Surrender ... Luna Paige

Luna Paige is a proudly South African singer songwriter. She has been described as a singer with a sultry voice who has a mesmerising way of luring the listener into a world of beautiful images and emotions. Her voice and the lyrics of her songs leave an indelible imprint on your mind: 

I've been delivered
Afraid of change
And now I stand alone before you
And  I surrender
- Surrender Lyrics by Luna Paige

"iStart2 recognise that fear is only a lack of knowledge" - Luna Paige

We chatted to Luna about her career, sustainability issues relating to her social work, her recent trip to the Netherlands and the upcoming show in Centurion on 23 September 2015. Book your tickets here.

Surrender and New Love are two of the songs you can listen to during the interview:

Pierre du Toit and Keitu Gwangwa host the iStart2 Show on Thursdays at 17h30 (GMT+2). Radio Today broadcasts on 1485AM in Johannesburg and nationally on DSTV audio channel 869. Radio Today also streams on its website www.1485.org.za and on 1485.mobi.

Radio Today the station that cares. Radio that delivers!

Thought of the Day:

iStart2Sing now available on iTunes

Check out African Dreamtime at the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz next week on 25th September at the Sandton Convention Centre. It's gonna kick like a mule! Joining Pops Mohamed will be Steve Newman, Femi Koya, Mabi Thobejane, Tlale Makhene and Lucas Senyatso. So watch this space guys! Sharp sharp!

Iba (Homage) ... Femi Koya & Pops Mohamed

Femi Koya jams with Pops Mohamed in studio on the "iStart2 Show". Femi talks us through his new CD, named Iba (Homage):' I decided to create a sound from both countries - South Africa and Nigeria, and call it World Afrobeat. The Album is about paying homage to the living legends and the African soil."

He also chats to us about migrancy issues and what it is like to be a Nigerian living in South Africa. Femi also shares his views on the long road to artistic sustainability.

"Always see opportunity in difficulties" - Femi Koya

Icon Pops Mohamed talks about his trip to the Netherlands, his performance in Soest and shares his expectations of what we can look forward to at the upcoming Joy of Jazz Festival in September. 

Pops Mohamed & Karin Hougaard during their performance in the Netherlands
(Photo: Elize Zorgman)

To listen to the title track of Femi's new cd, the interview and his jam with Pops in studio, just click play:



Thought of the Day

Pierre du Toit and Keitu Gwangwa host iStart2 on Thursdays at 17h30 (GMT+2). Like our facebook page on www.istart2.com. Radio Today broadcasts on 1485AM in greater Johannesburg and nationally on ‪#‎DStv‬ audio channel 869. Radio Today also streams on its website www.1485.org.za and on 1485.mobi. Radio Today the station that cares. Radio that delivers!

Rebel Woman ... Phillippa Yaa de Villiers

"I usually take a Zola Budd, it's affordable and sustainable for an artist" says Phillippa Yaa de Villiers, an award-winning South African writer and performance artist who performs her work nationally and internationally.

"I don't need to be saved. I am a free individual"

She is noted for her poetry, which has been published in collections and in many magazines and anthologies, as well as for her autobiographical one-woman show, Original Skin, which centres on her confusion about her identity at a young age, as the bi-racial daughter of an Australian mother and a Ghanaian father who was adopted and raised by a white family in apartheid South Africa. 

"iStart2 feel hope when I see people working towards 

happiness in their own lives"
- Phillipa Yaa de Villiers"

She has written: "I became Phillippa Yaa when I found my biological father, who told me that if he had been there when I was born, the first name I'd have been given would be a day name like all Ghanaian babies, and all Thursday girls are Yaa, Yawo, or Yaya. So by changing my name I intended to inscribe a feeling of belonging and also one of pride on my African side. After growing up black in white South Africa, internalising so many negative 'truths' of what black people are like, I needed to reclaim my humanity and myself from the toxic dance of objectification."

Phillippa joined Keitu Gwangwa in studio to chat about her life journey as a writer and performer. Her works touch base on matters of identity, gender (feminism), race, sexuality, and class. Keitu opens up the show with one of her renowned poems.

To listen to the show and an interview with this incredible woman, click play: 




Thought of the Day:

Remember to Join the Joy of Jazz 
in September!

Free Falling ... Michele Nigrini

We chatted to well known and much loved South African artist, Michele Nigrini about her recent exhibition, her life as a painter and what it's like to live as an artist in South Africa today. "In Art you learn about life," says Michele.

"iStart2 make my own dried tomatoes"

- Michele Nigrini

Michèle believes that art is a medium for the elevation of the spirit, yet her work remains rooted in the experience of everyday life. She presents images of her own surroundings, symbolizing the sustenance she draws from the environment in which she lives: household objects, landscapes and the varied structures within it, plants, trees, stones, hedges, grass, the odd image of a fish or a cow, wind mill or a bird. View her work at here or www.michelenigrini.com
 
A visit to the moodswing exhibition at the Tina Skukan Gallery before 17 September is a must! 

To listen to the interview and some of Michele's favourite music by Karin Hougaard and Karen Zoid, just click play:



Thought of the Day:

iStart2 Ambassadors in the Netherlands

Spreading the message of the Kalahari San and our indigenous people of Africa, iStart2 Ambassadors, Pops Mohamed and Karin Hougaard performed in the Netherlands this week at Herman van Veen's Art Centre near Soest. (Pictures by Elize Zorgman and Jannes Fourie)

Pops Mohamed with Coenie de Villiers at De Paltz in the Netherlands.

Have a wonderful week!

Die Taal van my Hart ... Ingrid Glorie

"There is so much wisdom coming from South African women. Be proud of yourself" - Ingrid Glorie.

Passionate, powerful words from our guest on the iStart2 Show. A woman who not only translated some of the most powerful Afrikaans books into Dutch, but also a woman who is focused on building bridges between South Africa and the Netherlands. Ingrid Glorie, Editor of the Maandblad Zuid- Afrika talks about her daily life, her work as a journalist and the contribution she makes to promote writers and artists in the Netherlands and Belgium.

For Ingrid sustainability is all about co-operation and getting involved in cultural exchange programmes between our two countries. We chatted about Harlekijn en de Zuid-Afrikaanse Dagen which takes place in Soest from the 29 - 30 August 2015 and the launch of the cd, Byvoorbeeld over the same period.

To listen to the interview and music by Pops Mohamed (with Ntsiki Mazwai), Amanda Strydom and Stef Bos, just click play:



Music Festival in the Netherlands:

iStart2 Ambassadors, Karin Hougaard and Pops Mohamed are amongst a wonderful line-up of South African artists who will be performing in the Netherlands during August 2015. Read all about it:

Harlekijn-en-de-zuid-afrikaanse-dagen-29-en-30-augustus

Thought of the Day:

iStart2Sing now available on iTunes!
 
This beautiful cd available for downloading on iTunes: 
 
 iStart2Sing - The Soul of Africa  

The iStart2Sing (The Soul Of Africa) CD compilation is a wonderful and enlightening journey through a diverse South African musical landscape. The compilation combines subtlely stated wisdoms and insights with dynamic and entertaining songs.

Have a wonderful week!

The Light of Day ... Dave Reynolds

"As a musician, the hardest thing to understand is what your identity is. You really have to believe in yourself," says Dave Reynolds, South Africa’s leading Steel pan player, SAMRO Award WINNING composer and acoustic guitarist. "We must pretend that the music industry as we knew it, never existed."

"iStart2 grow as a human being when I meet different people in South Africa"
- Dave Reynolds

Dave believes we as South Africans are disconnected from one another. He recommends that you get out of your world and get into someone elses: "We all need to be bold and courageous and make a difference. We need to create a world where people care more about each other." 

We chatted to Dave about his career, his album The Light of Day and his views on Sustainability-through-Art. "We need sound to add value to information," says he.

To listen to some of the songs from his album and the interview, just click play:



Pierre du Toit and Keitu Gwangwa host the iStart2 Show on Thursdays at 17h30 (GMT+2). Radio Today broadcasts on 1485AM in Johannesburg and nationally on DSTV audio channel 869. Radio Today also streams on its website www.1485.org.za and on 1485.mobi. Radio Today the station that cares. Radio that delivers!

Thought of the Day:

iStart2Sing now available on iTunes!
 
This beautiful cd available for downloading on iTunes: 
 
 iStart2Sing - The Soul of Africa  

The iStart2Sing (The Soul Of Africa) CD compilation is a wonderful and enlightening journey through a diverse South African musical landscape. The compilation combines subtlely stated wisdoms and insights with dynamic and entertaining songs.

Have a wonderful week!

Spring into Action ... Casual Day Ambassadors 2015

Casual Day is on Friday 4 September 2015! 

Casual Day coincides with the first week of Spring 2015, so this year we  truly celebrate Spring, a time for joy, a time for smelling the flowers, and enjoying the awakening of the season.

There’s a sweet smell in the air, the sounds of the birds, and hints of warm summer to come. It’s a time of rebirth, of new beginnings. We have woken up from our winter grind with opportunities sprouting all around us.

In studio with us were the Casual Day Ambassadors, Bongi Mdluli, Simba Gozo, Marketing Manager Andrea Vinassa and Patrick Mashegwana. We chatted about the fun, the hard work and how only R10 can make a huge difference in the life of a person with a disability.

It’s on this day that the Casual Day community takes time out to celebrate persons with disabilities and to make sure that we are all one big family. The creativity is bursting out all over and we are dressing up or down in our Casual Day outfits.
Take your inspiration from the birds and the bees, the skies of blue, the colours of the rainbow, the blossoms on the trees and the minty hue of new leaves. Our colour for the year is refreshing, zingy mint.

This year we will be producing five different collector’s item stickers, each with a different image, so collect all of them, wear the whole bunch! You can wear a bouquet of stickers to celebrate your commitment to improving the world for persons with disabilities.

To listen to the show, just click play:





Pierre du Toit and Keitu Gwangwa host the iStart2 Show on Thursdays at 17h30 (GMT+2). Radio Today broadcasts on 1485AM in Johannesburg and nationally on DSTV audio channel 869. Radio Today also streams on its website www.1485.org.za and on 1485.mobi. Radio Today the station that cares. Radio that delivers!

Thought of the Day

CASUAL DAY STICKERS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE FROM MID-JULY from  Edgars • Jet • Jetmart • Boardmans • CNA • Legit • Absa • Game • Dionwired and Participating NGOs.