Musician is going places
Alex Moldovanos (20), the musical genius who was the only person who obtained 100 per cent at 2013's eisteddfod in the instrumental category, recently finished his internship under Grammy-winning engineer, Darryl Torr.
MBOMBELA – “Nothing was ever done without sweat put into it. Working at a world-renowned studio, there was a standard and customers had a big expectation from us. The work was extremely draining. I was thrown right into the deep end.”
Openroom TV has launched an online show called This Is Therapy hosted by 5FM producer and South African icon, Catherine Grenfell. The shows bring news from the SA music industry, festivals, band interviews as well as trends, restaurants, new things to do and basically discovering the underground South Africa. It is shot every week and once the show is edited, it is sent for mixing to sound engineers.
“Darryl had to take care of the mixing in Cape Town and couldn’t final mix the episode that had to be aired the next day and told me, ‘Alex, you can do it. I trust you’. For about a month and a half I was the guy watching Darryl mix music, not once did I learn how to mix. After about 14 hours of stress, I got the job done,” said Alex
He became the head sound engineer for the show for the rest of the year.
“I soon became a co-host on the show, known as the Love Doctor. I met a lot of people, label managers, PR agencies and DJs.
I’ve recorded and met AKA, Donald, Blackmotion, Kwesta and many others. My network grew, that I can’t even begin to explicate the advantage I have to work in this industry as an artist, especially at my age. I’m so grateful for the opportunity Openroom gave me.”
After his six months, he was offered a full-time job as an assistant engineer, which he did for two months before deciding to focus on his music.
“I released my first electronic-trap song under the name ALX around March this year. I got a free, full music video sponsored by DJ Fresh and Euphonik. It aired on their show Club Culture on SABC3 on November 6. I’m in the process of announcing a new track release, something 10 times better than my last record.”
Alex has so many exciting things lined up for next year, working on a fashion line for his brand and collaborating with artists.
He will also head overseas next year to see what opportunities there are. “It’s hard to work in a country where sponsors don’t have the artist’s best interest at heart. I’m so thankful that I have friends supporting me and my girlfriend who paid for my trip; family like my brother, Sot, who works at 5FM and just pushes my name out there; electronic group, LevLaco, which helps produce my music and edit my photos and create a great vibe for my brand; Mike Joaquim with his awesome after-effects projects for my campaign; Anthon Wessels and Sammy SF Slabbert for shooting my photos; Anne from District Models for willingly helping out on an amazing shoot for my new song; my mom and dad for helping out financially where they can and finally, Grenfell for always throwing my name out there. If you ask any successful artist in South Africa, they would tell you how she helped them get to where they are now. I strive to be just like her. It’s people like her that keep the music industry in South Africa alive,” Alex concluded.
Read the previous articles on Moldovanos:
• Young musician, loads of talent
• Musician gets a break with the best
