Another day brings with it yet another DJing talent.
Mpho Mohlong hails from Orange Farm and his sonic poison of preference is Afro-tech.
He has been making the rounds on the local club scene and word is spreading of his bubbling under.
“I’m a musician, an Afro-tech/House music producer and DJ also known as Mpho.Wav, I was born in Orange Farms, and I spent most of my tender years growing up in the Vaal Triangle, Sebokeng. I’ve been making music since high school in 2013 till date,” the 28-year-old explains.
He describes his sound as a fusion of melodic elements and thumping grooves, “heavily inspired by my musical background being a session musician for live performing musicians.”
Mpho was heavily exposed to music through his late mother who had tons of vinyl records that he loved listening to and through being at church, where he would engage with an ensemble of musicians playing at the same time in the days when he was getting to grips with his skills on the piano keys.
“I started being interested in music production through a friend of mine who would lend me his computer and I then began learning music production software. Meeting with Music Producer and DJ Sun-El Musician between 2019 and 2020 launched my musical journey further as I got exposure working with multiple notable artists.”
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He has a fairly popular song out right now called Love featuring a vocalist by the name of Azana, with whom Mpho loves working.
“We created a couple of ideas and ‘Love’ is one of the tracks that was born. As soon as we recorded the vocals, I knew instantly that I would love to have it as our next released collaboration,” he passionately recalls.
“Whenever we get together in the studio with Azana we create a lot of concepts, we always get into a great space and reminisce about our favourite moments. As we share our experiences, we then build the sonics from there and let the music take form while she builds melodies and lyrics. I wanted to create a record that will be a soundtrack to happy moments, and I couldn’t have thought of a better person to capture the bright emotions vocally than Azana.”
To drive home the ideals of love enshrined in this record Mpho went for sweet-sounding melodies and fused instruments such as the guitar and the saxophone to make an ethereal sound that instantly takes the listener to a space of being in love.
“I love creating music that gives a message not only lyrically but also sonically, so I put in a lot of work designing sounds based on different emotions. Other times the message of sound that I portray is inspired by the vocalist, at other times it’s just how I feel at that moment, and I just enjoy seeing people dance to the rhythm and melodies.
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“Working with multiple artists who work differently and have a different approach they use to work may be a challenge I have experienced. It was excitingly challenging for me to learn how they work and arrange music, allowing me to participate in an entirely new environment.”
His aim has always been to stay as unique and versatile as he possibly can, to be in a lane where he is not in competition at all.
“Being versatile has helped extend my reach as a creative and put me in a position to collaborate with different artists instead of competing.”
He has high hopes for the trajectory of his burgeoning career with many milestones to reach along the way. Working with Msaki, Black Coffee, Da Capo, Mbuso Khoza and Dele Sosimi would go down in his books as a great achievement.
“My dream has always been to curate a Live audio-visual ensemble concert where I get to present my music catalogue with a Live element. Hopefully, I get to take the show to the rest of the world as my humble contribution to the world of music culture.”
His safe space is and has always been the studio where even the smallest experience can fuel a new composition.
“I always put myself in a good space so I can create good records. I’m into a lot of synthesizer sounds and I love playing around with sounds so a composition or melody may also come from the sounds I always go through.”
He revels in the creative process that “with each sound laid down I want to keep adding more to create a burst of sonics in a song”.
“Other times I start with a simple piano and build around that, while other times I base the composition on the drums, I approach music in as many ways possible.”
Looking to the future, he would like nothing more than to have his sound played on global stages and emulating the efforts of some of his favourite local artists, such as Black Coffee and Sun El-Musician.
“I’d love to collaborate with Ami Faku in future. I am currently working on my debut studio album titled The Wave and I cannot wait for the world to receive it.”
