Sho Mag Afro House Magazine
Music is often described as a composition of ‘arpeggios, beats and acoustics’ etc, combined together to induce a sound that evokes a state of ecstasy, moves your body rhythmically and feeds one’s soul. For ‘Punk’ music is not just that, but even more so a way of living, music is his ‘staple diet’. ‘On The SpotLight’ this week, we catch up with the ‘Polokwane, South Africa’ born and raised ‘Punk Mbedzi’ who has been producing ‘phenomenal house music compositions’ from a tender age of sixteen. ‘On The SpotLight’, let’s get to it…
ShoMag: Before all goes down, let us thank you for taking some time out of your busy schedule, just so we can have a talk with you. Just for the benefit of those who might be wondering, who is ‘Punk Mbedzi’ and where is he from?
Punk: ‘Punk Mbedzi’ is a house music producer and DJ from Polokwane in Limpopo, South Africa and currently based in Johannesburg.
ShoMag: Your ‘musical journey’, how did you get into the music industry and what influenced you to be part of the music industry?
Punk: Music has always been an integral part of my life. I connected to music through my late older brother who used to share his house music collection with me and I would then explore different artists and songs from that. This then developed an interest in ‘music production’. I then taught myself a few things, being guided closely by him still, which saw me release my first EP under his label as well. ‘Through that I was then able to connect to other artists within the music industry’.
ShoMag: Looking back at the ‘road travelled thus far’, what would you list as your biggest break within music and why was it your biggest break?
Punk: Personally I would have to say that my biggest moment thus far was playing at ‘Djoon in Paris’. This has always been a dream, and finding myself headlining at such a reputable club was such an ‘emotional moment’ for me, and also further opened my eyes and vision on what can be accomplished.
ShoMag: There are some challenges within ‘the industry’ we all have to go through. For ‘Punk’, what was your biggest challenge when it comes to the music industry?
Punk: I think a challenge most artists, including myself; face is remaining ‘relevant and consistent’. The challenge that comes with that is the measures you would have to take in order to overcome it.
ShoMag: You worked with ‘Swizz’ and ‘Da Capo’ on the earlier days of ‘Surreal Sounds’. Can you take us back on how did that come about?
Punk: The whole experience began when myself and ‘Da Capo’ decided that we would want to establish our own label and push a ‘new and different sound’. I played around with a few names and ‘Surreal Sounds’ is what stood out. We later involved ‘Swizz’ in the idea since he had been working with ‘Da Capo’ at that moment, and developed a working system for all of us which later gave birth to ‘Surreal Selections, Déjà vu EP and Da Capo’s self-titled album’ through our venture with ‘Soul Candi’. We eventually went to our different paths and for me, it led to the birth of ‘Under Bridges’.
