INTERVIEW: MODISE SEKGOTHE “FRAGMENT OFDA YOUNIVERSE”

1.  You are well-known as “Fragment Ofda Youniverse” in the poetry scene, how did this name come about?
I am Fragment Ofda Youniverse because I believe that God is all that is, all that is the Universe. We are part of this Universe/God and are part of each other. I use the spelling of Youniverse to emphasize the latter, that in the same way we are part of God, we are part of each other. I don’t like to refer to God as God though cause that means different things to different people.

2.  How would you describe your style of writing?
I would describe it as fine art, film and animation in words. Imagery is most primary to how I write, the poetry paints a picture more than it does anything else.

3.  If you were to stop writing poetry what would be the ideal substitute?
Drama, which I’ve begun exploring and am really enjoying, but if the scenario you’re mentioning does not prohibit me from other forms of writing I would definitely pursue prose and…being a playwright also seems pretty dope.

4.  You sometimes use music to enhance your performances, what would you say to anyone who thinks that this ruins poetry?
I would say that different kinds of poetry or poems have a different purpose, so if a poets intention is to evoke a certain emotion, create a certain mood in order to lay the perfect ground on which the poem is to be received, the music serves to bring a magical dimension to the performance. Music serves in taking ones audience to the place you need them to be when they receive the work.

5.  Name three books/authors that changed your life?
Whoa! Eckhart Tolle “The Power Of Now”, Rhonda Byrne “The Secret” and Timothy Freke & Peter Gandy “The Complete Guide To World Mysticism”

6.  Please finish this sentence with four lines, “roses are red…

“roses are red…
the thorns matter too,
cause without them, the roses have no stems it’s true.
And without that,
the scent of the rose goes too soon”…

lol…that’s the best I could do.

7.  What’s your definition of poetry?
Uhm…poetry, I have no clue what it is…lol, I wont lie, anyway…it’s this magic that happens sometimes when certain gifted individuals open up to the cosmic substance and let it flow through them in all its beauty and majesty.

8.  Do you ever draw your inspiration from other artists, if yes please name a few?
I find great inspiration in the performance energy and style of Saul Williams, the mad skill and dedication of Mutle Mothibe, the mind-blowing image-laden writing of Conelius Jones as well as the innovative performance style of Andrew Manyika.

Event: WORDS UP!

WORDS UP! invites 10 exceptional South African artists to showcase their spoken word skills and engage the audience in an exciting torrent of words and stories. The evening will be moderated by Linda Gabriel. South African poetry icon Kgafela oa Magogodi and his band Kgafela le Marabele will spice up the event with musical vibes.

Featuring Tumelo Khoza (Dbn), Masai Dabula (Pta), Roche Du Plessis (Jhb), Siza Nkosi (Jhb), Ayanda Juba Lushaba (Dbn), Dineo ‘Dee’ Rasedile (Pta), Mpho Khosi (Jhb), Lebohang Nova Masango (Jhb), Kabelo ‘KB Tlailane (Pta), Sbu Simelani (Jhb)

WORDS UP! is the kick-off event of The Spoken Word Project which starts in Johannesburg and then travels to Antananarivo, Yaoundé, Nairobi and four other African cities.

Event: Word N Sound Season 3 Episode 5 | Forgotten Planet, Mutle Mothibe, Modise Sekgothe + Blaq2sday

Word lovers, join us in Newtown on 1 June for the next episode in the Word N Sound Poetry + Live Music Series.

This episode will see last year’s opening mic challenge finalists Forgotten Planet share a stage with Modise Sekgothe, the artist formally known as Fragment ofda Youniverse who blew us away as a cast member of The Funeral.

The much respected Mutle Mothibe returns to the Word N Sound stage with his brand spanking new, fresh out da box audio-book In_Sense.

Bringing live music to our stage is Pretoria’s own, Blaq2sday.

How could anyone forget the hottest and most murderous Open Mic League. With over R500 up for grabs for the dopest poem, poets gunning for the crown have even starting banging on the Market Theatre doors as early as 9am.

Don’t miss your monthly fix: 1 June | 12-6pm | R50 | Market Theatre Laboratory (2 President Str, Joburg)

INTERVIEW: MUTLE MOTHIBE

1.  How long did it take to put this album together?

Two very long years. It’s been a back and forth experience because I’d find things I wanna change every time I’d listen to the master copy meant for printing.

2.  How is this project different from the previous albums you’ve released with Inaudible?

I think in this project I wanted to explore my work and see what’s possible without the collaborations  and bouncing of ideas when it comes to content. Thabo and Mohale were there at every recording to critique and at times they’d literally bust into the recording booth telling me to put in more effort or creativity into how the content was delivered. (Some of these critiques are even captured on the album for the audience to hear).

This album is personal. Gives die-hard fans a snippet of the old Mutle and then the rest of the album is just packed full of works I’ve come to love.

3.  Why ‘In_Sense’?

In_Sense…Basically I looked at the project before going into studio and realised that all the works had been by-products of meditation, deep concentration and contemplation.

I love burning incense when writing and sometimes would watch the smoke that rises from the stick for a while if I get stuck on a line or feel that the frequency of the poem is projecting is not up to standard. So the idea of ‘In_Sense’ was formed from fusing the concept of incense and my take or how I make sense of my inner and outer world.

I struggle a lot to make sense and convey myself clearly and logically and I felt this album best portrays Mutle In(a)_Sense.

4. What can we expect from the launch?

I want the launch to be an experience of The Artist Mutle. The audience should leave feeling that they know the Artist who created the works, know the creative process that went into putting the work together and also why I write the way I do. Think of it like a Secret Lecture before the big show, where the magician explains how all his tricks work and how you yourself can easily do the tricks. I want to let people in on my creative process while entertaining them.

5.  Were there any challenges you faced while putting this album together?

Well yes. I tend to be anal about my work so I kept finding flaws and things I’d want to add to the works, moods I wanted to convey. The artwork on the album cover also gave me hassles because I wanted the concept of In_Sense to come through perfectly, which we eventually did accomplish. It’s had its obstacles but I’m quite happy with the final product.

6. Did you have a target market in mind and who do you think this album will appeal to?

No I didn’t think much about target market when I was creating the works. I think anyone who listens past the first stanza of any of my poems will find the album appealing. I think the album has something for everyone.

7. Do you have any featured artists?

No I didn’t feature anyone on this album.

8. What can you promise anyone who is willing to come to the launch and purchase your work?

Entrance is free so come through and you judge for yourself. I trust my work and feel it will speak for itself. I feel like promising people things\incentives carries a hint of doubt in what can happen on that day.

Mutle Mothibe launches his album ‘In_Sense’ on 26 May 2013 at the Gold Mine Cafe (58 Andreson Street). Entry is free and his album will be on sale for R100. To schedule artist interview, media accreditation and further info about the event please contact Qhakaza Mthembu – qhakaza@wordnsound.com 079 526 0458.

All set for a show most memorable

If you got a date with a hot chick on Saturday,ditch her andcome to @wordnsound or tell her to bring R50 so she can come along.lol

— Hlox Da Rebel Poet (@HloxdaRebel) April 30, 2013

Our next Word N Sound Series Live event takes place tomorrow and promises to be one to remember. Word N Sound Founder Thabiso Mohare celebrates his birthday later this month. So…what better way to celebrate than to have him on stage. We’ve heard rumours of an interesting performance experiment complete with an improv band set to take place on the Word N Sound stage tomorrow. He says: “Expect a true word and sound experience.”

If you’ve bought your copy of Monologa, you’ve been counting down the hours and minutes to Rennie Alexander’s showcase. And if you haven’t…where on earth have you been and why would you deny yourself such nice things (luckily for you, you can buy a copy for R100 at the next show)? This storyteller of note who packs wisdom into even the simplest of utterances returns, not only to deliver his annual “The State Of The Nation Address” but also to defend his crown as last month’s King of the Open Mic.

“It’s going to be an amazing show, from the top of the slam that’s already promising to be very competitive. It’s an honour to be part of the showcase line up with one of my favourite poets, Afurakan. It’s been a long time coming. The zealous Masia Dabula never disappoints so it’s looking like an amazing show already. My showcase is not as dramatic as my usual performances; I will be interpreting the chaos that we are all experiencing at the moment in our society, and within that try to find peace and love,” says Rennie.

And then we have Word N Sound’s firebrand, our original Champion of the Open Mic and Word N Sound Perfect Poem Award nominee, Masai Dabula. The Word N Sound fam is looking forward to his raw and hard-hitting performance style and the vivid, honest and resolute writing that has become synonymous with his name.

There is still the hottest Open Mic Poetry League in the country where the best poem walks away with R500 courtesy of BlackCouch Sofserv. Merchandise from Rora will be on sale along with a literary feast of books to add to your bookshelf from Black Letter Media.

we’re popping up at @wordnsound tomorrow! yay! come see our selection of independently published books. #herelionstelltheirownstory

— Book Lover’s Market (@BookLoversMark) May 3, 2013

Opening the show this month is Eastern cape born MC, Epic aka The ScriptWriter. His debut EP project ‘’Epic’s Cinematography’ was well received both locally and in the UK and scored a 4/5 star rating in a Hype Magazine CD review.

All in all, tomorrow is set to be FIRE! And with the AMAZINGLY talented Andrew Manyika as the host, dare you miss out?

EVENT INFO HERE: 4 May 2013 | Market Theatre Laboratory (Inside Bus Factory) – 2 President Str Jozi | 12-6pm | R50

If you getting married this Saturday,tell your fiancé or fiancée to shift the date,we going to @wordnsound.

— Hlox Da Rebel Poet (@HloxdaRebel) April 30, 2013

INTERVIEW: RENNIE ALEXANDER

1.What inspires you to keep on writing?

The love of writing and my infatuation with words and how through utterances the course of life can change.

2.Do you thing poetry is serving its purpose in society

I think poetry is a society, does it have an effect on the greater society? Well as small as that effect may be i believe it has a considerable effect on the arts of the society we are living in.

3.Why Poetry?

Nothing special really, i am a writer at heart and poetry is currently my release valve.

4. Lauryn Hill once said “I get mad frustrated when I rhyme, thinking of all the kids who try to do this for all the wrong reasons” Do you believe that there’s such a thing as becoming a performance poet for the “wrong” reasons, if yes what would you say those reasons are?

No i don’t agree, i do believe however that all people who aspire to be a poet or performance artist do have what it takes to achieve the desired goals. Content and performance are always in question but talent is something that is never questioned, id rather embrace the differences than sink in a community of like minded writers and performers.

5.  You’ve obviously been to a lot of open mic sessions and poetry shows, what is the one thing you can’t stand to see on stage?

Foolery

6. What is your advice to anyone who is considering writing as a career

Id say count your cost before joining the band wagon i.e. Know what you are getting yourself into first before undertaking such a career. Because like every other job it has its ups and downs, perseverance determines success for a writer.

7.  What should we expect from your showcase?

My showcase will be a politically romantic concept, im going to be dwelling into myself and exhibiting my internal behaviors.

8. Please share with us some of your lines from one of your poems for all the people who’ve never heard of Rennie Alexander

“A plan to gain success is merely re-assurance if one already believes in success”

9.  They say it takes ten thousand hours for any individual to be a master at something, how many hours would you say you’ve put into writing?

Hahahahahaha, id say iv just completed a quarter of that, i still have 3 more quarters to go.

10. If you were given the chance to go back in time and have a conversation with the 12 year old Rennie, what would you tell him?

I would tell him to pay a lot of attention on himself, youth is only precious because of the amount of time they have and depending on how they utilize that time it determines their older years.

INTERVIEW: MASAI DABULA

1. Please tell us how you’re feeling about showcasing on the word n sound stage once again?

I’ve been missing in action for some time now. I’m excited and ready.

2. Can you remember the very first time you got on stage, how was that experience?

i was born to seal the gap on stage, I’m a natural. I killed it!

3. What made you decide that poetry is what you want to do for a living?

Poetry does something to you, it changes you and not only your perception. Truth be told, writing and conceptualizing is what i pride myself on, and the only thing i want to master now.

4. What would you say is the best way to deal with forgetting your lines on stage?

Breath, we all die on stage but the most important thing is standing up again. Giving up can not be an option.

5. What would you say to anyone who thinks that you’re poems are racist?

I love my people.

6. Who/what has been the greatest influence on your work?

love for my people.

7. Would you cut off your dreadlocks for a corporate gig, if not why?

Never, my hair is sacred. Dude my hair is my crown.

8. What are some of the challenges you face as a full-time artist?

have to work twice as hard than my employed brothers and sisters. I have to prove to myself everyday that i made the right choice by resigning from my job.

9. What would you like to say to all the people who will be seeing you on the stage for the first time?

Your mama warned you about me.

10.  What is the next step for Masai Dabula?

Life is my stepping stone… All I know is that by the age of 30, I’ll have 20 books under my name. Not to mention short films, plus I’m working on building an art centre in my Township. All in all, the sky is infinite and God is my limit.

POETRY IS ALIVE

Thando Ngcobo, a durban based poet who tells it like it is.

 

POETRY IS ALIVE

 

Andrea Gibson (born August 13, 1975) is an award-winning poet and activist who lives in Boulder, Colorado. Her poetry focuses on gender norms, politics, and the struggles queer people face in today’s society. Gibson disclosed that she chose to write what was in her bones, and thus these subject matters are what came out. On top of using poetry to express what she feels and provide social and political commentary on real issues, she is involved with many group activists. She often performs at Take Back the Night Events, LGBT events, Pride events, Trans* events, Anti-war rallies, Peace rallies, organizations against the occupation of Palestine, groups focused on examining the wrongs of capitalism, patriarchy and white supremacy. She also works with a group called Vox Feminista whose model is to “comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable” on all these issues.

Gibson grew up in Calais, Maine. She is the daughter of Mark and Shirley Gibson, and has one sister, Laura, whom she mentions in her poem ‘Titanic’. She attended Saint Joseph’s College of Maine. Later, she moved to New Orleans with her girlfriend. In 1999, the two moved to Boulder, Colorado. She went to her first open-mic in Denver.^[1] A four-time Denver Grand Slam Champion, Gibson finished fourth at the 2004 National Poetry Slam, and she finished third at both the 2006 and 2007 Individual World Poetry Slam.^[2][3] In 2008, Gibson became the first poet ever to win the Women of the World Poetry Slam (WOWps) in Detroit.^[4]

In 2011, Write Bloody Publishing published Andrea Gibson’s 6th book, “The Madness Vase”. In 2009, they published her first syndicated work, Pole Dancing To Gospel Hymns, She also has self-published four books: Trees that Grow in Cemeteries, Yellow Bird, What the Yarn Knows of Sweaters, and Pole Dancing to Gospel Hymns.

 

INTERVIEW: INAUDIBLE

1.  Who is inaudible? And why the name?

Inaudible consists of Mutle Mothibe ( writer/ performer), Thabo Manto (writer/ performer) and Mohale Molefe( producer).   2.  How, when and why was Inaudible formed?

 2.  How, when and why was Inaudible formed?

It was 2003 at the Vaal University of Technology.  Two poets ( Myself and Mutle)were sharing their pieces at the back of the cafeteria ( a place where rappers, graffiti artists, poets and singers hang out) with a producer ( Mohale Molefe). Mohale was so excited by what he heard that he suggested we record our material. A week later we were at Mohales place recording on his mixtape “pilgrim Age”. Pilgrim Age was a rap mixtape and a lot of people where asking who the poets where on the mixtape and so we decided to record our own work.  We called ourselves Inaudible because at the time we recorded our work we realised that the way we wrote and the music that Mohale made for the words was never heard before. “unheard’ poetry didn’t have a nice ring to it so we decided “Inaudible” was more suitable. Inaudible was formed because we had stories to tell and we genuinely loved what we do.

3.  What makes Inaudible different from other poetry collectives?

At the time Inaudible was created most recorded poetry had a similar form to it. The writing had a similar theme and it was packed with allot of refrains.  Inaudible on the other hand told stories and dabbled with Ideas most poets did not explore.

4.  Inaudible has released three albums, how have the albums been received?

Each of these albums were recorded and distributed mainly in the Vaal Triangle area but they somehow found their way to Capetown, P.E, Bloemfontein, KZN,  and other places. I think definition was the album with the most influence. Till this day we still get comments from people telling us that they started writing because of the inspiration they got from that album.5.  What is Inaudible currently working on?

 5.  What is Inaudible currently working on?

As a collective we are mainly performing and promoting a re-issue of our second album “Brail Magazine” (which can be purchased from myself or Mutle along with Comprehension for only R100.00 for both). Myself and Mutle form part of another collective called Brake Seshions where we teamed up with Rennie Alexander, gratitude Fisher and Rantoloko Molokoane to focus on stage productions. The first one we did is a play called “Estar: The Confrontation”. So that side of things is also very exciting and it presents its own unique challenges

6.  Is it challenging to maintain your individual identities and brands while being part of the collective?

 As Inaudible it is not very challenging at all because we formed the albums in such a way that  we could still maintain our individuality within the collective. Also when you see us perform live it is very easy to tell us apart as we have different styles of writing and performing.

7.  Why are we not seeing a lot of collaborative work within poetry?

 I think it is because collaborative work requires allot effort work than solo work. Relationship dynamics also play a vital role in collaborations. You need to know your own writing and what you can and cannot do so you can push yourself beyond your limits as much as possible. Also collaborations introduce you to different sides of your writing aswell, I had allot of fun writing as Maximilious de Ceiver in Brake Seshions play “Estar

8.  The funniest moment on stage was when…(please complete the sentence)?

When our producer  Mohale Molefe got on stage with us and gave an amazing performance ( he has always been behind the music, we never expected it).9.  Inaudible is showcasing at the next Word N Sound episode. What should we anticipate from this performance?
10.  Andrew Manyika will be showcasing as well. He says your album ‘Definition’ was the first spoken word product he ever heard. How does that make you feel and what are your thoughts on him as a writer and performer?

9.  Inaudible is showcasing at the next Word N Sound episode. What should we anticipate from this performance?

The best of Myself and Mutle. And Hopefully our producer will have a surprise up his sleeve fro Word n Sound audiences aswell.

10.  Andrew Manyika will be showcasing as well. He says your album ‘Definition’ was the first spoken word product he ever heard. How does that make you feel and what are your thoughts on him as a writer and performer?

 That makes us feel very proud indeed. Andrew is one of my favourite writers aswell. I was awestruck by his performance at last year’s Word n Sound Open Mic Finale.