For those who still don’t know who Muzart is, please tell us briefly who you are, how did you meet and what you’re about?
Muzart – Tazzy: We intended to start a production team, two of our members began the team and we started growing in the number of people that we now know – because along the way we met Rorisang who was a TV personality and we wanted her to become a brand ambassador for us, we didn’t know she could sing and when we were actually in studio, she happened to be featured in one of the songs, which wasJukebox, from that we decided to work on a couple of more songs and it grew into the whole band form and that’s how Sol the guitarist and Jabu, the Dj also became a part of the whole thing.
So that basically how we met and how we actually came up with the concept is that we wanted to create music that is very mature, but at the same time, very youthful and energetic. We used icons like Mozart – so we took the name and we put music and art together and we just pronounced it Muzart.
Very creative – How would you describe your relationship with music and what are you hoping to achieve within the art industry?
Muzart – Tazzy: Well, because we’re musicians, music is some sort of a lifestyle. I think the one thing that we know, when we play it amongst every sort of culture – all boundaries get broken, everyone wants to have a good time together. We want to use music to break barriers, to create a forum where everyone is equal and everyone has a voice and not be undermined for who they are. Because we believe in ourselves in the way we do things and who we are and the characters we’ve been given, our backgrounds and where we come from.
What’s the difference between performing on stage and recording in studio?
Muzart – Tazzy: I guess they both have their pros and cons. The advantages of doing studio is the fact that you can make mistakes, you can stop, you can take your time working, finding the perfect sound… the downfall of it is that there is no immediate interaction, and that’s where the live probably has its pros. On live you’re practically there, you’re reading your audience and trying to communicate. Sometimes even things you’ve planned you change because you feel that you’re probably not speaking with that audience at that time.
So it really helps you to not just recite, but to use music as some sort of a communication between you and the band.
What do you feel you represent in your music within the South African landscape?
Muzart – Tazzy: Wow! Us as a band…? Wow!
We like to say that we talk about love and not love between man and woman – this is…
Universal…
Muzart – Tazzy: …Universal love, you know. And I think it starts with loving yourself and really appreciating that everything that happens in your life; where you are, where you’re going, the dreams you have, the people you have around you is all for a reason.
How does music affect you and the world around you?
Muzart – Tazzy: Hmm. These are good questions.
Uhm, I mean if think you back into the worst tragedies that have happened over the years, music played a huge part. If you look at now with the great Nelson Mandela, we have benefit concerts for like 46664 where we had bands that we thought would have never come to South Africa if it wasn’t for a situation like that.
Benefit concerts are not only just for the entertainment of people but are also looking out for underprivileged people, I think most of the precedes probably go to people who are diagnosed with cancer and such, music plays a huge role in that.
If you look at apartheid, when it was about to end, people like Stevie Wonder stood up from the states and made huge songs including your Quincy Jones, and Michael Jackson’s songs, like, We Are The World. It speaks that sense that music becomes a part of people’s lives. When there’s so much happening, people need a song to relate to their situation to give them a way forward.
Take us through the music-making process.
Muzart – Tazzy: We started as a production team, so we have two producers in the band, myself and, we’ve worked with a lot of well know South African acts, so we have a lot of experience in terms of the way we compose music that we would probably either start working on instrumentals or we could probably just have a chorus, or we could just have a verse and we’d lay whatever we have down and then we bring it to the band. It always happens in different angles depending what we have first. We take our time: I think songs like Party After and Jukebox took us over 3 months to make.
What makes a successful band and how do you measure success?
Muzart – Tazzy: Wow! Okay, first of all I think success is being able to live the way that you have probably imagined and you’re actually living that sort of a lifestyle, you’re able to live with people and have a relationship with them.
A successful band is one that sees its strength and is able to use that strength or to look at those strengths as a reason to still be pushing as a band. Because there are always downfalls like if one of us had a scandal and now ‘we’re kicking someone out the band’ – that’s no way to look at things. What makes it successful is always making someone feel as if they’re irreplaceable in the band, because the truth is that they aren’t.
Take for instance with Malaika and Mafikizolo when each of their members passed away, they couldn’t be replaced and you could even feel the change in the band, when you look at the Beetles, when Paul McCartney left there was no Beetles anymore. So we should look at it in that sense that even though there’s only 5 of us we are one person, we are a band and that’s what makes a successful band.
On that note, what are the biggest obstacles you face as a band?
Muzart – Tazzy: Personality clashes – You find that people feel strongly about certain things, especially beliefs; if you have a certain beliefs about how to treat people or… I mean we come from different backgrounds and some people feel strongly about different things, those are probably one of the challenges that we have. But I’d say that with every challenge there’s always a learning curve. We learn to understand how different people see things, and where we have our faults we get to see where other people are probably doing well in a band and we learn from that and we change those parts of our lives to become better people.
How do you remain consistent and relevant in an ever changing entertainment industry?
Muzart – Tazzy: Hmm, uh… Good question again. I’ve learnt that there are 3 things: there’s the music, there’s the music industry and there’s there music business. They’re all different but they’re all treated the same. There’s a quote that says: fall in love with the music and then learn the music and out-do the music industry, because the music industry is about the people. Before you can even start making trends, it is important that you just sit back, be in the scenery and observe. I believe the music industry to be a game, it’s like scrabble; just learn how it’s played but you don’t need to be extreme to make it.
I really believe that in order for one to be consistent and relevant just learn how to play, know who you are and break the rules.
What advice do you have for people who want to start up bands?
Muzart – Tazzy: Wow! *laugh* First of all, make sure that you really, really can stand being around people. But I think first and foremost you have to understand that even for your own dreams to be accomplished, you cannot do it by yourself; you need people. At times just being around people, as much you learn, also look at what is it that they can bring into your life, what it is that you can bring into their lives, how can you make a difference. It goes for anything in life, whether you want to start a family, whether you start a relationship.
How can people get hold of your music?
Album is out at Musica, Reliable Music Warehouse and iTunes.
Follow them on Twitter @muzart_music On Instagram Muzart_music
Like their page on Facebook hhtp://www.facebook.com/muzartmusic or Muzart_mus
© Angela Nimah 2014
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