You’re being so hard on yourself.

♪ Roses are red by the top blue ♪ ♪ Sugar is sweet and so are you ♪ ♪ So are you ♪ ♪ Roses are red by the top blue ♪ ♪ I love you please true ♪ ♪ Yes I do ♪ ♪ I ♪ It's a soulful sound for a soulful Sunday, 16 minutes before 10 o'clock, this is Skyscrape Up by Zoo. And that's how we kick off our music corner for this morning at speaking to award winning Soweto-born storyteller, singer and songwriter Zoo, who joins us in studio this morning. At Miss Zoo, a very good morning to you. - Brand rising to you and your listening. - Thank you so much for joining us. - Thank you for having me. - That's such a beautiful song. - Thank you. - 'Cause I come in at cloud. - That good. - Yeah, good. - That's the intention. - It feels like, feels very like airy and the feel. - Yeah, it's the in love feeling. - Oh, yes. - Yeah. - Yeah. - So tell us, who is Zoo? - My goodness. I'm a healer, I'm a mother. I'm a bit of a fairy and a mermaid. - Right. - I'm an editor, I'm an actor, I'm a writer, I'm a musician. - Sure. - I'm an artist. - Like, I'm very arty. - Yeah. - God has gifted me with a lot of talent. - Yeah. - It feels a bit burdensome. But yeah, I'm art. - Yeah. - Breathing hot. - And how do you figure out that art is both the thing you can do and the thing you want to do? 'Cause sometimes you can do a thing. - Hey, the one is blurry, hey. - Really? - You know what? I've been saying very loudly that it's a calling. I don't think I would have chosen it, especially in this country. It's tough. Also, 20 years, it's my 21st year now. I've felt a lot, I've seen a lot, I would not choose it. But I know that it chose me. And I know that I was born to do this healing thing through art and storytelling. And so I submit. - Right. - I submit. - And so when does the music happen for you as that part of life? - When does it not happen? - Right. (laughing) So there was always music. - Yeah. - I was born in the Methodist church. That I'm going for this. - Oh wow. - And you know the Methodist church is very musical. So I was born in the church, raised in the church. And then every school I was in, I was in a choir. - Right. - Every creative corner you could think of, you would find me in. So art has always been part of my life. And in that little gap of the metric, you know, you're matriculating. And then there's like no more choirs. I felt it. I felt it very painfully. And I knew that's fixed it. It's it with immediate effect. - Yeah. - And it's the most painful thing to ask, was there ever a moment where you considered something else? Like being a doctor, or a nurse? - I probably be a psychologist. - Really? - Yeah. I'm really into like healing and the human psyche and like understanding us to my own detriment. - Right. - But yeah, I think I'd be in psychology. - Yeah. - Yeah. - And so, talk to us how you then get your big break in music. When and how does that happen? - Don't feel like I've gotten my big break. - Really? - No. - Okay. - What would that look like for you then? - It would look like not feeling burdened. It would look like I'm not having to carry myself and this big gift on my own. - Yeah. - But also not having to sell myself. - Right. - Yeah. That's what it would look like. It would look like just arriving and singing as opposed to worrying about how everyone's getting there and when we're this and who's eating what and how who's getting paid and yeah. - So I guess the making of the art is very different to I guess like all the admin associated with it. I have to compartmentalize myself. There's you, the artist and diva and then there's you in the office, you know, we are having to deal with the admin and the logistics and the flights and the this and the that. - Yeah. - Which one do you enjoy more? - The art. - Obviously the artist. - Right. - Yeah, the admin. I mean, look, if I was managing someone else, I think I would have a very good time. But there's this line I have to keep where I've started consulting Chatty P because like how do I write this email without sounding as hurt as I am right now? - Okay. - You know, so the sensitivity of the artist is a lot to carry when I'm in the office. - Right. - Yeah. - And you are independent as well. - Which I mean, hasn't been a fit, but also it is. - It's heavy. - It's heavy. - Yeah, it's heavy. - It's heavy. - So I was assigned to a major. - Yeah, as I go. And halfway through my contract I realized I was not in a home. They literally looked at me. They said, you sound 40, you sound avant-garde. You need to sound more like this person, more like Moonchild, more like Java. You know, I'm quite inked up, you know, in some of you can see all my ink. They're like, you don't look like you sound. You need to merge the two. And I was just like, no, this can't be it. So it's quite hard to commercialize. And I don't think it's necessarily something that I want to do. I don't even consider myself as someone who fits into a particular genre. If I could call my music something, I'd call it Fields. - Fields. - Fields. - Yeah, it's a sound effect to our lives. - Okay. - Because genres are interesting, right? And that's a lot of odds to say that their music sits across genres. It's never just one thing. - Yeah. - And you're thought to be sort of like Afro-contemporary. - Yeah. - And so that you're feeling like that's not. - Afro-contemporary. On the DSPs, it's actually new age, you know? - Okay. - 'Cause I mean, there's some rap stuff on there. There's like some dance stuff on there. - Yeah. - So there's, I mean, this song now is. - It's very jazzy. - Very jazzy, very solely, but there's also like some more upbeat stuff. - Yeah. - There's some dancing stuff, you know? I'm an 80s baby. So we grew up on TKZ and Bungle Muffin and Brenda Fassi, but also ladiesmith Black Mambazo and Maryam Mackeba and Yuma Sakella, you know? So I'm a baby who grew up in all those things and I feel like I'm a result of those influences. - What was going to be my next question? Are those then the artists who's like their own sound influenced yours? They were like part of. - I would even add like Zap Mama and Eric Hapa Do and like, you know, Evecacity. It was like, I mean, so much music between 1980 something and now, right? So I definitely feel influenced, but I'm also the kind of artist when I'm creating. I stop listening to other people's music. - Okay. - I don't like to be influenced. - Okay. - So what I've heard sits in me, it lives in me. I'm not going to unhear it, but I'm not someone who listens to something to reference, you know? I'm a bit of a purist, I think. - So if you are working on a body of work, you are in the studio, you're recording, you're listening to the stuff you're working on. But then other than that, are you like getting involved? - How can joyous celebration? That's it. - Specifically joyous. - Yeah. - Why joyous? - So even though I'm not Christian anymore, there's my inner child really, she feels really good when there's gospel in the house. - Really? - Yeah. The Jesus that Christian sing to, I'm the Jesus. And not to be blessed for me, so like, I'm not insulting or, you know? And I'm singing to a god inside me. And so it feels like-- - Like the divine as inside me. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it feels like I'm jazz voselella. I'm filling my cup in many ways. - Yeah. - Yeah. - But then other than that, you're not listening to-- - Hardly. - Not the radio. - No. - No. - Nothing. - Wow. - Yeah. - And so, if friends call me Michael Jackson in that way, they're like, I'm obsessed, like a mad scientist. - Yeah. - I will stop listening to everything else. - Wow. - Yeah. - Until you're done. - What counts as done? As in, you've recorded all of the songs. - When we've mastered. - Okay. - And it's, I'm like, okay, it's done. - Yeah. - It's done. - Wow. - Yeah. - That's so interesting as a process. - I know. The thing is, I guess, the falsacity in Le Belicella, the ear is a thief. It's very easy to tell when someone's been listening to a certain artist while they were making their own music. - Uh-huh. - It's not even a conscious thing. - Yeah. - You know, the brain works that way. - It influences you all what you listen to, you all what you watch. - Yeah. - So I'm very conscious of that. - Right. - I don't want to sound like anyone. - Yeah. - I want to sound like me. - I work very hard to sound like me. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Tell us about, you know, 21 years of songwriting. If you, your songwriting were a person, it would have been-- - Simnick is the-- - Yeah. - They have the best thing. - They're getting a chance. - They're starting to live beyond things. - They've got a degree. - Yeah. - They're like, they are a whole person. - It's a whole human ready to start his or her family. - Yeah. - I know that. - Now that I just feels for you. - Oh my, my, my, my. I'm very proud of this album. It's a dedication to my inner child. - Yeah. - I've done a lot of healing work, a lot of shadow work, a lot of mental health work. And it's a letter to her. But it's also, I always say I make the music for me and you guys are privileged to get to experience me 'cause I do it out loud, I human out loud. - Yeah. - So I wanted this album to reflect the 21 years. - Okay. - I want to track, I think, six without you, Lolly Wehr. It's the very first song I wrote, I was 16. - Wow. - You know, so there's that. And then there's Track Two, which is Lu Kangilaku where him, two, four, six reimagined, is my son's favorite him. So it's like an ode to the Christian me, right? So every single song has very special meaning. and a very big and important place in my story and my heart. - Yeah. - And I think it reflects this 11 track album reflects my growth, my experience, my character, my story. - Yeah. - Yeah. - And so if people are looking to find you on the inter-webs, - Yes. - So where can we find you? - Zoom-Ax music is my handle on the socials. So ZDU makes music one word. But if you're looking to stream, I'm a bit of a diva. So the ZDU period, the period is part of the name. So if you're trying to stream on the DSPs, you won't find Zoom without the period. You're gonna find some white people. - Right. - So Zoom period on the DSPs to stream and then Zoom-Ax music. And if you wanna reach out to book me for something, or maybe you wanna help me manage this ship, then it's [email protected]. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Great. - Zoom, thank you so much for coming in this morning. - Thank you. - So having me. - You're a great place to having you. - Thank you. - This is Lily J on that 7-0-2 weekend breakfast.