As major record companies battle to make sense of the world around them, South Africa's unsigned talent are taking things into their own hands and getting on with business. On Tuesday, Die Boer will be the place where the artist formerly known as Luna unpacks her independent authority.
Reincarnated as Luna Paige, this social worker by day and powerful singer, songwriter and performer by night, has just returned from a run of dates that saw her play Oppikoppi, Pretoria, Durban and Bloemfontein. On her return home to Cape Town, Paige will head back to the studio to finish work on her new full-length album due in September.
Of the recent change to her stage name, she says: "I have plans to go overseas with my music. Luna is such a universal term. It means moon in zillions of languages. I had to find a way people could actually find me if they googled my name. Paige was the name of a doll I used to "perform" with in my mother's living room. I always told her we'd sing in front of a huge crowd one day. It would be quite weird taking this odd-looking doll with me every time I perform, so Luna Paige is me keeping my promise."
Having released two albums (Luna and Missing Pieces) as Luna, with experience and qualification well established, now seemed a good time to add to what was already there.
"The South African music scene is not very friendly towards singer-songwriters overall, never mind female singer/songwriters who perform in English, especially if you are an Afrikaans girl singing in English," Paige says. "It has not been an easy ride, but I have learned so much and have found that working independently can be quite beneficial if it's done correctly."
With two sets of three songs already released digitally via her website (www.lunapaige.com) since February, Paige's current strategy to have fans entertained and edified online while she puts the finishing touches to her third full-length album is refreshingly original - a lot like the music she makes.
"I started recording in July 2008," she says. "Each release has gone hand-in-hand with a tour. With new pictures and artwork for each, I try to do some form of interesting collaboration each time. It keeps me interested and excited, and hopefully fans too. My biggest hope is that by the time the album comes out people will already feel they know me and immediately rush to buy the long-awaited album. The last five to six songs will of course be my best!"
From the easy-listening country-pop of Won't Be Leaving You Behind, to the most recent Sunday In Japan, which features Chris Chameleon, the downloads are charming tasters from a young woman keen to share her music with as wide an audience as possible. She roped in a whole host of equally talented types to help her realise her dream, making the site as enticing as the music she makes.
"My friend Eugene Hayman is responsible for the design and look of all my work. He played in my first band ever or should I say, I sang in his band. He makes beautiful designs."
Paige has also incorporated her formal qualification as a social worker into her career in music by creating a not-for-profit organisation called the New Love Foundation. By all accounts the seemingly awkward marriage is already paying dividends.
"I think my love for both of these two extreme lifestyles is what keeps me sane," she says. "I would go nuts if I was only passionate about one of them. I think it keeps me strangely balanced and realistic about what is important in life. Since I've been focusing equally on both careers my life has become so busy and I actually feel like I'm getting to know myself better. Being a social worker demands being a bit of a hard ass, and it's definitely helped me in my music career - in a good way, of course. It's amazing to see how music can contribute to the work I do. It's the universal language. Everybody gets it!"
Collaborations along Paige's path also continue to serve her and her fans well. From her involvement with the Bellevue Choir and working with Chris Chameleon, through to building a band around her that translates her vision to a tee, Luna Paige is something of a talent magnet.
"I have been quite fortunate and amazed too at how things have worked out. I have always wanted to perform with a choir. Bellevue wine estate is my sponsor and I was so happy when I saw they had a choir. At that stage I had just started developing my ideas for the New Love Foundation and decided to write a song about the high statistics of abuse of women and children in South Africa. It just made sense to ask the choir to sing the song with me and so I invited them to be involved in our awareness campaign. One thing led to another and before we knew it we were in the studio making an activist song.
"With Sunday In Japan, the story is probably not that much different. I went to see a Chris Chameleon show with my mother and heard him do those weird and wonderful sounds and vocal acrobatics that're so true to him. I immediately heard where he would fit into Sunday In Japan, but I was of course way too shy to ask him to sing on it. A month or two later I saw he was performing in Cape Town on exactly the day that we were to record the song. It was a sign! So I phoned. And he said yes. And there is this beautiful song. His improvisation on that song definitely played a huge role in the way the song was recorded and produced. He brought the magic to the table and we played with it."
For those who have already taken the time to surf their way to her website, not only are visitors welcomed with loads of information and fun stuff but, once registered, fans are rewarded with three free live music downloads.
"It has worked quite well," Paige says of the rewards strategy.
"I have managed to develop quite a fan base with whom I now have direct contact and who I know will buy the album when it comes out, so that's great."
Keen to test what people enjoy, Paige has released a colourful array of musical possibilities before settling on a particular path.
"Releasing batches of songs online prior to the album's September release was a personal thing for me. I'm busy finding my own voice so I wanted to move away from that stereotypical sound everyone and even I thought I had. On this album I am doing what comes naturally".