. 

Written by: Holly Beaton

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za

Felix Laband releases his latest full length album, ‘The Soft White Hand’

Nov 22, 2022 | New Release, Music

Felix Laband’s The Soft White Hand is the masterwork of an artist who expresses himself through musical and artistic collage acting together to reinterpret his sources and to express significant elements of his own personal story.

“When the Khmer Rouge took their captives for processing, they identified their class enemies by looking at their hands. If they were sunburned, rough and calloused, they were those of a peasant, a proletarian to be spared. But if they were soft and white, then they were those of a city-dweller, an intellectual or bourgeois, an adversary to be liquidated. 

In calling this album The Soft White Hand, I was reflecting on the Cambodian genocide and how it resonates in contemporary South Africa. The apartheid era is over, and gone with it is white political domination. Yet economic and social privilege is still held in soft white hands. But those who grasp it know just how tenuous is their hold, how it singles them out, and my music reflects their subconscious fears, the stress and guilt of clinging on to what others envy and desire.

The soft white hand of the title suggests to me a further image, one that relates to all of postcolonial Africa. In my mind’s eye, I see the soft, duplicitous handshake of the smooth representatives of the superpowers making deals and promising gifts that benefit only them, and not their African dupes. Yet, soaring above the wailing of sirens sampled from the first day of the invasion of Ukraine, my music is also about love gained and passion lost. It is about the tender caress of a soft white hand that conducts you into a place of dreams to be enfolded by nocturnal melodies.” – Felix Laband, Artist Statement 

 

Released by Munich-based Compost Records, the 14-track album is Laband’s first full-length offering since the critically acclaimed Deaf Safari in 2015. It is heralded by the single “Derek and Me”, and is being pressed on vinyl for distribution globally.

 In The Soft White Hand Laband works with source materials that will be familiar to those who know his previous four records – Thin Shoes in June (2001), 4/4 Down the Stairs (2002), Dark Days Exit (2005) and especially Deaf Safari which reached deep into the South Africa scene and its political culture to inspire its vocal and music sampling. However, the disengagement he felt from his homeland during his latest album’s creation – an abiding sense of untethered-ness to place and space, exquisitely rendered in tracks like “Death of a Migrant” – is perceptible in Laband’s desire to illuminate instead aspects of his own life.

 

“For this album, my source material became almost autobiographical as opposed to African statements I’ve worked with previously,” says the artist. “I have sampled a lot from documentaries from the 80s crack epidemic in impoverished African American communities and believe my work speaks unapologetically for the lost and marginalised, for those who are the forgotten casualties of the war on drugs. In the past, I have had my issues with substance abuse, and I know first-hand about the nightmares and fears, what it feels like to be isolated and abandoned.” 

 Few artists have managed to air these intimate aspects of their life so luminously as Laband does in tracks like “5 Seconds Ago”, “They Call Me Shorty” and in the strange and meditative “Dreams of Loneliness”. “I’ve been building this weird, autobiographical story using other people talking. It’s kind of humorous but it is also sad and beautiful,” says Laband.

 

Yet, as in all of Laband’s recorded output, the delineations between emotions are never starkly drawn and The Soft White Hand is also shot through with beauty. Nature appears in recordings made in his garden in the intimate early morning hours, whether as in the calls of the Hadada Ibis and other birdsong in “Prelude” or of the vertical-tail-cocking bird in “Derek and Me”. The last is a wonderful track with Derek Gripper, the South African experimental classical guitarist of international renown, whose 2020 song “Fanta and Felix” imagines a meeting between Fanta Sacko and Laband.

 Laband’s eloquence in reinterpreting classical composers such as Beethoven in “We Know Major Tom’s a Junkie” is another thrilling aspect of the new record. “I’ve been properly exploring classical music on this album,” explains Laband, “taking melodies from classical compositions and reinterpreting them”.  A fresh quality comes to his work through this sonic adventuring: the tender manipulation of the mundaneness of the computer’s AI voice to reimagine and reinvent iconic lyrics and melodies in strange and unexpected configurations.

The Soft White Hand is Laband’s most cohesive body of work to date. Yet it remains, in its sheer artistic scope, impossible to describe fully. Darkness abuts the gossamer light. A song that summons the sunrise and all the hope of a new day could also be about the final dipping down of the sun that portends a troubled night ahead. Interludes are invitations to expand outwards or shift inwards. Mistakes and “weird fuckups” in the sound are cherished as convincing statements against what Laband calls the “grossness” of perfect sound in modern music.

 For this world-leading electronic artist, the boundaries are unfixed. He is inspired by the German Dada artist, Hannah Höch, who memorably declared: “I wish to blur the firm boundaries which we self-certain people tend to delineate around all we can achieve.” His music consequently reflects a primal artistic impulse that is also visible in Laband’s considerable visual art output as seen recently in several solo exhibitions such as that held in the No End Gallery in Johannesburg in 2019 and in the works he produced during his 2018 Nirox Foundation Artists Residency. “My music is always about collage, as is my art,’’ he affirms. “Everything I do is collage. It is a medium I find very interesting because you are taking history and distorting it and changing its meaning and turning it upside down and back to front.” In her book Recollections of My Non-Existence, Rebecca Solnit calls collage “literally a border art”; it is “an art of what happens when two things confront each other or spill onto each other”.

With The Soft White Hand, Laband is confirming his singular ability to achieve this in both art and music, melting the divisions between the two creative disciplines until they become one. He is also affirming his belief that an album of music should be more than a collection of unrelated tracks, but should unfold a fully integrated, cohesive story as in the song cycles of the great classical composers. In doing so, he claims his position as one of the most significant artists working today.

Stream ‘The Soft White Hand’ HERE

Purchase ‘The Soft White Hand’ HERE

Links:

 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Felix-Laband-18041251748/

Instagram: www.instagram.com/felixlaband

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/felix-laband

Bandcamp: https://felixlaband.bandcamp.com/

 

Holograph Are Back With Their Lo-Fi Influenced Single, ‘Glass Eyes’

Nov 21, 2022 | New Release, Music

Holograph is what happens when you lock up three old friends in a house for a year, and those three friends are restless musicians. In the crucible of the 2020 lockdown in Cape Town Desmond Kannemeyer, Ines Soutschka and Warren Fisher came together to begin creating a sound that is as unpredictable as it is captivating. Since 2022 the full band has been playing live in and around Cape Town, South Africa.

Their latest single, ‘Glass Eyes’, comes straight from the corner of a half-remembered dream. The track sees the band head in a different direction, highlighting their cold wave and lofi influences, “Glass Eyes” is ready for the darkest of dance floors.

Listen to the track HERE

Distributed by Now Now Just Now :

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[email protected]

www.nownowjustnow.com

 

 

Talia Ramkilawan Encapsulates Pleasure at WHATIFTHEWORLD Gallery

Nov 18, 2022 | Art

I first saw Talia Ramkilawan’s work at the Michaelis Graduate exhibition in 2018 – fabric woven in tapestry, vivid colours emanating as figures; and although I can’t quite remember precisely the content of the works, but that it was showcased a sculptural installation, I do know I would never forget her medium. Talia’s principle medium is rug-hooking, an astounding portrayal of crochet tapestry. While Talia’s work manifests across installation, performance and video – I find myself ever-enamoured by the mastery it takes to construct vast images in richness, texture and meaning through well placed and tightened threads of fabric. 

 

The simultaneous simplicity and nuance of a textural, crafted medium within Talia’s artistic dialogue arises as a deeply personal and intimate expression; her lived experience as a South African Indian, queer woman navigating the 21st century. Dialogues of family trauma, sexuality, the dynamics and complexities of identity temper her work- and in Talia’s recent solo exhibition, the depths of unbridled pleasure. Currently exhibited at WHATIFTHEWORLD Gallery, ‘Pleasure Over Pain’ features an array of personal reflections through rug-hook tapestry; Talia has frozen in time the memories and experiences that edify her continual pursuit of pleasure – joy – love, and the sensorial ways in which these are experienced. 

A striking aspect of ‘Pain over Pleasure’ – and a function in all of Talia’s work – is her ability to convey senses such as taste; placing the viewer into her world, and into the richness of experience from Talia’s perspective. Whether it’s the food woven into the picnic scenario between lovers and friends in ‘I’d spend everyday with you/ if it’s enough to make you mine’, or the appearance of Wembley Roadhouse in Athlone – the iconic, family-style diner – in ‘Double hotdog with whopper sauce and a falooda’, Talia evokes the transience of pleasure as a delicious taste – whether its food, or sex – or community and connection; all these form Talia’s personal commitment to joy, and in a way offers the view the same call to action.

Talia Ramkilawan is one of the most important artists in the country – yes, as a cultural communicator, but above all else, simply for who she is – the channel for a deeply original, exquisite artistic essence that remedies the rigidity and plainness of contemporary art.

‘Pleasure Over Pain’ is on until the 26 November at WHATIFTHEWORLD Gallery, 16 Buiten Street, Cape Town City Centre

 

Written by: Holly Beaton

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za

INFLUHKS’ VISION INITIATES THE POWER OF STREETWEAR FROM CAPE TOWN TO LAGOS

Nov 17, 2022 | Interviews, Fashion

In the city, 199 Loop St is home to a very special space. I was introduced to INFLUHKS through Andile from Broke – himself crediting the store with the injection of success that the Broke Boys have had for the last two years. I hadn’t been to the store in over a year until recently – nor had I ever met its co-founders, Samson Ajibade and Daniel Durojaiye; the duo also behind streetwear brand, Lazy Stacks. In the year since I first visited the store, INFLUHKS has been renovated and fitted to a newly contemporary shopping experience – I sense a concept store vision ahead – and alongside that, there is a lounge-corner against a backdrop of sneakers, for when the homies pull in. Each brand has their own rail and spot to reflect their signature; the thoughtfulness of this is clear. INFLUHKS is community-centred, and one of most altruistic visions I have encountered in local streetwear. In the back of the store, more insight lies in wait; a studio space, with a mural of Virgil emblazoned against the wall, is set up for small-scale photoshoots, and e-commerce (more on that later) product shoots. So, in-house is the name of the game for Sam & Daniel: and to top it off, behind the studio is their CMT studio. Yes, INFLUHKS and many of the brands that it houses are in fact, made on site; a solution for Sam and Daniel when coming up against supply chain issues – did you know, often you can’t get a factory to produce garments unless you order a minimum of 50 units? You see, INFLUHKS was never just about Lazy Stacks – nor was Lazy Stacks ever just about the store – the entire pulse running through the space is economic and creative empowerment in Cape Town through streetwear. This is a home for building brands and telling stories – and connecting Cape Town with Lagos, Nigeria, where Sam and Daniel were both born. In a world that seeks to divide and separate; INFLUHKS is articulating the future of streetwear in Africa, and they are bringing anyone who wants to join along with them.

 

“The origin of everything is from Lazy Stacks – we built INFLUHKS around it. Lazy Stacks started as part of a social media revolt in Nigeria, around three years ago. The president commented in a press conference that the Nigerian youth were entitled and lazy – and the response from the youth was to demonstrate online that this was far from the truth, that in fact the infrastructure doesn’t support the younger generations and their future. Lazy Stacks is inspired by youthful rebellion in creative individuals that make up the new wave of entrepreneurs and leaders – we want to ask the question with Lazy Stacks, how do we encourage economic growth and create, without conforming to society’s benchmarks for productivity and success?” Sam tells me in our conversation – indicating an incredibly powerful aspect of the rise of streetwear across the planet that is woven into the DNA of Lazy Stacks and INFLUHKS. Streetwear itself is a nexus of sub-culture and non-conformity; and yet, it has become one of the most successful markets in retail and fashion. Alongside this, streetwear remains at the frontier of what it means to build a brand in the 21st century; to tell stories, create community and in turn, nurture and feed that community off the success of being true oneself. Initially, Lazy Stacks was meant to be launched in Nigeria – but the pandemic had other plans; “The business was supposed to be launched in Lagos. With all the lockdowns, we decided to launch it online from Cape Town. Things became increasingly difficult, and that’s also how INFLUHKS started. Our original work in the store was assisting fast fashion brands reduce waste; we took clothes heading for landfill, and diverted them back into the store to extend their lifecycle. As time went on, I realised that wasn’t what I wanted to do; I wanted to sell and promote local brands, because sustainability is social and environmental. We can do both when we are creating a local industry – the original business model for INFLUHKS limited our creative expression, but it taught us a lot about retail.”

 

If you speak to anyone adjacent to or in the scene – they will confirm that INFLUHKS is onto something big. Whether its their iconic First Thursday parties, launch events or showcasing at SA Menswear, INFLUHKS has its sights firmly set on a new landscape for streetwear’s future. Central to this has been a physical brick-and-mortar store, particularly in a time where everything feels like it’s digitised. The purpose of this is yes, to sell clothes – but it’s also to encourage a continued reclamation of the city, a home for kids and creatives alike to come and hang out; seeding and sharing ideas. As Sam puts it – “We have hacked the system, and we tell a lot of the brands we work with, that this is what differentiates us. We are not supposed to be inside of the city selling our brands; it’s meant for bigger brands, and the challenge is continuous – it’s a never-ending battle to the landlord, or tenants, who don’t want us there because we are noisy. We are youthful, of course we are loud. Each year we sharpen how we approach business, and how we communicate what we are doing with the store. We are busy working on our online platform – the store is full, and we have a long list of people who are waiting to be a part of the INFLUHKS family.”

In the store – which I urge everyone to visit – the quality of fabric and construction of every brand is incredible. From Bigtynsonly, Kings On Horses, Flux – Artclub and Friends – Patrick James, Lazy Stacks and Broke, each brand expresses its designers unique viewpoint. It’s something one can never quite catch from a runway or a photograph; but this uncompromising commitment to quality is crucial for Sam and Daniel. There can be no other way; and this commitment has paid, particularly in how INFLUHKS is contributing to changing consumer perception around midweight local fashion. Sam explains, “We have seen a shift from people who used to go buy things from fast fashion brands, now rather saving a bit of money to buy a local brand in our store. People are understanding the vision, and realising they can be a part of it too. This growth is huge, and it’s pushing us to do more; especially because with our physical store, people come and connect with us, they connect with clothing; streetwear has more power than people realise. We encourage conscious consumption and economic empowerment.” There is a very unique energy of collaboration between brands running through local fashion; many realise that without each other, and the growth among many brands, the industry won’t be able to reach its full potential. On this, Sam explains; “We were able to do SA Menswear through Robyn Keyser at Artclub and Friends. When she visited our studio, and as always she gave so much advice – she’s an OG, and has been doing this for years – and she asked if we wanted to do the show in Cape Town, as she was going to SA Fashion Week in Joburg. Robyn really hooked us up. It’s been waves of appreciation from the show – the growth we have seen in our retail numbers go to show that we have more eyes on us and our work.” 

One half of leading INFLUHKS forward is Daniel – his vision is to truly connect Cape Town and Lagos, as powerful forces in fashion’s future on the continent. Next on the agenda for Sam, Daniel and their whole crew is expansion; landing an investor, and getting a bigger space; the future is ripe for their taking. This is potent work; and one that signals the impact creativity has as a role for shaping the future of African fashion. Watch this space.

 

 

 

Written by: Holly Beaton

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za

Rose Bonica releases the first Roses Are Red compilation, ‘Roses Are Dead’

Nov 16, 2022 | New Release, Music

Rose Bonica has recently released the first instalment of her Roses Are Red Compilation. What started as a humorous play on words, Roses Are Dead has since evolved into a heavyweight compilation. A dark, loud and club-centred showcase of talent from Fear & Self Loathing, JAIDE, [kevinindafield], Chris Timm, Odous and Rose Bonica.

The release, in collaboration with ANG, enters the world for a positive cause. The proceeds of the sales will be donated to Sidewalk Specials, a Cape Town-based animal welfare organisation that focuses on rescuing, sterilising and rehoming of pets as well as educating communities on how to care for their furry friends.

This cause is close to our hearts, with the beautifully painted artwork by Odous featuring ANG’s two rescue pups. We often think we save animals, but more often than not they are the ones who save us.

Support a beautiful cause and populate your crates with some bangers for the club.

Listen to the compilation HERE

Soulfully Encoded, Sío’s Poetic Rise

Nov 15, 2022 | Interviews, Music

Female vocals interlaced throughout electronic music have re-imagined the proverbial songs of sirens deeply within a temporally extended position in music. Spliced and manipulated – that is the genius of electronic music, a technical wonder transcending the human experience of sound – and yet, this is not the genius of Sío. No, singer and poet, Siobhan Luluma King’s genius is as precisely soulful and raw as it gets – and house music just happened to be the first assertion that she found for her energy to translate effectively. The deep hum from which Sío’s tonal abilities reverberates have coaxed her from her initial apprehension at ‘entertainment’ – by her self admission, this ‘weird kid’ from Ennerdale just wants to play – as freely and deeply as life will allow. On that road to freedom, Sío might stumble across a Spotify billboard in Times Square (yes, New York City) – and with eyes wide and beaming, she might be drawn in a for a moment into the eminence of it all – but ultimately, Sío just wants to write, sing, and share. Personally, I think her purpose is also to heal – but that’s just me, ever-curious of what each of our medicines in this world might be. 

“I wasn’t really the kind of person that people thought much of in terms of vocals. I grew up in the hood, Ennerdale, a coloured location built by the legacy of apartheid. Everybody was enamoured by belters and big voices there – and especially during that time – people who could do Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey runs. BIG voices. As a child, I was never given leads in the choir. I had encephalitis as a kid – so I didn’t go to school for a while. I started going to church a whole lot more, and got lost in reading – which fed the storyteller in me.” Sío reflects in our conversation – although, I must preface, this is one of those conversations in which writing could never justify the animated energy or sense of humour with which Sío speaks – even around childhood illness, Sío switches between poignant remembrance, and witty acclaim for the past. She says, “At church this was the nun, I grew up Catholic, and there was a search announced for a youth choir. I thought, ‘oh well – I’ve got nothing to do on a Thursday afternoon, why not?’ Sister Theresa, rest in peace, came to me one day during those practices and said ‘hey, sing in your head register, please?’ – I really didn’t understand that then. From that moment, I started singing with my natural voice. Sister Theresa gave me that permission, that I didn’t know I needed, to be myself – and then, believe it or not, people started paying attention. I got a whole solo during communion – and everyone just looked at me, like I had been hiding my throat the whole time! Still, I’ve had to work to love the power of my voice – and not because of its ability to belt, but because it’s soothing, I’ve been told. It’s a lullaby voice.” For Sío, her voice has been her liberator and her shield simultaneously – growing up in a fractured world, her formative years were spent as a target for bullies – those who couldn’t understand how she could be both coloured and Zulu; the experience of being misunderstood, led Sío to retreat deep into her inner-world; a world which is now her greatest superpower. 

For a long-time, electronic music has featured samples of vocals belonging to unknown people; in a male-dominated industry, the mystery of the feminine remained purposefully unknown – you don’t know Her, but you feel Her, wherever the music is experienced. In the last decade, this has changed – with singers like Zanda Zakuza – Sío is among the feminine forces within electronic music that is revealing itself, to be known and paid their dues. Sío says, “I looked at fame as a monster, and I find that to be true in many ways, still. The kind of notoriety – no, that wasn’t for me, fame looked scary. I wanted to be able to go to the shop at 5 in the afternoon, in my pyjamas, you know? Looking at house music – I saw it was inclusionary – and I have those gripes, still. A singer in house music is not as respected as a DJ or producer. I got into it, though, because it was around me – it was the boom of it, and I wasn’t drawn to hip hop.” Songwriting was encouraged by a cousin – and Sío, already writing poetry at that point, has never looked back, “I bought a guitar, and began writing songs. That format condensed and locked in my many, many ideas for writing – I was then introduced to someone with a mic, another guy with a beat. A 10 minute walk to a guy’s house, his name is Jabu, in extension 5 in Ennerdale and the first song we did – Love Mirrors – was released under Peng Africa. Simultaneously, more guys came through with beats – and I would do the vocals. House, very specifically, is like doing a group-project. It has that way of being, where everyone brings their craft to the table.That’s not to say it’s a balance though; there is a lot to be done in terms of how house music can serve singers as much as it does for DJs and producers.”

I ask Sío about the encoded nature of her work – the allusion to esoteric themes, and where her moniker ‘The Twilight Child’ came from as a poet, “I’ve never really thought of myself as a healer, but I think in sharing who I am and what I’ve experienced – I think it ignites a sense of solidarity. There is healing in that. I absolutely believe this is a calling for me – to sing, and write – it’s the hardest thing I have ever done, and the most rewarding. ‘The Twilight Child’ is a name I came up with as a teenager for my poetry. I’ve always felt like I exist in liminal space – you know, those between spaces? I’m not just one thing.” Poetry, to me, is the very edge of writing before it becomes a fully-musical endeavour; personally, I cannot write poetry very well – there is a rhythm and lyricism there that I find totally mesmerising. On this, Sío says, ‘’I taught myself to write poems, and it’s by trial and error. I used to write four or five page poems – I’ve definitely learned to condense them, though. That lended itself to my ability to rhythm, and hear melodies with words or lyrics alone. Writing songs was much easier because of my poetry background – and the beauty of house, the songs are much longer – so I could put in my longer writing style with ease. There is a lot for me to say, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised – people like what I do.”

A few months ago, streaming giant Spotify named Sío their Spotify Equal Ambassador – with a huge billboard of Sío in Times Square, New York City, “Spotify approached Kid Fonque and I before my album was being released. I really couldn’t believe it – I just make songs, you know? I wasn’t quite ready for the way I would feel being on a billboard like that. I’ve been on billboards before when I’ve done modelling work – but it was always me selling something or portraying a character. This time, I was on a filter in one of the busiest, most diverse intersections on the planet – just for being myself and sharing my craft? I cried tears of joy, which I had never done before about anything.” Woven between these moments – and within the liminal spaces – Sío exists, and lives, fully in her expression. We are honoured to witness it, too. 

Written by: Holly Beaton

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za