On this week’s ‘Spot Light’ we have the ‘Pure Surprise’ hit maker ‘UPZ’. It was ten years ago (2007) when ‘UPZ’ dropped his self titled debut album which featured the smashing hit ‘Pure Surprise’ . ‘Pure Surprise’ was a hit throughout 2009 as it blazed ‘Mzansi’s Dancefloors And Music Charts’. That successful offering was followed by his second album ‘Pioneers of House: UPZ’ (Soul Candi) where he worked with ‘Black Coffee, Black Motion & Qness’.
As he celebrate his ’10 year milestone’ within the music industry , we talk about his fresh release ‘Drop It’ and everything in-between.
Sho Mag: Let us take this time and thank you for hitting us up with a ‘one on one’. Can we start by asking who is ”UPZ” and where is he from? Just for the benefit of those who might not know who he is.
UPZ: Thank you guys. ‘UPZ’ is my artist name and I’m a producer/DJ born in Tel-Aviv, then moved to Kenya as a kid and after two years we moved to South Africa and we stayed here till varsity. I am currently living in both Tel-Aviv & occasionally here in Joburg.
Sho Mag: How did it all start for ‘UPZ’? By that I mean how did you get into the music industry? Was it something you always wanted to do and are you from a musical family?
UPZ: As a teen I picked up various music instruments like ‘keyboard, guitar’ and ended up in a few bands playing ‘indie and jazzy stuff’ when I was still at varsity and just after that. I didn’t fully connect to the band dynamics and a few years later got introduced to music production by a friend and that’s when things changed. After dabbling in various genres, I got drawn more to house music and started honing my skills; I eventually got my first release on ‘CR2 (UK label)’ and my first few releases were on ‘vinyl’.
I am not from a musical family (except my Dad played the accordion lol) and I guess, I really wanted to do music full time when I discovered production which I felt was my ‘calling’.
Sho Mag: 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’?
UPZ: When I started producing, I didn’t necessarily produce house exclusively but I did electronic music for example ‘downtempo, R&B, house’. At that time I started following ‘Defected’ and was inspired by ‘The Lazy Dog Compilation Series’. I also attended the ‘Winter Music Conference In Miami’ and met up with ‘Soulfuric who later established Traxsource’. One thing led to another and I realized I connect to house music the most out of all the genres and in particular it was the more ‘soulful, vocal spectrum’ of the genre that drew me in at the time.
Sho Mag: Having stayed in Israel, travelled to some African states and now finding a home South Africa. How does that influence your sound?
UPZ: Yeah as I mentioned that I grew up in South Africa, and then moved back to Tel-Aviv and since then have been back and forth (this year may be spending more time in Tel-Aviv and possibly London). Growing up in South Africa definitely affected my sound as I was influenced by ‘Afro-grooves, Soul & Jazz’.
Sho Mag: You have been silent since dropping your last album ‘Pioneers of House: UPZ” (Soul Candi)’, that was until your latest ‘amazing offering’ we might add titled ‘Drop It’. How did the album come about and what was the inspiration behind ‘Drop It’?
UPZ: Oh thanks! Yes I was silent for a bit as I was busy developing some new music project, but was eventually ‘sucked back’ into working on ‘UPZ’ and the eventual result was “Drop It”. It all started when I did a remix for ‘Mariechan who is an ex Jamali vocalist with DJ Ganyani’, and then I worked on a single from another project which than I decided fits UPZ better and so on. Eventually I realized I have enough tracks that would actually make an album so, I then decided to put them all together as the ‘third UPZ album’.
In in the interim I also helped put together under my label ‘soWHAT Records’ and a really nice compilation called ‘033 Lifestyle Sessions’ in collaboration with ‘033 Lifestyle in Pietermaritzburg’.
Sho Mag: We love the overall feel of ‘Drop It’ especially the ‘vocal elements’, on the album who did you work with why did opt for working with them?
UPZ: Thank you. Yes it’s very vocal influenced project as I love vocal tracks and find it inspiring working with different vocalists. Vocalists I worked with on ‘Drop It’ include ‘Sio, Mariechan, Proverb, Lifford, Jocelyn Mathieu, Thantaswa, Pearl, Chris Rouse and more’. I am always fascinated by the ability to marry a unique vocal style with my production.
Sho Mag: Response from the public must have been ‘massive’ for this album. How has the public received ‘Drop It’?
UPZ: So far response has been pretty good! Being an independent release though, I still feel it could do more especially here in SA which is a challenge as it is a digital only release with only limited CD’s available.
Was also very nice seeing a number of radio stations playlisting and charting various singles including ‘Say What U Want, Disco Girl, Sangoma’s Theme’ and now ‘A Dream Away’ with Sio. In celebrating ‘10 years of Pure Surprise’, we also did a new mix ‘Pure Surprise (Sunrise Mix)’ with an accompanying video that received a lot love from the TV music channels which was awesome. At the same time we did a lyric video for the remastered original version of ‘Pure Surprise’. So in all that has been very exciting.
Sho Mag: Any particular highlights or defining moments worth mentioning from last year you would like to share with us.
UPZ: The conclusion of the album ‘Drop It’ and its release as it was over two years in the making, and it is greatly satisfying to see your work out there.
I was also involved with putting together several remixes for SA collective ‘Dahl Hates Disco’ together with ‘Abicah Soul and Cuebur’ that were released on the ‘Some People EP (soWHAT Records)’.
UPZ: The album has just been released so I will be busy promoting it and doing various gigs in its support and some mini tours are in the pipeline as well for Southern Africa.
We will also be releasing more singles from the album, starting with A Dream Away with Sio that has been getting awesome feedback and also charted on the ‘Top 5 on Traxsource Afrohouse’. ‘Cuebur’ did a fantastic remix on that one so keep an eye out for it.
As ‘soWHAT Records’, we have two exciting compilations celebrating ‘10 years of soWHAT Records’ that are coming out, one is an ‘Afro House and the other a Soulful House compilation’.
Sho Mag: Last words from ‘UPZ’ and is there any message from you to your fans out there?
UPZ: ‘Massive thanks to Sho Mag’ for this interview and shout out to everyone who has been supporting and enjoying the music over the years.
Purchase ‘Drop It’ Here
iTunes: UPZ – Drop it
Traxsource: UPZ -Drop it
Beatport: UPZ -Drop it
Juno: UPZ -Drop it
Googleplay: UPZ – Drop it
Get Social With ‘UPZ’
Facebook: UPZ
Twitter: UPZ
SoundCloud: UPZ
Bookings: info@sowhatrec.co.za