Channel O has a show called ZoneIn whereon which they literally just do that, they; zone in on one musician for about an hour. Although usually flooded with international artists, the show also attempts to give local artists a chance.
A recent pleasant surprise on the show the other day was Zano, the Pretoria-based house vocalist. Of interest was not only the fact that he is really good at what he does, but also that he had enough visual material, visual for that matter, to fill an hour. While you might still be jamming to his last album, Colours of My Soul, you will be happy to know that Zano is on another musical path this year.
“I am preparing for a big show at the Carousel Casino on August 27 because I am shifting my sound. I am now looking into doing a soul and R&B sound so this show will see me drop an EP called The Emily EP. The project will be released on the 26th, a day before the show,” said the singer.
“I am not leaving house altogether, but I think that as a vocalist, you can’t really be stuck in one genre. You can’t end up being called ‘a house music vocalist’. If you look at international vocalists, you’ll find that Usher can do a slow jam for R&B and then an EDM or trapsoul song. It will all fit within his brand and I feel that in the country right now, we are not exploring that. I feel that it is easy to be stuck in house music or kwaito because you have had success in that genre with one song,” he explained further.
For him, successful South African vocalists are at the top of their game because they take their music seriously, treating it as a business and he identifies with this.
“Look at Zonke, Lira, Nathi or Musa. They are at a lot of festivals, but most importantly, they do a lot of corporates. They also have a steady following somuch that they are able to put together their own shows. They can book a venue and put together a whole production with great sound. We are not talking about a venue where you are in a club and no one cares about what you’re singing. All they want to do is get drunk. As an artist, I take the time to write and produce my music. The least I expect from an audience is to listen to the music. I don’t make background music,” he said.
The risk of going into R&B and moving away from the lucrative house music business might cost him fans and money, but Zano is undeterred and feels he is at that point in his life when he needs to pursue that genre.
“I just want to sing and whether I lose money or not, is not the point. I have been in theatre too and as an actor, you leave everything on that stage. The same goes with music. I just take music too personally and maybe that’s my problem. Music is spiritual and if you are authentic, whether you play Mbaqanga or Isicathamiya, and if you are true to the art of what you are doing, it doesn’t matter whether Ngudu is the biggest song on radio, people will still connect. That’s where I am right now in music. I want to connect with people’s souls through my music. I don’t just want to write a song where I repeat the chorus eight times so that people can sing along. I want to write music and be authentic. For me that’s important,” he said.
He also feels that any artist worth remembering is known for their diversity and their artwork has eras. Given that he has given us house songs for over a decade, The Emily EP will give us a side to him that we did not know.
“I am changing my sound from house to R&B because for now, I want to be an artist. You can’t be an artist and be stuck in one genre. Look at Picasso, the great painter. His first decade as an artist produced different work from the decade after that. I feel that music has eras and some talented people fall off the wagon because they fail to see this. If you look at those people who try to give us R&B, you realise that their definition of the genre is the ‘90s template. While that decade gave us great music, it is long gone and we need to make music for now,” he said.
Emily, Zano’s mother, is the reason we are graced with this EP and the reason he got into music in the first place. His was not an easy road, but thanks to her strong words of encouragement, Zano chased his dream.
“My late mother, after whom I named The Emily EP, is the one person in our family who encouraged me to follow my passion in music. She said that if I wanted to pursue music then the least I’d have to do is study it. So initially I wanted to go to Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) because they have a good music programme in jazz. I didn’t have enough money, though, because when I came to Pretoria, I had about R150 in my pocket. So I ended up registering at Ochrim School of Music and it was a block away from TUT. Luckily, the guys I stayed with were all studying were allstudying music so I was stealing their books. I even sneaked into TUT for classes and some of the lecturers knew me. I ended up with a diploma in jazz and popular music, majoring in vocals,” he said.