Red Bull Amaphiko Festival 2019

Music 24 Jun 2019

For the whole of last week, Red Bull took over the KZN Music House which is in Greyville Durban. For the whole week, it became like a pop up of the Cape Town Red Bull studios. A select group of Durban musicians were invited to make use of the 35 million rands studio facilities that have been closed down for a number of years.

The music house consisted of about four to five studios, which also includes a mastering suite. I only managed to make my way there on Thursday morning. I then linked up with Durban producer U. Beyond and rapper Robin Thirdfloor in Studio 3 (I’ve been trying to get them in the studio together for a while now) where they recorded a song in under 20 minutes and that was just the first song.

Robin Thirdfloor Recording In Studio 3 With U.Beyond

In Studio 2, singer and producer Mnqobi Yazo was holding down the fort where he was recording nonstop. This opened up an opportunity for genre-crossing and endless collaboration. While Garde had a residence in Studio 1. By Saturday you had songs which had consisted of Camp Masters, Robin Thirdfloor and Mnqobi Yazo. Some with Easy Freak, DJ LeSoul and many more.

Mqobi Yazo In Studio 2

The songwriting camp really showed how awesome the indie wave is in Durban, all of a sudden the city just became a factory of alternative. The whole experience was capped off by a listening session. Some of the songs will be taken to put together a compilation extended play under Red Bull.

The festival ended with a free show which consisted of dancers, a live performance from Madala Kunene Mnqobi Yazo, Nasty C and DJ Zinhle. An all KZN line up to wrap up an awesome initiative.