Two Port Elizabeth music groups have advanced to the finals of the the Hansa Festival of Legends which is being held at Orlando Stadium in Soweto on 10 March. 6 urban artists from around SA which will open for Usher who is the main act – and one of these six will be from Port Elizabeth.
Port Elizabeth finalists vying for the coveted spot are Shoelace – a R&B outfit from Motherwell and H-Zwegellus a 6 piece dance group from Walmer.
On paper Shoelace have got the experience but may still be ousted by the Walmer guts and talent of H-Zwegellus.
Shoelace is a 5 piece consisting of; Ndumiso Ntantiso, Zusakhe Gysman, Mvuzo Mnyaka, Xola Kulati and Sinoxolo Mbuthuma and they boast of a pretty impressive CV having played alongside artists such as; New Holland, Captain stu, Don’t Panic, Jamali, Danny K, Uju, Poetic Soul, Xolani Fanu and Anne Rosenquist Fee.
Shoelace were Top Ten finalists in the 2011 DO YOU ROCK competition on Kingfisher FM as well as winning a Standard Bank National Arts Festival Encore Ovation award in 2011.
“A shoelace is a symbol of love and being together – shoelace ties things together and they don’t easily come undone. I’m a bit of a romantic,” says lead vocalist Ndumiso Ntantiso.
The five piece band come from Motherwell and Zwide, and members include drummer Xola Kulati, keyboard player Muvuzo Nyaka, bass guitarist Zusakhe Gysman and acoustic guitarist Sinoxolo Mbuthuma .
“Rocker soul is a kind of music we created on our own according to the backgrounds we have as members. It is pop rock with African elements, blues and soul, sung mostly in English but also in Xhosa.” Shoelace’s biggest hits are What’s Going On and Miss Jones which are both love ballads which have received radio play. “We are trying to accommodate everyone with our music so we are expanding our repertoire to do more party songs,” Ndumiso explains.
Formed in 2009, Shoelace’s members met at the Motherwell Arts Centre where they were all playing. “In 2010 we performed at the Fan Park festivals for the Fifa World Cup. That was our learning year for us in the industry. Last year we performed at the Grahamstown Festival and won a National Arts Festival Standard Bank Encore Award.”
The band is on their way to releasing an EP, “we feel ready and people are demanding it at the same time,” Ndumiso says.
Shoelace says the Hansa Festival of Legends has been a fantastic opportunity for them. “We have grown as individuals and as a band, we are more serious about our music – writing and composing. We have seen other ways to promote ourselves and now we have a clearer idea of how to do it.”
Ndumiso says the band, which pays the bills by working as session musicians in Nelson Mandela Bay, are campaigning for votes to allow them to get on stage with Usher.
“Hopefully in five years time we will be international, with at least two albums under our belts.”
The dynamic six-member H-Zwegellus group hails from the Walmer Township in Port Elizabeth, where they aim to bring the community together with the sound of their music.
The hip hop and rap group was formed in 2000 by Anele Ndimba and Thobani Pikoli, after they met Sivuyile Mtengwana, Zwelethu Madolwana and Samkelo Nonto and Siviwe Bless. The crew are aged between 20 and 22 years old.
“There is nothing else we can do besides music, we stay at my house everyday and work on it,” says Sivuyile. “We rap about things that happen in our location, bad things, good things. We tell stories and our stories make people dance.”
When Sivuyile was still a pupil at primary school he was already responsible for making the group’s beats and recording our rhymes. “So he made music and was an African Renaissance group dancer at the same time, no-one could believe it,” says dedicated manager Michael Makeleni.
H-Zwegellus started performing at a venue called Psypher in the township and at other gigs around the city, building a core group of fans who would travel to see them perform.
“The Hansa Festival of Legends has helped us in exposing our talent to South Africa. And meeting Usher will be a great opportunity. People in PE are voting for us – we are the first crew from this township to make it and we are getting support,” Sivuyile says.
“We want to bring life to our community and youths of our country to make their lives better by starting up and doing something good with their lives. There are so many people who support us and we won’t let them regret their belief in us.”
Voting for the top six of South Africa’s rising urban music stars, who have competed for the chance to open for Usher, closes on 22 February 2012.
Vote for your favourite performers online www.hansapilsener.co.za, or via your mobile – dial *120*793#.
H-Zellegus on Twitter:
[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/#!/HZwegellus/status/165494734213742593″]
[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/#!/shoelaceRockaz/status/170054768553758720″]
Alan Straton
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