Versatile Miami is doing it all
KENYAN artist Silas Miami has a broad repertoire that encompasses performance, photography, film-making and music. It’s a repertoire that’s developed over time through his insatiable desire to learn new things and experiment with whatever creative discipline he’s found himself exposed to.
Early on as he was growing up he didn’t know what he wanted to do, but because he loved “performing” so much he gravitated more towards musical theatre, which opened his world up to other mediums. He did loads of music festivals at school before being involved in some big musical productions after he finished school.
When he was 19 years old he joined the cabaret, which saw him tour for a couple of months in places like Holland, Denmark, Belgium and Germany.
Then he came to Cape Town specifically to study in 2014. He studied at AFDA and recently graduated cum laude at the top of his class.
Now he’s at UCT where he’s studying honours in film and media, something he describes as a “phenomenal experience”.
He compares the music scene in SA to what he’s experienced in Kenya: “The scene here is slightly different. It’s more niche. The South African music industry is significantly developed. I’d argue that it’s the most developed music scene on the continent.
“So there’s that air of advancement that lingers. But the Nairobi music scene is a wonderful vibe for live performances and that’s what comprises the industry; it’s people going out to watch shows.”
Although Miami is still based in Cape Town he often finds himself back home in Nairobi since he recently took on story lining a series and co-writing two feature films there.
I ask him how he became involved in the range of disciplines he’s currently active in: “They all sort of happened organically,” he says. “I started off doing music then I got picked up for the cabaret show travelling across Europe for a couple of months, then when I came back home I said let me go and learn music and performance.
“And I somehow ended up in Cape Town and I studied film. So everything that I do sort of complements each other. So if its music then I’ll do my own photography and I’ll end up shooting my own music videos. They all kind of found a way toward each other.
“Music was my first love, but they all complement each other, so I don’t have one favourite over the other.
“But I do make time for each one. So next month I’ll be focusing on a couple of photography projects, the month after that I’ll be focusing on the film projects and then the month after that I’ll be writing and going to the studio to record new music. So each discipline gets enough attention.”
Right now he’s in the film phase, but is also focusing on his new single, Hard to Love. It’s a song that came about because he was told once that he was a difficult person to love, so he wanted to unpack that and do some introspection.
The video for Hard To Love was released earlier in the month and sees Miami exploring his film-making range with a dark and powerful cinematic experience.
“I like telling filmic stories. I’m not a fan of traditional music videos with people singing in the background.
“In fact, I make it a point to not be in my music videos. Except for one which was the first one and will probably never happen again. I like being behind the camera
He’s doing it all.