VERULAM musician and producer Trishen Govender’s debut music video has already surpassed the 50k mark within the past two weeks, and counting.
Govender, aka Sleeping Buddha, rose in popularity after touring with South African rapper Sho Madjozi and dance/electronic duo Rudeboyz at the Nyege Nyege Festival in Uganda – considered the most important four-day international music festival in East Africa.
He took the independent route, releasing Area 51, an electronic/Gqom fusion EP (extended play record) in June last year. In August, he released a second EP in the spirit of Women’s Month called Aphrodite At Fashion Week. The video is for Galaxies in Your Forehead, a song from this record.
“Of all the music I have released in my career, I have a very strong connection with this song in particular. I felt that it was the right time to release the visuals for this video because there was a spiritual connection when I made this record. At the beginning of 2021, at the peak of the second Covid-19 wave in South Africa, I started to visualise and conceptualise the themes and story line for Galaxies in Your Forehead. It was a challenging time and this song gave me hope, encouragement and felt like a journey. The message I wanted to portray became clearer,” said Govender.
He said the song represented a journey of self-belief and knowing who you are in this life.
“The meaning behind the record is captured in its essence of both the visuals and the lyrics. When you enhance your perception on life, the quality of all areas in your life will increase. When we realise our actual existence of being or our natural purpose through self-reflection and/or meditating on positive thoughts or outcomes in our life, we find that we attract the best of what we want.
“The song also resonated with my own personal journey. I spent months planning this video and visuals for it. I felt that this record was inspiring, deep, included many layers of positive affirmations and it is something that the world needs right now. It has been a turbulent time in the world and this was a good way to bring the ideas of positive self-belief to life which would positively impact people's lives.”
The video depicts Govender’s journey as he navigates through life in an 8-Series BMW, reflecting on everyday situations focusing on the themes of life’s distractions and challenges such as bullying and insecurities. It also highlights the importance of maintaining focus, passion and purpose.
“It is an amazing feeling watching your dream materialise. Since I started my career, even before I attended college, I dreamed of making a music video. All the hard work from all those who were involved is finally paying off and it’s a great feeling to see everyone satisfied with the final product.”
The song is penned by Naledi Shoro.
“Naledi and I developed this track a while back. In fact, it was about three years ago when I had produced this song and I needed a vocalist for this. I contacted her as I heard that she had an amazing voice from a mutual friend of mine. So, I brought this to her and we discussed the vision and direction that we wanted to take and we created this. She wrote the lyrics and there was no doubt that she alone would be the perfect vocalist.
“Once I had finished editing and mastering the record, I had it lying on my hard drive for some time. I knew it was special and, if anything, it has proven to be timeless, in a sense that it is still so relevant today as it was the day we made it three years ago.”
You can see the video here.