Mi Casa: We’re at home here

The South African house music trio comprising J’Something (Joao da Fonseca), Dr Duda (Sipho Mphahlaza) and Mo-T (Moshe Kgasoane) say they feel a special connection with Nairobi, which they call a home away from home

“Everyone is friendly here,” says DJ and keyboardist Dr Duda, who is also the group’s producer.

“You don’t get singled out as a foreigner. The food tastes nice and natural. I wouldn’t mind staying or owning a piece of property in Kenya.”

He also checks the pre-sets before they perform anywhere

 “Kenya is our favourite African country, and one of our favourite cities in the world to play in,” adds J’Something, the trio’s singer/songwriter.

“Every show we’ve had here has been amazing. It’s because of the fact that we feel at home, the people are friendly, the women are beautiful, there’s good food and everything feels just clean and natural. There’s something about this place that speaks positivity and love.”

Speaking about their tour, J’Something says, “The brand has definitely been growing really fast and really well. The tour took us through 12 cities in Europe (the United Kingdom, Holland, Italy and Portugal) and Canada.

We had 11 sold out-shows with an average of 1,100 people. We did some big shows — a show in a stadium in Italy with a crowd of 6,000. We also did some small shows – 300 people at a show in Portugal.

It was a lot of fun representing South Africa as well as the continent out there.”

But Dr Duda doesn’t think there’s much of a difference performing outside Africa, if crowd reactions are anything to go by. 

“I think it’s the same performing in Nairobi, New York or London; music speaks the same language. It was a nice experience to go to  those countries and play your own music, and people are ‘vibey’ (jumping all over the place and happy).

I was expecting people would just look at us, not dance, because it was the first time they were hearing our music,” he adds.

The group also performed at Nelson Mandela Memorial Day Concert in London, and they speak with pride at the honour of being associated with their late compatriot, who is considered an African statesman and icon.

J’Something speaks in admiration, saying, “He will always be the father of our nation. Everywhere we go around the world, there’s a bridge, a road, a stadium or a foundation named after Nelson Mandela, so it’s something that we carry with a lot of pride.

Performing there was an opportunity to do what we love with a little extra incentive because we were doing it for him in a way,” J’Something explains.

Dr Duda, who, coincidentally, shares a birthday with the Mandela, jokes that he wants to change his birth date.

STRAIN ON PERSONAL LIVES

“I only get a lot of love on social media, but none physically, because everyone is focusing on Mandela. So I actually want to move it (his birthday) from July 18 to 20 so I can get more attention; the old man has been heavy on me.”

Then he adds, “I have enjoyed my last four birthdays with these guys, though. They have all found us on the road out of South Africa.”

But while tours promote their career, they put considerable strain on their personal lives.

J’Something says of his girlfriend, Coco, “It’s rare to find someone who’s willing to just be the shoulder to lean on. It’s always harder being in relationships when you’re a musician, because you’re always travelling and hardly at home. A relationship requires a lot of communication, time and patience. Thank God we all have people who are supportive of our dreams.

It’s been a blessing and my goal has always been to be a great partner, and one day a great husband and father.”

Dr Duda, a father of two, adds, “There’s a time when you have to choose between family and work, although it’s about your career and the future. It’s not easy, though. I have a daughter and a son, and my mother was baffled  when I told her that I’d be in Nairobi on Saturday, and in Cape Town on Monday.”

Meanwhile, Mo-T, who’s married and with a daughter, grew up much the same way she’s growing up; his father, Kgasoane Banza, was a trumpeter in the well-known South African Afro-pop band, Mango Groove.

“His band also travelled frequently, sometimes three to six months straight. So my people understand the type of thing we’re doing on the road, and  are also patient about it. But it’s not easy.”

Besides, he notes, “The fans also keep asking when we’ll be back, but we knew this would happen. So we urged each other on in the group. Sometimes it’s good to ‘disappear’ from some places for a while.”

During the MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA) in July, the group was nominated for Best Live Performance, but didn’t win.

“We’ve got a lot of accolades to our name, but you’ll never hear us talk much about them because everything is relative. You can sell double platinum, like we have, but it’s about how much your music speaks to people.

At the end of the day, the music wins, which is the most important thing. Awards are a nice boost to your confidence and keep you going.

GRAMMY AMBITIONS

Our aim is to win a Grammy award at some point in our career. However, that’s not the be-all-end-all of anything,” says J’Something. “Gone are the days when you needed to  compete with each other. Those who won are African superstars doing the same thing as we are and deserve praise,” he says.

He was eager to talk about the group’s interaction with Kenyans this time around ­– a musical collaboration with Sauti Sol.

“Some good news. We’ve done a collaboration with a local group, Sauti Sol. The track’s title is "Tulale Fo Fo Fo (let’s fall asleep deeply). It’s our latest work, and is going to be on our third album, Home Sweet Home. We met them here in 2013, then again at a festival in Tanzania last year.

We were in the hotel lift discussing music, and we came up with the hook, "Tulale Fo Fo Fo". We were toying with the idea that we should work together, then both sides started pressing.

Eventually, we managed to find time and got it done in our studio, 34 (three four) Music, when they came to South Africa. Then the video was done and is in the store awaiting release next month.

Africa must be ready, it is so sexy and has a dance feel to it, a really amazing song. We are thinking of doing something around its release in Nairobi.”

Speaking of videos, the band has been putting out videos fast and furiously this year.

“We wanted to put out five videos in five months, just for fun. It’s frustrating when you do an album and only three or four tracks are played radio. And then we thought of another idea – to shoot one short film, Africa Shine, and divide it into five parts.

So you have to watch parts one to five for the film to make sense because the story is incredible. The videos are not based on the songs, as is usually the case; the songs became like the back-tracks to the story we wanted to share.”

Their album, which has been written mostly on the road, will be a double-disc with 20 songs and comes out in October.