Soulful Terrence
‘I’m not chasing fame or wealth.’ MCKAY HONOURS THE KOFIFI STYLE OF 1960 AND 1970
hile he says he stumbled upon music while in high school, and saw himself doing something completely different, Terrence McKay remains a songwriter and vocalist with a voice that can mesmerise anybody that loves soul music.
“Growing up, I wanted to be a football player for Orlando Pirates,” he said.
“I was a good player as a youngster and I think I could have even gone professional had I pursued it.
“But when I suddenly realised I could sing at the age of 16 in Grade 10, music instantly became the dream.
“Nothing mattered but music from that moment.” doing without stopping for the past eight years, since I was 21.
“I’ve been working on it despite the challenges and all the doors closing in my face, all the opportunities taken away, with people not giving me the platform.
“I kept at it because I knew I was good enough to make it at the highest level,” he said.
“It’s been a crazy but wonderful journey.” The singer/songwriter says when he started writing music, he only wrote about his personal experiences and mostly jotted down love songs.
As he grew as an artist, he started tapping into other people’s stories and would get writing inspiration from merely watching a movie or observing his surroundings.
“I believe there are so many distractions in the world that we live in, and with my music I just want to make people feel, regardless of what the emotion is, as long as they listen to my words and feel something,” he said. “I was so in love when I wrote the song Unconditional. I was madly in love with my ex fiancé. We had just moved together from the Vaal Triangle to a flat in Joburg CBD. I had started pursuing the music thing and she also had a great job. Life was incredible,” he said.
McKay says the words of the song started hitting him as he got off a taxi in the busy Noord Street taxi rank in Johannesburg, and dangerous as it might be, he took his phone out and started recording himself on his voice recorder.
“Each and every word on this song explains exactly how I felt at that time,” he said. With a voice that sounds a bit too bold for his physique – raw and beautiful – the singer says he struggles to explain his sound, and would rather title it Soul.
“I was born with a natural ability to have soul, not only when I sing, but as a person. When you meet me, you meet my soul; you meet the essence of who I am outside of music.
“Once I add music to it, I have no choice but to open myself up to a point where all you feel is the soul.”
McKay says he is lucky to have a jazz background and grown up in a family of gospel singers. He says although he wants to be a success and have people hear and appreciate his music, he is not necessarily doing it for money.
“I’m not chasing fame or wealth. Of course they will come because they are by-products, but all I want is to showcase that anyone can strive for greatness and perfection in what they do,” he said.
He points out that as much as he can get booked to perform at the South African Music Awards after-party, at the Vodacom Durban July and be interviewed by prominent publications, he needs people to know that the music industry is not very glamorous.
“I’m not afraid to tell people that when I got back from the Durban July, my landlord called to tell me that he is cutting off my lights. It happens every month,” he said.
The talent says he knows that it is these tough times that are grooming him into the best version of himself. McKay says although it took him quite some time to find his footing in the music industry, he is happy that it has been confirmed that he will soon do some music with house music giant Mobi Dixon and has a meeting he is hoping will go well with phenomenal music duo Black Motion.
“I would love to also one day get a chance to work with the legendary Black Coffee and DJ Clock, even though the latter hasn’t released anything in a while.
“And after the late Robbie Malinga, from a vocal perspective, I would love to work with Sjava because I believe he is one of Mzansi’s best songwriters,” he explained.
“I would like to see how Sjava articulates his creativity when working on a song from scratch.” With his striking vintage look, it’s impossible to have a chat with this artist and not question his sense of style.
He regards it as Kofifi style, inspired by the men of 1960 and 1970.
“These are the men who were under immense pressure and struggle in the apartheid era,” he said.
“But they knew what values stood for and understood the essence of being real men, of being leaders and providers.”