Afrobrotherz, aka DJ Click DrumSoul and DJ Mohamed, are two friends making waves on the South African House scene and beyond with their organic afrocentricities, enchanting melodies and mesmerising rhythms. With their new ‘Drumsoul Music EP’ out on Afrocentric Records, we check in with the talented duo…
DJ Click DrumSoul and DJ Mohamed, a very warm welcome to DMCworld! How’s tricks in sunny South Africa?
Oh! Thank you so much for your invite to be featured in your magazine. In South Africa everything is good and we are coming along just fine, thanks.
What was the first piece of music you heard today?
DJ Click DrumSoul: Believe or not it was the first track we ever made together called ‘Screaming Sax’, as soon as I opened the computer this morning it played.
DJ Mohamed:The first track I heard this morning was Caiiro ‘First Impression’, I’ve had it on repeat for a few weeks now.
Where are you from and what brought you both together to make music?
We are from a small dusty village in Mpumalanga – Kwa-Ndebelele (Vezubuhle) in South Africa, meaning the inner beauty. What brought us together was the love of music, plus we both went to the same school and always talked about working on music together someday. We drifted apart for a few years, but when we hooked up again last year and it just seemed natural to start producing music together and we launched Afrobrotherz.
How would you describe your sound and who or what inspires you?
Our sound is distinctively Afro House as the instruments we play have an authentic African feel, it’s all about the beat of the drum. As for inspirations we have to say Black Motion and DJ / producer Caiiro has also inspired us a lot with his true African sound.
Tell us about your new ‘Drumsoul Music madEP’ and what we can expect musically?
‘Drumsoul EP’ is authentic House Music from the heart, we made it for our community to have fun. It features 3 different tracks – ‘Story Of Piano’, ‘The Urban Guitar’ and ‘Son Of A Mickey’, which all cross the diverse spectrum of African Music fused with modern dance – except lots of warm melodies played with feeling and authentic African beats once you hear you can’t but move.
How did you hook up with Cory from Afrocentric Records?
Cory heard our song ‘Tick Tock’ which was played by one of S.A. Top Dj’s, DJ Shimza and basically tracked Dj Click down on social media to sign an EP for his new label Afrocentric Records. We knew of Cory from the music he put out under his previous label Centric Music, so it was a pleasure to collaborate with him.
What pieces of kit are essential to Afrobrotherz sound and who does what in the studio?
We both produce, DjClick works on the bass, strings and keyboards and Mohamed focuses on the kick, mode guitar, along with the right claps and strings.
What are the pro’s and cons of working together as a duo and do you also produce projects individually?
When we work together things can be easy because we both come up with different ideas and somehow it always fits together – we are really good at bouncing ideas off each other. The only cons really are is that sometimes we don’t always agree on certain instruments to include in our music and we might end up asking for outside opinion, from our manager. We both produce projects individually, in fact Dj Click will have a solo EP released on Afrocentric Records later in the year called ‘The Music Box EP’.
Tell us about some of your previous releases and how you got your break onto the scene?
Our previous release that made the radio air waves was a remix of Camino Del Sol Antenna (DjClick’s 2016 Remake). This tune gave us a break through as people started to recognise our sounds. DJ Click has released tracks ‘Master Lock’, ‘Muzik Never Dies’, ‘Soft Drum’ and together we have collaborated with Vinyl K and Gentleman & Happy V.
Who are you current top 5 producers?
Black Motions, Dj Caiiro, Pastor Snow, Prince KB and African Roots.
How is the current South African House music scene and who should we be on the lookout for?
It’s hectic, you need to have a real passion, patience and the love of the craft. Be on the lookout for “K Dog” he’s a Rapper and we are currently in the studio producing beats for him. There are also lot of great local producers like DjCider SA, African Movement, Mega Drum, Beat Movement, Reggie, OurMindCrew, Promilion (Vocalist), Vinny Kay (Vocalist) and Reebah (Vocalist), who we work alongside.
Do you remember your first ever DJ gig, how did it go?
Our first gig was in 2014 at Emmanuel Sports Bar, we were both very nervous and some we how managed to DJ with shaking hands. All our friends came out to support us and we had a full house, but boy it was nerve wrecking!
Which record makes you say ‘Damn, I wish I made that!’?
DJ Click DrumSoul: Mobi Dixon – City Rain – it’s a perfect sing along record which gets the crowd going every time it’s played.
DJ Mohamed: African Roots ft Fifi and Ishmail, (JabulaUniveng ‘Happy’), its elsewhere beyond my imagination. The melody and arrangement are out of this world, add to this beautiful vocals and you have a hit.
Finally, what’s coming next from you?
Apart from the aforementioned solo EP from DJ Click on Afrocentric, we are working with two great vocalists called Lucky &Tumi on an exciting new collaboration and have just finished a new production called ‘Zweno Ngwanango’.
‘Drumsoul Music EP’ wis out now on Traxsource premiere / Full release 6th September 2017 on Afrocentric Records.
