The soulful Simmy is back.
Simphiwe Nhlangulela, better known as Simmy, is back in the spotlight with the announcement of her inclusion as one of the headliners in the Bassline Festival alongside popular artists including DBN Gogo, Afrotronix, Sjava and more.
The festival is set to take place on Saturday 20 May 2023 and, partnered with the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, it aims to celebrate Africa Day and the talented creatives birthed across the continent.
TRUELOVE caught up with Simmy about her upcoming performance and more.
“It’s crazy because I had seen the other two artists uSjava noDBN Gogo [on the lineup] like for quite a while and I really wasn’t expecting to be part of the line-up but usually it’s just a booking comes in. Like, I think with the Bassline team it’s sort of like a friend of friends but it’s people that I’ve worked with before. But yeah, the invitation, I was not ready for that. I was not expecting that so when I got the call and the booking was confirmed it was really an amazing thing for me, especially just being part of that line-up and being part of the actual festival. It’s my first time, so it’s really something cool for me.”
To be held at the same caliber as juggernaut acts like DBN Gogo was affirming for Simmy and she is excited to represent the music from her childhood and hometown, Tugela Ferry, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).
“I’m a Zulu girl from KZN so I’ll be there representing Zulu girls in dance music, which is a major thing for me and … on Africa Day so I think it’s really really amazing for me because Sjava will be there with Afro-pop and Afro-soul and DBN Gogo represents the piano side of KZN and then I come with the dance music and the electronic music and the soul. So, it’s really really cool to be a part of that.”
Simmy is ready to bring her distinct electronic and dance music to the festival and she credits DJ and producer Sun-EL Musician as the catalyst that pushed her to develop her unique sound.
“I met with Sun-EL Musician, we connected when I moved here in Johannesburg through his younger brother. So, when I first started, he was working on his projects and the sound that he was kind of creating, as you know, was that electronic, soulful, dance music sound and it was something I had never done before.
“Being introduced in the scene and working with him while he was kind of putting together that sound, I think it just sort of automatically worked because previously I would say that I was a neo-folk or neo-soul person and I loved more R&B and whatnot, but I would’ve never imagined myself as a dance artist. But then with him and taking the vocal and putting them together with his music, it made sense, and it brought in this new sound and it kind of just made sense and that’s how I really became a dance electronic music vocalist. It was really just something that was not planned but I really just loved what he was doing … little did we know that we were just coming up and creating this new fresh sound and then I got to be a part of that and be one of the faces for that sound in particular.”
READ MORE | 5 minutes with Afro-House singer and songwriter Simmy
Simmy has released two albums to date, releasing her debut album Tugela Fairy in 2018 followed by her sophomore album Tugela Fairy (Made of Stars) released in 2020 while the country was still reeling from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
She describes the transition between her two albums as showcasing her growth while staying true to herself.
“Simmy was sort of just built while the [first] album was being created. It’s not that it came to me and then I recorded an album, no. That whole first album was literally me finding myself and getting the word out there and people loved it. Then the second album, it was just a continuation of okay, this is who Simmy is. Still a girl from Tugela Ferry and, you know, still more stories to tell but now what was crazy was it was during a very weird time … because it was at a time where piano was coming in coming in hard and I think a lot of us were just like ‘oh shucks, okay, everything is changing’ but I still was just comfortable and brave enough to release the stories that I released and I was like ‘no, this is what I still have to offer’.”
She explains, “I feel like it was just good for me because it was at a time where people needed to hear the message that we can hold on, we can pull through and we really did … I was really hands on in terms of just learning production-wise and not just vocals and whatnot, so I was really just more hands on with everything and knowing kind of exactly what I wanted or what direction I wanted the album to take.”
Simmy cites legendary artists like Brenda Fassie and Dolly Parton as her inspirations and she explains that they have taught her lessons that she not only applies to her music, but throughout her life.
“I grew up listening to Brenda Fassie and Dolly Parton, a lot of maskandi … but what I just also drew from them, especially Dolly, it’s the lessons. When I came into the industry I was very, maybe insecure and just young and clueless … it’s a very tough industry but what Dolly Parton once said was don’t be afraid to be the fool and just take a lesson from certain things and I guess I used that along the way where I made mistakes and I try something and then it sort of doesn’t work and I would just take my L and be like, it’s okay.”
She goes on to explain how growing up listening to Brenda Fassie’s ageless music inspired her to pursue that level of creating music that will be enjoyed years to come.
“I really want to be timeless with my music. I would like to always create classics and besides the classics though I just also want to be real and not really now do it for – I’m not saying I go into studio planning to make hits, but I just always plan to be timeless with my music,” she says.
The festival is not the only thing Simmy fans can look forward to. The 28-year-old songbird is set to release an album later in 2023 as a conclusion to the Tugela Fairy story and plans to venture more into the world of production.
“I’m releasing a third album this year. It is sort of just a final chapter to Tugela Fairy now telling the stories of the Tugela Fairy in Johannesburg. I feel like, compared to the first Simmy, I’m clued up now, you know, eGoli ngebentshele. I’m just like okay now relax, I know the trick that you’re trying to pull. Still inspirational, still soulful but very fresh. I always just try to be brave enough to introduce something new to people.
“I’m really just steering into more production now, learning to mix my own vocals and I’m already recording myself. I think future plans are just also now venturing out more into production and seeing what I can actually do besides just being a vocalist.”
