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Speaker 1: 702. Let's walk the talk.
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Speaker 2: On 92.7 and 106 FM.
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Speaker 3: He's collected summer and metro recognition, released albums, written and produced music, composed for film, acted on television and stage. And he said he's shared stages with some of the biggest names in the industry internationally and somehow still found time to build life beyond the spotlight. You'd remember Also, he played Simba in The Lion King in the West End to becoming a familiar face as Rantumeng Mugwena on Muvango. Brian Tamba is our guest this morning. Brian, lovely having you with us. Thanks for making time. Thanks for coming to the.
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Speaker 2: Studio, man.
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Speaker 1: Thank you for having me, Thabo. But the traffic in Sandton. Terrible, eh?
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Speaker 2: We must do something about it.
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Speaker 1: But can we do something about it? I don't think we can.
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Speaker 2: You don't think so. I mean, I think there are opportunities.
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Speaker 3: We must decentralize somehow and find other opportunities. But listen, man, I'm more interested in your career. Music seems to be almost suicidal as far as making money is concerned, especially in South Africa. When you take that route to become a musician, You're almost saying I'll never make money again and I'm okay with it.
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Speaker 2: What threw you here?
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Speaker 1: You know, that can be true, but that can be untrue. So it goes both ways. I think in my industry, what I've noticed is that sometimes you become lucky in the industry. There's a lot of people that are not talented, but are hard workers. So they make sure that their business is taken care of. And the hype, you know, they're able to create hype and all of that. And they become successful. And I can always... But now you find musicians who are talented, singers who are particularly very talented, who think I'm talented and everything should just come, you know, without me working hard. I mean, get talented. So just give me a record deal and just let me make money. And you have chance takers who think... I want to go in. Yeah. Because Casper Nioves is there.
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Speaker 4: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: I can do this.
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Speaker 1: I can do this.
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Speaker 2: I can.
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Speaker 1: And now it's worse because there's AI. AI.
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Speaker 2: In the mix.
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Speaker 1: You see what I'm saying? There's AI in the mix. So everybody's rushing to AI and thinking, I'm going to make a whole lot of money if I create music with AI. They don't even know what goes in.
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Speaker 5: Yeah.
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Speaker 6: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: You see what I'm saying?
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Speaker 6: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: And then you find people like us who have a strong following, who have a consistent following. You see what I'm saying? Because we started, I mean, I started music a long time ago.
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Speaker 5: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: You know, when I got into the industry, it was 1998. Yeah. Yeah.
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Speaker 2: You see what I'm saying? Back in the day.
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Speaker 1: Back in the day. And I started with Joy Celebration. So the fan base of Joy Celebration has been consistent. You see what I'm saying? In the gospel side of things. And then I, I mean, I went into theater and all of those things overseas, came back home, did Murango, and that gave me a lot of, you know, exposure. Right. But, In 2009, there was a lot of demand for new sounds. At the time, there was Afropop. There was a lot of Afropop, Bontando. And I came in with a different sound, completely different sound, dominoes. People are thinking, who is this guy?
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Speaker 7: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: With dreadlocks. And his name is Brian Timber, but he doesn't sound South African.
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Speaker 2: He doesn't.
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Speaker 1: They don't even know that it's a boy from Soshanguve.
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Speaker 2: Soshas.
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Speaker 1: Mvanazosh. That's what I'm saying. So that created a lot of demand, you know, as to that sound and the different sound of what I was doing and all of those things. And I think to this day, there hasn't been somebody that sounds like me or does what I do. what I do the way I do it.
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Speaker 3: I agree with you a hundred percent, but let's just take a few steps back.
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Speaker 6: Yes, sir.
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Speaker 2: Of getting to joyous celebration.
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Speaker 3: And I'm asking that deliberately because you inspire thousands and thousands, if not tens of thousands of people around South Africa and beyond.
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Speaker 1: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: And they would be interested in knowing how to crack it.
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Speaker 8: Yes.
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Speaker 2: Those young people who.
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Speaker 3: Are gifted and they love your music and they're thinking, I've got this.
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Speaker 2: I want this. I'm passionate about this.
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Speaker 1: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: Cranking it. How did you get into Joya Celebration? Who called you? Were you lucky? Were you just picked? Someone heard you singing in a bus and said, Brian, come here.
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Speaker 1: It was Vicky Villagas.
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Speaker 2: Oh, really?
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Speaker 1: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: The great Vicky Villagas.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, the great Vicky Villagas. So Family Factory, which is a group that I'm part of, Family Factory used to sing our church choir albums. So Tunzi number used to produce our church choir album. So obviously Bo Vicky were part of Family Factory and they did our album. So one Sunday they came to our church. And yeah, these people were absolutely gorgeous, man. They looked beautiful. They looked good, colorful and the Eskele. And you know, they were beautiful. And I'm like, and when they opened their mouths, I mean, heaven, you know. So I'm asking these people, I don't know what made me go to them and ask, what do you guys do? Yeah. Okay. So before that, Linda, I was singing because I was one of the singers in the church and yes.
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Speaker 2: In the choir.
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Speaker 1: In the choir.
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Speaker 7: Sure.
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Speaker 1: So I was one of the good singers.
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Speaker 2: Where's this church?
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Speaker 1: It was in Attridgeville.
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Speaker 8: Okay.
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Speaker 1: It's called Conquerors Through Christ Ministries. Sure. So Linda was singing. So Vicky was looking at me. So I'm a high pitch singer, right? She was looking at me and now I'm asking these people, what's up? what do you guys do? They say, we sing and you get paid to sing. Yeah. I need to get paid because I can sing too. So can I get paid? And from that moment I was convicted and I was like, look, I wanted, this is what I want to do. And I was, I was doing business management at the time and I was just like, nah, this is what I want to do.
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Speaker 2: How old are you?
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Speaker 1: Ooh, I was in my teens. Um, I think I was about 17. Um, Yeah, 16, 17, somewhere there. And then, okay, we left and whatever. I told my parents, I want to go sing. I want to do this. The next year, I was going to my second year of business management. And I lied to my mom and said, there's no space in Pretoria. My brother was living in the Val at the time.
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Speaker 4: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: And I knew he knew a lot of people in the music industry, especially the gospel industry. He knew people like Stephen Mulligan.
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Speaker 8: Yes.
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Speaker 1: He knew people like Vicky Villagazi. He knew everybody because he used to go to a church called Zoe.
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Speaker 2: I know it very well. Zoe Bible Church.
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Speaker 1: Zoe Bible Church. So he was a musical director there.
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Speaker 5: Okay.
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Speaker 1: So I said to my mom, yeah, let me go to Verenaheim. Maybe there's space there because there's a college there. So maybe I can go there. So I went there. I knew very well there was no space. My mind was made up that I wanted, no, I wanted music.
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Speaker 6: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: That's, that's, that's the calling. I think I was so convicted as a young man, you know, and that surprises me to, to this day, but I'm glad I made the decisions I made.
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Speaker 6: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: When I got to, um, Ferena King, I stayed with my brother. Vicky was looking for me. Same time. I was wanting to go into the industry.
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Speaker 7: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: Vicky was looking.
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Speaker 2: How is that? I, how is that?
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Speaker 1: I don't know. God.
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Speaker 2: Yeah.
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Speaker 7: Yeah.
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Speaker 4: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: Vicky gets a hold of me. We start talking and whatever, whatever. We start talking and he's like, okay, cool. I'm putting together a all-male backing vocalist. Okay. You know, and I'm like, cool. I'll be your soprano. And then the two other guys were the Giselle brothers. Oh, man.
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Speaker 2: You're kidding me.
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Speaker 1: I swear to you. I swear to you. You're kidding me. Giselle brothers and me were the backing singers for Vicky Villagas.
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Speaker 4: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: You know, and I think I mentioned to Vicky Villagas that, hey, this is what I want to do. I want to join Vicky. Before that, the year before, I used to write down what I wanted to do, what I wanted to happen in my life.
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Speaker 4: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: One of them was I wanted to sing with Family Factory.
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Speaker 6: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: I wanted to sing with Joyous Celebration. Yeah. And I wanted to record my first album overseas.
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Speaker 4: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: I used to write those things as a young man.
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Speaker 4: Yes.
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Speaker 1: Yeah. In college. Okay. Got with Vicky Villarrazi. That year, 1998, I started working with Joyous Celebration. Yeah. 1999, I started working with Family Factory. I recorded my very first album in the UK.
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Speaker 2: That very same year?
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Speaker 4: No.
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Speaker 1: I recorded, yes.
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Speaker 2: Okay.
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Speaker 1: But all of these things I used to write down and say, this is what I wanted to happen.
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Speaker 2: You seem to me like a very driven person.
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Speaker 3: And I mean, combining that with a strong church background, I'm getting somewhat.
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Speaker 2: Of a flavor of faith. Then faith, what role does faith play in your life?
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Speaker 1: Oh, a huge role. My mom even says, she's a praying woman.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, then you must tell her, even if she's got a faith of her, that's sufficient.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's it.
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Speaker 2: That's it.
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Speaker 1: So I think my life has been led by faith. Yeah.
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Speaker 2: Are you spiritual still?
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Speaker 1: I don't think I'd be where I am without God.
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Speaker 2: Are you saying to me like, I mean, really? I mean, it's so obvious.
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Speaker 1: Look, we go through life, right?
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Speaker 5: Sure, sure.
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Speaker 1: And we see a lot of things or we get introduced to a lot of things. In our industry, you're easily introduced to drugs. You're easily introduced to, as a coping mechanism. You get attention from people, from women as a man. You get attention from all over the place. And that could be a drug. That could be your vice. You see what I'm saying? But now, all of those things lead to destruction. They lead to not a very good place, unfortunately. So I think also, I don't want to disappoint my mom.
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Speaker 2: More importantly.
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Speaker 1: More importantly. That's why I'd never do a sex scene on TV.
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Speaker 2: Oh, come on.
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Speaker 3: No, but what kind of an actor is that?
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Speaker 2: You need to challenge yourself.
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Speaker 9: Does it mean also your lyrical content is driven well by that expectation that's different okay.
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Speaker 1: My mom is not really interested in r & b and she doesn't listen to my music she listens to the ones that she understands like this and she's a very educated woman yeah yeah but you know, older people, they want to, they want, or something like that. So she's not going to listen to other songs. I do have songs that are very, you know, R & B.
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Speaker 2: So those you do in English, because you know, your mom is not interested in those.
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Speaker 1: It's not a lot of them, by the way. Okay. Okay.
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Speaker 3: Listen, I want us to speak about that shortly, especially, the dichotomy between singing in vernacular and English, because that has become such a big factor of our local music in South Africa. It's 20 minutes after 10 o'clock. My guest, Brian Timber, singer, songwriter, actor, producer, performer, and businessman. He's right here with me in the studio. I don't want to monopolize the discussion. If you'd like to say hi, you're most welcome. If you want to send a voice note, You want to ask him a question, please do so on 072-702-1702. Alternatively, you can call us directly and we can discuss things with you live on 011-883-0702.
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Speaker 7: 011-883-0702.
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Speaker 2: 21 after 10.
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Speaker 4: 702.
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Speaker 2: Let's walk the talk.
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Speaker 1: 192.7 and 106 FM.
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Speaker 2: Back with you again, Brian Temba.
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Speaker 3: You know, we have to play music because I'm more interested also in the music that inspires a musician.
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Speaker 2: Because I would assume.
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Speaker 3: That you have a peculiar barometer of measuring music than an ordinary taboo can sing at all.
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Speaker 2: What makes a great song?
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Speaker 3: Other than your songs, to someone else, what makes a great song for you and say, aha.
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Speaker 1: A catchy chorus.
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Speaker 6: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: A very informative verse. So your verse has to say everything that you want to say. Okay. The chorus is a catchy situation where it's a sing-along. It's a very, you know, when it comes to sonics, it's just sonically viable to a normal ear. Not to me as a musician, because if I were to make music for musicians, it would be a totally different situation.
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Speaker 4: Really?
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Speaker 1: But if I'm making money for my audiences... They have to be catchy. They have to be listenable. They have to be relatable as well. Because you tell a story.
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Speaker 2: Let's go to your first song.
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Speaker 1: Yes, sir.
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Speaker 2: What should we play for you? And what inspires that song?
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Speaker 1: I would love Rattalaga. Why this is inspired? Rattalaga is particularly inspired by the Sutu-speaking people. When I was on TV, I was playing a Sutu-speaking gent, Rantumi. Oh, yes.
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Speaker 3: Oh, yes.
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Speaker 2: Yes.
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Speaker 1: For a very long time. And that, I never used to speak Sotho in that manner, by the way. Yeah. You see what I'm saying? I never used to speak Sotho.
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Speaker 2: No, no, no, no.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, but when I was on Mobango, I was, I needed to know how to speak Sotho because you can't speak Sotho, the tongue gets tied. Yeah. If you're trying to speak Sotho and you're not speaking it, properly.
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Speaker 3: Yeah yeah you see did it go for training no not even yeah.
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Speaker 1: Not even i had to okay i'm a i'm a i'm a quick learner yeah in a way so i was pushed to learn how to speak sissotu properly yes to a point where they need to understand as a matter of fact a lot of people thought i was a sissotu really yeah they thought i was Well, which is, you know, that's a different thing altogether. But I had to learn how to speak Sotho. So when I created Rattalaka, I needed to honor the Sotho speaking people because most of the times I would record Zulu songs, Xhosa songs, or even English songs, mostly English songs. So this is my first Sotho song ever.
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Speaker 2: That you had.
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Speaker 6: Yes.
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Speaker 2: And it speaks to your audience's Yeah, definitely. Let's do the magic. Definitely.
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Speaker 1: Yeah.
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Speaker 4: Good morning.
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Speaker 5: Good morning to my crush guy, Brian Timber. You know, he landed at the time that... As a music compiler, we were struggling to what we call Sunday music. And when his album landed, oh my God, it was a blessing to me and to other music compilers that are purely focused on the Sunday sound. That Dominos, it was given to us first on Metro FM and we played it. It was a blessing. It was the ultimate blessing.
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Speaker 4: Yeah.
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Speaker 5: Those were the good times when You know, radio stations used to play great music.
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Speaker 3: What are you saying about us, bro? What are you saying about us, man? But very interesting. And those times, is he referring to that 90% time?
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Speaker 2: No, no, no. It was before that.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, way before that. This was the times of Eddie Zondi. So Eddie Zondi was the one that actually made dominoes popular.
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Speaker 2: The great late Eddie Zondi, right?
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Speaker 4: Yes.
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Speaker 3: Who is this Rato Laga that you're talking about? Was it a specific person or was it just generic?
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Speaker 1: Not necessarily. I mean, it's a love song.
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Speaker 2: Yes.
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Speaker 1: And I think, well, I normally write about love more than anything. So when I wrote Rato Laga, it was from a point of, we were done with the album, by the way. Okay. We were done with the album and closing it. And I went to Lesotho and, you know, they started calling, yeah, run to me, run to me. Okay.
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Speaker 4: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: You know. So it was that. And then we went to Aliwal North. It was the same thing. Yeah.
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Speaker 6: Right.
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Speaker 1: And I thought to myself, there's something that I'm not doing right. I owe Sutu speaking people a song. So when I went back home, my co-producer, I said to him, dude, we need to record a Sutu song. I know we're done. but we need to record a Souto song. And it was like, Nalo and I, we are Cosa, me and Fanintama. So Maru was a Souto.
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Speaker 3: Yes.
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Speaker 6: Oh, really?
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Speaker 1: He's from Valse, Bukin. Yeah. And so we switched most of the times. That's it. And that's how we speak, me and him. And we got into studio and we wrote. Just like that? Just like that. And I wanted it to be a happy song, a love song.
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Speaker 2: It's a beautiful song.
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Speaker 1: Yes, I wanted it to be exciting.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, it's something else. And for those who don't understand, it says, let's get married and have kids. The song goes that far, right?
00:18:54
Speaker 1: Yes, sir.
00:18:54
Speaker 2: 29 minutes to 11 o'clock.
00:18:57
Speaker 1: For more about 702, go to primemediaplus.com.
00:19:03
Speaker 3: Back with you, 23 minutes to 11 o'clock here on 702.
00:19:06
Speaker 2: My guest, Brian Tamba, and we are hanging out with him here on 702.
00:19:11
Speaker 3: Needs no introduction, great musician, singer, songwriter, actor, producer, performer, and businessman as well.
00:19:20
Speaker 2: You sent your voice notes to 0727021702. Let's hear what you have to say.
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Speaker 7: Morning, Thabo, and morning, Brian. Thanks for a wonderful interview. Brian Temba actually has a song with my late sister, TK, called I Find It So Strange. And to this day, I still listen to the song. It's such a beautiful song. Brian, thanks for doing that song with my sister. And I'm wishing you much success and prosperity. God bless you. Positive vibrations to you. Have a lovely day, everybody. Happy Thursday.
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Speaker 2: God bless.
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Speaker 7: Cheers. Bye.
00:20:11
Speaker 4: In his renegade. You know, we must proudly speak. We must proudly sing in our African languages. That's how we do enhance our culture. A nation without a culture is like a tree without roots. Go follow the brother Brian.
00:20:30
Speaker 1: Keep it up.
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Speaker 4: Continue singing in our languages. It's so cool to do so.
00:20:39
Speaker 7: Good.
00:20:40
Speaker 2: Hi, Thabo and the team. Beautiful work. Thank you.
00:20:46
Speaker 5: Whoa.
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Speaker 2: Ranto, as Tandaza would say it.
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Speaker 1: Too beautiful.
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Speaker 2: You are a sheer talent.
00:20:56
Speaker 1: Whoa. Yeah.
00:20:58
Speaker 2: This was fire. Rato Laka. Yo, it's beautiful.
00:21:02
Speaker 1: Thank you.
00:21:03
Speaker 2: Thank you.
00:21:04
Speaker 1: You delivered 500%. Bongi.
00:21:09
Speaker 2: 011-883-0702.
00:21:11
Speaker 3: Brian, what does that do to you? Because when you are singing, you are sending out vibrations.
00:21:18
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:21:19
Speaker 3: And I'm assuming that there ought to be a response. And when people respond like this, what does it.
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Speaker 1: Do to you? Oh, man. It just confirms that what I'm doing is not bad. It's actually good, you know? Yeah. It starts with me, Thabo. When I create music, because... I think I'm blessed in a way, in a sense that I create my own music. I curate what I want to say, how I want to say it.
00:21:49
Speaker 2: What comes first, the lyrics or the music?
00:21:53
Speaker 1: You'd think that because I'm a singer.
00:21:54
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:21:55
Speaker 1: I assume that. Yeah, exactly. And I would write, it's weird. I think in 2004, when we were working on my first album, my producer at the time was my mentor. So- And I've always been interested in studio and, you know, because I'm a geek, get out the computer. So I've been interested in studio and wanting to learn how to program music, how to create music. So that became a focal point. You know, I want to create music. I want to know how to. So he enforced, Jorge, it's the sounds you use. You can have a studio, you have a state of the art studio, but the sounds you use and what you say matters more.
00:22:37
Speaker 3: That's just something else I mean You've just reminded me Of a documentary I forgot the name But it's about how They came to write We are the world Yeah Lionel Richie is.
00:22:49
Speaker 1: Yes yes Michael Jackson.
00:22:51
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah yeah And is leading that documentary So he says How Michael Jackson Could not write music So it was difficult Yeah For them to put things together Yeah Because Michael Jackson Would have to send him A tape of sounds Wow Yes exactly In order to compensate for written music. But how important is it to be able to be an all-rounder in that space, to know how to write music, to know how to sing, play instruments and all of that?
00:23:23
Speaker 1: But you don't have to know everything. Look, you don't have to know everything. But you just have to have a sense of direction and know. This is what producers do. They know what they want to hear. Yes. They know where the song is going and how it needs to sound at the end. Yeah. Which is a gift on its own. I start with music, literally.
00:23:45
Speaker 5: Really?
00:23:45
Speaker 1: I start with music. We program music. Me and Fanit Lama, that's what we do. We sit in the studio. We program music until the song is almost done. You know, the music, everything, the guitar, it's all there.
00:23:55
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:23:56
Speaker 1: But what I love, what I do more than anything is that I would listen to just music. I would know what needs to go there in terms of subject matter, which is weird. It's, it's the weirdest thing. And I don't know where I get that, but I will know once I listened to a song or whatever we've created, I would know that this song needs to be a, a pinaya mama or pinaya, you know, about men or, you know, I would know just from listening to the music.
00:24:30
Speaker 2: Quite interesting. Let's, Go to John in Mamelodi. John, good morning. Thanks for calling.
00:24:35
Speaker 5: Welcome.
00:24:37
Speaker 6: How are you?
00:24:38
Speaker 2: Sharp, who's that, John?
00:24:40
Speaker 6: Sharp, sharp. You never cease to amaze me, my brother. You're sure.
00:24:44
Speaker 5: Hey, Tata.
00:24:46
Speaker 1: Brother John, how are you?
00:24:50
Speaker 6: Sharp, sharp. Look, there's a song that you have written, Daniele.
00:24:54
Speaker 5: Yes.
00:24:54
Speaker 6: Did she ever come back to you? Huh? Did she ever come back to you?
00:25:00
Speaker 1: Ah, she never came back to me. It's okay, because I'm young.
00:25:07
Speaker 6: Look, Brett, just a quick one. I am a blind trumpet, right?
00:25:13
Speaker 1: Okay.
00:25:13
Speaker 6: And often we find it difficult.
00:25:17
Speaker 2: John, you know, I don't want to lie. The line is bad.
00:25:19
Speaker 3: I'm going to ask our producers to try to get you back again so that we do justice to your call. I know you took time to call, but I want to hear every word that you have to say. So bear with me one second. Our producers will try to connect with you in a short while. Do you suffer, Brian, from comparison, whether you like it or not? But as human beings, we do compare. Brian, it's like you are D'Angelo. Brian, who do people compare you with the most?
00:25:48
Speaker 1: I think with me, it's a bit weird. Because my influences were different, with different people, ranging from gospel to R & B to, you know, to British music, to white music, if you want to call it that. But, you know, pop, pop music. Because I listened to a lot of Joe Thomas. I listened to a lot of Tevin Campbell. I listened to your D'Angelo's. I listened to your, from the gospel fraternity, your Daryl Coles, your John Peaky, Reverend John Peaky, Smokey Norfolk and all of that. They influenced, because I used to sing their songs to the Tee. To a point, when I was younger, I would actually sound like them. So all of that put together influenced who Brian Timber... They influenced Brian Timber's voice, basically, to be how it is.
00:26:39
Speaker 2: Sure.
00:26:40
Speaker 1: So, yeah, maybe... Yeah. You understand? I hear you.
00:26:43
Speaker 4: So.
00:26:43
Speaker 1: And that doesn't bother you?
00:26:44
Speaker 5: No, no, no, no, no, no.
00:26:45
Speaker 1: Not at all. There's a caller....
00:26:56
Speaker 3: Let's hear what they have to say. They're on the line now and they want to say hi to you.
00:27:02
Speaker 2: Good morning.
00:27:03
Speaker 1: Hello.
00:27:05
Speaker 8: How are you?
00:27:05
Speaker 2: I'm free. How are you?
00:27:09
Speaker 8: I'm good. Thank you. It's anonymous and it will be anonymous to Brian as well. I don't know if you recognize me.
00:27:14
Speaker 5: That's it.
00:27:15
Speaker 1: I get the voice.
00:27:19
Speaker 2: So you don't have to be anonymous anymore.
00:27:21
Speaker 1: No, I get the verse, but it's okay.
00:27:22
Speaker 8: I was going to tell you, you messed it up the other day when you said anonymous from.
00:27:30
Speaker 1: I remember.
00:27:30
Speaker 2: I'm so sorry. I'm still embarrassed. I'm still embarrassed.
00:27:34
Speaker 8: I forgive you.
00:27:35
Speaker 4: I forgive you.
00:27:36
Speaker 8: So Brian, it is anonymous. I think you know who anonymous is.
00:27:39
Speaker 5: I do.
00:27:40
Speaker 1: I do.
00:27:40
Speaker 6: Yes.
00:27:40
Speaker 1: Hi, anonymous.
00:27:43
Speaker 8: I just want to say, you know, there's certain things that people don't know about Brian and which he's very, very humble about. And this is very close to my heart. Because when I started, when I partnered with an organization in the U.S. where we provide menstrual cups for young girls in and around Africa and the U.S., FDA approved everything. It was a bit of a struggle to, because I called, because we needed some partners on the ground that were quite influential, like influencer celebrities.
00:28:08
Speaker 4: Hmm.
00:28:08
Speaker 8: There's some that I called that were like, how much am I getting? You know the call with Brian. He did not even ask. He said to me, I'm in.
00:28:16
Speaker 1: That is exactly, yes.
00:28:19
Speaker 8: And I think the reason I picked Brian, there's no, I want to be skinny. You know, there's even, you know what I'm saying? It's because we wanted to partner with someone with integrity, someone who could be trusted with the brand. And Brian came on board. And every time I was in, like, he knows I'm all over the place. If I was coming to South Africa, we've got a concert, we're doing this, we're doing that. And we're doing a charity, then Brian would, sure as anything, always pitch up. He shows up. You know, and he's been doing this with us for years. He's our partner with Kudu Menstrual Cups.
00:28:51
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:28:52
Speaker 8: And doing amazing, amazing work. And he's doing it from the heart. That's one thing I just need to put out there. He hasn't asked for publicity for it or anything like that. So I want to say, my friend, you are an amazing human being. I think I've known Brian for like 20 years plus.
00:29:07
Speaker 2: My goodness me. That's been long.
00:29:10
Speaker 3: Listen, Anonymous, I hope that one day you'll be blessed with a name that you'd want to share with.
00:29:15
Speaker 2: Us on the radio.
00:29:16
Speaker 8: Brian can say who Anonymous is.
00:29:19
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:29:20
Speaker 1: My friend Kimpo. And she's overseas right now.
00:29:24
Speaker 4: Oh, Mpo.
00:29:24
Speaker 2: Eventually we get to know your name.
00:29:26
Speaker 1: So thank you for calling my friend.
00:29:27
Speaker 2: Really appreciate it. Mpo, shup, shup. All the best.
00:29:31
Speaker 3: Really appreciate it. 13 minutes to 11 o'clock. We're back with Brian timber.
00:29:35
Speaker 1: 702 let's walk the.
00:29:40
Speaker 2: Talk 192.7 and 106 fm.
00:29:44
Speaker 3: I'm with brian timber in the studio my name is tavo shola mashal in for clement happy for you to join us feel free to send uh those voice notes through to 072 702 1702 brian i mean some of the greatest uh musicians to have uh ever graced our planet. Tony Hathaway is one of them. And he just said that when he wrote the song, someday we'll all be free.
00:30:08
Speaker 2: He was alone.
00:30:09
Speaker 3: And he was writing like you with someone, a producer. But he went alone to the studio and he called the producer to say, this is the music that I've put together. And when the producer was there, he then put the words to the song. And he started crying for hours on end. And I'm just wondering, to what extent is music spiritual?
00:30:29
Speaker 1: Oh, my God. I cannot think of a time when music isn't spiritual unless you want to do it for commercial purposes and you just want to make money and all of those things. For me, it's always been spiritual. It's always been a journey. It's always about something. You know, it can never be just music and I want to make money.
00:30:53
Speaker 3: Are we there yet in South Africa for the musicians, for those who are like you?
00:30:58
Speaker 6: Some.
00:30:59
Speaker 1: Some. Not all of us.
00:31:01
Speaker 2: What needs to happen?
00:31:04
Speaker 1: Maybe we need to bring back real singers and real writers who write from a point of poetry or who write from a point of, you know, like there's a need for men to be heard right now. That's a pandemic that we need. We need to solve in our community. And the young boys that we need to talk to and all of that, um there's a need for that we need to write about that we need to write there's a song that i've written it's called tears of a man you know it's it's not going to come out on this album as yet but when i wrote it it's it's it's it's that thing of a man goes to work doesn't cry he's not even asked are you okay you see what i'm saying no as long as he can provide that's all that matters you know and there's a lot of cases i'm not saying that it's all the time that's what's happening but There's a lot of cases of that. A man is just seen as a provider, not as a man that can cry. Not as a man that can be vulnerable. So we're not allowed to be vulnerable as men. So we need to talk about those kind of things. We need to write about those things. And I wrote Tears of a Man because of that, because I saw the need to that. I wrote a song called That Part of Me. It is on my upcoming album. And that song is literally about a gospel. It's a gospel song that says, I miss that part of me. You know, when I used to sing gospel, when I used to worship, when I used to praise God, when I used to, you know, all the time I used to do that. I miss that part of me. So it's personal. So that's why I wrote about it.
00:32:48
Speaker 3: On YouTube, here's a message coming from Regina. And Regina says, Brian Timber, my fave, saw him performing Greatly at a wedding. He is very good. Brian, I mean, you spoke about you being spiritual. To what extent does that perhaps segment or divide your fan base? Does it affect your fan base at all?
00:33:13
Speaker 1: Your faith?
00:33:13
Speaker 2: Not necessarily.
00:33:14
Speaker 1: My faith? No, no, no, no.
00:33:16
Speaker 3: Is it because generally in South Africa, the larger population is Christians?
00:33:20
Speaker 1: Yes, it doesn't at all. It doesn't at all. And also, I'm not.
00:33:25
Speaker 1: I'm not ashamed about my Christianity. Like I put it out there. Yeah. You know, whenever I speak, I speak about it.
00:33:31
Speaker 2: Take it or leave it.
00:33:31
Speaker 1: Yeah, take it or leave it. This is who I am.
00:33:34
Speaker 6: You see?
00:33:34
Speaker 1: And I think that's another part of growth. Yeah.
00:33:37
Speaker 3: You know, Snoop Dogg says something very important about the music industry of late, especially the digital stuff.
00:33:46
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:33:47
Speaker 3: All these music platforms, how they are not doing right by musicians.
00:33:52
Speaker 8: Yeah.
00:33:52
Speaker 3: And he says that in the old days, it was very simple. You sell a million CDs, you are getting perhaps $ 1.
00:33:59
Speaker 2: From that CD. Then you've got a million bucks.
00:34:01
Speaker 1: Exactly.
00:34:02
Speaker 3: Today, there are a billion downloads of your song.
00:34:06
Speaker 1: A billion streams on Spotify.
00:34:08
Speaker 2: And then you get 5,000 rands.
00:34:11
Speaker 1: Imagine that. What do you have to say about that? One thing that I've noticed is that, yes, we put out our music because the only platforms we can do so is on, you know, your Apple Music, your, you know, your, your, YouTubes and all of those platforms. But we don't benefit from them. Financially, not so much. You see what I'm saying? Well, how we benefit is through shows. If we do shows, if we sell our merchandise, if we do all of those, that's how we benefit. But if you think you're going to benefit from the streams, you can have the highest streams, but have little money.
00:34:48
Speaker 3: And you still need infrastructure if you need to take your music out to the people.
00:34:53
Speaker 6: Exactly.
00:34:54
Speaker 1: Exactly.
00:34:55
Speaker 3: There needs to be a promoter. There needs to be promotion. There needs to be all those sorts of things in that ecosystem. A lot goes into it. Because now you have to have marketing. You have to have social media marketing. You have to, apart from the marketing that's physical, you know. And then you have to have PR. And you have to pay them. You see what I'm saying? For us, I've been in the industry for a long time. So I can't perform my songs like I did three years ago. So I need to find somebody who's going to rearrange my music. Who's going to make my sound fresh? Who's going to make my sound sound like now? You see what I'm saying?
00:35:29
Speaker 1: So that's money on its own. So being a musician is not cheap. And sometimes you might not get back what you've invested.
00:35:39
Speaker 3: And currently, who's your favorite South African musician? Who's doing it for you now?
00:35:48
Speaker 2: Here from home.
00:35:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's Java. Really? Yeah, yeah.
00:35:53
Speaker 2: The message?
00:35:53
Speaker 1: I love his craft. I love his craft. I love the way he writes. I love his originality.
00:36:00
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:36:01
Speaker 1: I think it's incredible.
00:36:02
Speaker 2: Are people going out to concerts?
00:36:04
Speaker 1: They are. And actually, Thabo, they want live concerts.
00:36:09
Speaker 7: Yeah.
00:36:10
Speaker 1: They want them.
00:36:11
Speaker 3: What's stopping us? I mean, the outlets here, Brian, Newtown, Maboning, everywhere. What's stopping us from enjoying you guys on Friday, Saturday, Sunday?
00:36:22
Speaker 2: Because Some of us don't have anywhere to go. We're like, we want live performance.
00:36:25
Speaker 1: Where do I go? You see what I mean?
00:36:26
Speaker 2: Where do I go?
00:36:27
Speaker 1: It boils down to finances as well. Promoters don't want to book you. If they book you, they want to book you with a backtrack, which is way less money, which is, um, half of, of, uh, you know, um, um, of the experience. But if I have my band, if I have everything around me, I'm going to give you a full experience. I would rather do that than do a backtrack performance.
00:36:52
Speaker 8: Hmm.
00:36:52
Speaker 1: You see what I'm saying? But also, if I'm going to, like I've been doing, I've been trying to put my own shows together. I've been trying to reach out to sponsorships to say, help me cover costs so I can pay my band, so I can pay sound, certain things. You see what I'm saying? It's hard to find sponsors to do that. It's hard to find them.
00:37:12
Speaker 2: Is the industry not open to that?
00:37:15
Speaker 1: Well, they are, but they're open to what's popular, which is my piano or something. They're going to rush to sponsor things Scorpion Kings, then they would come and sponsor you. You see what I'm saying?
00:37:26
Speaker 3: But what does it say about the quality of music then, if then it's popularity versus quality?
00:37:33
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't think our music is regulated how it needs to, in all honesty. I think it says a lot. Yes, Mabiano is popular right now. And it's international, which is great. It's a great sound. But we have way more than Mabinu in this country. And we need to showcase that. You see what I'm saying? We need to have more live shows. We need companies to invest in live shows. We need companies to invest in artists that are coming out. Artists that are already there. Invest in them. Why not? Standard Bank, and I'm calling them out. Invest in artists so that we can showcase. We have amazing talent in this country. Incredible talent. And it needs to be showcased. 15 seconds. Brian Timber fan is listening to us right now. Yes.
00:38:23
Speaker 2: What do you say to them?
00:38:25
Speaker 1: I'm going to say, please support South African music. And if you think that there's an usher, there's also a Brian Timber. There's also a press. There's also an Afrotraction. Support them. Buy their music. Stream their music. Download. We get more money if you download. And, you know, come to our shows. Book us. Promote us. Book us.
00:38:43
Speaker 2: Fantastic.
00:38:44
Speaker 3: Singer, songwriter, actor, producer, performer, and businessman. Brian Timber was my guest. Two minutes to 11.
Speaker 1: 702. Let's walk the talk.
00:00:04
Speaker 2: On 92.7 and 106 FM.
00:00:06
Speaker 3: He's collected summer and metro recognition, released albums, written and produced music, composed for film, acted on television and stage. And he said he's shared stages with some of the biggest names in the industry internationally and somehow still found time to build life beyond the spotlight. You'd remember Also, he played Simba in The Lion King in the West End to becoming a familiar face as Rantumeng Mugwena on Muvango. Brian Tamba is our guest this morning. Brian, lovely having you with us. Thanks for making time. Thanks for coming to the.
00:00:46
Speaker 2: Studio, man.
00:00:47
Speaker 1: Thank you for having me, Thabo. But the traffic in Sandton. Terrible, eh?
00:00:54
Speaker 2: We must do something about it.
00:00:57
Speaker 1: But can we do something about it? I don't think we can.
00:00:59
Speaker 2: You don't think so. I mean, I think there are opportunities.
00:01:02
Speaker 3: We must decentralize somehow and find other opportunities. But listen, man, I'm more interested in your career. Music seems to be almost suicidal as far as making money is concerned, especially in South Africa. When you take that route to become a musician, You're almost saying I'll never make money again and I'm okay with it.
00:01:26
Speaker 2: What threw you here?
00:01:28
Speaker 1: You know, that can be true, but that can be untrue. So it goes both ways. I think in my industry, what I've noticed is that sometimes you become lucky in the industry. There's a lot of people that are not talented, but are hard workers. So they make sure that their business is taken care of. And the hype, you know, they're able to create hype and all of that. And they become successful. And I can always... But now you find musicians who are talented, singers who are particularly very talented, who think I'm talented and everything should just come, you know, without me working hard. I mean, get talented. So just give me a record deal and just let me make money. And you have chance takers who think... I want to go in. Yeah. Because Casper Nioves is there.
00:02:22
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:02:22
Speaker 2: I can do this.
00:02:23
Speaker 1: I can do this.
00:02:24
Speaker 2: I can.
00:02:25
Speaker 1: And now it's worse because there's AI. AI.
00:02:29
Speaker 2: In the mix.
00:02:30
Speaker 1: You see what I'm saying? There's AI in the mix. So everybody's rushing to AI and thinking, I'm going to make a whole lot of money if I create music with AI. They don't even know what goes in.
00:02:41
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:02:41
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:02:41
Speaker 1: You see what I'm saying?
00:02:42
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:02:42
Speaker 1: And then you find people like us who have a strong following, who have a consistent following. You see what I'm saying? Because we started, I mean, I started music a long time ago.
00:02:52
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:02:53
Speaker 1: You know, when I got into the industry, it was 1998. Yeah. Yeah.
00:02:57
Speaker 2: You see what I'm saying? Back in the day.
00:02:59
Speaker 1: Back in the day. And I started with Joy Celebration. So the fan base of Joy Celebration has been consistent. You see what I'm saying? In the gospel side of things. And then I, I mean, I went into theater and all of those things overseas, came back home, did Murango, and that gave me a lot of, you know, exposure. Right. But, In 2009, there was a lot of demand for new sounds. At the time, there was Afropop. There was a lot of Afropop, Bontando. And I came in with a different sound, completely different sound, dominoes. People are thinking, who is this guy?
00:03:40
Speaker 7: Yeah.
00:03:41
Speaker 1: With dreadlocks. And his name is Brian Timber, but he doesn't sound South African.
00:03:45
Speaker 2: He doesn't.
00:03:45
Speaker 1: They don't even know that it's a boy from Soshanguve.
00:03:49
Speaker 2: Soshas.
00:03:49
Speaker 1: Mvanazosh. That's what I'm saying. So that created a lot of demand, you know, as to that sound and the different sound of what I was doing and all of those things. And I think to this day, there hasn't been somebody that sounds like me or does what I do. what I do the way I do it.
00:04:11
Speaker 3: I agree with you a hundred percent, but let's just take a few steps back.
00:04:15
Speaker 6: Yes, sir.
00:04:16
Speaker 2: Of getting to joyous celebration.
00:04:18
Speaker 3: And I'm asking that deliberately because you inspire thousands and thousands, if not tens of thousands of people around South Africa and beyond.
00:04:27
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:04:28
Speaker 2: And they would be interested in knowing how to crack it.
00:04:31
Speaker 8: Yes.
00:04:32
Speaker 2: Those young people who.
00:04:33
Speaker 3: Are gifted and they love your music and they're thinking, I've got this.
00:04:37
Speaker 2: I want this. I'm passionate about this.
00:04:38
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:04:39
Speaker 2: Cranking it. How did you get into Joya Celebration? Who called you? Were you lucky? Were you just picked? Someone heard you singing in a bus and said, Brian, come here.
00:04:48
Speaker 1: It was Vicky Villagas.
00:04:50
Speaker 2: Oh, really?
00:04:50
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:04:51
Speaker 2: The great Vicky Villagas.
00:04:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, the great Vicky Villagas. So Family Factory, which is a group that I'm part of, Family Factory used to sing our church choir albums. So Tunzi number used to produce our church choir album. So obviously Bo Vicky were part of Family Factory and they did our album. So one Sunday they came to our church. And yeah, these people were absolutely gorgeous, man. They looked beautiful. They looked good, colorful and the Eskele. And you know, they were beautiful. And I'm like, and when they opened their mouths, I mean, heaven, you know. So I'm asking these people, I don't know what made me go to them and ask, what do you guys do? Yeah. Okay. So before that, Linda, I was singing because I was one of the singers in the church and yes.
00:05:50
Speaker 2: In the choir.
00:05:50
Speaker 1: In the choir.
00:05:51
Speaker 7: Sure.
00:05:52
Speaker 1: So I was one of the good singers.
00:05:53
Speaker 2: Where's this church?
00:05:54
Speaker 1: It was in Attridgeville.
00:05:55
Speaker 8: Okay.
00:05:55
Speaker 1: It's called Conquerors Through Christ Ministries. Sure. So Linda was singing. So Vicky was looking at me. So I'm a high pitch singer, right? She was looking at me and now I'm asking these people, what's up? what do you guys do? They say, we sing and you get paid to sing. Yeah. I need to get paid because I can sing too. So can I get paid? And from that moment I was convicted and I was like, look, I wanted, this is what I want to do. And I was, I was doing business management at the time and I was just like, nah, this is what I want to do.
00:06:27
Speaker 2: How old are you?
00:06:29
Speaker 1: Ooh, I was in my teens. Um, I think I was about 17. Um, Yeah, 16, 17, somewhere there. And then, okay, we left and whatever. I told my parents, I want to go sing. I want to do this. The next year, I was going to my second year of business management. And I lied to my mom and said, there's no space in Pretoria. My brother was living in the Val at the time.
00:06:58
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:06:58
Speaker 1: And I knew he knew a lot of people in the music industry, especially the gospel industry. He knew people like Stephen Mulligan.
00:07:06
Speaker 8: Yes.
00:07:06
Speaker 1: He knew people like Vicky Villagazi. He knew everybody because he used to go to a church called Zoe.
00:07:12
Speaker 2: I know it very well. Zoe Bible Church.
00:07:14
Speaker 1: Zoe Bible Church. So he was a musical director there.
00:07:17
Speaker 5: Okay.
00:07:17
Speaker 1: So I said to my mom, yeah, let me go to Verenaheim. Maybe there's space there because there's a college there. So maybe I can go there. So I went there. I knew very well there was no space. My mind was made up that I wanted, no, I wanted music.
00:07:30
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:07:30
Speaker 1: That's, that's, that's the calling. I think I was so convicted as a young man, you know, and that surprises me to, to this day, but I'm glad I made the decisions I made.
00:07:40
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:07:41
Speaker 1: When I got to, um, Ferena King, I stayed with my brother. Vicky was looking for me. Same time. I was wanting to go into the industry.
00:07:49
Speaker 7: Yeah.
00:07:49
Speaker 1: Vicky was looking.
00:07:50
Speaker 2: How is that? I, how is that?
00:07:54
Speaker 1: I don't know. God.
00:07:56
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:07:56
Speaker 7: Yeah.
00:07:56
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:07:58
Speaker 1: Vicky gets a hold of me. We start talking and whatever, whatever. We start talking and he's like, okay, cool. I'm putting together a all-male backing vocalist. Okay. You know, and I'm like, cool. I'll be your soprano. And then the two other guys were the Giselle brothers. Oh, man.
00:08:14
Speaker 2: You're kidding me.
00:08:15
Speaker 1: I swear to you. I swear to you. You're kidding me. Giselle brothers and me were the backing singers for Vicky Villagas.
00:08:21
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:08:22
Speaker 1: You know, and I think I mentioned to Vicky Villagas that, hey, this is what I want to do. I want to join Vicky. Before that, the year before, I used to write down what I wanted to do, what I wanted to happen in my life.
00:08:33
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:08:33
Speaker 1: One of them was I wanted to sing with Family Factory.
00:08:36
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:08:36
Speaker 1: I wanted to sing with Joyous Celebration. Yeah. And I wanted to record my first album overseas.
00:08:41
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:08:41
Speaker 1: I used to write those things as a young man.
00:08:43
Speaker 4: Yes.
00:08:43
Speaker 1: Yeah. In college. Okay. Got with Vicky Villarrazi. That year, 1998, I started working with Joyous Celebration. Yeah. 1999, I started working with Family Factory. I recorded my very first album in the UK.
00:09:02
Speaker 2: That very same year?
00:09:03
Speaker 4: No.
00:09:04
Speaker 1: I recorded, yes.
00:09:05
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:09:06
Speaker 1: But all of these things I used to write down and say, this is what I wanted to happen.
00:09:11
Speaker 2: You seem to me like a very driven person.
00:09:14
Speaker 3: And I mean, combining that with a strong church background, I'm getting somewhat.
00:09:21
Speaker 2: Of a flavor of faith. Then faith, what role does faith play in your life?
00:09:27
Speaker 1: Oh, a huge role. My mom even says, she's a praying woman.
00:09:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, then you must tell her, even if she's got a faith of her, that's sufficient.
00:09:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's it.
00:09:40
Speaker 2: That's it.
00:09:41
Speaker 1: So I think my life has been led by faith. Yeah.
00:09:45
Speaker 2: Are you spiritual still?
00:09:49
Speaker 1: I don't think I'd be where I am without God.
00:09:53
Speaker 2: Are you saying to me like, I mean, really? I mean, it's so obvious.
00:09:57
Speaker 1: Look, we go through life, right?
00:09:59
Speaker 5: Sure, sure.
00:10:00
Speaker 1: And we see a lot of things or we get introduced to a lot of things. In our industry, you're easily introduced to drugs. You're easily introduced to, as a coping mechanism. You get attention from people, from women as a man. You get attention from all over the place. And that could be a drug. That could be your vice. You see what I'm saying? But now, all of those things lead to destruction. They lead to not a very good place, unfortunately. So I think also, I don't want to disappoint my mom.
00:10:34
Speaker 2: More importantly.
00:10:36
Speaker 1: More importantly. That's why I'd never do a sex scene on TV.
00:10:40
Speaker 2: Oh, come on.
00:10:43
Speaker 3: No, but what kind of an actor is that?
00:10:46
Speaker 2: You need to challenge yourself.
00:10:51
Speaker 9: Does it mean also your lyrical content is driven well by that expectation that's different okay.
00:11:02
Speaker 1: My mom is not really interested in r & b and she doesn't listen to my music she listens to the ones that she understands like this and she's a very educated woman yeah yeah but you know, older people, they want to, they want, or something like that. So she's not going to listen to other songs. I do have songs that are very, you know, R & B.
00:11:27
Speaker 2: So those you do in English, because you know, your mom is not interested in those.
00:11:31
Speaker 1: It's not a lot of them, by the way. Okay. Okay.
00:11:33
Speaker 3: Listen, I want us to speak about that shortly, especially, the dichotomy between singing in vernacular and English, because that has become such a big factor of our local music in South Africa. It's 20 minutes after 10 o'clock. My guest, Brian Timber, singer, songwriter, actor, producer, performer, and businessman. He's right here with me in the studio. I don't want to monopolize the discussion. If you'd like to say hi, you're most welcome. If you want to send a voice note, You want to ask him a question, please do so on 072-702-1702. Alternatively, you can call us directly and we can discuss things with you live on 011-883-0702.
00:12:17
Speaker 7: 011-883-0702.
00:12:17
Speaker 2: 21 after 10.
00:12:17
Speaker 4: 702.
00:12:17
Speaker 2: Let's walk the talk.
00:12:18
Speaker 1: 192.7 and 106 FM.
00:12:32
Speaker 2: Back with you again, Brian Temba.
00:12:34
Speaker 3: You know, we have to play music because I'm more interested also in the music that inspires a musician.
00:12:42
Speaker 2: Because I would assume.
00:12:43
Speaker 3: That you have a peculiar barometer of measuring music than an ordinary taboo can sing at all.
00:12:52
Speaker 2: What makes a great song?
00:12:53
Speaker 3: Other than your songs, to someone else, what makes a great song for you and say, aha.
00:12:59
Speaker 1: A catchy chorus.
00:13:00
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:13:00
Speaker 1: A very informative verse. So your verse has to say everything that you want to say. Okay. The chorus is a catchy situation where it's a sing-along. It's a very, you know, when it comes to sonics, it's just sonically viable to a normal ear. Not to me as a musician, because if I were to make music for musicians, it would be a totally different situation.
00:13:26
Speaker 4: Really?
00:13:26
Speaker 1: But if I'm making money for my audiences... They have to be catchy. They have to be listenable. They have to be relatable as well. Because you tell a story.
00:13:38
Speaker 2: Let's go to your first song.
00:13:39
Speaker 1: Yes, sir.
00:13:41
Speaker 2: What should we play for you? And what inspires that song?
00:13:46
Speaker 1: I would love Rattalaga. Why this is inspired? Rattalaga is particularly inspired by the Sutu-speaking people. When I was on TV, I was playing a Sutu-speaking gent, Rantumi. Oh, yes.
00:14:01
Speaker 3: Oh, yes.
00:14:01
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:14:02
Speaker 1: For a very long time. And that, I never used to speak Sotho in that manner, by the way. Yeah. You see what I'm saying? I never used to speak Sotho.
00:14:12
Speaker 2: No, no, no, no.
00:14:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, but when I was on Mobango, I was, I needed to know how to speak Sotho because you can't speak Sotho, the tongue gets tied. Yeah. If you're trying to speak Sotho and you're not speaking it, properly.
00:14:29
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah you see did it go for training no not even yeah.
00:14:33
Speaker 1: Not even i had to okay i'm a i'm a i'm a quick learner yeah in a way so i was pushed to learn how to speak sissotu properly yes to a point where they need to understand as a matter of fact a lot of people thought i was a sissotu really yeah they thought i was Well, which is, you know, that's a different thing altogether. But I had to learn how to speak Sotho. So when I created Rattalaka, I needed to honor the Sotho speaking people because most of the times I would record Zulu songs, Xhosa songs, or even English songs, mostly English songs. So this is my first Sotho song ever.
00:15:16
Speaker 2: That you had.
00:15:17
Speaker 6: Yes.
00:15:17
Speaker 2: And it speaks to your audience's Yeah, definitely. Let's do the magic. Definitely.
00:15:29
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:15:59
Speaker 4: Good morning.
00:16:02
Speaker 5: Good morning to my crush guy, Brian Timber. You know, he landed at the time that... As a music compiler, we were struggling to what we call Sunday music. And when his album landed, oh my God, it was a blessing to me and to other music compilers that are purely focused on the Sunday sound. That Dominos, it was given to us first on Metro FM and we played it. It was a blessing. It was the ultimate blessing.
00:16:35
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:16:36
Speaker 5: Those were the good times when You know, radio stations used to play great music.
00:16:43
Speaker 3: What are you saying about us, bro? What are you saying about us, man? But very interesting. And those times, is he referring to that 90% time?
00:16:51
Speaker 2: No, no, no. It was before that.
00:16:53
Speaker 1: Yeah, way before that. This was the times of Eddie Zondi. So Eddie Zondi was the one that actually made dominoes popular.
00:17:02
Speaker 2: The great late Eddie Zondi, right?
00:17:04
Speaker 4: Yes.
00:17:04
Speaker 3: Who is this Rato Laga that you're talking about? Was it a specific person or was it just generic?
00:17:09
Speaker 1: Not necessarily. I mean, it's a love song.
00:17:12
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:17:13
Speaker 1: And I think, well, I normally write about love more than anything. So when I wrote Rato Laga, it was from a point of, we were done with the album, by the way. Okay. We were done with the album and closing it. And I went to Lesotho and, you know, they started calling, yeah, run to me, run to me. Okay.
00:17:33
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:17:34
Speaker 1: You know. So it was that. And then we went to Aliwal North. It was the same thing. Yeah.
00:17:45
Speaker 6: Right.
00:17:45
Speaker 1: And I thought to myself, there's something that I'm not doing right. I owe Sutu speaking people a song. So when I went back home, my co-producer, I said to him, dude, we need to record a Sutu song. I know we're done. but we need to record a Souto song. And it was like, Nalo and I, we are Cosa, me and Fanintama. So Maru was a Souto.
00:18:09
Speaker 3: Yes.
00:18:09
Speaker 6: Oh, really?
00:18:10
Speaker 1: He's from Valse, Bukin. Yeah. And so we switched most of the times. That's it. And that's how we speak, me and him. And we got into studio and we wrote. Just like that? Just like that. And I wanted it to be a happy song, a love song.
00:18:35
Speaker 2: It's a beautiful song.
00:18:36
Speaker 1: Yes, I wanted it to be exciting.
00:18:41
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, it's something else. And for those who don't understand, it says, let's get married and have kids. The song goes that far, right?
00:18:54
Speaker 1: Yes, sir.
00:18:54
Speaker 2: 29 minutes to 11 o'clock.
00:18:57
Speaker 1: For more about 702, go to primemediaplus.com.
00:19:03
Speaker 3: Back with you, 23 minutes to 11 o'clock here on 702.
00:19:06
Speaker 2: My guest, Brian Tamba, and we are hanging out with him here on 702.
00:19:11
Speaker 3: Needs no introduction, great musician, singer, songwriter, actor, producer, performer, and businessman as well.
00:19:20
Speaker 2: You sent your voice notes to 0727021702. Let's hear what you have to say.
00:19:24
Speaker 7: Morning, Thabo, and morning, Brian. Thanks for a wonderful interview. Brian Temba actually has a song with my late sister, TK, called I Find It So Strange. And to this day, I still listen to the song. It's such a beautiful song. Brian, thanks for doing that song with my sister. And I'm wishing you much success and prosperity. God bless you. Positive vibrations to you. Have a lovely day, everybody. Happy Thursday.
00:19:50
Speaker 2: God bless.
00:19:50
Speaker 7: Cheers. Bye.
00:20:11
Speaker 4: In his renegade. You know, we must proudly speak. We must proudly sing in our African languages. That's how we do enhance our culture. A nation without a culture is like a tree without roots. Go follow the brother Brian.
00:20:30
Speaker 1: Keep it up.
00:20:31
Speaker 4: Continue singing in our languages. It's so cool to do so.
00:20:39
Speaker 7: Good.
00:20:40
Speaker 2: Hi, Thabo and the team. Beautiful work. Thank you.
00:20:46
Speaker 5: Whoa.
00:20:48
Speaker 2: Ranto, as Tandaza would say it.
00:20:52
Speaker 1: Too beautiful.
00:20:54
Speaker 2: You are a sheer talent.
00:20:56
Speaker 1: Whoa. Yeah.
00:20:58
Speaker 2: This was fire. Rato Laka. Yo, it's beautiful.
00:21:02
Speaker 1: Thank you.
00:21:03
Speaker 2: Thank you.
00:21:04
Speaker 1: You delivered 500%. Bongi.
00:21:09
Speaker 2: 011-883-0702.
00:21:11
Speaker 3: Brian, what does that do to you? Because when you are singing, you are sending out vibrations.
00:21:18
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:21:19
Speaker 3: And I'm assuming that there ought to be a response. And when people respond like this, what does it.
00:21:24
Speaker 1: Do to you? Oh, man. It just confirms that what I'm doing is not bad. It's actually good, you know? Yeah. It starts with me, Thabo. When I create music, because... I think I'm blessed in a way, in a sense that I create my own music. I curate what I want to say, how I want to say it.
00:21:49
Speaker 2: What comes first, the lyrics or the music?
00:21:53
Speaker 1: You'd think that because I'm a singer.
00:21:54
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:21:55
Speaker 1: I assume that. Yeah, exactly. And I would write, it's weird. I think in 2004, when we were working on my first album, my producer at the time was my mentor. So- And I've always been interested in studio and, you know, because I'm a geek, get out the computer. So I've been interested in studio and wanting to learn how to program music, how to create music. So that became a focal point. You know, I want to create music. I want to know how to. So he enforced, Jorge, it's the sounds you use. You can have a studio, you have a state of the art studio, but the sounds you use and what you say matters more.
00:22:37
Speaker 3: That's just something else I mean You've just reminded me Of a documentary I forgot the name But it's about how They came to write We are the world Yeah Lionel Richie is.
00:22:49
Speaker 1: Yes yes Michael Jackson.
00:22:51
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah yeah And is leading that documentary So he says How Michael Jackson Could not write music So it was difficult Yeah For them to put things together Yeah Because Michael Jackson Would have to send him A tape of sounds Wow Yes exactly In order to compensate for written music. But how important is it to be able to be an all-rounder in that space, to know how to write music, to know how to sing, play instruments and all of that?
00:23:23
Speaker 1: But you don't have to know everything. Look, you don't have to know everything. But you just have to have a sense of direction and know. This is what producers do. They know what they want to hear. Yes. They know where the song is going and how it needs to sound at the end. Yeah. Which is a gift on its own. I start with music, literally.
00:23:45
Speaker 5: Really?
00:23:45
Speaker 1: I start with music. We program music. Me and Fanit Lama, that's what we do. We sit in the studio. We program music until the song is almost done. You know, the music, everything, the guitar, it's all there.
00:23:55
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:23:56
Speaker 1: But what I love, what I do more than anything is that I would listen to just music. I would know what needs to go there in terms of subject matter, which is weird. It's, it's the weirdest thing. And I don't know where I get that, but I will know once I listened to a song or whatever we've created, I would know that this song needs to be a, a pinaya mama or pinaya, you know, about men or, you know, I would know just from listening to the music.
00:24:30
Speaker 2: Quite interesting. Let's, Go to John in Mamelodi. John, good morning. Thanks for calling.
00:24:35
Speaker 5: Welcome.
00:24:37
Speaker 6: How are you?
00:24:38
Speaker 2: Sharp, who's that, John?
00:24:40
Speaker 6: Sharp, sharp. You never cease to amaze me, my brother. You're sure.
00:24:44
Speaker 5: Hey, Tata.
00:24:46
Speaker 1: Brother John, how are you?
00:24:50
Speaker 6: Sharp, sharp. Look, there's a song that you have written, Daniele.
00:24:54
Speaker 5: Yes.
00:24:54
Speaker 6: Did she ever come back to you? Huh? Did she ever come back to you?
00:25:00
Speaker 1: Ah, she never came back to me. It's okay, because I'm young.
00:25:07
Speaker 6: Look, Brett, just a quick one. I am a blind trumpet, right?
00:25:13
Speaker 1: Okay.
00:25:13
Speaker 6: And often we find it difficult.
00:25:17
Speaker 2: John, you know, I don't want to lie. The line is bad.
00:25:19
Speaker 3: I'm going to ask our producers to try to get you back again so that we do justice to your call. I know you took time to call, but I want to hear every word that you have to say. So bear with me one second. Our producers will try to connect with you in a short while. Do you suffer, Brian, from comparison, whether you like it or not? But as human beings, we do compare. Brian, it's like you are D'Angelo. Brian, who do people compare you with the most?
00:25:48
Speaker 1: I think with me, it's a bit weird. Because my influences were different, with different people, ranging from gospel to R & B to, you know, to British music, to white music, if you want to call it that. But, you know, pop, pop music. Because I listened to a lot of Joe Thomas. I listened to a lot of Tevin Campbell. I listened to your D'Angelo's. I listened to your, from the gospel fraternity, your Daryl Coles, your John Peaky, Reverend John Peaky, Smokey Norfolk and all of that. They influenced, because I used to sing their songs to the Tee. To a point, when I was younger, I would actually sound like them. So all of that put together influenced who Brian Timber... They influenced Brian Timber's voice, basically, to be how it is.
00:26:39
Speaker 2: Sure.
00:26:40
Speaker 1: So, yeah, maybe... Yeah. You understand? I hear you.
00:26:43
Speaker 4: So.
00:26:43
Speaker 1: And that doesn't bother you?
00:26:44
Speaker 5: No, no, no, no, no, no.
00:26:45
Speaker 1: Not at all. There's a caller....
00:26:56
Speaker 3: Let's hear what they have to say. They're on the line now and they want to say hi to you.
00:27:02
Speaker 2: Good morning.
00:27:03
Speaker 1: Hello.
00:27:05
Speaker 8: How are you?
00:27:05
Speaker 2: I'm free. How are you?
00:27:09
Speaker 8: I'm good. Thank you. It's anonymous and it will be anonymous to Brian as well. I don't know if you recognize me.
00:27:14
Speaker 5: That's it.
00:27:15
Speaker 1: I get the voice.
00:27:19
Speaker 2: So you don't have to be anonymous anymore.
00:27:21
Speaker 1: No, I get the verse, but it's okay.
00:27:22
Speaker 8: I was going to tell you, you messed it up the other day when you said anonymous from.
00:27:30
Speaker 1: I remember.
00:27:30
Speaker 2: I'm so sorry. I'm still embarrassed. I'm still embarrassed.
00:27:34
Speaker 8: I forgive you.
00:27:35
Speaker 4: I forgive you.
00:27:36
Speaker 8: So Brian, it is anonymous. I think you know who anonymous is.
00:27:39
Speaker 5: I do.
00:27:40
Speaker 1: I do.
00:27:40
Speaker 6: Yes.
00:27:40
Speaker 1: Hi, anonymous.
00:27:43
Speaker 8: I just want to say, you know, there's certain things that people don't know about Brian and which he's very, very humble about. And this is very close to my heart. Because when I started, when I partnered with an organization in the U.S. where we provide menstrual cups for young girls in and around Africa and the U.S., FDA approved everything. It was a bit of a struggle to, because I called, because we needed some partners on the ground that were quite influential, like influencer celebrities.
00:28:08
Speaker 4: Hmm.
00:28:08
Speaker 8: There's some that I called that were like, how much am I getting? You know the call with Brian. He did not even ask. He said to me, I'm in.
00:28:16
Speaker 1: That is exactly, yes.
00:28:19
Speaker 8: And I think the reason I picked Brian, there's no, I want to be skinny. You know, there's even, you know what I'm saying? It's because we wanted to partner with someone with integrity, someone who could be trusted with the brand. And Brian came on board. And every time I was in, like, he knows I'm all over the place. If I was coming to South Africa, we've got a concert, we're doing this, we're doing that. And we're doing a charity, then Brian would, sure as anything, always pitch up. He shows up. You know, and he's been doing this with us for years. He's our partner with Kudu Menstrual Cups.
00:28:51
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:28:52
Speaker 8: And doing amazing, amazing work. And he's doing it from the heart. That's one thing I just need to put out there. He hasn't asked for publicity for it or anything like that. So I want to say, my friend, you are an amazing human being. I think I've known Brian for like 20 years plus.
00:29:07
Speaker 2: My goodness me. That's been long.
00:29:10
Speaker 3: Listen, Anonymous, I hope that one day you'll be blessed with a name that you'd want to share with.
00:29:15
Speaker 2: Us on the radio.
00:29:16
Speaker 8: Brian can say who Anonymous is.
00:29:19
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:29:20
Speaker 1: My friend Kimpo. And she's overseas right now.
00:29:24
Speaker 4: Oh, Mpo.
00:29:24
Speaker 2: Eventually we get to know your name.
00:29:26
Speaker 1: So thank you for calling my friend.
00:29:27
Speaker 2: Really appreciate it. Mpo, shup, shup. All the best.
00:29:31
Speaker 3: Really appreciate it. 13 minutes to 11 o'clock. We're back with Brian timber.
00:29:35
Speaker 1: 702 let's walk the.
00:29:40
Speaker 2: Talk 192.7 and 106 fm.
00:29:44
Speaker 3: I'm with brian timber in the studio my name is tavo shola mashal in for clement happy for you to join us feel free to send uh those voice notes through to 072 702 1702 brian i mean some of the greatest uh musicians to have uh ever graced our planet. Tony Hathaway is one of them. And he just said that when he wrote the song, someday we'll all be free.
00:30:08
Speaker 2: He was alone.
00:30:09
Speaker 3: And he was writing like you with someone, a producer. But he went alone to the studio and he called the producer to say, this is the music that I've put together. And when the producer was there, he then put the words to the song. And he started crying for hours on end. And I'm just wondering, to what extent is music spiritual?
00:30:29
Speaker 1: Oh, my God. I cannot think of a time when music isn't spiritual unless you want to do it for commercial purposes and you just want to make money and all of those things. For me, it's always been spiritual. It's always been a journey. It's always about something. You know, it can never be just music and I want to make money.
00:30:53
Speaker 3: Are we there yet in South Africa for the musicians, for those who are like you?
00:30:58
Speaker 6: Some.
00:30:59
Speaker 1: Some. Not all of us.
00:31:01
Speaker 2: What needs to happen?
00:31:04
Speaker 1: Maybe we need to bring back real singers and real writers who write from a point of poetry or who write from a point of, you know, like there's a need for men to be heard right now. That's a pandemic that we need. We need to solve in our community. And the young boys that we need to talk to and all of that, um there's a need for that we need to write about that we need to write there's a song that i've written it's called tears of a man you know it's it's not going to come out on this album as yet but when i wrote it it's it's it's it's that thing of a man goes to work doesn't cry he's not even asked are you okay you see what i'm saying no as long as he can provide that's all that matters you know and there's a lot of cases i'm not saying that it's all the time that's what's happening but There's a lot of cases of that. A man is just seen as a provider, not as a man that can cry. Not as a man that can be vulnerable. So we're not allowed to be vulnerable as men. So we need to talk about those kind of things. We need to write about those things. And I wrote Tears of a Man because of that, because I saw the need to that. I wrote a song called That Part of Me. It is on my upcoming album. And that song is literally about a gospel. It's a gospel song that says, I miss that part of me. You know, when I used to sing gospel, when I used to worship, when I used to praise God, when I used to, you know, all the time I used to do that. I miss that part of me. So it's personal. So that's why I wrote about it.
00:32:48
Speaker 3: On YouTube, here's a message coming from Regina. And Regina says, Brian Timber, my fave, saw him performing Greatly at a wedding. He is very good. Brian, I mean, you spoke about you being spiritual. To what extent does that perhaps segment or divide your fan base? Does it affect your fan base at all?
00:33:13
Speaker 1: Your faith?
00:33:13
Speaker 2: Not necessarily.
00:33:14
Speaker 1: My faith? No, no, no, no.
00:33:16
Speaker 3: Is it because generally in South Africa, the larger population is Christians?
00:33:20
Speaker 1: Yes, it doesn't at all. It doesn't at all. And also, I'm not.
00:33:25
Speaker 1: I'm not ashamed about my Christianity. Like I put it out there. Yeah. You know, whenever I speak, I speak about it.
00:33:31
Speaker 2: Take it or leave it.
00:33:31
Speaker 1: Yeah, take it or leave it. This is who I am.
00:33:34
Speaker 6: You see?
00:33:34
Speaker 1: And I think that's another part of growth. Yeah.
00:33:37
Speaker 3: You know, Snoop Dogg says something very important about the music industry of late, especially the digital stuff.
00:33:46
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:33:47
Speaker 3: All these music platforms, how they are not doing right by musicians.
00:33:52
Speaker 8: Yeah.
00:33:52
Speaker 3: And he says that in the old days, it was very simple. You sell a million CDs, you are getting perhaps $ 1.
00:33:59
Speaker 2: From that CD. Then you've got a million bucks.
00:34:01
Speaker 1: Exactly.
00:34:02
Speaker 3: Today, there are a billion downloads of your song.
00:34:06
Speaker 1: A billion streams on Spotify.
00:34:08
Speaker 2: And then you get 5,000 rands.
00:34:11
Speaker 1: Imagine that. What do you have to say about that? One thing that I've noticed is that, yes, we put out our music because the only platforms we can do so is on, you know, your Apple Music, your, you know, your, your, YouTubes and all of those platforms. But we don't benefit from them. Financially, not so much. You see what I'm saying? Well, how we benefit is through shows. If we do shows, if we sell our merchandise, if we do all of those, that's how we benefit. But if you think you're going to benefit from the streams, you can have the highest streams, but have little money.
00:34:48
Speaker 3: And you still need infrastructure if you need to take your music out to the people.
00:34:53
Speaker 6: Exactly.
00:34:54
Speaker 1: Exactly.
00:34:55
Speaker 3: There needs to be a promoter. There needs to be promotion. There needs to be all those sorts of things in that ecosystem. A lot goes into it. Because now you have to have marketing. You have to have social media marketing. You have to, apart from the marketing that's physical, you know. And then you have to have PR. And you have to pay them. You see what I'm saying? For us, I've been in the industry for a long time. So I can't perform my songs like I did three years ago. So I need to find somebody who's going to rearrange my music. Who's going to make my sound fresh? Who's going to make my sound sound like now? You see what I'm saying?
00:35:29
Speaker 1: So that's money on its own. So being a musician is not cheap. And sometimes you might not get back what you've invested.
00:35:39
Speaker 3: And currently, who's your favorite South African musician? Who's doing it for you now?
00:35:48
Speaker 2: Here from home.
00:35:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's Java. Really? Yeah, yeah.
00:35:53
Speaker 2: The message?
00:35:53
Speaker 1: I love his craft. I love his craft. I love the way he writes. I love his originality.
00:36:00
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:36:01
Speaker 1: I think it's incredible.
00:36:02
Speaker 2: Are people going out to concerts?
00:36:04
Speaker 1: They are. And actually, Thabo, they want live concerts.
00:36:09
Speaker 7: Yeah.
00:36:10
Speaker 1: They want them.
00:36:11
Speaker 3: What's stopping us? I mean, the outlets here, Brian, Newtown, Maboning, everywhere. What's stopping us from enjoying you guys on Friday, Saturday, Sunday?
00:36:22
Speaker 2: Because Some of us don't have anywhere to go. We're like, we want live performance.
00:36:25
Speaker 1: Where do I go? You see what I mean?
00:36:26
Speaker 2: Where do I go?
00:36:27
Speaker 1: It boils down to finances as well. Promoters don't want to book you. If they book you, they want to book you with a backtrack, which is way less money, which is, um, half of, of, uh, you know, um, um, of the experience. But if I have my band, if I have everything around me, I'm going to give you a full experience. I would rather do that than do a backtrack performance.
00:36:52
Speaker 8: Hmm.
00:36:52
Speaker 1: You see what I'm saying? But also, if I'm going to, like I've been doing, I've been trying to put my own shows together. I've been trying to reach out to sponsorships to say, help me cover costs so I can pay my band, so I can pay sound, certain things. You see what I'm saying? It's hard to find sponsors to do that. It's hard to find them.
00:37:12
Speaker 2: Is the industry not open to that?
00:37:15
Speaker 1: Well, they are, but they're open to what's popular, which is my piano or something. They're going to rush to sponsor things Scorpion Kings, then they would come and sponsor you. You see what I'm saying?
00:37:26
Speaker 3: But what does it say about the quality of music then, if then it's popularity versus quality?
00:37:33
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't think our music is regulated how it needs to, in all honesty. I think it says a lot. Yes, Mabiano is popular right now. And it's international, which is great. It's a great sound. But we have way more than Mabinu in this country. And we need to showcase that. You see what I'm saying? We need to have more live shows. We need companies to invest in live shows. We need companies to invest in artists that are coming out. Artists that are already there. Invest in them. Why not? Standard Bank, and I'm calling them out. Invest in artists so that we can showcase. We have amazing talent in this country. Incredible talent. And it needs to be showcased. 15 seconds. Brian Timber fan is listening to us right now. Yes.
00:38:23
Speaker 2: What do you say to them?
00:38:25
Speaker 1: I'm going to say, please support South African music. And if you think that there's an usher, there's also a Brian Timber. There's also a press. There's also an Afrotraction. Support them. Buy their music. Stream their music. Download. We get more money if you download. And, you know, come to our shows. Book us. Promote us. Book us.
00:38:43
Speaker 2: Fantastic.
00:38:44
Speaker 3: Singer, songwriter, actor, producer, performer, and businessman. Brian Timber was my guest. Two minutes to 11.
