Sho Mag Afro House Magazine
From having released his debut ep back in 2013 through Boddhi Satva’s internationally acclaimed Offering Records to receiving massive support from world class musical acts such as “Rampa, Black Coffee, Dj Angelo” and many more. This week we met up with the South African based house music producer “Anerah Yasole” and this is what went down…
“Big Up” and thank you for coming through for this “one on one”. Can you kick things off by telling us who is “Anerah Yasole” and where is he from?
Thank You so much for having me!. Real name “Bonga Kendrick Ncube a.k.a Anerah Yasole” is a South African music produce, remixer and DJ born in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga, South Africa.
How did you get into music and are you from coming from a musical family? Are there any other earlier musical influences in your life?
It’s weird when I think of how I can match a classic song to most of my favourite childhood memories, I was raised in a family of music lovers. My parents were both in the neighbourhood adult choir and that’s as close as it gets. In my early teenage years I learnt how to play drums, along with three of my friends we started a church rock band with haircuts to match the genre but that lasted about three months. The people around me in my early days all played key roles into shaping my music journey.
What does “House Music” mean to “Anerah Yasole”, and out of all the music genres out there what made you choose House Music?
Expression! To take your thoughts or feelings and turn that into harmonized melodies to produce pleasing sounds that give off great energy to humans. That’s house music for me! Sign me up any day!
How would you describe the “Anerah Yasole” sound and what would you say is the inspiration behind such sound?
“Anerah Yasole” is an electronic African, a blend between tech, electro accompanied by a mixture of African sounds. My name broken down is “An-Era of Your-Soul” I make dance music that connects with the soul.
You dropped your debut offering “Identification EP” through “Boddhi Satva’s Offering Recording”. How did that come about?
Before I answer this I just want to thank the “Offering Recordings” for giving “Anerah Yasole” a home and forever showing me love! I worked on “Identification” in 2010 and kept the music around my circle not knowing what to do with it. In 2012 I made contact with guys at “Offering Recordings”, sent them my entire catalogue including bootleg remixes and a year later “Identification” was born.
What would you say is your first musical break and how did it feel?
After producing “Fazer Amor” a lot of underground deejays had the track on rotation in their sets but assumed “Anerah Yasole” is not South African. This song set the tone for me. It’s really an indescribable feeling yet it’s very fueling.
“Big Up” on your latest release “Ethnography EP”, can you run us through this offering? What sort of sound should we anticipate on “Ethnography”?
“Ethnography” is my small-scale representation of the many ethnic groups in Africa. My focus is on Bambara people of Mali, South Africa my focus is the Zulu people and Benin is the Yoruba. I focused on the music and songs of these groups and combined my research with Tech and Afro House.
Collaborations can be great way to expand your sound. Who would you love to collaborate with and why?
A difficult one since there are so many great and hardworking artists out there “Gumz, Kususa, Da Capo” abroad there are guys like “Rampa, Sifa, Sobek” and how can I forget “Black Coffee”!!! But to answer your question recently I had the pleasure of meeting of meeting the talented “Ternielle Nelson”, God willing we’ll get to work on something soon, I really love her writing and her voice is second to none. There’s “Princess Indlovukazi” from my home city who’s currently doing amazing work with her siSwati writing. She has a few songs that are doing great on radio at the moment, expect great things to come from her! And finally “Toshi”, her work speaks for itself just do yourself a favour and listen then you’ll understand.
“Ethnography EP” was a great way to open up your account for this year. Can you tell us what you have coming up for the next few months?
Expect a lot of remixes and collaborations, more of that.
Your five tracks you currently feeling and why?
- Anerah Yasole – Simoom
- Rampa – Terrace
- Lemon & Herb feat. Real Soul Star – Nqo
- Marbet Rocel – With Your Love
- Salif Keita feat. Ladysmith Black Mambazo – Gnamale
To close things off, what advice would you give to house music producers who are just getting started?
Never try to be something you’re not, stay true to yourself at all times.
