Coming from two completely different backgrounds, the two members of DeepSouls namely Bradley Jones & Ofentse ‘Milo’ Raphadu met through mutual friends and immediately spawned a formidable friendship through their love of music. To be more specific, the love for deep house brought the two together and since then, they have never looked. This week ‘On The SpotLight’, we have DeepSouls. We ‘dig deep’ into their journey through music just to find out what makes this ‘Duo’ a special one.
ShoMag: Thank you guys for taking some time out for this ‘one on one’ with us. ‘DeepSouls’ who makes up the ‘Duo’ and how did you guys hook up?
DeepSouls: Hi guys, thank you for having us. ‘DeepSouls’ is made up of the two of us, ‘Bradley Jones and Ofentse Raphadu’. We met through mutual friends in our matric year and got on like a ‘house on fire’, and the rest is history.
ShoMag: For ‘DeepSouls’, how has the journey been within the music industry? Is the industry what you expected it to be or is it something totally different?
DeepSouls: Well we initially didn’t really know what to expect from the industry so we had to ‘learn along the way to see how it works’. To be fair the industry is not the easiest by any margin, it takes a lot to get used to.
ShoMag: ‘Being able to both produce music and deejay is a must have skill nowadays’. What are your thoughts on that statement? Are you guys for it or against it?
DeepSouls: We don’t necessarily think it’s a ‘must have skill’, as there are many deejays out there who have mastered the skill of mixing and didn’t feel the urge to start producing and vice versa. It is something that definitely adds to the appeal of the deejays though. ‘There is nothing better than playing your own music’.
ShoMag: For someone who is not familiar with your sound. How would ‘DeepSouls’ describe their unique sound to that person?
DeepSouls: We always try find a balance between ‘electronic and soulful’, a big influence in our music are the likes of ‘Mano le Tough, DJ Koze’ and many others alike.
ShoMag: Throughout every journey, there are ‘highs and lows’. What would you say was your all time low within the music industry and what lessons did ‘DeepSouls’ take out of that experience?
DeepSouls: There will always be lows, so we can’t really say but if we had to pick one out of the lot it would probably be on the event side of things, where we lost quite a bit of money, ‘but that comes with the game’. We learned to take the punches as they come and always get back up and continue to push what we love.
ShoMag: ‘DeepSouls’ has recently been included in ‘Surreal Sounds’ exciting ‘Within Da Beats’ project. How did that come about and what does being part of ‘Within Da Beats’ project mean for you guys?
DeepSouls: As any producer will tell you, there are always hundreds of unfinished projects lying around in the archives. We had three gems that we hadn’t worked on in a while and coincidentally the day we started brushing the songs up again, ‘Surreal Sounds’ approached us to have a release with them. ‘The timing couldn’t have been any more perfect’, happy to have ‘Surreal Sounds’ as a home for those songs.
For us the project showed us that ‘there is always someone listening and as long as we keep pushing’, we will have those releases pouring out.
ShoMag: You guys ‘brought extreme heat’ with your ‘Reflections EP’. What was the inspiration behind that offering and how is the response from ‘the masses’?
DeepSouls: Thank you for the kind words. We constantly take inspiration from everything around us everyday. ‘At that specific point in time we were experimenting with new sounds and sampling’, and really tried to create three different tracks which could match each other on the same EP. The response has been unbelievable and we’re happy with the outcome.
ShoMag: As ‘DeepSouls’, you have been part of the music industry for some time now and with that comes some lessons. ‘What has the industry taught you guys’?
DeepSouls: One of the main things we have learned from the industry is that everything happens in good time, and everyone moves at their own pace. ‘Patience is key’.
ShoMag: So far 2018 has been a good one for you guys ‘musically’. What is instore for us this year from ‘DeepSouls’, are there any musical projects we need lookout for from ‘DeepSouls’ this year?
DeepSouls: This year has been crazy so far, we have a few more releases out with ‘Round Robin Recordings’ as well as ‘Kalushi Recordings’ and one more to come out in March. We are always working on new music, so there will be a lot more projects from us in the near future. ‘With that we have our events on the way this year too’.
ShoMag: Last words from ‘DeepSouls’ and is there any message you might have for some bedroom producer out there with ambitions of being where you guys are?
DeepSouls: Always keep working. Don’t be afraid to ask for help once in a while and always be open to criticism and feedback, no matter the context. ‘All feedback is good feedback, it helps you understand which areas you as an artist need to grow or develop’.
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