Artist Of The Week: Nakhane! An Interview

March 16th 2018 marks the release of Nakhane´s new album ‘You Will Not Die’, a collection of club-indebted tracks that address his sexual identity in relation to the renunciation of his Christianity. Autobiographical in nature, the material deliberately ‘queers Biblical language and gospel sound.’ To that end, opening track ‘Violent Measures’ is choral trip-hop while the standout ‘Teen Prayer’ could pass as an old spiritual until the lyrical double entendres are noticed. The album is a masterpiece. Blessed with a smooth and soulful delivery.

get the new album HERE

South Africa’s Nakhane, a truly unique voice in modern pop, grew up in Port Elizabeth in a deeply religious community. Though his upbringing ignited his love of music and unlocked his flair for performance, it also taught him guilt and shame that has proved difficult to rid himself of. “When I was Christian and prayed to God everyday, I had only hatred for myself,” Nakhane says. “Every day of my life, I was doing all I possibly could to be like everyone else, to be heterosexual. I was even convinced I would be able to ‘heal’ my homosexuality. I was living in constant fear; controlling myself at all times.” We had a chat with the singer about his work.

KALTBLUT: First of all: congratulations on being nominated for Best Actor Feature Film at the South African Film & Television Awards (SAFTAS). Who is Nakhane? A singer? An actor? For which medium does your heart beat more?

Nakhane: Thank you very much. It’s always great to get recognition from home. This is always an uncomfortable question to answer. I used to ask my mother all the time who of her three children was her favourite. And of course she always said that she loved us equally. That we were all different. She expected different things from each of us because we were different and we had different qualities. That’s how it is for me as well when it comes to the three mediums. I’m not going to say that I love them equally because that’s a lazy answer. Instead I’m going to say that I love them differently. Which is maybe a cop out. But I need all three.

KALTBLUT: What inspires you to create music?

Nakhane: That changes all the time. It can be the sound of a word. I sometimes get obsessed with how certain words sound, and what they mean. So I try to find ways to include them in songs.

It can also be life experiences. Passages in books. Films. I have to say, though, that with my upcoming album, a lot of my inspiration came when I was lying in a hot bath. I always had a note pad and voice recorder next to me.

KALTBLUT: If you had 3 words to describe your sound, what would they be?

Nakhane: OH MY GOD!!! *insert ‘the scream’ emoji*

KALTBLUT: Lets talk about your upcoming new album: You Will Not Die. What can we expect and can you give us the names of some of the artists that you worked with to create it?

Nakhane: The title of the album is a perfect example of me obsessing over a word or phrase until something comes out of it. I remember being at a bible study and thinking those four words. This was probably 9 years ago.

My producer (Ben Christophers) and I set out to make an album that eschewed any machismo. I made a joke to him that I want to make a vaginal album. So all decisions that were phallic had to be left outside. Because I’m so attached to my songs, I really liked the idea of working from his home studio. And so we recorded 98% of the album there. We played most of the instruments. And every difficult decision was prefaced with: “Nakhane. You did not come to a different country to make safe decisions”. Sarah Jones (Hot Chip) played drums on two of the songs.

KALTBLUT: I’m currently addicted to your single Clairvoyant. I play it on repeat and the video is very emotional. Can you tell us more about the storyline and the idea behind it?

Nakhane: I was reading Jean Cocteau’s Les Enfant Terribles and I remember there being a line about how love had made the characters clairvoyant. I wrote it down. It bugged me, though, because I felt the complete opposite. Love did not make me clairvoyant. That’s where the lyric, “Love does not make me clairvoyant/All I know is how to be your servant” came from. I wanted to write what I call a ‘sober love song’. A song that said “I love you, but sometimes I really can’t stand you”. I wanted to complicate it a little bit more.And so when it came to creating the music video I knew that I wanted to concentrate on the banality of a couple’s life. I was inspired by Wong Kar Wai’s Happy Together. I wanted to transfer the saturated colours of that film, and its style to my music video. But I needed the characters to look like me. That is: black and queer. Because I hadn’t seen that much. Especially in pop music.

KALTBLUT: Lets talk about your heritage background. How do you connect your birthplace with your sound? And are there many artists from South Africa influencing your music?

Nakhane: Oh yes. My mother and my aunts sang in choirs. Most of my formative musical memory is of 60 voices in a room. They sang pieces by Mozart, Handel, Haydn etc. And South African choral compositions. And so you hear that obsession with the human voice in my music. And I suppose how I sing and phrase things as well. So those people, especially my mother and aunts were my first musical heroes. I then went to learn about others: Busi Mhlongo, Thandiswa Mazwai, TkZee, Hugh Masekela, Simphiwe Dana, Brenda Fassie, Boom Shaka. I could go on forever.

KALTBLUT: Tell us a bit more about growing up in South Africa; your struggles and your accomplishments

Nakhane: I was born in quite a small town in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, called Alice. I grew up predominantly in Port Elizabeth. Then at 15, moved to Johannesburg. As a child, music was always in my life. I used to sing myself to sleep. I still struggle to sleep without music in my ears. When I was in school I played in a wind band (trombone) and a steel band. I sang in the choir. And I performed in school musicals. That was my life. I used to get to school an hour before the bell to go practice in the music room. I was allowed to skip Physical Training because the school believed in my need to always be making music. When I moved to Johannesburg, there was no music education in school, so I switched to drama. I went on to study Film Music Composition, Acting and Literature. I left both degrees after a year. After the last degree, I put all my energy into song-writing and started performing in clubs. I got signed and my first album came out in 2013. It won ‘Best Alternative Album’ at the South African Music Awards. In 2015 I published a novel. It was nominated for the Barry Ronge Fiction Prize, and the Etisalat Prize for Fiction. In 2017 I made my screen debut with The Wound. I won Best Actor at Valencia International Film Festival Jove Cinema, Palm Springs International Film Festival and Durban International Film Festival. I have just received a nomination at the South African Film and Television Awards. That’s basically a summary of my life.

Human beings needed to be more in tandem with the other animals in their evolution.

KALTBLUT: When was it clear to you that you are gay? What was your coming out story?

Nakhane: When it got given a name, which was in my pre-teens. Before then it was just a feeling.

KALTBLUT: Today in Europe where it hardly matters to the younger generation whether you are gay, straight or whatever. What are your experiences with it in South Africa?

Nakhane: Is that true? I don’t know if I agree. Homophobia is everywhere. Yes, South Africa has its problems, but just like any country, there are safe spaces and there are dangerous spaces.

KALTBLUT: Who is the biggest gay icon EVER for you and why?

Nakhane: James Baldwin. I discovered his writing when I was 19. It was the December holidays. It was hot and I was bored. I started going through my father’s university books and found Baldwin’s Just Above My Head. I had no idea whom he was. But I started reading this book, and it changed my life. I had never seen black queer characters in novels. Characters who were complicated and were full human beings. There I was, I finally found people who looked like me and had similar desires to me. James Baldwin made me feel less alone in this world.