Sho Mag Afro House Magazine
ShoMag: When did you notice that you had ‘passion for music’ and out of all the ‘music genres’ one can pick from, why choose ‘house music’?
Mawande Kheswa: Well my sisters told me that when I was younger I would cry a lot like any other baby. So when I cried they would play Keith Sweat because they noticed I’d keep quiet whenever I heard his songs play. LOL weird I know. So it was evident that there’s ‘something in music that captures me’. When I was in high school I got introduced to ‘FruityLoops’ and started playing around with it. I befriended a guy called ‘Gregory Banks’ who was a super producer and DJ. We then started a band called ‘Radio Soulheadz’ and I never looked back. So in essence what drew me to house was my fascination.
ShoMag: ‘Big Up’ man on your new radio show ‘Radio Soulheadz (RSH)’, really ‘great show’ you have going on there! Can you tell us more about ‘Radio Soulheadz (RSH)’, what sort of show is it and what are you looking at achieving with ‘Radio Soulheadz (RSH)’?
Mawande Kheswa: Thank you I’m glad you think so. ‘Radio Soulheadz’ is an online station, some may call it a podcast but I like to call it what I see it as in my vision. At the moment we have the ‘100% House Music Show’ dedicated to this genre we love so much. It started off as a 45 minute show and then moved to an hour and ‘we now broadcast for 2 hours’. It’s a live show. I wanted to have something distinct and inspiring. The aim was to develop not only myself but the youth and artists. You see that platform is not meant for one person’s benefit but the communities benefit, be it the house community, unemployed youth who can work with me or people who just enjoy house music. I want ‘RSH’ to become a show that artists want to be on, a show that broadcasts from all over the world, a show that employs and empowers deserving youth based on ‘their potential and not popularity’.
ShoMag: What was the inspiration behind ‘Radio Soulheadz (RSH)’ and why did you choose to have the show broadcasted over the internet?
Mawande Kheswa: Well one day I was telling a friend about what I’m passionate about and the fact that I’d love to be on radio. She then asked me what’s stopping me from being on radio, I told her that unfortunately ‘T’bo Touch hasn’t DM’ed’ me so there’s no job. I then told her I had an idea of starting my own show and she basically got me to do it the following day. I’m an advocate for ‘creating and developing things using the resources you have’ so broadcasting over the internet meant I could have a show that people can listen to all over the world using my smartphone. For me that’s a major innovative idea. Over 80% of the South African population has access to a smartphone, even though data is expensive but you do have a niche that can access and stream the show. After all you are looking at using 80mb or so streaming the 2hour show.
