Sleeping Buddha wants to awaken SA
AN up-and-coming North Coast music producer has aspirations of taking South African music to the next level and, judging by his impressive body of work, he is on the road to success.
Trishen Govender, aka Sleeping Buddha, produces electronic “gqom”, a style of house music that originated in our very own backyard, Durban.
While prominent in London and New York, the genre of music is quickly gaining momentum in the country with its broken beats.
A non-conformist by nature, 23-year-old Govender was naturally drawn to the unconventional sound that is created using a particular computer software.
Completely reworking the song Yebo with Rude Boyz, he grabbed the attention of music greats, DJ Tira and Okmalumkoolkat.
“It’s crazy how the song was received. Although gqom is a very hard sound, it is powerful and people love it.”
Govender, of Verulam, said he always wanted to work with Rude Boyz who pioneered the sound. DJ Lag, of Clermont, he said, was also instrumental in the industry.
“The thing about gqom music was that was too housey at first. But as time passed people evolved and it’s now the fastest-growing sound.” He said he started producing music to unite people.
“South Africa needs music like this. Our country is going through a dynamic change and we should stand together, forget about our problems and just dance. I’m all about spreading positive vibes and if one person loves my music, then I’m happy,” he said modestly.
Govender is releasing an EP, which is a project titled Oni, on Friday on iTunes and Spotify. He will be hosting an official album launch party at Hotshots Nightclub .
The project, Govender believes, will be the future of South African dance music.
“It takes a lot of influence from Japanese mythology. I’m trying to push this music forward and get it more commercialised.”
Govender wasn’t always heading for a full-time career in music and was initially expected to study psychology, but quickly realised that wasn’t his true purpose.
“I wanted to pursue music and even though people always criticised me for the change in career choice I didn’t care what they thought. It was about finding my own identity.”
He went on to produce his first EP, Liberation, on iTunes at just 18. “It was progressive house that was never done before.”
He eventually decided to study sound engineering at Creative Arts College and graduated last year. Govender praised his lecturers for encouraging him to be the best.
During his third year, he released his first song, Hiroshima, which was played on 5FM.
After graduating, Kamakazi, Govender’s second song, was play-listed again and began receiving support from A-listers including Black Coffee, Okmalumkoolkat, Rude Boyz and Sheen Skaiz.
He said two of his inspirations were Steve Jobs and the book, The Answer. “This book changed my life. It opened up my mind. We as humans limit ourselves. To be great, we have to get out of our comfort zone.”
Govender added that being a composer was not easy but he wanted to be a creator, and not an imitator. “It’s easy to DJ, but to compose, that’s more challenging. I never want to go out there with bubblegum music. I want to do my own stuff.”
Asked about the name, Sleeping Buddha, he said he was drawn to Buddha and his meditations.
Govender will perform at his first international festival, the Nyege Nyege Festival, in Uganda in September.