Tsholofelo Mapisa on Durban vs Joburg, 3 tips to enhance your EPK, her musical journey & more

0:00:11 - Nasiphi Zwane
How's it going, ladies and gentlemen? this is Nasiphi Zwane, back with another episode of Sludge Underground podcast, and today I've got another amazing, amazing guest for you. Yes, it's Tsholofelo. How are you doing? 

0:00:20 - Tsholofelo Mapisa
I'm good You pronounce my name. Like every other Zulu person, it's Tsholofelo. 

0:00:27 - Nasiphi Zwane
I'm so sorry, no problem. What does it stand for? What does that mean? 

0:00:33 - Tsholofelo Mapisa
It actually means hope in SeTswana, and the craziest thing is that I actually don't speak any word of seTswana. What It's actually crazy and embarrassing at the same time, because I am Zulu But I feel like, my name being Tswana, i shouldn't use the word Ask, the converse, properly in Zulu. 

0:00:50 - Nasiphi Zwane
Yeah, at least one word. But I'm sure you know one word. What's that one Tswana word that you know? 

0:00:54 - Tsholofelo Mapisa
It's just my name. It's very embarrassing. Here's the thing I can understand when someone in Sotho speaks to me, but I can never reply. 

0:01:03 - Nasiphi Zwane
Who named you? Who gave you this name? 

0:01:06 - Tsholofelo Mapisa
Both my parents, but my dad had some kind of story about how it's like trying to make some kind of statement. It was born October 9th 2003 and there's lots of black on black violence and he was trying to show people, through naming his daughter, that you can be a Zulu-speaking man with a swazi wife and have a child and will give her a name. That's not in either of these cultures. So that was the whole statement. It's beautiful, the kind of story behind it. It kind of makes me look like I have an identity crisis. But yeah, that was the whole. Next way, it was a political statement. 

0:01:54 - Nasiphi Zwane
Yeah, you guys have like a mini-Rainbow Nation going on there at home. 

0:01:59 - Tsholofelo Mapisa
A little bit eh. 

0:02:01 - Nasiphi Zwane
That's incredible. Are you parents, supportive of your musical journey at all? 

0:02:08 - Tsholofelo Mapisa
Yeah, i did grow up in between Jovo and President. I met with President after my parents separated But that's still. Even with all of that, they still remain incredibly supportive And I think, just being a musician and artist and just person, i've kind of learned so much from them separately As individuals. Rather. My dad is a playwright and was a university executive, so with that kind of R2 party side that I've always been exposed to, and my mom is an HR executive and always been most of her career. She's also now a pastor. So there's that kind of side of being an entrepreneur and that. There's this acumen that I've learned so much from. So we are definitely super supportive. My number one fans I can't phrase them enough. They've definitely been there. 

0:03:04 - Nasiphi Zwane
You mentioned the business acumen. What would you say the three sort of golden tips would be for someone who's making music in South Africa, for them to maximize on profits in any way? 

0:03:19 - Tsholofelo Mapisa
Shaps, if I. I'm still trying to figure that out. It's so tricky because industry keeps on changing. It's a very fluid kind of space and there's many ways to make money. In fact in chapter four of my master's degree that's kind of what I was discussing in that thesis about what are the different income streams and ways to make money in the music industry as an independent musician. And the typical ones like selling merchandise, leveraging your skills by teaching you know, and the ones about publishing. But again, those are kind of long term. That's a long game. 

But the three tips and maximizing profits, first and foremost is to believe in yourself And I think for me, anything that I do with it, musical or within, like music academia there is no gimmick. I don't even have like a stage name on any of the ones to develop, you know because I'm myself. So I think it's really just to believe in yourself and to stay true to yourself. I think it shows in your product and the product here would be your music or merchandise or whatever you're selling doing through your music. The first tip is to believe in yourself. The other two shots I'll tell you when I know. 

0:04:32 - Nasiphi Zwane
Tell me let's keep it, let's keep it for the end. Bit of a cliffhanger for someone to come back to the end there. Perfect, you know, the first one is really incredible. It is something that is really important for you to believe in yourself, because if you don't believe in yourself, then who's going to believe in you? for you Doesn't really make sense to go about it without looking at it that way. 

You mentioned your parents separating. Did that have any impact on you at all? This actually reminds me of something we had. We had a conversation with New Edison Shout out, new Edison And we were just Megan was asking. She was like you know, do you feel like artists utilize pain as sort of like their products? Do they take pain and sort of conceptualize it, make it a product as they thrive off of it? You know they get to express themselves because of the pain that they go through. I want to know if your parents' separation had any impact at all, even if it was painless or even if it didn't make you feel like it 100%, i think for me I started writing or using wasn't even music at the time. 

0:05:32 - Tsholofelo Mapisa
I just started writing poetry back when I was about 15, 14, and poetry turned into song And that kind of all came from trying to find a way to express myself, number one, number two, trying to create a world or an alternative reality where, kind of I was in control of my situation, my surroundings. Art kind of put some measure of power into my hands. And you know, there's a quote by Simon Frith. Who's this really famous guy? If you've gone to university or that name is kind of like music academic coursework you might have, you might know Simon Frith And who basically says that music is your way of doing in the world. 

Whatever it is that I'm processing, whether it's pain, whether it's leisure, whether it's happiness, whatever it is, i'm going to use it or process it in a way that will end up musical. So 100%. That experience of having my parents separate did kind of give birth to this other side or kind of make me realize that I kind of express myself through, if it's poetry or whether it's through songwriting or whether it's through singing. So you're 100% into the payroll. 

0:06:52 - Nasiphi Zwane
Your mom being a pastor? does that have any impact on the stuff that you end up making? Are you a lot more conscious about the stuff that you end up releasing as well? 

0:07:00 - Tsholofelo Mapisa
Luckily it's extremely open minded, But also I'm very I don't swear much in song. Perhaps if I were to be a rapper, I think I live vicariously through, like hip hop artists, and when I feel frustrated or have any pent up aggression or want to swear. I've listened to a whole lot of that, But much of what I've released is not any kind of I don't filter myself. At the same time, I don't want to say I don't say things that we make and people feel uncomfortable. Sure, there might be those moments, but I've never actually had, I've never been, chocolate ended by a profession. 

0:07:35 - Nasiphi Zwane
Now this is really incredible. Being a person that has moved, you obviously mentioned having stayed in KZN and also then in Joburg. What would you say the best of Durban is in terms of being an artist Like, what does Durban have to offer KZN? rather, wherever you are best in KZN. What are the best things for an artist when it comes to KZN And what would you say the best things for someone who's an artist living in Joburg? Because I'd like to think they are pros and cons when it comes to both. A lot of people have this perspective that Johannesburg is where it's all at, but at the same time, you'll find that there are certain things that Durban has that Joburg doesn't that could assist in you being an artist. So, someone who's lived in both, what would you say the pros and cons are on the other side? 

0:08:24 - Tsholofelo Mapisa
Pros and cons. I'll start with Durban. So I'm based or grew up in Empangeni It's a town two hours from Durban and then North Coast okay then. And then I went to university in Durban. Pros, without a doubt, is the talent there. Man, it's insane. I might be biased, but they are very talented people And I think everyone who ends up I mean anyone who's doing well in Joburg you are likely to find that they are from Durban. So I'm biased in the sense that the talent there is incredible. They almost have an innate ability to make music, to sing, to dance, and to this day. It's funny because my father always calls Durban my spiritual home. 

So whenever I need to check out from the castle and bustle of Joburg, i head back to Durban and I'm kind of slow gone and I'm able to make music. And that's actually what I did earlier this year in February. I was a bit tired of Durban. I packed my guitar and my bag and my car, my mic, my sound card, all of this you know the stuff we used to record And I just had like a week in KZN where I was just writing. It's just being able to slow down with each pro as well. That actually exists in KZN. 

A con in KZN is that everything needs to be. It's very lazy for, which is understandable, because when people or a group of people can do something that shouldn't like singing or dancing or whatever it becomes a strange concept for them to create a business out of it. So that, i would say, is the con that sometimes the slow pace of everything does hinder or slow down real growth itself. Pro in Johannesburg would be the opposite. It would be the fact that you do you all kind of getting you do meet the right people just in terms of business and what you should be doing. There's been many opportunities in Joburg, a big, better the name. 

The con is you'll have a people time with discernment in Joburg. A lot of people can finally see the same thing And it's going to be tricky sometimes to discern between you know the real deal and people who are just sending you a dream or trying to find a way to make a quick shot out of you. So that is the con that because of the density of people, it becomes very tricky to know, discern and to trust. So you just have to kind of work your way through the maze. It is the country jungle. It does inspire you. It's fast paced, but if you use that pace to kind of inspire you to do more, you can live a good life in Joburg. But I personally dream best in parish. I feel like every three months I need to meet Joburg. 

0:11:06 - Nasiphi Zwane
Go and see your head. As an artist, you have to live in one place forever, between Joburg and Durban. 

0:11:11 - Tsholofelo Mapisa
Oh, I shot. No, that's such a tricky one. Durban, maybe Durban. 

0:11:17 - Nasiphi Zwane
Durban wins again. If I was forced. Yeah, if. 

0:11:19 - Tsholofelo Mapisa
I was forced. 

0:11:21 - Nasiphi Zwane
Hey, that is epic. You mentioned picking up your guitar. Are you going to get to Yams, which I feel like is one of the is the key points here? You picked up a guitar You mentioned you know, whenever you need to, you know, get away from the hustle and bustle of Janisburg. When did you pick up? When was the first time you picked up a guitar? Why did you pick up a guitar? It's a bit of a cliche question, but we need to get you know that background in terms of where this all started and why it started. 

0:11:43 - Tsholofelo Mapisa
I think around 14, yeah, i was good at it. My arts and culture teacher arts and crafts, sorry was she could play the type and she was having lessons And then. So that began. I basically believed my father in to buying me a guitar and I took some lessons and she was doing it very informally, like she knew a couple of chords, and decided I'm going to teach these kids over and over once. We learn just a couple of chords. So that's how that started, went to a couple of lessons and then I kind of dropped it for years and then around 16 again I picked it up and then started teaching myself, especially because I think around that age Adele had just dropped the debut album titled 19 and I was obsessed with it and I decided I have to do this again because Adele was doing it. That's how that actually started. 

0:12:30 - Nasiphi Zwane
Would you say, adele is like your idol in a way 100%. 

0:12:35 - Tsholofelo Mapisa
yes, you're especially for 19. that first album, yeah, i think meeting her would be such a career highlight. So, yeah, from the songwriting, from the playing, there was a simplicity in it that was very that I felt I could connect to and, yeah, man, she's just really good. But you know, a lot of my friends and colleagues have said in terms of that could relate to kind of her style is her songwriting and how she's always like emotional in her feelings and I think that I've always been emotional and in my feelings when it comes to songwriting. So perhaps if I were to connect any kind of similarity it wouldn't be probably the songwriting. 

0:13:14 - Nasiphi Zwane
Very wonderful. Now, obviously, looking at what we what I touched on briefly earlier was you are my Sunday. I need you to tell me a bit more about what that is for anyone who may not have the knowledge. 

0:13:26 - Tsholofelo Mapisa
So, yeah, so how Yams happened. It's actually I saw, i saw posts of it late last year, i think, and then in the 20s of mine was like Adele could go pay Yams. So it is its own kind of what can I call it concept that exists already. So the owner of it is a lovely, lovely lady, her name is Bridget, and obviously we're I mean, we're all independent. I think she operates independently as well. 

I saw a call out or at the beginning of May, to play at Yams and I was like, oh, i might as well do like. I've been seeing these posts about this place called, or this concept called, yams. Let me just, you know, play on a Sunday afternoon. And I said to my profile Chris kid and you know video and all of these things was me performing and she liked it. They got back to me and they told me oh, okay, cool, you've been on the short list of your player on the lineup and that's how that happened. But otherwise it was. They had already been operating for a while now and I played their outdoor Sunday events about a week ago. Yeah, it happens on the last Sunday of every month. 

0:14:36 - Nasiphi Zwane
So yeah, that's how that happened. And how was that experience, though? did you enjoy it? 

0:14:40 - Tsholofelo Mapisa
It was really good. It was really good. I mean, the lineup was. It was incredible. There's a lot of talent out there. But I had great fun, man, and I think it's because I was almost forcing myself to get out of my shell. You know, covid-19 kind of put us all in this whole. 

I don't like doing nothing anymore and I hadn't played in so long, so just being out there playing, i played with a friend of mine, uh Hukulev, or Freeman Komete, who plays the bass, and I was also joined by William Novella, who plays the cello, who played on the single that I released last year called past two years, and we did a really, really small, intimate acoustic set. Not long at all, but like just the reviews I've been getting after that and people coming up to me and saying, well, that was like who are you and where do you come from. That was such a moving experience to me, you know, and there's also a lesson for me to not go silent for so long, you know. So I think I'm. I was telling a friend of mine that I'm actually Self-convincing to going out and playing more shows and doing it consistently. So yams was just one, the first one of many that are coming this yams concept really sounds amazing. 

0:15:57 - Nasiphi Zwane
Thank you for actually explaining that, because I was a bit in the dark, like, as to what you know yams is and the fact that you actually Played the event is incredible, and some of the artists such a named as well. It's brilliant. You mentioned a press kit there. You know, being able to play such a prestigious event like yams, of course, you obviously had to hand in your press kits, as you said. So what does the ultimate, so what is the best sort of press kits sort of entail? I mean, if you're able to get into these events, you know this well. There must be some key points in there that you could share with us. 

0:16:28 - Tsholofelo Mapisa
Okay, so the one of the Mercedes for every artist is to have a EPK the infinite press kit, slash profile. I call it profile as well, and it's just basically your CV, right, and you send it to promoters, whoever you work with, just so that they can see what you've done, where you appeared, like any CV basically, and I think part of what made my, for what makes my EPK strong besides the fact that I mean, we're all like a CV you, the more experience it has, the better it looks I do think one of the advantages of having a proper press kit or profile is good writing, and I did. I do have kind of that added advantage in terms of I put together my own kind of CV profile, all of that. It's very important to just write well, in that It just gets you a little bit more attention, and to organize it well. 

I'm only realizing now That this becomes I think it looks to your first question It becomes another kind of in the stream for me in terms of, okay, not only can I write my own profile my own first, but I can write other artists, and that's one of the things that I Actually, in a lot of ways, have started doing. It will be doing will offer as a service to a Company that I had founded many years ago But had not done anything with it and I'm only now, in 2022, reviving it again. But yeah, it becomes very important to package yourself correctly. If you pack up yourself correctly and you do have The talent and you do believe in yourself, i don't want to say you could play anyway, but it helps a lot. 

0:18:12 - Nasiphi Zwane
You mentioned past two years there, the initial, i think this would have been then what you know. Kick started us even being here When a while back, when we started communicating, so it's on me a bit more about that there. You know what was going through your mind when you made that, and I also saw that you recently dropped some merch Which we have to plug because that's amazing. So tell us a bit more about cost to years. 

0:18:36 - Tsholofelo Mapisa
Pots two years. I voted on the first of January 2022. So when everyone was saying here be. I was in my room crying by the Yeah man I think I was just thinking are quite literally the year 2020 and 2021 and reflecting on polls past two years and how, how much of a crazy experience man that hoping was living in Uncrescillent in times, as everyone was saying, with the pandemic losing people. 

It was particularly painful for me in 2021 because of the close relatives, relatives of friends that we were losing and We had to bury, did kind of go through my own personal loss and did lose my uncle in 2021 again through that whole whole pandemic. So That that so was just literally me Kind of replacing on those parts here than the fact that we're out on the other side and Now, from now, all we have to do is heal and take parts in our healing. You know, actively take parts in our healing. So that was that song. But I also think that it remains relevant because everyone's had in your 20s My mom was saying this a couple of days ago Everyone had their past years. Everyone has a story or an experience or something or season that they've gone through that They actually were not sure how they would get out of the side, from the other side, and that's what I think will continue to make the song, the song relevant. But yeah, for me personally that's how that song came about and was just Reflecting 2020 and 2021. 

0:20:20 - Nasiphi Zwane
How did you know when the song was done, like, how, what sort of informed? the decision to be like okay, it's complete. now It's enough, let me release it to the world. 

0:20:29 - Tsholofelo Mapisa
When a close friend of mine, we produced the song. The time there was like, dude, it's done now. That's. That's that's kind of when I knew. But the funny thing is it was done on the day I wrote it. I wrote the first and second verse and then I stopped writing on that same night because I was kind of in my feelings of getting emotional And I was like, screw all of this. 

And that was January and I remember only in February speaking to My friend, a producer, a time goal, who produced a track, and I was like, dude, i've got this track. I think maybe it could be really cool, but you know, you're not really. I wasn't really sure but at the time and he was like send it through. I've made him responsible for bullying me into making music because I kind of listened to him. And then he was like send it through right now. And I sent it just as a voice note to him and it was just the first two verses and they were very bad. I had the blues. Then we had a video call and he was like, dude, this song has potential, it's actually work on it And music making is very cash intensive. So I was like, yeah, let's work, dude, when I find the money to do it. And luckily I had actually applied for the Music Creation Support Fund that Sam Rowe was offering back in March, but I didn't, or in February, but I didn't hear from them. So I thought, whatever. And around April of last year they responded and said they were giving me the money to do the song. And that's how I actually ended up doing it. 

And again, sando and I kept production like very minimal, like I knew that in the song all I needed was guitar and cello. I didn't want all these other instruments. He then commissioned me, he instructed me, even bullied me into writing two more verses, two more verses and a bridge. He said around March, and I was like, oh, dude, i'm not sure. And I tried and tried and tried, and when we were in studio, the only part of what was new in the song that we kept was the bridge. 

And he said to me so essentially, dude, this song was done the same night you wrote it, which was in January. But here we are in like June, only realizing that it's actually done. You don't need to add anything. So how did I know when this song was done? I think I knew that time he confirmed it in studio, but otherwise it was actually completely on the downloads. The only thing that had changed between January and June was the fact that I had written a bridge with those two lines and in the song. Now that bridge is almost the climatic point of that song. It's kind of the essence of that entire song. 

0:22:59 - Nasiphi Zwane
And what you've gone and done now is basically make merch based off of that, which is a really awesome move, by the way. I mean, this is something that I only ever see. International artists do you know you will tell the creators, your Mac Miller's and such. You know, whenever they'll release something, they'll release merch to accommodate that sort of drop. What inspired that move? It's actually incredible, like I don't really see many South African artists going that route. 

0:23:23 - Tsholofelo Mapisa
I have done merch back in 2018 from my debut album, the Fats Will Be Coming And I just had goodies, so the whole merch thing was not a new idea. Part of the reason why I did goodies and sweaters and stuff is because that's all I ever wear. I have friends that tease me all the time at, like dude, we have wears like a hoodie or sweater and sweat pants, and so I stopped being self conscious about it And I was like, okay, but this is my style and some people kind of like it. Let me just embrace it. 

Let me just kind of embrace it. You know, and that's how, initially, the thing with the hoodies I had back in 2018 happened. Now with this, i thought, oh, it becomes interesting again to kind of put cost heels on the sweater. And for the album, they put the single artwork at the back of the sweater or the hoodie, especially because I really really liked that image of the artwork. 

I got a graphic designer his name is Daniel, he's based in the UK to design the artwork And I literally found this guy on Instagram. We've never met, we've never spoken over the phone or over Zoom. I saw his work while just trying to look for graphic designers on Instagram and an ID Indian And we just started communicating from there And I really really enjoyed that image, and so much so that last year, when I was, you know, putting together with the single, i knew that I'd put this image on a t-shirt or any type of garment. The other side of it is that whatever I generate in terms of income from selling that merch might help me in releasing another song. So, again, it's just trying to create money to put back into the music. It's just another strategy. But yeah, that's how the sweaters and liberties came about generally because I just enjoy the good sweaters. 

0:25:12 - Nasiphi Zwane
What is the best way to promote merch, for anyone is even considering going down that path, whatever you found I mean, you said you did it in the initial album as well What are the best practices for that? 

0:25:22 - Tsholofelo Mapisa
It all ties down to you. Would you wear that? Again? this is part of what you know. Some of these academics have said. you know people who study music and kind of arts and culture and it's a fakes on people is that people. People don't buy a product, people buy a person. If people have thought into who I am, who absolutely is off and on social media, they're likely to buy into whatever it is that I'm selling, whether that's music or a garment. The best practice here is to be yourself authentically and it is likely to be sold or be sellable simply because people are bought into you as a person. 

0:25:59 - Nasiphi Zwane
I've learned so much from this interview. I think we basically cracked some of the those the three golden elements would be. One would be to basically how you be, sell yourself, how you present yourself. Obviously, having a very dope EPK as well and selling merch is a viable option for someone looking to make an income as an artist. We're going to be closing out with past two years. 

I feel like it's a very incredible song that people need to listen to. I don't know how many times I've said incredible in this episode. I need to do accounts of each time. I've said it. Just realizing now, but I want to thank you for joining me on this episode. I thoroughly enjoyed chatting to you and I want to leave a cheer because I feel like it's now up to the, to the guests I mean rather to the audience to listen to this and be like you know what. Let me actually, you know, check out, you know Tsholofelo and some of the music that she makes. So, basically, if anyone wants to reach out to you and wants to find you know past two years, wants to buy the merch, give us links, give us social media handles. 

0:26:56 - Tsholofelo Mapisa
My social media handle. So on Instagram it's just at the early to YouTube is official to leave it. As soon as you just type into the below past years on YouTube, you will find my YouTube channel and past two years and my previous album. The funding is on your favorite DSP and for all things, legend of Ground. 

0:27:14 - Nasiphi Zwane
you got our website wwwSludgeonagallcom. Obviously, we just released Beanie, so get. that is the best way that you can support the show. So, Tsholofelo, are there any parting words that you want to give to people that have been following your journey? I firstly want to thank you for joining me. I really appreciate the session. 

0:27:27 - Tsholofelo Mapisa
Thank you so much to Sludge Underground for inviting me. This interview has we've been talking about it for a while now, so I'm so glad it happened and to anyone and everyone that's been following me, thank you very much. I usually started calling everyone on Instagram my internet family, so thank you very, very, very much for buying into this weird feel with the guitar and for remaining and being curious about what it is that I'm doing, even when I've been silent, which really doesn't go unnoticed. Thank you. 

0:27:56 - Nasiphi Zwane
Well, on that bombshell from Tsholofelo and I until next time. This is Bye for now. 

0:28:26 - Tsholofelo Mapisa
And see. The one thing that's assured me is how it's such a gift to see another opportunity. They'll come with me. These are the past two years. 

Transcribed by https://podium.page