The indie folk singer says South Africa has world-class talent but needs better support for its music industry.
South African indie folk singer-songwriter Majozi, real name Nhlanhla Majozi. Picture: Supplied
The government should ask itself how it can build on the talent we have in South Africa, says indie folk singer-songwriter Majozi, real name Nhlanhla Majozi.
Majozi initially taught himself to play guitar at age 13 and he formally transitioned into music studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Majozi is creating his own concert experience
Now he’s doing his own shows such as the upcoming event, Holy Moly It’s Majozi, at the Sognage in Johannesburg on Sunday.
“There are still some tickets available,” he said.
“Normally, people see me at festivals and smaller events. I am trying different things, a small venue here and then a bigger venue there. One of the reasons why I started doing shows on my own was because I want more families to come to my show. I’m trying to control the environments where I perform.
“A lot of times it’s a festival. It’s a 45-minute on and off again show and I don’t get to curate a set the way I would have wanted to. I still love festivals, but now the onus is on me to sell tickets. That’s why I’ve been using social media more. I have been working hard.”
Touring overseas changed his perspective
Majozi isn’t working on any new music at the moment because he is focused on his upcoming events.
“I have written stuff here and there, but I am not sure what I’m going to do with it, because I have a bigger plan with my music and I am still trying to figure it out,” he said.
This year, Majozi toured New Zealand and Australia and absolutely loved it.
“I wanted to hate it, but as soon as I got there, I had such a great time,” he said.
“The venues were great and the people were really nice. I’ve been travelling a lot overseas the past two years. It made me realise that we look at our industry and the drawbacks we have and all the things that we don’t have.
“We might not necessarily have an industry as strong as Australia and London, or the infrastructure, but we have the talent, musicians and artists. There are a lot of things going wrong, but there are also a lot of things going right.
“Sometimes the music is more important than the artist. Music speaks to people. Sometimes you don’t know who the artist is, but the music has a message for you. Later, you might discover other songs from the same artist that you relate to and start to love, but it always starts with the music and the art,” he said.
‘We should be filling our own stadiums’
South Africans, Majozi said, need to figure out how to utilise the talent they have.
“Maybe the government should split the department of sport from arts and culture. Both do great things for the country but are vastly different,” he said.
Majozi said countries like Canada started putting more funding into building the arts and helping artists break out internationally, when they notice how well their artists are doing in other countries.
“That’s what we should be doing. We should be filling our own stadiums instead of just international artists filling our stadiums,” he said.
