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VINNY DA VINCI: VENI, VIDI… VICI!!!
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The much talked about globalization isn’t just about negative F-X. One of the most brilliant examples being given by the boiling hot South African house scene speaking of which a feature here on IDMW.Com was only a matter of time. We’ve ended up catching for our greatest pleasure with one of its most charismatic activists by the likes of DJ/producer/compiler and member of the House Afrika posse, Vinny Da Vincy right on the heels of the release of the 5th installment of his Deep House Sounds series...
Yaow Vinny. A pleasure welcomin’ you on board ol’ friend. How have you been since last time we met in 2005 at the WMC???
Yeah man, long time indeed. It's all been good. Been working hard in the clubs in South Africa and around the world, and doing a bit of studio work as well. Myself and long time partner Christos (collectively known as DJ's At Work) have released our 5th album late in 2006.
A few words about this moniker of yours somehow sounding… Italian, right?
Yes. A lot of people who don't know me even think I'm white (LOL)... But yeah, I got it from a friend long before I was a DJ. I changed it to Leonardo Da Vinci when I started spinning (which quite never worked as a matter of fact). Then, somebody suggested that I use my name rather (Vinny short for Vincent), which worked automatically. Cool name though, don't you think???
Let us first know about who you are as an introduction…
Vinny is just a simple guy who grew up loving music, because there was always music playing at my house. My family has always been collecting vinyls from as far as I can remember. All the old jazz, soul, reggae, disco... That was the order of the day at home.
What about your B.O.P. guise. Still in activity? Any project in the pipeline?
I'm not part of B.O.P actually, but they are my friends and we have worked together on some of their studio projects. As far as I know, they'll be releasing their album this year because they haven't done so for a while now and they are huge here in South Africa. You'll also remember that they had a couple of their singles out on MAW Records a couple of years ago which did very well worldwide.
I met you first in Miami with some of your pals. What has brought you there?
Yes and B.O.P. was there as well. Basically for us, it was a 'go and check what's up with this WMC'. Louie Vega who came here in South Africa had also mentioned it to us as well and said that should we wanna grow the scene here, we need to go see what's going on in Miami. That sort of opened our eyes as to what the dance scene is all about.
Has this had an impact on the progressive recognition of your scene on an international point of view?
Oh yes, definitely. I mean after our first experience of the WMC, things just got better and better. We've now got a lot of international recognition and a number of international DJ’s and producers wanna come here all the time. The culture is growing at a rapid pace and one major factor is that house music is huge here.
As far as house music is concerned, South Africa is far from being the very first country we would ever think of. How and where did it start over there? One word about the local pioneers and activists…
Back in the 80's there was a big disco movement. There were clubs around but they weren't as big. If one wanted to hear all the latest records, we had venues that were called shebeens (which is basically someone's house turned in to a mini club/bar). All you'd have in those places would be a makeshift bar and a sound system. A lot of them were competing about who's got the best sound system and who's got the latest records. The fact that most of these venues were in the townships (and at the time Apartheid was at its height) made it a bit difficult to trade because the police would raid them all the time. Then the disco era changed to this new thing called house and it caught on like wild fire at these venues and to most people that were in the know. I mean DJing wasn't big then. They'd just record their records onto tapes and play them. As for me, I had a group of like minded friends who liked music. As soon as we heard this new thing called house, we were so fascinated by it that we even started collecting our own, just for listening pleasure. Which meant that every weekend we'd meet and just listen to music all the time. Sometimes maybe throw parties just for the fun of it. Then I think in the mid 80's one radio station (5FM) had a 30 min house show, which didn't last long. The then odd DJ’s on other stations tried it as well, but the programmers didn't really get it. So basically you could only listen to house at the shebeens or clubs.
Looks like you’re pretty much linked altogether.
I started DJing mainly at school functions and my first experience of playing in a club was in the late 80's (1989) and have never looked back.
Haven’t you felt somehow isolated from a strictly African perspective?
Well, I'd say yes and no. Yes because of the Apartheid regime and no because there was no scene then. We didn't know anything about the dance scene until the late 80's...
Been reported about the existence of a strong support from the local crowd by DJ’s such as Franck Roger, DJ Gregory and others. How d’you explain this, as compared to other genres such as hip-hop, R&B, not to mention the countless forms of African music?
Yes that's true. Like I mentioned before, house music is huge. Here's an example. Through House Afrika, we've released a compilation late in the 90's that sold over 150,000 copies to date. The emergence of YFM (www.yworld.co.za) in 1997/8 has revolutionized the scene. I mean they’ve had an impact on the market. They started playlisting house records in daytime programming. For the youth, house was somehow a new thing and they’ve embraced it fully. The other genres of music (hip hop/R&B and our own home grown stuff) will always be played all the time, because they are mainstream. At least that has brought the balance and made sure that house music is recognized as well as a genre.
Would the S.A. house scene be a national phenomenon, or is it strictly limited to the city you’re hailing from (Jo’burg)? What about Capetown then?
It's a national phenomenon. Each city in South Africa has its own movement going. That helps us in a way when we have to go and play there. So, it's not about Jo'burg only, even though Jo'burg is where it's really happening.
Let us know about the local structures. Media, clubs, labels, record shops, radios…
The structures are well set up. The media always cover the events happening around and offer support as well. As far as clubs are concerned, well, there aren't too many good ones at the moment like before. They don't have a long life because a lot of the club owners don't really know what they doing. There's always a club opening here or there but the running of it, I'm not sure. For them it's about quick cash and that's it. Labels? I’d rather talk about the indies as the majors don't really get into the house scene. They do help, but not like they’re supposed to... Record shops know their story. We're all up to date as to what's going on in the record business. Basically if it's out there, we'll get it in a couple of days. We do have our finger on the pulse. Radio also play an important role in the scene. There’s always a house record playing at some point and there are specialist house shows during the weekend. I've got one on YFM every Friday evening between 8pm and 9pm called Deep Soul Sessions on The Urban Express.
There’s also this Festival of yours right after the Conf’. A few words about it?
Yes, it's the Southern African Music Conference (www.samc.dj). It's the brainchild of myself and 4 of my close friends in the business (Christos, Fresh, Oskido and Greg) collectively know as DJU (DJ’s United). It's basically a conference where we get together for 4 days and just talk about the scene with a Q & A at the end. We also give workshops on DJing, production, equipment, software etc. Then there are parties happening around the city. 2007 was the third year running. In 2005, we had Charles Webster, Franck Roger and Jef K. Louie Vega, Mr.V, Alix Alvarez and Franck Roger in 2006, then Franck Roger, Quentin Harris, DJ Spinna and Osunlade this year. The market loves it and it's growing from a year to another.
Also heard about a few local experiences here and there, most notoriously from Zimbabwe and Somalia. Connected to those people?
Although I happen to play more and more abroad, haven't been to those counties yet, but I’ve heard from my colleagues who've been to Zimbabwe that there are a few clubs that play house and that there’s a cool vibe. Back to South Africa, the scene is more about hip hop, R&B and local flavas up North.
There has been this South African comp a few years ago called Mzansi House which happened to be our Album Of The Month at the time. What did Mzansi stand for?
Yeah, great album. Mzansi is a Zulu word which means South. So in this context, it’s a street word meaning South Africa.
You’re (also) a member of the House Afrika crew. Let us know more about it. Its starting point… Did you imagine back in the daze it would give birth to a label?
Yes I'm a partner in the House Afrika business. House Afrika has been running as a record store for 13 years to date. It's the only store in the country that's been in the vinyl business for that long. I joined House Afrika in 1996 as a sales man behind the counter and 3 years later became a partner. We're the first record label to ever release a house compilation and as we use to say, the rest is history... Did I think that we'd ever become a label? No way!
Let us talk about your latest contribution under the form of this Deep House Sounds # 5 mix CD.
The Deep House Sounds series is a brand that's close to my heart. The series is mainly about the type of music that I like and play personally which is deep house. Recently I've released the 5th in the series and it's being well received. I'm busy with a party tour around the country doing promotions for the CD.
How do you see the current evolution of house music as a whole?
Looking back up till now, I'd say we’ve come a long way, but not like our international counterparts. We've evolved through this beautiful journey of house and I can safely say that it's still growing. I also think that musically we’re now on the par with the rest of the world.
Then there's the current evolution of house music, talking about which it's become a little more interesting. A lot of the records that are released out there are on the electro tip and the market loves it. I'm not really into that. I like my music deep and soulful. So I'm not even sure if it's a phase this electro thing, but we'll see as time goes. The other important thing that I hear out there is the downloads. A lot of the young DJ’s here are always giving me grief about this. They say: ‘Vinny, you play CD'S and you want us to buy vinyl. what's up with that?' My answer is that I'll always buy vinyls as long as this format is available then record them onto CD’s. For me, it's easier to carry because I travel a lot and that I've lost vinyl bags in the past especially on planes. It's just a matter of choice and preference.
Some new names to watch out? From abroad? From your country?
Internationally, John Crockett, Reelsoul, Jimpster, Rocco, Karizma. Here in South Africa, Blackcoffe, DJ MBuso, Sis N Jones, Christos and Brett Jackson!
The next things/events to happen in S.A.?
There's always something happening in South Africa. I have a night that's been running for 5 year called Deep Soul Sessions every first Saturday pf the month. I'm moving it to a new venue Called Club 676/Zambezi Lounge in Wynberg Jo'burg as of the first Saturday in August. The venue I've been having them at (ONEONEFIVE) has now closed after a 6 year run...
WPHEW!!! Finished at last...Speak soon,
Ya man, definitely. Peace, MFSB
V/A: Deep House Sounds # 5 LP (House Afrika)
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