Stefan Sands releases latest single ‘Lunch Money’ through Amsterdam-based label Vokall Records

May 23, 2023 | New Release, Music

Lunch Money is the latest single from singer, songwriter and producer Stefan Sands, released on Amsterdam based record label Vokall Records. The track is centred around a powerful horns arrangement by Johnny Thirkell and showcases Sands’s original blend of Neo-Soul and Funk, with a pop-driven melodic arrangement.

“I wrote ‘Lunch Money’ as a humorous and fun look at life’s constant need for more. I think at every point in our lives we all think we could use a little extra. I wrote the song around the idea of taking that concept way back to it’s simple first steps when we got ‘lunch money’ when we were kids, and adapting that to my current life” says Stefan, explaining this exploration of inner-child themes as the perfect temper for an energised track.

This single serves to bridge the gap between his previous release and his upcoming full length album, “The Weight” which will be released later this year. 

LISTEN TO ‘LUNCH MONEY’ ON SPOTIFY AND APPLE MUSIC

Sonic conversations with Honeymoan ahead of their first full-length album release

May 23, 2023 | Interviews, Music

There’s a certain illustrative spirit imbued within the indie-pop hybrid genres of today. Illustrative in a literal sense, yes – I think of how embedded the practice of illustration and graphics are within the world building of bands and ensembles – but also, the illustrative energy it takes to create a band, make a sound; and coax success within the pared back characterisation that ‘indie’ as a subculture is known for. 

Honeymoan is a project by vocalist Alison Rachel, producer Josh Berry and guitarist Skye MacInnes; born out of Cape Town, the trio have found themselves – at times – continents apart, and yet are calling in a climatic new era, one that seems to be more evocative than ever before. The band who have had both a local and international following for years, playing at local favourite festivals such as Endless Daze as well as a stellar show at last year’s Rare Cassette in Paarden Eiland, have spent the last few months performing sold out shows in London. Following the hardships that ensued due to the pandemic and confronting creative saturation in an increasingly competitive industry, the band now prepare for their first full album release,  fused together in an evolved direction, and focused vision.

The ever-present tension of the digital-analogue debate – especially as it concerns the indie scene in South Africa – is presented by Honeymoan as part of their organic sonic development ahead of their new album.As Skye explains in reflecting on their journey, “in the beginning, we  kind of had a shoe-gazey, sort of indie sound, which were initially going to carry on – but I think when Josh joined, his very specific production style introduced this interesting avenue for us. Previously, we had always approached music from a traditional way of working; everyone in the room, trying to work out the parts together on instruments, and then it kind of changed to us being able to write and produce simultaneously, rather than first writing it and recording it afterwards. I think that’s definitely influenced how our sound has developed, and there has been a lot more electronic influence over the years, but I don’t think that’s necessarily intentional, in a way that’s just happened as we’ve been able to work with more tools.”

In a world demanding constant production and outcome of artists, Josh comments on how their ability to be patient with making music has led them where they are now, saying “We’ve learned to take a step back and get to place where we just try to bridge that gap between finishing songs, and then actually being finished – in sense that we’re going to want to release it. We’ve all got to be obsessed with it, and it’s got to be the only song we listen to over. The biggest thing for me when I joined was shifting the pressure off the guitars, and onto Alison and her vocals. We love the sounds of bands, and we love that aesthetic – and we aren’t going to electrify everything, but being able to sequence and produce digitally in a more integrated way in our process, I think is important sonic development for us.” With the  strength of their trio, each person holds a specific vantage point regarding their sound – as Skye says, “I listen to a lot of metal and punk, and am inspired by guitar sounds; traditional instrumental arrangements – and that’s where I approach it from, but I think this is why I’m so grateful for Ali and Josh, because together we are able to fuse things and find a balance.”

For a few years, the band has had to create intermittently; with Ali and Skye living in London, and Josh being based in Cape Town. As Josh now heads to London, Honeymoan will be together on a regular basis- without having to rely on meeting up only a few times a year to create and record. , Although, to consider that their work until now has been a long-distance endeavour is quite something. With this distance, has been the ability to work on Honeymoan as an evolving project, as Ali says, “I’ve always loved performing and being physical – I was a dancer growing up. I had never really sung or written before, so Honeymoan has been this amazing testing ground for us to figure things out and play. Josh sent me to vocal training, so I’m definitely improving. Even in the beginning, we put out two very distinct singles; one was kind of like a pop, RnB leaning track, which is vocal heavy – and the other was this cute, pop-punk song which was very washed out vocally, and the responses were quite stark. The one song did really well, and that track was responsible for us actually pursuing the project. We make jokes sometimes that our audience is split between those who prefer either song.”

During the pandemic, the band recorded their much anticipated full length album; and like many of their contemporaries, found themselves in the liminal land of an ‘even playing field’ – in which everyone had created work and seeking its proliferation. Instead of relying on this space though, predicated mostly on luck-of-the-draw – Honeymoan saw the opportunity to deepen their respective crafts, and unified purpose for the project. Alison reflects, “we found ourselves in a time where there is so much music in the world, which is amazing – but it’s so difficult to cut through the noise, and if you made it before 2021, it’s pretty chilled, and we had some success prior to that, and have developed a bit of an audience, so we’ve been in a better state than a lot of emerging artists; but it is really challenging.” 

For Honeymoan’s thematic messaging, Ali lets in me on their joke – as the principal songwriter and vocalist, she says, “well, I date a lot, and so I joke that I use this band as a form of therapy – processing  the people that I have had relationships with. With this latest album, we were putting together the ‘thank you’s’ for the vinyl sleeve and Josh was like, ‘lets thank all of Alison’s exes’. The stuff I write about is not necessarily that unique – but its my unique perspective, and we want our music to explore the very human ways of experiencing life, love and so on.’’ This honesty is well reflected in the band’s music, particularly for audiences like theirs for whom indie-style music is always seeking to attain a measure of vulnerability. The  latest single is the first drop from the album; , ‘Sorry Like You Mean It’  grapples with heartache in an energised, hyper-pop mood – the music video shows Alison coursing through the track head-on with the camera; its a real special feat to take a subject like this and make it feel good, hopeful; spirited. Alison explains, “we actually finished this album during the pandemic, and we were patting ourselves on the back; I left for London, and so did Skye. We struggled to find anyone to put it out; and because of that post-pandemic time, labels had a huge pool to choose from. We had high expectations – but that’s what Josh was talking about earlier, is the ability to reflect back and be honest; when we listened back, there were a bunch of tracks that we weren’t actually that set on.  So we went back to the studio and recorded four new songs.” Not only that, as Josh explains, “we recorded four new songs in two weeks, when we were all in Cape Town for Rocking The Daisies, and we spent every single day in the studio; Sorry Like You Mean It was one of those songs. This album reflects a lot of what we have learned.”

The kind of magic that edifies artists to new heights comes in varying forms, and for Honeymoan, learning the art of reflection, and leaning into stricter time constraints have seeded the way for a new chapter, even for an already well-established band and icon of South Africa’s indie scene. If the addictiveness and energy of ‘Sorry Like You Mean It’ is anything to go by – we are in for a real treat and Honeymoan’s rise has only just begun. 

Keep a lookout for Honeymoan’s full length album and in the meantime; 
STREAM ‘SORRY LIKE YOU MEAN IT’ HERE
WATCH THE MUSIC VIDEO HERE

Images by Alix-Rose Cowie @alixrosephoto @alixrosecowie

Written by: Holly Beaton

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

Satoshi Fumi releases ‘Prayer’ through Nick Warren’s label ‘The Soundgarden’

May 22, 2023 | New Release, Music

Issued on Nick Warren’s imprint The Soundgarden, the latest offering from talented Japanese producer Satoshi Fumi is titled ‘Prayer’, and comes complete with a remix by Nick Warren and Nicolás Rada. 

Tokyo native Satoshi Fumi is strongly influenced by classic 90s Detroit, Chicago and New York Deep House sounds, releasing a steady stream of consistently great music since the turn of the century on labels such as Bedrock, Sudbeat, Get Physical and Moodmusic to name a few. 

Meditative, restrained and timeless, ‘Prayer’ is an ever-so-slightly melancholy slice of Deep House goodness, with spine-tingling synth strings and fragmented piano melodies summoning profound emotions over warm analog drum machines and comforting, heartbeat-like sub bass. Nick Warren joins forces with longtime friend and collaborator and mentee, Argentine DJ and producer Nicolás Rada, to rework ‘Prayer’. The result is a trackier, more dancefloor oriented version that builds around swirling synth arpeggios to create a dizzying groove that simply soars, while still somehow holding onto the emotional depth of the original version. 

Nick Warren
Satoshi Fumi
Nicolás Rada
About Nick Warren /// 
To this day, Warren remains at the forefront of club culture: he packs clubs and arenas worldwide from London to Buenos Aires to Burning Man, transfixing dancefloors with his distinctively forward blend of credible progressive sounds, deeper tunes, atmospheric layers and any other grooves Warren deems appropriate for his turntable. Nick Warren became one of the first so-called “superstar DJs” in the mid-to-late ’90s, holding down a high-profile residency at Cream in England, touring around the world, and appearing on several DJ mix albums before they became commonplace. 

Through a combination of providing acclaimed mixes for Mixmag, DMC, and the Global Underground series, and releasing a string of club-smashing solo singles, Warren found himself catapulted into the electronic big leagues; and, by continuing to release acclaimed albums, singles, and remixes with his Way Out West partner-in-crime, Jody Wisternoff, Nick has firmly established himself as a truly multi-faceted producer of top-quality dance music. 

Now, as the A&R of Bristol-based Hope Recordings, he spends his time seeking to hone and promote the next generation of club- smashing DJ and production talent; and, through the expansion of his label The Soundgarden into a globe-straddling international events and entertainment brand, set in stone his already firmly-established reputation as a giant of electronic, techno, and house music. 

 

About Satoshi Fumi ///
Tokyo-born Satoshi Fumi is influenced by the 90’s Detroit,Chicago and New York house/Techno scene, and has his own unique style by providing the world with a variety of dance music styles such as Deep House, Techno, and Acid.

Satoshi has released many tracks in labels such as Bedrock, Sudbeat, Get Physical, Mood Music, We Play House Recordings, Detone, Motech, King Street Sounds, UNKNOWN and so on. In addition, Satoshi runs his own label ‘Sequent:Recordings’ and has a monthly radio program titled ‘Outerspace’ on Proton Radio.

 

About Nicolás Rada ///
If a new generation of self-identity artists is emerging within the electronic music scene, there is where we will certainly find the Argentinian Nicolás Rada, a DJ and producer who has created his own firmly-based path onwards success. Early influences of Progressive Rock ed him to create a characteristic sound, heard across the many labels he has worked with such as The Soundgarden, Sudbeat, Balance, Get Physical, Chapter24, Sincopat, DAYS Like NIGHTS, Hoomidaas, Proton, among many others.

From his first steps into electronic music, Nicolás’ productions has received support from important referents as Nick Warren, Hernán Cattaneo, John Digweed, Danny Howells, Sander Kleinenberg, Guy Mantzur, Guy J, Patrice Baumel, Eelke Kleijn, Armen Miran and from many others. The legendary Nick Warren proposed some collaborations together, leading to a personal and professional relationship with releases “Land of Dreams”, an EP edited by Nick’s label, The Soundgarden. Nicolás’ eclectic style and his distinctive, but also versatile sound, ets him dive into different genres without being tied to just one unique style.

 

 

/// Stream ‘Prayer’ HERE

Satoshi Fumi - Prayer: The Soundgarden

Fashion photographer Filippo Fior shares his perspective and why Africa’s time is now

May 19, 2023 | Interviews, Creatives, Fashion

If you are a follower of the fashion season, whether through our fashion column Interlude, Vogue Runway or through social media – then you are certainly familiar with fashion photographer Filippo Fior’s work. He, in many ways, has been the principal archivist of runway shows for the last fifteen years; capturing the symphonic movements of collections, and tracing the development of the designers and brands behind every show with his lens. Having sourced and celebrated Filippo’s images for sometime, could only have been enhanced by finding out that he has a South African connection; our conversation charts Filippo’s intense passion for fashion as art, his love for South Africa and the African continent, and invites us into his thoughts behind some of his favourite shows. 

“My story is kind of complicated – I was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and lived there until I was 10 years old. I remember it still so vividly; the sights and sounds. I think it’s true that Africa is something you never lose from your heart; even all these years later, I miss it so much. My father, being Italian, wanted to come back to his home, so we went from the bustling city of Johannesburg, to a tiny village in Tuscany with a population of around 3000 people. It taught me another kind of living, so I’m grateful to have been raised with two very contrasted experiences. When I left home at 18, I went to study aerospace engineering – all the while being an amateur photographer, and I ended up pursuing photography full time.” Filippo says. A pivot from aerospace engineering to photography is a reminder that our career paths are more than anything, the way we wish to show up and interact in the world. As someone who is endlessly curious and detail-oriented; the confines of a laboratory may have been too monotonous. Filippo reflects, “I started taking reportage and photo-journalistic images when I joined an agency all those years ago, but then with digital photography coming out – things changed. Magazines started having less interest in reportage, so I had to move towards a new industry. Of course, being in Italy, fashion is in our blood. I worked in Milan, and then became part of the early formation of GoRunway, who I am still with today.” Go Runway is the primary photographic agent for fashion weeks in Milan, Paris and so on. 

Jacquemus Spring/Summer 2021
gcds
Sunnei Spring 22 RTW Milan GoRunway

As far as social-documentary photography is concerned, Fiilippo describes how he was able to translate his formative development towards the medium of fashion, “my dream has always been to be a National Geographic photographer. I have always wanted to use photography to explain what is happening in a certain condition. My god – fifteen years ago – my first fashion show was interesting. I was put backstage, which suited me fine because it’s a kind of reportage; but the runway, that was something very different. It was a complete disaster, because you think ‘oh come on, it’s just a model coming down a straight line with good lighting, how hard can it be?’ Honestly, counting the steps of the models and setting my camera was impossible. It was very harsh at the beginning.” The harshness of this kind of fashion photographer – the live, and time-sensitive reporting from fashion shows – is something Cris Fragkou has spoken to us about. The area designated for the photographers is known ominously as ‘the pit’ – and its intensity is juxtaposed with the ethereal nature of most shows. Filippo explains, “as pit photographers, we are like a band of brothers – we know each other, and we have to rely on each other, but we are also kind of enemies because we are all with competing agencies and overlapping briefs. It’s a strange environment, in which you have to be a good politician – and you have to keep your position, and mine is a hard-won central position. At the beginning of my career doing this, there were so many of us; and I was the new guy, kept on the sidelines. Now, with so much happening in the photography industry, there’s very few of us now on the runway. In a way it’s good, but it also speaks to the decline of something like ‘the pit’ and the publishing industry.” Filippo goes on to speculate, like many of  us do, that the loss of power by magazines, and the decline of print media, speak to the volatility of many industries today. As we digitise, and technology becomes more integrated into how we work and express ourselves, so do we find spaces like fashion shows having more singular intentions; namely, their visibility on social media platforms and in-house content requirements by the brands themselves. 

Alaia Fall 22 Paris

“Fashion shows depend on so many factors, and comes down to the intentions and momentum of the brand or designer. I’ve been shooting the first shows by Jacquemeus when he wasn’t very famous; he was doing shows in a garage in Paris, with not much press and not many lights. It’s been great seeing him grow, and how much a designer can put into building not just clothes, but a whole world around them. The show I shot of him, out in the wheatfields, is one of the best experiences I have ever had as a photographer. You can see that Simon has a real ability to share his romantic nature. Fashion shows are very indescribable – the big ones like Dior, with hundreds of people outside – that energy is intense and so focused on the ‘dream of fashion’. Some shows are little, because they might not have the budget, or they’re huge and the set-design is astonishing. It is always about what a designer can show, though – the feeling a designer can give is not really dependent on budget. I think we need to remember that. I’ve seen small shows that are so emotional and beautiful, and very big shows where the feeling is lost.” Filippo says, responding to the difficult question as to what fashion shows are like; as for the democratisation of fashion through IG live shows, and the general attention of the public during seasons, Filippo says, “I think it’s really important to have everyone a part of fashion. We have to show that it’s not only something for the rich; fashion is that art-form of expression, and a way to showcase ideas, values and visions. Yes, the price-tags of most houses are high; but fashion is more than that. Even if we are in uncertain times, and the industry has a lot of work to do around social and environmental issues, I think now more than ever, we need to dream and fantasize through it.”

As for Filippo’s love for Africa, he says, “I think people like Thebe Magugu, and so many others, are really showing that Africa is the place that will grow next. Really, my dream is to come to Cape Town to shoot a Resort or Cruise show one day. It is the most perfect location for it; and I think South Africa has so much to give the fashion world, it’s one of the most important countries that show the melt-pot of cultures in the world. Africa has already given so much, and I’m excited to see how much it grows in the future as a cultural and fashion centre of the world. It would be so good to see something happening in Cape Town.’’ From someone as esteemed as Filippo in international fashion – his words are not lost on us. Our time is now.

All images credited to Filippo Fior.

Written by: Holly Beaton

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

Levi’s® Offers R15,000 Grand Prize in its Hunt for the Oldest 501® Jeans in South Africa

May 18, 2023 | News, Fashion

Levi’s® has launched a nationwide hunt for the oldest pair of 501® jeans in South Africa. To celebrate their 150th birthday this year, the brand is calling on all fashionistas, denim-lovers, and collectors to take up the challenge and stand to win R15,000, along with additional prizes up for grabs.

Levi’s® 501® jeans are more than a pair of pants. These iconic jeans have cemented themselves as a symbol of individuality and self-expression, encapsulating the ethos of generations past and present. To celebrate the countless stories told by Levi’s® 501® jeans over the past 150 years, Levi’s® presents the The Oldest 501® Hunt—a nationwide search for the oldest pair of 501®s. 

Whether they’re in the back of your cupboard (or your parents’ cupboard), hidden in a thrift store, or you’re wearing them right now, Levi’s® wants to hear about it. The Oldest 501® Hunt is a chance for us to share our personal histories, celebrate timeless craftsmanship, and to be a part of a new chapter of fashion.

To enter, participants need to click “Join the Hunt” on the Levi’s® website, fill out a form with their details, upload images of their 501® jeans, and hit submit. Levi’s® will then contact shortlisted participants.

 For more information and to enter, visit the Levi’s website. Happy hunting!

The Oldest 501® Hunt presented by Levi’s® is open to all South Africans over the age of 18. Terms and conditions apply. Entries close 30 June 2023.

Written by: Holly Beaton

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

Africa Rising Music Conference Reveals Electronic Line-Up Powered by Jägermeister

May 18, 2023 | News, Music

Africa Rising Music Conference (ARMC) announces the eagerly anticipated electronic lineup for its ‘ARMC By Night’ event, powered by Jägermeister. The event will showcase some of the top and emerging electronic acts in Africa and Europe’s scene, with the event taking place at Johannesburg’s Hallmark Hotel from May 23rd to 24th, 2023.

ARMC’s by-night program has been carefully curated to include the best forthcoming talent celebrating African-influenced genres. Electronic acts will take to the stage after the conference on day two. The ARMC By Night electronic lineup will feature some of the most exciting acts such as OKVSHO, Deep Aztec, Rose Bonica, Megatronic (UK), kMat DJ, and El Mukuka (Zambia) headlined by Boohle. Attendees can expect an unforgettable night of music, with a diverse range of genres represented, from house and techno to Amapiano and experimental electronica.

Black Villian, Deep Aztec, KVHS.
Boohle, KMAT, Chronicle Deep.
Rose Bonica, Megatronic, El Mukuka.

The event will feature two showcase events and a packed program of activities, including panel discussions, workshops, and live music performances. This year’s conference is set to be a vibrant and exciting celebration of African music, providing a platform for emerging artists to showcase their talents and connect with industry experts.The ARMC conference will have a diverse mix of attendees, including both local and international delegates. With a special focus on Zambia, while also highlighting the contributions of partner, The Berlin Music Commission. This partnership is set to infuse a thrilling aspect to the event and offer valuable perspectives to all attendees, in a quest to build bridges between Africa and Europe.

The electronic music scene has been on the rise globally in recent years, and Africa is no exception. With a rich cultural heritage and a growing appetite for new sounds, the continent has seen a surge in the popularity of electronic music in various genres. According to a report by Midem, a music industry conference, electronic music is the fastest-growing genre in Africa, with a growth rate of 18% or more each year since 2018. This growth is largely driven by the younger generation, who are increasingly embracing electronic music and incorporating it into their cultural identity.

Africa’s electronic music industry is set for a promising future, thanks to its young and expanding audience, a rising number of music festivals, and access to cutting-edge technologies. The continent is on the brink of establishing itself as a key player in the worldwide electronic music scene, and the Africa Rising Music Conference is leading the way in this exciting development.After last year’s success and support from the likes of Mixmag and Trace TV Southern Africa, the conference will once again feature key players in the electronic music space including one of Germany’s longest-running electronic music publications, Groove Mag and Association for Electronic Music. 

Get tickets here.

Find out more about Africa Rising Music Conference here

Medical Science is integrating the use of psychedelics and ‘party’ drugs into psychotherapy – we explore what this means

May 17, 2023 | Lifestyle

Nothing could have prepared me for the mind-altering experience I’d have at the end of my first year of university. Having put my body and mind through the absolute trauma of simply trying to survive the complexities of being a first-year student – trying my utmost to strike a balance between box wine benders and passing at school –  it’s safe to say my mental health by the end of 2014 was in an absolutely horrific state. Mind you, this was also before I started going to therapy, drowning my sorrows in dubiously cheap rounds of gin, copious amounts of cigarettes and enough grass to make my birthday twin Snoop Dogg, proud. I was broken, lost and disillusioned with a world I felt less and less connected to.  So, what does one do in such a sorry state? Well, obviously, go to a trance festival with no intention of slowing down the debauchery. 

What I thought would be a weekend filled with endless dancing while rushing from one too many little specky ecstasy pills ended up with all of us deciding on the first evening that what we actually wanted to do was take LSD. Quite the massive step for someone who, at that point, hadn’t even tripped with psilocybin mushrooms. The details are a bit of a haze, but before I knew it, I had a tab on my tongue, the cliched picture of a dolphin broken into a mosaic of mind-bending psychedelia. A deep sense of nausea followed as if my body was cursing me for ingesting something so alien but nothing too out of the ordinary. Maybe it was a dud, I thought, well, that is until I found myself on the dancefloor, and as soon as I turned to look back at an acquaintance, I realised that my tether to reality had become incredibly thin. Without going into every detail of my trip through immensely challenging realisations and personal epiphanies and despite not being able to have a single original thought the next day, one message stuck with me, “You’re not alone, and you don’t have to do this alone”. I found a therapist that January when I returned to university, and it is honestly probably the best thing I’ve ever done for myself.

Image by Raimond Klavins.

This is an all too familiar story, and I would hazard a guess that there are almost countless stories detailing the same experience and I’m sure many of them, much like me, had an extremely powerful and profound experience that altered the course of their lives for the better. However, I think that more than us speedrunning ego-death in the middle of the Karoo, we should be talking about the steady increase in the amount of clinical and scientific research being done on the potential of psychedelic therapy (sometimes referred to as psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy or PAP). Although indigenous communities around the world have been using different psychedelics for therapeutic and religious purposes, the idea is still relatively new within at least official circles in the West. However, results have been incredibly promising from much of the literature you’ll read. 

So how does PAP work? Well, simply put, it usually involves a combination of a controlled amount of psychedelics combined with talk therapy. For those in the know, it was the aptly named President Richard Nixon who really doubled down on the war on drugs during his presidency in the late 60s to mid-70s, recklessly categorising many psychedelic substances on the same level as substances such as heroin and methamphetamine –  making the rising psychedelics research at institution like Harvard, illegal and obsolete. However, with a widening cultural conversation on mental health, psychedelics as a tool have seen a large-scale resurgence in studying, and unlocking its therapeutic potential and benefit. 

Some of the psychedelics currently being trialled and used in some countries as tools during PAP are ketamine, LSD, MDMA, psilocybin, mescaline and ayahuasca. It would be irresponsible of me not to mention that although all these psychedelics have the potential to assist therapeutically, they are not to be toyed with. At the peak of my trip, I vividly remember feeling so deeply detached from what was happening around me that I snapped back to reality with incredibly deep breaths, as if I had just surfaced from holding my breath underwater for far too long. And then there’s Ketamine, the most studied drug for mental health therapy and a particular favourite recreational drug for just about every German I’ve ever met. Let’s just say there is a massive difference in the positive effects of Ketamine when you compare the breakthroughs psychiatrist and psychotherapists have been able to make with it compared to seeing a guy in a K-hole at 4 am in Modular. It’s important to remember these aren’t wonder drugs and they come with some risks that should be considered. The very key to psychedelics as a therapy is not the self-administering kind of recreational use; rather, it is the very controlled, thoroughly designed setting and treatment plans that afford the benefit of these substances through safe and monitored means.

First and foremost, there’s the little case of many of these substances being illegal within South Africa. From my research, I have only found that two substances, namely ketamine and ibogaine, are legalised for medical use within South Africa. Interestingly both are dissociative in nature but are generally used to achieve different outcomes. Ibogaine is generally used as a means to try and treat addiction ranging from alcoholism to opioids. Ketamine, on the other hand, is used rather effectively from research to treat severe depression, anxiety and PTSD. However, findings also indicated that these positive effects are relatively short-lived.

Images by JR Korpa.

As mentioned before, using psychedelics for therapeutic purposes comes with some risks. However, the most considerable concern stems from the meteoric rise in the number of people that are using psychedelics to self-treat their mental health issues. The fear here stems from the lack of a controlled environment and the fear that it is practically impossible to guarantee that the substances aren’t contaminated with something the taker doesn’t want. Generally speaking, within a clinical setting, PAP is seen as pretty low risk. The one concern that you may hear brought up a lot by detractors, however, is that the risk of psychosis is a very valid concern and, once again, why it should be encouraged that these substances be taken in a highly controlled environment, preferably a clinical one; patients need to be vetted and have walked a long road of therapeutic and psychiatric interventions before undergoing PAP.  I mention this because as anyone who has partaken in their fair share of psychedelics will tell you there is almost an endless amount of “healers”, “guides”, and “yogis” out there curating experiences with a whole host of psychedelics. Now I can’t tell you who to place your trust in, but it would be irresponsible if I didn’t mention that given the state of mind, you may want to be quite selective about who you share that incredibly vulnerable state with. 

Unfortunately, the field of PAP and just psychedelics, in general, carries with it an almost unprecedented amount of misconceptions regarding the subject. I remember vividly being in a grade 4 classroom, and receiving my first lesson on the dangers of drugs. Substances like tik and marijuana and the one that sounded scariest of all, LSD; my education on these all promised deeply fearful experiences. Fast forward to a 19-year-old Casey in a field feeling as at peace as I had since starting my teens, not solely down to but most certainly helped by that very same scary-sounding drug. Then on the other side, you get the overenthusiastic psychedelic space cadet that swears that this hit of DMT will change your life forever, just like it did theirs. By this, they mean they quit their job and now religiously watch Joe Rogan and use any opportunity to ramble on about the globalist elites. The truth is far more nuanced, however. Can the likes of ketamine, LSD, MDMA etc., be highly efficient tools in therapy? The answer is yes, within context – but here’s the critical detail on psychedelics being simply a tool. Like any measure of support, any kind of therapeutic substance or  medication are always intended as supportive measures that should form part of a holistic and broader therapeutic program.

As anybody who has tried to work through their traumas, anxiety, depressive and manic episodes through therapy will tell you, therapy is REALLY hard work. It’s slow, arduous, painful and cathartic, but the one thing it never is is easy. Dr Rachel Yehuda, the director of mental health at the James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center in the Bronx, says about MDMA treatments for PTSD, “While the research into psychedelics shows a strong potential to help people struggling with mental illness, they are not miracle drugs. Although the effects have been shown to be quick and long-lasting, therapy with the drugs often entails intense, frightening sessions as patients deal with the trauma from their past… The most common misconception about MDMA with psychotherapy is that you’re taking this magic pill that will take away your symptoms. What’s happening is you are getting in a state that is conducive to doing difficult work in a manner in which you are in the right window of tolerance where you can emotionally engage, where you can process the memory but not get so distressed by the memory that you become emotionally numb.”

Image by Andres Sanz.

Now I want to end off with some thoughts and some recommendations. Simply put, far too much research is already available on this topic for me to scratch more than the surface. A quick Google search for psychedelic treatment or any of the psychedelics mentioned above can send you into an almost endless rabbit hole. Still, there are some forms of media I’d like to highlight. The first is the Psychonauts podcast series, which I recommend because it is within the South African context and also because it is free on Soundcloud. Next is one. I think a lot of people have engaged with the work of Michael Pollan and his best-selling book and great Netflix series How to Change Your Mind. These are fantastic departure points from which you can branch out wider. My closing thoughts are that South Africa has massively pressing issues; I haven’t had power for four days, for example, and maybe it’s because we don’t have the luxury to really allocate time to this, but South Africa is and has been in the grips of a SEVERE mental health crisis. I’m not saying that these PAP treatments will end this crisis altogether simply because I think the issue is far more complex than that, but if it can help, why not at least try? In the words of Funkadelic, “Free your mind, and your ass will follow”.

Written by: Casey Delport

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

Bongeziwe Mabandla in candid conversation on his latest offering ‘AmaXesha’

May 16, 2023 | Interviews, Music

Time is a canvas awaiting the different shades of memories that we paint as the days of our lives. Some of the brush strokes make coins that carry love and pain in a twisting set of events; one side of the coin wills the fate of everlasting fairytale love, and the other side presents an unyielding facade of the fairytale only for a waning relationship to exist behind closed curtains. Unveiling the daunting challenge of walking away from a love that has run its course, Bongeziwe Mabandla used the pandemic as a time of reflection and release, confronting the grief of lost love with his latest album, ‘AmaXesha’.

Across the shores in Berlin, Bongeziwe took to prolific music platform COLORS to paint the dreadful question posed to his intended “Sisahlaleleni?” Why are we here if we are no longer happy? Speaking on the story that inspired this song, Bongeziwe states: “Sisahlaleleni” was written after I conversed about a yogi that had attended a life-changing yoga lesson. Before they started the lesson, the teacher said, “Hey, if you feel like this class is too heavy for you, there’s the door”. Needless to say, the yogi in question endured having her leg on her neck despite it making it hard for her to breathe; as she finished the class, she asked herself: “Why did I put myself through this when there was just the door?” My narrator for the day related this to life highlighting how as human beings we sometimes oblige to be in situations even when they no longer serve us and we just never think, “Wow, there’s the door I could just get out of this”. I have been in situations like that, where my heart is no longer, but disappointing somebody and getting out feels like the worst thing. I had to learn that sometimes, it’s important to take the door.”

The successor to his critically acclaimed album imini, AmaXesha explores the complex nature of relationships on the backdrop of a rich palette of Afro-folk, electronic music, contemporary soul, and soft teenage rock. Thematically Bongeziwe wrestles with power dynamics, unrequited feelings, closure, comfort, and the daunting process of letting go. Capturing the essence of there is a time to plead, a time to grieve, and a time to fall into obscurity, we caught up with him to chat about his recent COLORS performance, the creative process behind AmaXesha, the 30 000 hours of success, and more.

Watch “Sisahlaleleni (Colors Performance) Here:

CEC: Congratulations on your COLORS Performance. It was breathtaking! Please take us through the show preparation process and what it was like to finally perform behind the acclaimed COLORS?

Bongeziwe: “I’ve wanted to do Colors for a while, and we had a plan for my previous album, imini, with Platoon, my artist services. As we started making plans for AmaXesha, the Colors conversation came back to the fold, and Platoon wanted us to approach them ahead of the new album. Time went by, and I kinda forgot about it, but lo and behold, Colors reached out to check availability for certain days; I didn’t want to be too excited quite yet, and then like, maybe two weeks later, we heard that they had confirmed and I was over the moon because this is literally one of my biggest dreams was to do the show. 

When we got on a call with the team, and they chose a light blue of sorts, it hit me that this was a reality. We flew to chilly cold Berlin, booked into the hotel, and immediately started rehearsals. The next day we actually showed up at the wrong place because my international sim wasn’t working, and I needed internet access to travel to the right place. Fortunately, the people from where I ended up kindly directed us to the colours studio.

I got there and met the small team of about six-seven people, and they were the nicest people you could meet; they were strict (we weren’t allowed to film the behind-the-scenes process) but extremely helpful. Things went a little left. I spilled tea on my top, and we had to wait for it to dry. My pants actually tore the button, and they helped me stitch it together. It was a wonderful, fast, humbling three hours in a relaxed environment. I couldn’t believe that, like, you know, you can actualize your dreams in like manner of hours”. 

 

Would you say these moments also made you come to terms with the 10,000 hours that are behind what many people feel is an overnight success? 

Bongeziwe: “Definitely, I did 30,000 hours! I’ve always seen my career and the stories that I share about it from that lens because there are several moments where I’ll put in the hours, make foolproof plans for the album and by the end of the year, nothing happens. Then you are met with these surprises where, in the following year, someone will approach you and say: ‘Hey, I actually saw you last year. And I knew, like, I have to book you.’ You never know what all the hard work will do for you; you never know who’s watching and how close you are to the hard work Paying off”.

 

The Colors performance extended this metaphor about how certain colours evoke emotions and moods; it also made me think about the rooms that facilitate creativity. In your case, which room enables your songwriting the best? Is it the studio or in the garage or bathroom at home?

Bongeziwe: “I enjoy writing at home. Many of my albums are home albums, and while it happens during flights, while walking and sometimes mumbling while driving, I am a home writer. At the same time, I won’t undermine the importance of the studio because once the foundation has been laid and now we need to put in the hours to record, mix, and master the album, the studio has an invaluable place in my heart”. 

COLORS x STUDIOS Autograph Card, Bongeziwe Mabandla
Images by @travysowen

Now, delving a little deeper into the album and its creative process,  How was the creative process with your frequent collaborator Tiago Correia-Paulo especially during the COVID Climate? How did the digital structuring of creativity affect the intimacy of working with your producer?

Bongeziwe: “Usually, I would write the music, and when I feel I’m finished writing the song, I would come into the studio with him and just sort of just play the song for him acoustically. Then he would just start finding a tempo and give me room to lay my voice in our draft recordings. The COVID restrictions made things extremely difficult, and there was an emptiness in how I would actually record by myself, send it to Tiago in Mozambique, he would work on it, and send it back for feedback. It was a strange working environment”.

 

And from this strange environment came a rich palette of Afro folk, electronic music, contemporary soul, and soft teenage rock. How were you able to play into so many arenas of sound without differing from the theme, story arch and cohesiveness of the listening experience?

Bongeziwe: “The brief for this album, in the beginning, was to create something super abstract but also keep that songwriting soul music, folk storytelling part of it strong; I’d love to credit Tiago for putting that together. My focus is mainly on singing and playing guitar well. Our mood board for the music has always been to combine a palate of elements; it’s a classic signature of the sonic treatment that goes into each project. I’m confident that with this album, we reached a new height in terms of experimentation, going a stretch beyond combining elements that aren’t usually put together”. 

 

The makings of another timeless classic to add to your rich catalogue. I also came to appreciate the creative direction into visuals such as “Ukuthanda Wena”, which at length extends a metaphor of keeping up appearances even when deep down the love you held dear to your heart has crumbled; in your opinion, what makes us want to keep those appearances even though in our naked states, the scars are unbearable?

Bongeziwe: “That is the grand question, isn’t it? Well, there are a lot of complexities in love and relationships. Especially if you are someone like me, who still struggles with many insecurities. There’s no one size fits all approach. “Ukuthanda Wena” and the album as a whole is the process of finding an answer to this very question; you never quite know what makes you choose to keep up those appearances instead of accepting what isn’t meant to be, it is only when it hurts too much to hold on, do we find the will to let go and rebuild”.

Watch “ukuthanda wena” Visualizer Here:

It’s letting go and starting over that brings the most discomfort. Would it be fair to say you do not favour the “find what you love and let it kill you” quote?

Bongeziwe: “Absolutely not; a significant part of me dies each time I think I’ve struck gold with love, and life wears us down to the point where we have to part ways. Take “Sisahlaleleni”; I address those exact questions: Why stay in a place that’s not good for you? Or not good for both of you? Throughout the album, I intend to show how heartbreaking it is to end love, and move on and how much pain it requires from you.

In a song like ‘Hamba’, you know, I literally say, ‘Uyayazi kunzima kanjani?’ speaking back to the draining task of accepting what isn’t working out and maybe to our earlier conversation about why it is easier somehow to maintain the facade of than to live in a lonely truth. There’s something that feels like death when you end a relationship, it’s uncomfortable, hard, complex, and I dread it. I don’t believe in finding something that you love and letting it kill you. I’m hoping to find something that I love that I can keep and let it make me live”. 

 

Thank you for taking the time out to have this chat with me, brother; before we close, would you like to share some future plans? How do you plan to bring the magic of this album to the masses? 

Bongeziwe: “Definitely, I am going on a global tour. As far as Europe is concerned, I have two sold-out shows in London, and of course, we have plans to tour South Africa as well, with tour dates to be announced soon”.

amaXesha
Noba Bangathini
ndikhale
Ukuthanda Wena
Watch “noma bengathini” Here 
Stream “AmaXesha” Here 

 

Connect with Bongeziwe Mabandla:
Facebook: @BongeziweMabandlaOfficial
Twitter: @Bongeziwe
Instagram: @BongeziweMabandla

Images by  @travysowen 

Written by: King Cedric

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

Studio H’s 100+ Flavour Report Is a Love Letter to South Africans

May 15, 2023 | Interviews, Creatives

Food is one of the most sensorially-encompassing mediums of expression and creativity. Human beings can consider food among the principle artefacts of our existence and evolution; texture, taste, scent, and sounds of the alchemical processing of cooking, and using ingredients drawn from the bounty of the earth, are endlessly fascinating markers of who we have been, who we are; and where we might be going. Culturally and regionally, food derived from South Africa’s complex terrains and contexts are an anthropological tale of the joy, richness, hardship, history and community; diversified among many peoples and places – not least among them the most original people in existence, owing to the Cradle of humankind and the Khoi and the San people. Such an anthropological view of our country has been taken by Hannerie Visser and her team at Studio H; but this is anthropology-meets-culinary, made absolutely delightfully. Created in collaboration with food anthropologist Dr Anna Trapido, 100+ Flavour Report is an archival extension of Studio H’s 100 Flavours installation that ran at the V&A Waterfront in 2021. As the press release for the report so poignantly describes, “In an authentic and engaging way, 100+ Flavours showcases the overlapping influences – ancient and modern, urban and rural – that have created regional and cultural variations on shared themes – vetkoek meets magwinya, tšhotlo fuses with fynvleis, and bunny chows become kota and spathlos. The report highlights – in a comprehensive yet easy-to-understand way – the major impact that the ravages of colonialism, apartheid, poverty and dispossession have had on who consumes what, where and how often in South Africa. It also draws attention to the insightful social, economic, political, and psychological local stories that are infused into every spoon of soured sorghum ting and each bite of biltong. There is a tale to be told through every mouthful of mebos and each crunch of madzhulu termites. And there are ancestral acknowledgements in every sip of amasi, boegoebrandewyn and umqombothi.”

XIGUGU and SPRINGBOK
TAMELETJIE
INHLOKO and MAGEU

With a long background in magazine publishing, Hannerie began Studio H a decade ago as a response to the growing intersections between the culinary arts, design and branding, “during my time in magazine publishing, I think being at New Media with magazines like VISI and Woolworth’s TASTE showed me what was possible if we centred food within the discipline of design – I loved working on food and with food-related clients, so it happened very naturally and its become the facet of interest that has come to differentiate us from other creative studios. At Studio H, we call ourselves ‘culinary-minded designers’ and we do anything from trend-forecasting, on strategies for clients and amplifying, design and branding, product development, as well as sensory design for events. I think food continues to show its cultural importance and as a great source of inspiration to focus design-led thinking towards.” With our rich culinary history splintered across 11 cultural groups and thousands of years; South Africa is a wellspring of such a focus, with food being a unifying medium through which to expand a historiography of memory and tensions somehow instilled with hope – as is the powerful ability of food to bring everyone together. As Hannerie describes, “The 100+ Flavours Report is an extension of our work with V&A Waterfront and Maker’s Landing. As part of the launch, we were asked to do a sensory installation to activate the space. I’ve always had this idea to do a South African food museum, and so that seemed like the perfect space to initiate that idea. In collaboration with food anthropologist Dr Anna Trapido, who we work a lot with, we did an installation called ‘100 Flavours’ focused on South African flavours, cooking methods and instruments.”

Hannerie explains that Dr Anna Trapido felt very strongly that the installation and subsequent report had to reach further back in time than one might realise; namely, the fact that South Africa is the place where the earliest evidence of our relationship to fire and cooking has been established, “we begin the report with ‘forming fire’ and it details how fire was discovered, and that was here in South Africa. Everything points to our country being the starting point of humankind. We sat on this archive of knowledge after the installation, so the report is a way of telling this incredible story of food here. There is a very deep need for documentation and archiving of South African food knowledge and history; because of our history, and there’s a certain part of our food culture that is well-documented, and then there’s an even greater part of South African food culture which is not documented. There are no recipe books about Venda or Tsonga culture that I’ve come across, for instance. We are starting to see food media become more aware of this and more focused on representation. Our report, hopefully, is a small contribution to the diversity of our food cultures, and how they can be preserved and celebrated.” For Hannerie and Anna, there is one flavour that stands out among the rest as a unifying thread across South Africa; coriander, “it’s used in so many dishes and in so many forms. There’s dried coriander in boerewors, and that smell of coriander and fat cooked on a fire, it crosses all boundaries and all cultures. That’s what is so amazing about food, it’s such a powerful medium, and it can instantly bring people together. If you look at something like ‘vetkoek’, almost everybody eats it in some way or another – the preparation and names might change, but the idea of a doughy, savoury accompaniment is transcendent. There’s so many dishes that we all share, and in the end we all eat the same food.”

SKOPAS
UMVUMBO
JAFFLE

The 100+ Flavour Report is an incredible resource with 131 flavours in total that express a digital, national treasure. In terms of what can be expected from the report, and her favourite flavours, Hannerie says, “one of my favourite entries is a braai-broodtjie because it’s just so simple. Then, bokkom is such a personal one for me – my dad always used to give us bokkom, and he would peel it for us and cut it up into small bites, that’s very nostalgic. My third favourite would be ‘waterblommetjies’ and at the back of the book, we have amazing recipes too. I learned so much doing this report, more than I thought. I was listening to David Chang’s podcast the other day, and they were listing their favourite culinary regions – and they listed the usual suspects – and then David Change goes, ‘but what about something like South Africa?’ and that just made me so, so emotional. We have incredible food, incredible wine and people and places.” As Hannerie is speaking, I am taken back to last Christmas, when my mum and I were walking along the beach in Paternoster, only to come across a massive bokkom run by people in the community; men and kids alike, casting out massive nets, running and working in total unison to bring thousands of bokkom; to be salted, dried, and stored. Someone told us that only one family in the whole of the village are the last people with the licence to do runs of this scale, and I think of how agriculture, politics and the commodification of the culinary seeks to separate us. Then, I think of the waterblommetjie and lamb pie at Peregrine Farm Stall, on the way to holidays or festivals, and the way that flavour feels to me, still, to be precisely to be young and South African, and how the Overberg gave my youth many dances and wild experiences. All this to say, with the deepest love, that the cultural significance of the 100+ Flavour Report cannot be overemphasised; nor can our luck to live in South Africa. In trying times, the work of Studio H reminds us what it means to fight for the future of this country and Her many, many stories.

KIFYAAT KOS and MILLETS
MIELIES
CHOPS CHUTNEY and BREDIE

The 100+ Flavours report can be purchased and downloaded here  and costs from R950 per copy. 

In-person or digital presentations, as well as immersive ingredient deep-dives for groups can be arranged on request.

View the interactive 100 Flavours + window display at Tiny Empire, 37 Buitenkant St, District Six, Cape Town.

Images courtesy of @studio_h_
Design by @hoick

Written by: Holly Beaton

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

British soul musician Aaron Taylor releases EP ‘Have A Nice Day’

May 11, 2023 | New Release, Music

British soul musician Aaron Taylor releases 5-track EP ‘Have A Nice Day’, alongside a heartwarming music video for its title track, his first body of work since his dazzling debut album ‘ICARUS’ dropped in 2020. 

‘Have A Nice Day’ oozes laidback soulfulness as he captures the highs and lows of everyday life. Drawing upon fatherhood, contentment and simple pleasures, the London-based artist transforms the mundane into magic with five tracks of feel-good R&B. The project includes recent singles ‘Ebbs and Flows’, ‘Coffee In The Morning’ and ‘Patience’, plus new song ‘Joy Inside’ and the EP’s title track, which has been released with a quirky music video that stars a puppet version of Taylor as the pair tackle the day ahead. 

Speaking of the inspiration behind ‘Have A Nice Day’ EP, Aaron Taylor explains: “The EP went through several variations and tracklist selections, and eventually I noticed a theme of what I describe as a “day in the life” of Aaron Taylor. There are songs about morning coffee, about wanting to have a nice day, about just taking it easy. Becoming a father has highlighted the importance of enjoying each day as much as possible and reminded me to take pleasure in the simple things. Musically, this selection of songs flowed best and were mostly composed within a similar window of time.” 

Filled with warmth and relatability, ‘Have A Nice Day’ showcases Taylor’s timeless R&B sound with silky production elements and soothing vocals. From the title track’s positive intent, the down-tempo ‘Ebbs and Flows’ provides a feeling of comfort, before ‘Patience’ leans into Taylor’s gospel influences with the help of U.S singer songwriter Madison Ryann Ward, serving as a peaceful reminder to be OK with the average pace of life. This freeing sound bleeds into sentimental offering ‘Joy Inside’ which pays tribute to the love he feels for his newborn son (and includes vocals from his sons’ mother), before ‘Coffee In The Morning’ lovingly rounds off the project as Taylor describes wanting to be everything to a person. 

Now surpassing over 100 million Spotify streams, Aaron Taylor has built an impeccable reputation as a British singer songwriter. He made an early impact when one of his first solo tracks ‘Lesson Learnt’ was picked up by Apple TV and used globally in one of their adverts, and has gone on to develop a diverse and dedicated fanbase. With over 1.2 million Spotify listeners per month, widespread radio support comes from BBC Introducing, BBC Radio 6 Music, BBC Radio 2 and many more, while there’s been co-signs from tastemakers Annie Mac, Trevor Nelson and even Elton John.

 

/// Stream ‘Have A Nice Day’ HERE

Follow Aaron Taylor’s IG 

Have A Nice Day!