South Africa has always show a lot of support for DR during all these years, so thanks for that. With that said, It's my pleasure to have Vicmari as my next guest DJ with deeper than deep SA UG vibes in the mix! There's an excellent story behind Vicmari's career start involving Deeprhythms and certain mr Daniel Paul, read on,..
Hey Vicmari! Let’s start of with a quick introduction - tell us a little about yourself?
Hey Timo, firstly I would like to thank you for the opportunity to share music on your amazing platform. My real name is Sanele Chiliza, born and raised in a small township called *Kwadabeka/Clermont* Durban, South Africa. I've always been a huge fan of music.
How you got introduced to dance music?
Well in the 90s, Kwaito and House music was a big thing in the black communities. I think everyone was listening to dance music in South Africa at the time. It's safe to say I grew up listening to dance music period.
Can you tell us a little about how you got involved in house music the first place and what motivated you back then?
I think it’s important to note that at the time, SA was not exposed to such a wide variety of dance music during the 90s. Deep/Soulful house were sounds that were prevalent during the time, and of course the internet played (and still is) a huge role in the exposure of music for us all of these years later.
I've always been fascinated with melodies and harmonies, especially harmonies have real soul in it. There is something about it that would just grab my attention and wouldn't let me go. So, I really got lost with Radio as my outlet because I simply couldn't afford to buy Vinyl or CDs.
You’re both a producer and a DJ - there’s a nice story about DR & Daniel Paul guest mix, can you give us a little context for this?
So, at this point in the early 2000s, my tastes have grown quite a bit. I get lost exploring music on different mediums (radio/cds/vinyl) and I eventually saved up some cash to afford a modest CPU... I think it was running a Pentium 1 or 2 at the time? Anyway, it really gave me the ability to access the Internet and somewhere to dig around and collect meaningful music.
Fast forward sometime later, I wish I could remember who sent me the mix but it was Daniel Paul's mix for Deeprhythms. I'll never forget my reaction to it.
At the moment it felt like this was the best music I've ever heard in my life man! "Who is this guy?" - I didn't waste time and I just went off searching for him. When I finally found him, I reached out to make sure it was the right guy sure enough he was.
Since then we've exchanged countless messages and in an interesting and weird way, he kind of became my mentor.
Does the motivation still come from the same original source or has it changed?
Well I don't think it has changed too much at all, Daniel is tough so I'm always trying to impress him with music.
8 years in now and I still feel like I haven't gotten there yet. haha. This is Daniel we are talking about so... what can I say? Daniel is a genius, period. (Hear, hear. Timo's note) Jokes aside when we do, I really do appreciate our time together.
Tell us a little about your approach to making music?
My approach is simply this... it has to be a live jam. Needs to be organic, free-flowing. With others or by myself but it needs to be a jam. I love the mood of these kinds of sessions.
I make sure that I'm doing it in that space when I want to be most creative in the studio. Funny enough I used to program a lot of my music early-on but working along with Daniel really changed the way I look at creating music as a whole.
Are there any other musical endeavors we don’t know about?
Well due to the album that Daniel released on Slope Music ("Audiodidact" - 2016), it really helped open doors for me that I never thought they would. I've been fortunate enough to travel all over the country.
Shared my music at some of the bigger events in SA (RockingTheDasies, UltraSA, AfrikaBurn etc). The people you meet are amazing.
A whole world of musicians and producers along the way and all of this happened in a period of about two years. I'm really grateful and I still have a long way to go.
Do you have any fond musical memories from your childhood, like what was the first record or a song that made a lasting impression on you?
To be honest, the first time I really went crazy over something was the first time I listened to Daniel's Deeprhythms set.
I know I know... this might be hard to believe but it really was the set that really just opened a whole new world to me... in a huge way. How insane is that?
What would you consider to be the five most personal tracks to you and why?
There is so much to uncover still. Ask me that question in a couple of years. You never know what kind of response that question will have.
South Africa and House music - there’s something magical in that connection. How do you feel about the scene in SA?
The House Music scene here in South Africa is very interesting even though I have only recently been exposed to it over the last few years. It's amazing to see everyone doing their own thing, realizing their own hustles. I can resonate with that... with the hustle. I get what everyone is pushing for. It's my roots.
But make no mistake, the heart and soul of SA is absolutely in the underground. I'm happy to bring a little piece of that soul to more mainstream spaces because I think there is a lot more to discover if you really let yourself go deep.
Who are the artists and DJ’s you think deserve more attention than they get currently?
The whole effort in South Africa still relatively young. A lot of artists are still growing on so many different levels. We are a young 25-year-old democracy so a lot of things are new to us. I don't think upcoming artists these days need to worry about getting recognition... creative growth is way more important than the perception.
One thing that I can say needs attention in our country in general has to do more with the ecosystem. The events, labels, media platforms etc. that really don't give any love to the underground.
The mainstream is a commodity now in SA and the real heart and soul of music in SA can be found in the underground. We are here.
So the mix, can you tell us a little something about that?
The mix.......... haha let's see what your listeners think about it.
playlist
01. Beraber - Particles * Lagaffe Tales
02. ALPHA PUP - Overt Miracles Beliefs(feat. GoYama) * Alpha Pup Records
03. Billie Holliday - Strange Fruit(DJAakmael HouseMx) * unreleased
04. Duktus - Dub Up(Swede Art remix) * Resistant Mindz
05. Loure - Smooth Talk (Saine Remix) *Apparel Music
06. Bootie Grove - Anémone * Feedasoul Records
07. Move D - Cycles *Aus Music
08. Gaoule Mizik - A Ka Titine(Kaye edit) *Bandcamp
09. iamalex - 1998 w_ Hazy Year *Bandcamp
10. Les Sins - Grind * Jiaolong
11. Liz Aku - Slowly (Brine remix) *Unreleased
12. Jehan - Minute Papillon *Star Creature
13. Jehan - Up Down *Unreleased
14. Morning Green ft. mimismooth - Green Butter * P-Vine Records
DJ profile
Vicmari
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Bandcamp | Soundcloud
Vicmari, a producer/live performer & Dj from South Africa who is well driven in Electronic/Dub/Ambient/
Techno & Acoustic Music.
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