Simphiwe Dana Celebrates 10 Years in Afro-Soul Music at Bassline
Entering the scene in 2004 with the release of her platinum-selling, award-winning debut album Zandisile, Simphiwe Dana has secured her place in the hearts of South African music lovers. During these 10 years in the entertainment industry she has collected no less than six South African Music Awards (SAMAs), two Metro FM Music Awards (Best Female Artist and Best Contemporary Jazz Album), one Avo Session Award in Europe (honoured alongside Elton John), a Metropolitan Eastern Cape Arts and Culture Award and a Pan-South African Language Award. Simphiwe Dana is the queen of essence and she once again proved herself with her stunning 10-year anniversary concert in collaboration with Kaya FM. The concert was held on Saturday 25 April at Bassline in Newtown, Johannesburg, the perfect setting for an artist of her calibre. Simphiwe’s music is best enjoyed in an intimate space. Simphiwe opened the show with “Zandisile” from her debut album and the crowd shouted with excitement. Simphiwe is magnificent on stage; her vocals are amazing and her music heals. It was impressive to discover that she’s a recording artist and a performing artist – she has mastered both crafts. She took us back with “One Movement to Biko Street” and “Kulture Noir” and then moved on to her latest offering, “Firebrand”. Seeing Simphiwe live makes you understand why she’s still relevant 10 years later: she’s remained consistent with her crafted stories that speak to the world she lives in, a world that we’re all part of. Simphiwe remains the epitome of black consciousness and that’s evident when you listen to her second album, One Movement to Biko Street. Another highlight of the show was seeing her interact with fans and it was breathtaking to see and hear the crowd sing along to every song. Needless to say, Simphiwe gave it her all. She stole everyone’s...
Fixin Diaries: A lifestyle brand that creates custom bikes
Thobeka Tyesi “Fixin Diaries was started at the beginning of 2014 by two brothers, Mojalefa and Karabo Masopha and their friend, Hussain van Roos. The brothers were building a bike randomly as a hobby but found amongst their friends that people were interested in buying the build, and from that point on they saw a gap to refurbish and create custom bikes.” – Ayanda Moholi. Represent: Your primary focus is to refurbish bicycles and to create new ones from scratch, what is your secondary focus? Fixin Diaries: Our secondary focus is to create a cycling community. We host rides 2-3 times a month (within and outside the community) for a number of people to enjoy the Jozi roads and have fun. A great way to have fun, take lots of pictures – and just take in the beauty of South Africa. Represent: What has been your greatest challenge and how do you differentiate yourself from backpackers and any other movements with a similar cause? Fixin Diaries: We’re not a tour company. We’re a facilitator of bringing like-minded people, people who would have never connected with one another for a single interest. Represent: What was the inspiration behind building fixies and organising events that included this sport? Fixin Diaries: This is not a sport! The idea of it being a sport gives the impression that you have to be fit and that it’s competitive. This is why we call it a lifestyle. Our events are leisurely, we ride as a group. The whole point of Fixin Diaries is to create a family, a place where we’ll never “leave a homie behind”, whether you’re an experienced rider or a beginner we are here to build a community. Fixies are the simple kind of bikes. How bikes were always made to be. And it speaks to the simple aspect of Fixin Diaries, we’re not trying to conquer 94.7 and being Ironman. We just want the simplicity of cycling. Represent: What has been your favourite event, one that had a surprising turn out and encouraged you to continue organising more events? Fixin Diaries: The Ladies’ Ride. It started out as a small idea to get my girl friends together to just ride, but then it became a bigger idea. Last month, we hosted our first one and the turnout was amazing. The ladies enjoyed it so much and it was on their advice that we plan to do another one on Saturday, 25 April. Represent: What events can people look forward to in the next few months? Fixin Diaries: We have Fishtail Rides coming up in May, as well as another InstaRides Represent:...
Nando’s Fires Up Soweto!
Thobeka Tyesi What used to be a casual takeaway restaurant has now become a leisure sit-in hot spot. Still maintaining the Mozambican/Portuguese theme with artwork and table set-up, last week Thursday (16 April 2015) marked the beginning of an era at the launch of the Nando’s Concept Restaurant. The launch took place at one of Soweto’s shopping centre, Maponya Mall where guests enjoyed a taste of hot, new spicey meals that the chain restaurant has added to the menu –this while experiencing live performances from the likes of Grammy Award male South African choral group, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and musician Phila Mazibuko. Comedian Toll A$$ Mo was the master of ceremonies engaging with all invited guests adding a little humour to what was already a spectacular evening. Known for its creative copywriting and play on words, Nando’s added an interesting concept to the launch: Your ‘main chicks’ are in town #FiredUpSoweto. ‘Main chicks’ included Jozi’s hot chicks, TV personality Khanyi Mbau, actress Nomzamo Mbatha and Amanda Du Pont. Joined by Instagram #FiredUpSoweto winners, Khanyi Mbau and the ladies took a short left to Soweto visiting significant monuments such as the then Five Roses Bowl in Mofolo and the Mandela House on Vilakazi Street before making way to the launch. The crème de le crème and Jozi A-listers (young and old) were all there to enjoy this affair, from the likes of veteran Judith Sepuma, actress and TV presenter Thando Thabethe, and Mandla N. Prizes and goodie bags were distributed to guests, which included a R50 voucher from the restaurant. This is without a doubt ‘the place to dine at’, so add a little fire to your life and enjoy a relaxed, friendly service atmosphere with great food at the restaurant....
Freshlyground to slay at 2015 MTN Bushfire
SoulProviders East will be REPRESENTing at this year’s annual MTN Bushfire Music Festival and we chatted to Freshlyground to find out what we can expect from them this year: You’ve performed at House on Fire in Swaziland, how was the reception and the crowd? It is not an exaggeration when I say that House in Fire is one of our favorite venues to play in the world. There is something particularly special about that space and the Swazi audiences are amazing! You’re one of the artists performing at MTN Bushfire this year, what are your expectations from the Swaziland fans? Their usual incredible fashion taste, beautiful faces, beautiful girls and boys and amazing energy – Swazi audiences always show us so much love What can the fans expect from Freshlyground? It has been a while since we have been at Bush Fire so we will definitely be bringing the Fire. We have also been working on some new material and we will be performing that for sure. Will you be playing some new songs at Bushfire? Yes! You’ve been touring internationally for a long time now, how has that journey been and how did you grow as a band? It has been an incredible journey. We do not take for granted the great gift that is being able to travel the world and make a living through music, through doing what we love! We have seen so many countries and met so many wonderful people all over the world! How’s the music scene in S.A different from the international ones? I don’t know that I can really expertly speak on this. I think there is some great experimentation happening in the SA music scene but I think that is happening all over. I think the global music scene has become a hard place to navigate, and as more and more people are using the internet as the source from which they get their music, whether its downloads or streaming – musicians are having to be more inventive about how they get their music to their fans, and it is more and more about playing live. I think this is the situation everywhere – in some ways we are still lucky in SA as people do still buy music because our connectivity is not that great or widespread- so we still have ways of selling music, but that is definitely going to change in the next few years and as musicians we are really having to jump through hoops and get really clever about marketing and distribution of our product – and we have to continue to make our live...
Explore the stories behind the art with Google Art Project
Google is well known for always being innovative and with this art project, they prove to be always ahead of trends. The project launched in June 2014 and it features around 260 virtual exhibits from 34 countries including South Africa. At the moment there’s 51 items on the Google art website for South African art and the best part is that anyone can capture cool art and submit to the team. It also allows you to check out some of the coolest street art around the world. Here are a few cool things that Google Street art offers: explore cultural treasures in extraordinary detail and easily share with your friends discover millions of artworks, places and stories Discover hidden details with images in ultra high-resolution. See artworks and artifacts in extraordinary detail and experience the artwork far beyond what is visible to the naked eye. Click here for more information...
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