MICHAEL LOWMAN

This Durban-born singer took the local music scene by storm with his debut album, Crayon Boxes, earning him a Sama nomination in 2014. Now he’s back with his second offering, PopRadio. We caught up with the Cape Townbased muso to chat about his latest album. What inspired this album? I wanted to change the perception people have of me. A lot of people heard my first record, saw me play and thought okay, cool, you’re like John Mayer or Bob Dylan. But I’m not only that. I wanted to show a different side of me. I’ve been learning about production techniques and different sounds and listening a lot to The Weeknd, Jay-Z, John Mayer – I’m a massive fan – Justin Bieber, Michael Jackson . . . It all came out on this album. That’s why it’s so over the place genre-wise. How would you describe the sound? It’s definitely not an acoustic guitar-driven album. It’s roots are in the ’80s with lots of drum reverb and cool, catchy pop synth lines. There’s also a big hip-hop undertone, like Jay-Z’s Death Of Auto-Tune. Real drums, real guitars with a grittiness to it. It’s a pop album 100 percent but not your clichéd, stereotypical kind. How did the collaborations come together? Very organically. MixTape was this ’80s pop song with a new feel so I wanted a duet vibe with a beautiful female vocal. I’d met [Afrikaans singer] Karlien van Jaarsveld at the Sama event three years ago and we kept in touch. I sent her the song and she loved it. What was it like working with Khuli Chana on Power & Glory? It was refreshing to work with Khuli just because of his promptness. I’d finished the song except for his parts. Then he walked into the studio; it was the first time we met. I said I’ve got this song you have to listen to. He just connected with the sound and feel and said, “Send me this track and I’ll send you my verses by this evening.” He did and they were amazing! We’ve become really good friends. What’s your favourite track on the album? Power & Glory. I love that I could write something like that. I came up with the melody line here in Cape Town at a bar called The Power & The Glory. The bar was a big inspiration for the song. How did you get into music? I’ve always been musical and sang in choirs and played the violin when I was young. I started this music project at the end of my school years. I lost my dad in a car accident when I was 10. I picked up his old acoustic guitar for the first time when I was 17 and recorded two YouTube videos a few months later. That was my lucky break. An indie label in America saw them and that’s how I got to go to Las Vegas in 2012 to record a six-track EP, In My Own Words. I lived in Los Angeles and played at open-mic evenings and in bars. I learnt how to write songs in LA. What have you discovered about yourself in the past few years? Four or five years ago I just wanted to write songs on an acoustic guitar and sell out Wembley Stadium (in London) like Ed Sheeran. I didn’t want to write for anyone else. But I’ve learnt to just let go and it’s made me a better artist. I’m producing for other people, I’m writing music for Khuli Chana, I’m playing in bands. I’m now a 100-percent muso and I feel good about it. Is there someone special in your life? Daisy May. She’s an entrepreneur; she’s in the food industry and she has her own fashion blog, Real Life Styled. She’s a real hustler.