Catching up with Mango Groove

They are the only South African group to remain at the top of the South African nation charts for over a year and has received every conceivable local music and video award as well as numerous international ones. To date Mango Groove has sold over a million albums locally alone and they are the only group to sell out the Sun City Superbowl and the Standard Bank Arena six times each.

Rekord caught up with Claire Johnston, lead vocalist for Mango Groove, to talk about the band, their journey so far as well as her solo career.

Mango Groove is one of the best South African groups of all time, what would you say is your secret to success?

Thanks for the kind words! I guess it’s important to stick with what you believe in, and to follow your instincts: don’t let others get you down, learn from your mistakes, and keep going! Like it or love it, Mango Groove is also very distinctive, I suppose, and I believe that is a strength in the music business.

Looking back to your first concert, did you ever think you would reach the heights of success you now enjoy?

Probably not, and it still feels quite unreal, truth be told though. We’ve had our fair share of mistakes and disappointments through the years, but now more than ever I feel truly grateful for the success we have had, and for the amazing support we continue to have from the public.

Can you describe your genre of music?

Wow, we’ve had so many labels thrown at us through the years, some insulting, some very flattering. I would like to think of us as a sort of Kwela/Marabi-Pop genre. Universal pop, but with a strong urban SA 50’s influence – Eclecto-Pop if you like.

What does it feel like to stand in front of a packed and sold out stadium? Do you still get nervous?

I will not lie. Five people or 50 000 people, I always get nervous before a show. I harness that energy now (a ‘constructive anxiety’ perhaps) and then I feed off the energy of the crowd. The moment we hit the stage, a lot of the nervousness disappears.

Do you prefer large arena shows for thousands of people or small intimate shows for only a few?

You know, they both have their strengths, which are totally different experiences, really. Huge audiences can be really intoxicating, but at the same time there is something very magical about connecting more intimately with a much smaller crowd, in a more personal way.

It is said that as a little girl, you liked to dress up as an old lady and scare people. Tell us a bit about that and why?

Ha ha! The story is true, I’m afraid. I am an only child, and as a little girl I would get bored easily, and was always looking for ways to entertain myself. I’ve also always been a performer, I guess, and always enjoyed acting.

Where do you like touring best, here in SA or abroad? Is there a difference?

Again, different experiences, but I would have to say that there is something uniquely amazing about SA audiences. Mango is such a South African thing, and it is always wonderful to connect with South Africans through our shared history and experiences.

What do you like most about Pretoria?

I think it is a beautiful city in many regards. I love your huge green spaces, the extra 3ºC in temperature, the exquisite buildings and your history. It is a magical city.

You have completed a few solo projects, which do you like best – being part of the group or singing solo?

There’s a comfort and a familiarity in the big Mango family line-up, always like coming home. At the same time, however, I enjoy the challenge and the difference of my solo work. Scary but invigorating.

Being part of a group means being tolerant of all kinds of personal issues, would you say it is easy to work with a group of creative minds?

Artists can be a temperamental lot, to be sure, and Mango has had its fair share of disagreements and differences through the years, but ultimately we are good friends, and this makes for a wonderful creative and working environment.

You’ve been involved in the music industry for many years. Do you think the industry has changed since you started?

Absolutely. This probably applies to most industries, I suppose. Globalisation, the power of social media, the emancipation of artists, the liberating effects of technology. At the same time, however, the basics remain – it’s ultimately all about the song, the artist, the arrangement, and above all harnessing these, hopefully to generate an emotional response in people. In the end, music should be about what moves you.

If you could go back and tell your younger self (when you just joined the group) anything, what would that be? Would you change anything?

Difficult to say. Regret is not generally a positive thing in my view, and while I have been pretty insecure and self-doubting through various times in my life and career, I increasingly think those feelings equally fed positively into who I am today, and into my own current happiness. That aside, I might, for instance tell myself to be a little bit braver and a bit more sure of myself.

Do you write your own music? Can you explain the creative process that goes into this and where your inspiration comes from?

Yes I do, and I find it incredibly rewarding. I am not theoretically trained, so a song might come from a simple phrase, normally a chorus lyric, or even an image or something, and I take it from there. It also goes without saying that I am very inspired by other artists and their music. There is a lot of amazing stuff out there right now.

You’ve played many show as part of Mango Groove. Can you remember one funny moment that had the band members in stitches during a show?

We are always playing the fool on stage, to be honest, so there are a lot of silly moments. The shows are pretty spontaneous and ‘unscripted’, and anything can happen. I’ve mentioned it before, but the time a pair of male underpants, freshly laundered, I hastily add, landed on my face in the middle of Special Star was something to remember – the whole band packed up gleefully at that time.

What can we expect next from Mango Groove?

As long as the love and support is there, we will keep playing. I have a new, solo album due for release soon, also featuring Mango. We are looking to record an all-new Mango album soon, there is an extremely ambitious stage production in the pipeline, and much, much more.