Kristi Steyn’s authentic dream

Kristi Steyn has known what she wanted to achieve from a young age, taking every opportunity to perform with a band since she was 15.

The local singer-songwriter, who has just completed her studies at the University of Pretoria, is now ready to forge a name for herself as she sets her sights on the Afrikaans alternative scene.

“There’s a lot of freedom in Afrikaans to do something that hasn’t been done yet,” Steyn told Rekord.

“It is such a beautiful language and I feel like I can express myself so much better in Afrikaans because it comes from my heart.”

Steyn is passionate about her art with clear goals for where she wants to take it, blazing a path representing women in the alternative scene.

Armed with her voice influenced by jazz, blues and musical theatre, she wants to lend an authentic twist to the typical grungy punk band greats.

So far she has three songs out on streaming platforms, including a music video for her latest single, “Tydmors”.

“I was so new to the game when I made those songs. I went to the producer with chords and a dream,” she explained.

“It was a very fun experience because it was very hands-on. I was in the studio for a week, we got session musicians in and we just worked it out – I was singing the melodies I wanted the guitarists to do and then they just played it.

It was such a privilege to work with such talented people.”

She finds inspiration in the likes of Karen Zoid, Spoegwolf, Zaan Sonnekus and Fokofpolisiekar, and while asking herself “Why are you not them yet?”, she looks to their careers as a blueprint to build her own path.

In fact, her feet fell on the right path when she won a competition for Spoegwolf’s biggest fan in 2022.

“What you had to do was sing a cover of a Spoegwolf song and send it in. Spoegwolf sat there and chose their favourite.”

This gave her the perfect opportunity to make her mark, as the win included the chance to open the Droomland Festival at the end of 2022.

“It was an insane and crazy day, it’s like stuff that only happens on TV. You never think when you enter a competition like that, that you are going to win.

I mean. of course. I really am their biggest fan, I was going to all their concerts, always in the front row, screaming the lyrics,” she said.

Central to her approach to music is the live experience of the performance.

“It gives music an edge because I know what it feels like to be in the crowds at a music festival and I want to make it for them.

My music is specifically aimed at girls, to give them a voice. I want to represent how we think, to speak to the universal experience of being a woman.”

Steyn said artists give a piece of themselves away to their music so that the fans can find a piece of themselves in it.

“I think that is the privilege of being an artist.”

She is a positive person who always tries to see the good angle of a situation, something she says has only one reason: faith.

“I am very close to God and this fuels my writing. It is a big part of what my message is. You can be rock and roll and Christian.

For so long the genre has been one that can be rooted in being mad at the establishment – a rebellion against religion, society, the government.

But for me, I have seen a shift in that.”

The shift has seen the genre move further away from the emotional outlet it once was, to telling deep stories.

“There is a rebellion in it, but I think it is a rebellion against the loss of depth and human connection, especially in Afrikaans music.

I love sokkie music, I will never say anything negative about it because it is such a big part of my culture and it is gorgeous in its time and place.

“But those who don’t get that will only see the shallow light around something that has a different sort of meaning.

That is why I want people to connect to my music. We are rebelling against this loss of depth.”

Steyn has already started working on her next steps, recording new songs and collaborating with various producers.

She performs regularly all over Pretoria and can be seen sharing the stage with some important local names, and she is there with a purpose.

“A lot of girls are afraid to take up space,” she said.

“I am here to take up space from the beginning.”

Music Video: [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpSdiieeN7M ]

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