Lowman set to rule airwaves
IT’S been three years since guitarist and singer Michael Lowman released his debut album, Crayon Boxes.
In the interim, Lowman has been connecting with his family and friends, attending loads of shows and taking his time to perfect his musical process.
“I kind of went through a few things personally and it just didn’t feel right to put out any music that I wasn’t 100% behind. And for whatever reason it was three years between then and now and it feels right now. The timing is good and I feel energised. I feel like I have something to say, something to share and I’m excited for the future as well.”
It’s been a busy year so far, which has culminated in the buzz and energy that’s come with the April release of his album, Pop Radio. He’s been touring the country and got a fair bit of press ever since it launched. His aim now is to continue honing his live shows and to get it to the level he wants it at.
Crayon Boxes has earned him nominations at several major award shows including the SA Music Awards (Sama) and MTV Africa Music Awards, and turned Lowman into the force he is today. I ask him if he feels any pressure to exceed its achievements.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel any kind of pressure. But that’s normal and I’m always putting pressure on myself, I think it’s an artist thing. Or maybe it’s a human being thing. But no one is gonna put as much pressure as I put on myself. But it’s a good thing.”
Pop Radio, which he recorded near the end of 2015 and the first few months of last year, was a project he recorded pretty quickly. “There was not much pre-production that went into it. I kind of wanted to get into the studio and write the album in studio with all those influences.”
This process differed significantly from how he usually does it. Equipped with an acoustic guitar and a notepad in his apartment, hotel room or wherever he may be, Lowman typically does his work in a private setting before entering the studio knowing exactly what he wants to do. This time around, he went into the studio in the mornings with no plan as to how the songs would develop. “I let the flow take over, and it worked nicely,” he says.
The lead single from the album, MixTape, sort of plays out as a continuation of Girls Saves Boy, which was the big single off his previous album. While writing it, he knew that he’d found his next single. The melody is one he thought would suit Karlien van Jaarsveld, who he’d kept close contact with since meeting at her the Samas, and so he reached out to her. Predominantly an Afrikaans singer, Van Jaarsveld saw it as the perfect opportunity to do something on an English song. And it all came together beautifully. Lowman then took a slightly different approach with his second single. While he was finishing off a song titled Power & Glory, he met motswako heavyweight Khuli Chana in studio. Chana loved it and immediately asked to be featured on it. “He sent me some fire, fire verses and he and I have formed a really cool connection because of it. There are big things there as well. That’s just come out but I am going to keep dropping tracks thick and fast. I don’t want to wait, because to be honest the way music is now there are no rules anymore.”