If you're an avid soulful house music listener, you may have heard mixes from Joyfull Sound Sounds. This is a team of talented and passionate music lovers from Mafikeng in the
North-West province of South Africa, dedicated to consistently deliver soul elevating mixes, whether it's a live set or a recorded podcast.
The team is currently made up of three
DJ's:Keorapetse Orapeleng(Deejay Kay-P), Kenneth Lepedi(aka Dj Ma'Kenzo) and Tshidiso Olehile(aka DJ Two). DeepHouseLoveAffair caught up with Dj Ma'Kenzo to discuss this growing
brand that is Joyfull Soul Sounds.
DHLA: We appreciate you taking this time to talk to us. Could you tell us about the origins of JSS?
Dj Ma'Kenzo: We started collecting music back in the days, around 2007/2009, then two years later we began DJing and around 2015 we formed JSS.
Dj TWO was my friend and he approached me with DJ KayP and we started the podcast. Initially there was five of us, then the other two
DJ's went on to other things, now there's just the three of us.
DHLA: Has it always been your passion to be a DJ?
Ma'Kenzo: When I started collecting music back in high school, I was passionate about being a radio DJ, but things didn't pan out they I had planned
so I became a DJ. Back then I would save up to buy music and I also recorded some songs on radio using a tape cassette.
DHLA: ... oh Man, those were tough times...
Ma'Kenzo:...Yeah, it was. All you had was limited time to get your recording, but that was how I started.
DHLA: So,your music collection, has it always been soulful house music from the word go?
Ma'Kenzo: You know how it is with music, when you first start it's mainly just music in general, in those ealry days I played a lot of weddings and birthday parties,
so I had a wide range of music, Jazz, Kwaito, Afropop, soul and house.
Then as I got older I gradually made it to house music and eventually I zeroed in on
deep and soulful house. It simply resonated with me.
DHLA: And which local song would you say was the first to steer your dierection into deep and soulful house?
Ma'Kenzo: Locally, it would have to be "The Calling" by Dukesoul, those soulful keys
Ma'Kenzo: Since JSS is a podcast, we are mostly inspired by guys who are pushing mixtapes, the likes of Golden Boys, Lars Behrenroth and there's another podcast made
by guys from our home town, they call it "Soulistified Deep Sessions", it's actually the first one to get us intersted in doing mixtapes.
DHLA: Does the set approach differ when you're doing a JSS podcast mix compared to when you're playing live.
Ma'Kenzo: When you're playing live, you can see the crowd reaction, whereas with a mixtape, you map out your sequence. You may want it to be ascending, start with
more laid back tunes and slowly pick up the vibe or vice versa, or even an entirely relaxed mixtape just for those times when you're chilling with the
guys.
DHLA: What challenges do you guys often come across when playing as the JSS crew.
Ma'Kenzo: There aren't that many challenges, just the usual equipment gliches, logistics when you have to travel long distances to get to a gig and some of the club owners,
especially those who know us personally, they tend to try and tell us what to play.
With equipment, the good thing about us playing as a crew is if the equipment
is faulty, the first guy can let the other two know what the problems are.
As a DJ you look at the crowd response and that is what you work on.
DHLA: Since the birth of JSS, what would you say is a positive defining moment for you guys?
Ma'Kenzo: What I'm proud of so far and also something I never expected is seeing us being booked in places far from our home town. When we first started doing this, it was just
a mixtape, we had no idea how much it would grow, the bookings we get, the downloads and the recognition.
One time I was at a certain University and I was hanging out
with a couple of guys at the res. Just nearby there were other guys chilling playing some music. I realized they they played about four mixtapes from JSS,
I didn't know
them, they didn't know me. Until one of them recognized me and I went over to introduce myself. i gave them a handshake for playing good music.
DHLA: ...The brand is growing...
Ma'Kenzo: And the response we got when we started selling JSS merchandise, it was around September 2016.
We would courier an average of 10 T-Shirts per week. Even when we have gigs,
the stuff we take with, people purchase all of them. Those are some of them things we had never anticipated.
DHLA: Is there a track that you feel emotionally attached to?
regard it as timeless.
DHLA: Which ones do you play more of, remixes or orinal tracks?
Ma'Kenzo:(Laughs)...eh, that one is tough because there are those remixes that are much better than the originals, so I'd have to say I play more of the remixes
DHLA: Looking at South African dance Music and the way it continues to cross over to other countries, what do you think we can expect from it this Summer.
Ma'Kenzo: What I can say for this coming Summer, I think more people will enjoy Soulful House, because Amapiano and Tech are slowly starting to fade away.
You can tell from how
most producers choose their vocalists, they tend to go for that soulful sound and they way they're substituting virtual instrumets for real ones.
DHLA: Which direction do you see JSS going in the next few years?
Ma'Kenzo: Currently we have started doing a little bit of music production, but that each one of us is doing it independently
DHLA: ...Oh so you not doing it as a group...
Ma'Kenzo: No, because doing mixtapes takes most of our time, and the only chance any of us gets for music production is when we're at home.
We're hoping to see at least one of us
releasing an EP or a track in future.
We are also busy with events promotions and organising. We recently hosted Joyful Nights to expose more people to JSS, which went
very well, so we will be continuing with that.
Check out a variety of JSS mixes on www.podomatic.com/podcasts/joyfullsoulsounds
Find JoyfullSoulSounds on Facebook
and for bookings contact: 0837739713
0734884260
or eMail:joyfullsoulsounds@yahoo.com
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