Cape Town - Ever since Grammy award winning DJ Black Coffee made his big break on the international market, many local stars have followed in his footsteps taking the South African style of music to the world.
Cape Town DJ duo Surreal Sessions, made up of Jodie Williams, 24, and Liam Bowers, 24, will be heading to Amsterdam in November for the international music festival, Boiler Room.
The festival started in the underground music scene of London in 2010 and has since held events in 100 cities worldwide.
Surreal Sessions first had a taste of the Boiler Room experience when it came to Cape Town in 2019, but this will be their first time playing abroad.
Williams said this opportunity was made possible through a genre collaboration with Boiler Room.
“It’s called Third Space, it is when producers and artists from different parts of the world see how they can connect,” he said.
“We chose to mix gqom with dance hall and used certain elements to create a new sound for this festival.
“Stages are chosen for the new sounds through the genre collaboration, and the result is a cinematic and dramatic experience.”
Bowers said “We were manifesting an opportunity to play overseas and have been trying to play abroad for some time. It feels amazing to be acknowledged for your craft and achieve your goals.”
Williams added: “This is our tenth year as DJs. We’ve achieved everything we set out to do thus far, but it’s crazy to think this started in a bedroom in Kuilsriver ten years ago.”
To represent South Africa on the world stage was an honour, Williams said.
“We just want to share with the world what we’re doing here. There’s always representation from Johannesburg but it’s not as prevalent for Cape Town DJs,” he said.
“I am hopeful that we can shift that narrative and show Cape Town has what it takes and we look forward to the experience,” he added.
Bowers said he believed this opportunity was bigger than the two of them.
“We hope this will open doors for brands and DJs in Cape Town. We want to take clothing brands from Cape Town with us, to show the world what we have to offer.”
The pair met when they attended Bellville Technical High School and went on to study sound engineering at Cape Audio College. Their interest in creative music was piqued when they watched videos of electronic dance music festivals like Tomorrowland.
“We chose to take it seriously when we met Aurgil Legolie, who taught us the ins and outs of how to be a DJ,” Bowers said.
“If it were not for him, then we would never have been where we are today. We owe so much of our success to his help.”
Williams said the real reward of playing a set was the crowd reaction.
“We love music and creating emotion out of music for crowds to enjoy. We love seeing the support from crowds each time they see us on a line-up,” he said.
In future, Surreal Sessions want to focus on creating more music that might one day see them win a Grammy award.
“We want to take each gig as it comes. We want to knock it out of the park with the Boiler Room and take it from there,” Bowers said.
Williams added: “Life is unpredictable and we just want to enjoy the journey for now. We want to create more music and do so consistently.”
Meanwhile, Gqeberha-born amapiano DJ duo TxC is set to take to the 2022 FIFA World Cup stage in Doha this November.
TxC's Tarryn Reid, 26, and Clairise Hefke, 28, have perfected the amapiano sound.
The duo will join 250 artists and creators from around the world to perform at BudX in Doha.
The pair said they were ecstatic when they heard they would be performing at the world cup.
“We were immensely proud, especially considering how far we’ve come. We’ve received so much love and support from far and wide,” Reid said.
Hefke said the opportunity was significant since they were representing Mzansi.
“This came with the opportunity to create a new track for the 2022 World Cup. This meant tapping into a brand-new audience, including soccer fans,” she said.
Reid promised crowds an inclusive sound. “We are looking forward to being part of this event. We recall attending matches at home in 2010, but now we get to form part of the experience and play an active role.”
She continued: “We love what we do, there’s no better feeling for us than taking an organically South African sound to stages across the world, and seeing crowds who don’t understand the lyrics dancing to it and having the time of their lives during our sets.”
In the future, crowds can expect a new extended project, new music, and new experiences as TxC continues to take amapiano to the world.