‘On The SpotLight’ this week we have the legendary South African based House Music Producer/Deejay ‘Vanco’. With well over a decade of producing ‘chart topping jams’, ‘Vanco’ is the right man for any occasion. This week we meet up with him for a ‘one on one’ and talk about his latest offering ‘Reflections EP’ and to also find out what he has been up to. We welcome ‘Vanco’ to our ‘SpotLight’.
ShoMag: First and foremost, let us thank you for hitting us up with this ‘one on one’. We can ‘kick it off’ by asking who is ‘Vanco’ and where is he from?
Vanco: ‘Vanco’ is a music lover. ‘I love dance culture and positive vibes’ and I’m a very self-driven kind of a person. I am from Douglas Dale, Johannesburg, South Africa which is where I started my musical journey in my last year of high school (Matric).
ShoMag: How did it all start for ‘Vanco’? 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?
Vanco: I am from a nerdy family hahahaha. However, ‘my family always played music all the time’. I used to be a Pantsula dancer back in the Matric days. I just started to feel more connected to the music, so much that I couldn’t see myself just pursing dancing and looking to create it instead.
I started playing around with musical software, I met a ‘Soul Candi’ student who became a brother and a friend ‘Andile Majola’ also known as ‘Mr Sunshine’, who taught me the basics on how to go about using Reason to create my tracks. From there I just pushed myself to learn more and always still learning every day. My single ‘Regeneration’ reached No.1 on the ‘Top 100 Afro House Traxsource Charts’ and since then I’ve released music on ‘Tribe Records, Offerings Recordings, Afrocentric, Melomania Records, Uno Mas and Uncover Music’ and never looked back!
ShoMag: When did you notice that you had ‘passion for music’ and what does ‘house music’ mean to ‘Vanco’?
Vanco: I finally came to conclusion that I was passionate about music in my first year of college. I would day dream about it in class, sometimes lose focus and imagine how I was going to play my instruments as soon as I got home. ’House music means life to me’, it contains so many different musically expressive genre rolled into one.
ShoMag: Every artist has his/her particular ‘signature sound’. How would you describe ‘Vanco’ signature sound and are there any particular influences behind such sound?
Vanco: Afro, Latin and Soul, mixed with a little bit of Techy sounds.
ShoMag: Late last year you dropped your ‘smashing’ much anticipated album ‘Exclusives Vol 1’. How would you describe the music within that album and how is it received by the public so far?
Vanco: The album is by way of an introduction to ‘Vanco’ and my musical capabilities. Musically the album has diversity of sound from ‘soulful, deep, tribal, afro tech and afro house’ with collaborations from ‘Luis The Don, Lundi, Scelo, Afro Warriors, Charlene Lai, Paulo Alves, The Royal Zino, Nomisupasta’, among others. It’s been received really well so far and I’m very pleased with the outcome.
ShoMag: You closed off last year on a ‘huge musical high’. Is there any particular highlight worth mentioning from that year besides dropping ‘Exclusives Vol 1’?
Vanco: A lot happened I must say, I had a birthday tour, I got to play in different countries, ‘Swaziland and Mozambique’ which I secured a residence at the Backroom (I play there more frequently). I also played at the ‘Kaya Fm World Show hosted by Nicky B’ which is really an honour and humbling.
ShoMag: If closing off last year on a high note was not enough, you sure continued that to this year with dropping ‘Reflections EP’ on ‘Afrocentric Records’. How did that come about?
Vanco: Reflections is basically reflecting on my past experiences, what I have gone through ‘the hardships, great memories and laughter’. But most importantly is that I just want to share a part of me which is ‘love and music’. It’s a token of appreciation from me and the team and will always be grateful for the love and support we get from the masses. I actually met ‘Cory Centric’ from the ‘Afrocentric Social Media Pages’. We had a nice chat and discussed about working together on releasing an ‘EP’ under his label and the rest is history.
ShoMag: Who did you work with on ‘Reflections EP’ and what kind of a sound can we expect from that ‘EP’?
Vanco: I worked with 2 different vocalists on the project ‘Thandi Draai’ on my track called ‘Walls’ and ‘Njabulo Seh’ on ‘Lutho’. Both are amazing and talented vocalists to whom I pitched my idea and story behind the EP. We all understood and had the same vision and together ‘we elevated the whole idea into something beautiful’. The results are 2 heartfelt Afrohouse songs about love, complete with 3 remixes that offer up deep house and Afrotech vibes from ‘John Tejada, Cory Centric and Pablo Martinez’.
ShoMag: What is instore for us this year from ‘Vanco’, are there any musical projects you are currently working on or planning to work towards?
Vanco: Yes, I will be doing a few tours ‘Exclusives Sessions’ just to promote my compilation album and will be working on my new album planned for next year titled ‘Innovation’. Apart from that I have more single releases coming on ‘Tribe Records’, including a ‘Zephrein Saint’ remix, ‘Offerings, Nulu Records and Kazukuta’. More music coming out this year…..
ShoMag: Last words from ‘Vanco’ and is there any message from you to your fans out there?
Vanco: Know your purpose and keep going. ‘Consistency, patience, self-drive and professionalism are key’.
Vanco Reflections EP Out Now: Get It Here
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