An interview with Gazelle

“Music is a powerful thing that can change and inspire, so I would be happy if I can give people something good through what I do-but more to use music as a tool to speak about things. I was greatly inspired by Fela Kuti’s Music is the weapon. Where he said, music is a spiritual thing and anyone that is given the gift of musicianship should use it for something great. To make a difference, to influence positively…”

His name is Gazelle. Gazelle is an “eclectic mix of mysticism from the dark continent, psychedelic visions of Afro-futurism, theatre and music.”

Xander explains “I’ve been always busy making music. Since I was a little kid playing on a drum that was made for me by my other mother Aysa” he continues “I think it is a natural thing when people start with some sort of expression…”

His influences range from “Boney M, Beegees and Goombaye Dance Band” to “the more traditional and pop side of South African music like Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Johnny Clegg and the Savuka, Brenda Fassi and Stimela.” He says “I found a lot of inspiration in the theatrical side of music and was astonished by the great stage performers of our time like Bootsie Collins, George Clinton, Prince and of course like millions I stood in front of the mirror studying the moves of Micheal Jackson.”

He picked the band name Gazelle although he had “previously performed as reggae artist in a soundsystem with Dubmaster China and Teba and was given the name White Lion-so I figured Gazelle is the opposite, the prey, the vulnerable, but with hidden strengths. Maybe its the place that I’m from, growing up in the bush hunting or a strange name that ringed in my ears from seeing too many National Geographic documentaries…”

He lived close the border of Mozambique and it influenced him musically as “I grew up in a rural place where I went to bed some nights with the sound of drums in the distance. So I guess the beat has always been in my blood. It was surely a strange mixture between the music I heard from lying on the carpet as a kid listening to my parents disco vinyls and hearing all the traditional music from the farm workers that played a big part in my life.”

He met band mate Nick Matthews “through a mutual friend Brevan who shared a studio with Ricardo Moretti. I tried to convince Ricardo to help me on the project that I started but then Nick saw the potential and we went from there…we also usually work with Grenville Wiliams on bass and Dubmaster China on percussion (whom are two musicians that I had met through various missions in music)…”Working with Nick has it’s ups and downs as “he’s my partner and my friend. A band is like a relationship with lots of passion…good times and bad times. But we make a great team and compliment each other very well…”

They are preparing for a “European tour Kalahari Safari in January in Europe and have new project called Dicoco which is a gathering of some people. Dicoco is a monthly event that we are holding until march next year-a gathering place for movers and shakers to mingle socialize and come up with new things…communication..creating a space for the Rennaissance to manifest…The first we are having is this November…it’s gonna be a special event.”

In rather exciting news he will be moving to NY in March to take up some recording deals that have come up with “a really amazing producer”…whom will be mentioned in months to come when they are “done with it”. If that is not enough he is “also working on a television show that will be filmed in various countries.” This is all in preproduction so he “can’t let too much out…”

He has been featured in the Italian Rolling Stone Magazine and played Rome Fashion Week, of such illustrious events he said “I had such a great time in Rome, Marcelo Burlon the Editor of Rodeo Magazine organised this event where Gazelle and Jerry Bouthier, the creator of Boombox in London, performed…it was crazy, a fancy car with a driver in the suit picking us up from the airport, we immediately said to him to take us to every major tourist spot…”

Bob of Bloody Beetroots, “is a good friend of mine and I did a few shows with them, the craziest one surely in Razzmatazz in Barcelona during Sonar. He phoned me up one day and said he wrote a song for me and I had to be the voice. It is on their first full length album called Ramborama and the song is called Theolonius the Voodoo King.”

Recording the album ‘Chic Afrique’ “was an amazing experience where we worked with so many amazing musicians and beautiful people. We locked ourselves up in the Red Bull studios for a week and brought in about 20 traditional musicians to create the album. He continues “the studio is a free space, it is a place of expression ….so crazy shit happened!” He proclaims “it’s gonna be the Graceland 3000, the Paul Simon on Acid.”

Recently ‘She did me In’ (their first single) was playlisted on 5FM (although the tune has been the feature song for one of the biggest fashion brands in Spain Berskha) he explains “it was quite a hit there and we are working on various releases with different people internationally. We are also working on a remix album called The Revolution will be Remixed which feature some of the most amazing people like Boody B from Palms out sound and Bjorn from Fettes Brot (the biggest hip hop group in Germany).”

He opened for the incredible Santogold and said of that “It was an amazing festival in an old fortress in Oslo. We made a collaboration show with our friends Sweat X and did a collaborative show called Azania 3000. It was quite a night. We ended up DJing at the after party and kept on going even when the cops tried to shut us down…” he laughingly adds “what happens on tour stays on tour…”

Performing “is a time of expression, a moment where you can let go..the perfect moment to use all the ego that you have within you. I like to save my ego rather for the right moment like performing than just in ordinary daily socializing.”

He has played extensively over the globe and his favourite place to perform is hard to choose as “we have had so many countless amazing experiences….I feel so fortunate that I can truly live my dream in that sense. Some of the favourite places was surely the strangest..like Warsaw for instance…where we lost our luggage but when we found out we would perform in the Palace of The culture, the most amazing building in Warsaw…we had to go forward and do it…and it was the craziest crowd we ever had….Other favourites is probably because we have such amazing friends in cities like Copenhagen and Barcelona…So each place is different…but we try and make the most of it…give it our all and take all we can from it…”

They are set for another European tour next year and will be performing in Hamburg, Paris, Stockholm and Zürich to name a few of the many tour destinations. Knowing Gazelle’s flair for live shows, they will undoubtedly be mind blowing.

Their wardrobe is quite intensive and “getting 18 people dressed before a show” is not uncommon. Within the band, Nick works on various projects like Iridium Project and Xander also does various collaborations (like that of 340ml which he is busy with and Fagget Fairies from Copenhagen in the near future)…The collaboration with Fagget Fairies could only be a very interesting one!

One of the craziest things that happened at a show was “the one time in Transkei where two girls swam across the river to come jump on stage during our New Years gig…..well that is a mild one….some others I prefer not to share…” to which he laughing concludes “I’ll let the columns deal with that…”

Gazelle is “colourful part of the African Renaissance promoting the growth and worldview of any African born art.” and will continue to do so, internationally promoting a positive outlook for Africa.

He explains of the band “We strongly believe in our goals and aims. We would like to remove African music from solely being described as world music, but to have it on the same stage and be respected as music of the world like any other.”

They are Gazelle. Preparing for world domination.

My interview first appeared on Musical Mover and Shaker!