Musician whistling his way to future success
SAKHILE Moleshe’s earliest memory of music is as a young child whistling out into the valley behind his home in eDikeni, Eastern Cape.
He would whistle and wait for the echo.
“That’s where my whole melodic nature developed and that’s why my company is called Imilozi Music. I love the art of whistling because it opens up the door to being able to create melodies and so on. Everything I do, even when I practise to save my voice, whistling means a lot to me.”
The vocalist and composer has made a name for himself as an accomplished musical arranger and voice-over artist.
His album, The Final Call, was an introduction to his new journey, after his successful time with electronic dance collective Goldfish.
“It was a really happy time to let go and start the new year with a fresh outlook. The album is called The Final Call because all the metaphors that go with that term have an anxiety to express everything. It has taken me a while to get to the point where I can make an album. I felt like it was now or never.”
Moleshe studied Jazz at the University of Cape Town, and that is where he met his former band mates.
“We all grew up differently and had our own experiences and I think the time I spent with Goldfish was the biggest highlight of my career. The biggest milestones were created there. Now, my journey is more about destiny. I’ve had a slight dynamic shift and taken more to my traditional acapella. There’s territory where Goldfish couldn’t go in terms of traditional South African identity.”
His time with the band allowed him to experience many firsts, including the Glastonbury Festival which, before Goldfish, he knew nothing about.
“When we were on the way there, I had no idea what it was until I got to the hotel room and started watching videos of Groove Armada and Skepta. I was culturally always coming into an environment I wasn’t used to. Now my destiny thing is about returning to the environment that made me and it was a journey I needed to take alone.”
Even though it was difficult for him to leave something so successful, he was excited to go on his own creative journey and pay homage to where he came from.
“The Final Call is mostly vocal based; lots of singing almost in all tracks. It’s a down tempo and R&B but there is a lot of variety within that pull back feel that opens up to a whole lot of musical influences.”
Moleshe is also a poet and said producing the album himself allowed a versatility to play around with sound.
“This is my place to throw all my influences in and jampack them to have that kind of aloof diary feel, even though I polished as best as I can. The plan is to get people familiar with my style of music through this album, therefore, opening up their palette for more work. I didn’t really apply myself to commercial viability. I want people to be familiar with my signature.”
While people get to know Moleshe, he is taking the time to zone in on how his music is consumed and seeing whether or not people are open to a new sound.
“My album is uncommon. It will scare people away at first but anyone who can commit to a full listen will be more than intrigued.”