The Soil is bringing fire to the Lyric

Founded in 2003, the The Soil delivers harmonious songs that have captured the souls of music lovers in South Africa and abroad. ‘Suzan’, ‘Joy (We Are Family)’, ‘Sunday’ and ‘Sedilaka’ are among the songs that have earned The Soil a solid place in the music industry.

Fresh from an East Africa tour, the group is a forerunner of a South African style of music that is both classic and contemporary. The Soil’s lyrical prowess attests to the members' ability to adapt and collaborate with musicians from different generations and music genres. The group has collaborated with top hip hop artists Khuli Chana and Kwesta as well as multiple Grammy winners Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

Armed with three beautiful voices and local jazz for inspiration, the trio is set to grace the Lyric Theatre in Johannesburg on Saturday. The Soil will join fellow South Africans Freshlyground in a performance of their latest collaborative song ‘Mna Nalamagenge’.

Music In Africa caught up with The Soil member Luphindo Ngxanga ahead of the Lyric Theatre show.  

MUSIC IN AFRICA: You will be performing with one of South Africa’s best Afro-pop bands, Freshlyground, at the Lyric Theatre. How do you feel about this?

LUPHINDO NGXANGA: We are very excited and it’s a wonderful feeling. Earlier this year we received a call from Freshlyground’s Zolani Mahola asking us to do a song together. It’s a dream come true. The band is big and these guys have been around the world. We recorded a song together and it sounds amazing and beautiful. The event on its own is going to be epic, people will like the show and we will bring fire to the show. It’s going to be mad on stage.

Are you proud to be a South African artist?

It’s the best thing in life to be a South African artist. It’s a favour because most people listen to your music. We do this music for people and if they love it, then it’s a bonus. It’s like spreading love through songs.

What's it like making music with Samthing Soweto out of the picture?

It honestly impacted on us when he moved out of the band. But we had to man up, stand up and walk. The departure wasn’t even about beef between us and him. He decided to leave and started another group called The Fridge but later went solo. He has our blessings, man. Trust us, we started this whole thing together. It was a bit hard but after his departure we had to move on. We started making more music, we told ourselves that we could do this and we didn’t replace him. God is great, He is the one that gave us power to keep going.

Would you hire someone if you realise they are fit to join the group?

I have to be honest with you [laughs]. We don’t see anyone joining. We can work with someone but joining the group, I don’t think so. We are good like this.

You went on your first East African tour recently. How was that experience for you?

It felt like home, we felt like we were in another part of South Africa. Cultures are different, yes, but I loved the food. The people are good and cheerful. What I liked was that we have a whole lot of fans who we didn’t know of. They came to the show and I think the show was sold out.

Your group has released three albums so far. Take us through the method of compiling an album.

The group started in 2004 and we had something like 500 songs. It’s generally tricky when it comes to making an album because everyone decides what songs should be on an album. But we all decide which ones are appropriate to go on this and that album. We also have themes. So when we choose a theme, we select songs that go hand in hand with that particular theme. We always work together when compiling an album. We started making songs in high school so we even choose songs that we made long back.

How do you know it's the right time to release an album?

We take our time, we relax. We don’t pressurise ourselves when it comes to the production of an album. This helps because we can tell this album was properly done. For example, if we release an album this year, we don’t release the following year. This helps to give our fans enough time to digest our music.

What was it like working with Khuli Chana and Ladysmith Black Mambazo?

In songs like ‘Suzan’, we pictured Khuli Chana. We thought of him because he is very creative, he is a motswako originator and we wanted that African element of Tswana next to Xhosa. We choose very well. Even the ‘Hamba Uyosebenza (Go Work)’ song that we did with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, we thought we should feature them because Ladysmith Black Mambazo are different.

Are you happy about the South African music industry?

The only one concern I have is that all radio stations should be proudly South African. For example, on Sunday we have R&B music being played by most radio stations in the country but we have plenty of Afro-soul music in South Africa. We have the music in South Africa but you hardly hear this music played. It would be nice if radio stations can be proudly South African.

Are you doing anything to groom upcoming artists?

Yes we are. We do workshops and I personally mentor other artists. We try as much as we can to promote these young artists. My advice to young artists is that they need to learn more about the music industry. They should not get themselves into companies that take away everything they have. They should make music for the right reasons.

Any planned surprises for the Lyric Theatre show?

We have a new single called ‘Korobela’, we are going to sing it. We will perform the ‘Mna Nalamagenge’ song with Freshlyground and some more old-school music that people love to listen to. It’s going to be fire and people should bring the energy.

Tickets to Saturday's Lyric Theatre concert are available via Computicket.