Contemporary Vibrations of Xhosa Traditions

Show notes

Our third season centers South African Sound Cultures and is curated by our main host Dr. Layla Zami. In this episode, she is in conversation with multi-instrumentalist and composer Sky Dladla. Dladla speaks of her love for Indigenous Xhosa instruments, the intersection of traditional and contemporary performance culture, and her collaboration with artists such as Zolani Mahola. Recorded at Blueprint Studios in Johannesburg.

In conversation with

Sky Dladla

Sky Dladla is an African instrumentalist, a percussionist, songwriter, singer, and indigenous instrument maker born in Gugulethu, Cape Town. Picking up late on musical education, she eventually studied African Music Performance and Instruments at the University of Cape Town. Today, Sky Dladla is a multi-instrumentalist, engaging with various African instruments and sound cultures over time. She cares about the maintenance of instruments and instrumental traditions, offering workshops and lessons. Having a particular interest in the art and tradition of marimba playing, in 2010, she founded the marimba group “BlackRoots Marimbas.” The group has performed in several places in Johannesburg and Cape Town and was awarded with the Western Cape Award of the “Promotion of indigenous Art Forms” in 2013/2014. The group combines traditional instruments like the Mbira, the uMakhweyana, or the uHadi with electric guitar sounds. They categorize themselves as “Neo-traditional Indie.”Sky Dladla has learned and worked with other acclaimed artists such as mam’Bavikile Ngema, Matchume Zango, or Zolani Mahola and The Feminine Force. In 2016, she performed on the Global Music Camp (GLUMUS) in Natal, Brazil.

Website
Instagram
SoundCloud
Spotify
Youtube (Sky Dladla & band performing her song Ifele)

References
Instruments
uHadi – a bow instrument that is beaten or pinched with a stick (more info)
uMrhubhe – a bow instrument that requires the performer's mouth as a resonator (more info)
Mbira – a thumb-piano assambling tuned metal strips (more info)
Marimba – a xylophone-like instrument
Mtshingo – a long, thin pipe originally made from sea weed
Artists
Zolani Mahola, The One Who Sings and The Feminine Force

Credits
Sounds
(1) Nkosi, nkosi yiba nenceba (Lost, Lord have mercy). Catholic hymn, accompanied by marimba and drums. Field recording, date unspecified. Courtesy of International Library of African Music, Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa. (full credits)
(2) Ifele - composer, uHadi bow, vocals: Sky Dladla; additional vocals: Lutho Mzongwana; bass guitar: Grant van Rooyen) - 2018
(3) Malilela imango ingasiyo yabo. Performed by Annie Macholweni (uHadi bow, vocals), recorded in the Eastern Cape, date unspecified. Courtesy of International Library of African Music, Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa. (full credits)
(4) Improvisation by Sky Dladla (nyunga nyunga mbira) and Layla Zami (saxophone), recorded Live during the podcast session at Blueprint Studio in Johannesburg, Aug 2023.
Visual
Podcast Episode Cover: Sky Dladla, Photo by Layla Zami, 2023

Podcast Info
Concept
Dr. Layla Zami, Postdoctoral Researcher in Performance Studies
Producer
Freie Universität Berlin, Collaborative Research Center Intervening Arts
(SFB 1512 Intervenierende Künste, TP B05)
Funded by
German Research Society (DFG)
In Cooperation with
FU Berlin, Institut für Theaterwissenschaft
Eufoniker Audioproduktion