The Rhythm Sessions tell us how they found their groove [Interview]
Step into the Rhythm Sessions.
DJs Edsoul and Fang DaRhythm found each other while working on radio at Kaya FM where they found their musical bond.
After tinkering with music production they made an album in 2017 called Music is Love.
Now fully immersed in the music side of things, they have a new single out called Love is the Way, which features Nutown Soul.
This house music duo is full of life, and have a passion that makes their music soar.
Check out for their event, ‘House of Love’ which carries through their positive message of music and love reigning supreme.
Then one Saturday morning we log onto Facebook and Boom!!! There’s a video of Louie Vega playing our song at a festival called KappaFutur Festival…”
The Rhythm Sessions comprises of Edgar ‘EdSoul’ Mfaba and Hlalefanga ‘Fang DaRhythm’ Nomganga. You both started out in radio at Kaya FM in 2009. At what point did working together bloom into a musical kinship?
The Rhythm Sessions: We’d say around 2011 we just felt that we were a much more powerful unit together then we were deejaying solo.
You both originally studied radio instead of going straight for music. Though it had a section in the theory of sound engineering do you think you would have started creating music earlier had you studied music initially?
The Rhythm Sessions: Yes we probably would have but you know what they say, everything happens for a reason right so in our journey in radio we have been able to solidify some relationships that have made it possible for us to give birth to our music career.
Having a track remixed by a major artist (Grammy award-winning) like Louie Vega must have been such a thrill. How did it come about; did Louie get in contact with you and what did he say about the track?
The Rhythm Sessions: That was a huge honour for us having one of our first remixes being done by an idol/mentor that we look up to; we still can’t believe it ‘til this day. How it happened was we reached out to him, told him we have a track that we have produced, he told us to send through the separates. We didn’t hear back from him for a few days. Then one Saturday morning we log onto Facebook and Boom!!! There’s a video of Louie Vega playing our song at a festival called KappaFutur Festival that happens in Torin every year. In the video we could pick up it wasn’t our version of the song, so picture this “you see David Morales, Tony Humphries and Louie Vega aka the 3 Kings of House going crazy in the deejay booth and the song going in”. We were just blown away when we saw that.”
The Rhythm Sessions debut album, Music is Love, came out in 2017. How did it feel going from radio to producing to bashing out an album which was received well, touring and playing your music to your fans? Many people may feel that music is love, but you are living it.
The Rhythm Sessions: It felt great playing out a project that we had spent about a 1.5yrs working on, just seeing people belting out their favourite songs when we played them out was magical, it keeps us going to see how we put smiles on people’s faces and make them happy; in that moment you forget about anything bad that’s happening in your life and world. Yes we do hey, what would the world be without music it keeps us sane, picks us up when we think this music game is tough.
You have a new single out now on all digital platforms called Love is the Way. And your 2017 album is called Music is Love. I love these positive themes! The single features NuTown Soul and you will be hosting a Single Launch event on Saturday, 28 July at Icon in Soweto (this Is not happening anymore). What can fans look forward to regarding a line-up and the celebration of music (specifically your new release)?
The Rhythm Sessions: We’re currently working on a new event called “House of Love” this is where we will be showcasing some of the artists we have on the album like Oscar, Wanda Baloyi, Teejay just to name a few, plus NuTown Soul will be performing our current single out now on all digital platforms”Love is The Way” Live for the very first time. We’ll also be joined by some of our close DJ friends such as Alpha and Olmega, DJ Kanunu, DJ Christos, etc. The event will happen at The Venue in Melrose Arch on the 27th Oct 2018.
Who does what regarding production, or do you both do a bit of everything? Do you ever bump heads when it comes to a creative idea for a track?
The Rhythm Sessions: When we’re in studio we normally have the skeleton of the track down already, so we start in studio with our brothers Alpha and Olmega by laying down the skeleton beat ideas etc. then we spend time with our piano sessionist Loyiso (he is amazing), we lay down music ideas with him, tell him how we want each sound played etc. Of course sometimes we do bump heads but we always reach a middle ground.
You are the only artists in SA who DJ using an Isolator. What do you love most about this piece of gear?
The Rhythm Sessions: We love them, they give you the ability to manipulate certain frequencies in a song, you’re able to bring out the nice parts, low frequencies, high frequencies, the vocal parts… it’s amazing!! You should come see us play LIVE at “House of Love” on the 27TH Oct at the Venue Melrose to witness it for yourself.
What are you looking forward to most in this coming year and are there any announcements you would like to make regarding future projects, shows or anything else that’s exciting you at the moment?
The Rhythm Sessions: Yeah!! First of all please go check out our album ‘Music is Love’ which is currently out on all digital music platforms, also get a copy of our song ‘Love is The Way’ ft Nutown Soul. We’re working on our brand new event “House of Love” as mentioned; you should definitely check that out, tickets will be going sale soon on quicket.co.za. Then the rest of the year we’ll be spinning at a couple of shows here & there plus a couple of remixes will be dropping on our label The Rhythm Imprints, those remixes will be from our album Music is Love.
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