By Janine Moodley
Internationally acclaimed, South African based soulful house band Mi Casa, encompassing three breathtakingly gifted individuals, famous for their tracks, Heavenly Sent and These Streets were seen performing in Durban recently. I hence took the opportunity to chat to the group's vocalist, JSomething about what makes them the country's latest obsession.
JM: Who is Mi Casa?
MC: Mi Casa is myself JSomething that does the lyrics and vocals, Dr Duda the producer, who also djs and plays keys live and Mo-T who plays the trumpet.
JM: When and how did the group form and how long have you been performing together?
MC: It's quite a funny story I mean we got together literally two years ago and that's when we first met. It was at an event in Jo'burg. Duda was djing, Mo-T's brother, Chaps worked at Soul Candi and invited him to play with Duda, they didn't know each other. Mo got there and started playing with Duda. At the event, I asked them if I could join them on the vocals, they didn't really know who I was but agreed. We got onto it and the next thing we knew, things were just gelling. It was a Soul Candi event so you know, he was there and he asked us if we wouldn't mind creating a group and three months later we did our first song and then three months after that we had our first album out in stores.
JM: What separates you from any other SA music group?
MC: You know, this has always been an interesting question that people ask, its always that competition thing and what I have always said and what the group have always said is that we are not here to compete with anyone else but ourselves. We have to compete with ourselves to make a better album then our first one, to make a better performance then our last performance, it's not about a better performance then the Parlotones or not a better performance then Black Motion, its not really about that, its about our story. I think there's so many instances where people spend so much time competing with others and we forget to compete with ourselves. So, I think what separates us, is a different bunch of things. There is no one like us, there is no other group like another and I think we must just remember that as South African musicians.
JM: What genre, do you believe, your music fits into?
MC: Well, it has has been quite an interesting topic over the last year and a half since the album has been out. It has always been that thing of 'yes it's house but it doesn't sound like the rest'. It doesn't sound like a normal house structure, that's because it isn't, we've infused jazz, we've infused soul influences, we've infused a lot of gospel into it. So there's breaks, there's bridges, there's changes of chords, there's a lot of things that help and define the music. Its a lot like cooking, you put in certain flavors and it works so when you put us three together, you get the MiCasa flavour and it just works.
JM: In SA, there are many music groups who pop up from time to time and then fade away, what do you think gives you staying power?
I think it's exactly what I've said before, as South African musicians we tend to always try and be at the top and always try and beat everyone else which I think makes us sort of forget why we started doing this in the first place because essentially when we started we wanted to succeed, we wanted to achieved and prosper and we wanted MiCasa to grow beyond our wildest dreams but we never made it a point in our minds that we want to be better than another person or to be the best forever. Its about competing with yourself, its about marketing yourself and putting yourself out there, you know keeping yourself alive and so its a whole bunch of things. Its about making sure that the music is good, working on your performances, its just like a job you know, you just got to keep improving in order to get promotions.
JM: In groups, there's always a tussle in opinions, how do you maintain the friendship despite the disagreements here and there?
Well, its quite interesting you know, we are working on our second album now, we are back in studio and the feel is still the same as the first time but we have grown and matured a lot as friends, I think that the main thing is that we are friends before we are business partners. For sure there are tussles, disagreements, differences in character but the main thing is that we always try and provoke, challenge each other for the best, we bring out the best in each other. I agree that it is a challenge, as a solo artist it would be a lot easier in that sense, but we love each other, we love being together and I think that just works.
JM: Who else, in the music industry, would you like to work with and why?
MC: We are big dreamers, we have never considered something as impossible. When we do work, we aim for the best, we are aiming to achieve high things. Like I said we are working on the new album, so it means new things, new ideas, new collaborations and we would love to work with more people like David Guetta or music Soul Child or Anthony Hamilton or whoever man, there is so many talented musicians out there but I think for this album we are trying to create some very cool collaborations and I think once we start promoting the new album and actually getting it out there, people will see as we reveal one by one some of the very exciting collaborations that we are working on.
JM: JSomething, you are hit with the ladies, how do you handle the female attention?
JS:You know (laughs), its such a weird thing for me man because growing up in school I was never the Mr confident, I was just me and that's the guy I sort of remained to this day. You get attention, you get this amazing fans. It's all about remembering that it's all about them, and you are nothing in this game. Its about being humble and realizing that this is a gift. But yeah, the attention is great, females are great, they support our music so much and we are so thankful.
JM: What can the fans of MiCasa Music expect next?
MC: Like I've said before, we are at a very interesting period of our life, of our career. We are in studio, we also plan on touring the world, doing Miami, Portugal, New York possibly Brazil so there's a lot of stuff happening for us and we are also doing a lot of brand relationships. So the brand is growing as a whole, its very exciting to see. What fans can expect is live performances to be notched up to another higher level, for our image to just be on point, for another amazing album with more good music and also making them proud by achieving things like closing the AFCON finals and playing at the Inauguration Ball of President Barack Obama and getting nominated for awards. We are just going to try and keep doing that.
Quickfire (the first words that come to mind)
JM: Describe yourself in three words (or less)? Love, peace, God
JM: Favourite place to relax? Home / game reserve in the Eastern Cape
JM: A BMW, a Mini Cooper and a Golf GTi are racing, who wins? Golf GTi
This or that?
JM: Reggae or jazz
Jazz
JM: Briefs, sleeping shorts or underpants
Briefs
JM: Beyonce or Rihanna
Beyonce
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