New month, New Spotlightttt! It’s about that time for us to shine the light on yet another Si Sessions fave. We love taking the time to get to know your future faves and this May is no different. Our May Spotlight’s sound stood out to us and we felt it’s time to shine the light on him and get to know him a little bit more, the Si Sessions way! So, we hope you’re ready for…drum roll please…Sinothando Tshontyi aka The Siege DJ!! Let’s go ahead and dive into getting to know this Potchefstroom born DJ and producer. We were enlightened with some really interesting facts about him that we wana share and the most interesting ones being that on top of being a musician, he is a rugby player and that he is 2 METRES TALL! That is literally the length of a door! Sinothando is a March baby, born on the 19th of March 2000, which not only makes him a new millennium gent but also, a gent of the Pisces zodiac.
Getting to know The Siege DJ…
He describes himself as “Ambitious, curious and affectionate” which are traits that we can imagine come really handy with the craft, because we believe you need to be ambitious and curious enough to explore sounds and that you need to show affection towards the ‘baby’ you’re creating. Since The Siege DJ wears hat of producer and that of performer/DJ we had to know which came first for him. He shares that he started performing at a very young age with his older brother and his friends, and later he decided to teach himself how to produce and make music. It was not enough for him to just produce music, he felt as though he needed to take his own music power onto his own hands and states that he came to the decision of becoming a DJ because he wanted to play his own music at gigs. He further states that “I think it’s very important for producers to come out and showcase their sound and future brand exactly the way they want it to be seen”, which is completely understandable! We here at the Si Sessions believe that one shouldn’t rely only on other people playing their music, producers should be playing their own music live, PERIOD!
Into the Musical heart & mind of the Siege DJ
With that background on who Sinothando Tshontyi is, it’s time to jump into The Siege DJ as a musician. To start of, we were curious as to why he chose the music industry and in his words “ I feel like I wouldn’t be any good to anyone if I didn’t do what I do”. The Siege DJ describe his music style as “punchy, aggressive and progressive” and if were being honest, that is one of the most unique descriptions we’ve heard thus far. With this kind of sound and style, we had to ask him to let us in on who or what he draws inspiration from. He shares that his inspiration change throughout the years but he names Da Africa Deep and Mkhuz3ro as fellow artists that he has drawn consistent inspiration from because “their musical frequencies make sense”. What a way to put it sir.
We are convinced that producers have a routine that gets them in the mood before entering the studio and lacing some fire beats. So We asked The Siege DJ whether he has a routine that gets him going. He told us he doesn’t have a routine, he simply drinks a lot of coffee and jumps into studio and gets to work. Mr ever Ready! We see you. So what should we expect when we come to your performance? He answers us by saying you should come expecting a lot of energy and a very unique sound. Speaking of performances we had to know whether he prefers performing sober or a bit…”induced” , which may come as a surprise to many, as people are convinced that if you’re in entertainment, surely you drink alcohol. Well here’s a surprise, The Siege DJ chooses to perform sober and says that in that way he is aware of his surroundings.
Lets go deeper into the mind of The Siege DJ. We asked him to tell us what the worst and the best thing about being in the industry was for him. He started by sharing that traveling and meeting new people is the best part. We totally hear that, we’re sure meeting people and seeing them enjoy and resonate with your music is a euphoric experience! We also asked him what the worst part of being in the industry is and he says “ I feel like it's meeting people with bad intentions. Personally I’ve met people in the industry that made a lot of promises if I ghost produced for them”. The music industry is a brutal place and we understand that in most cases, not everyone is there for your interests. So having experienced this, we had to know how The Siege DJ feels about the way said industry is setup.
He says he feels as though the industry can be better, especially for upcoming artists instead of rejecting the next generation, I think the industry can guide and shape the future artists”.
Creatives have their highlights and lowlights and we always feel the need for your faves to share theirs because…they are human too. So what are The Siege DJ’s highlights? He states that the biggest highlight was Black Coffee’s A&R team reaching out to him for his music and Moojo reaching out to him to release new music through his label. He goes on to tell us that his biggest lowlight was losing his grandmother. We’re sending peace and light to you and your family our brother.
The Siege DJ is confident that South Africa’s music is going to dominate the world one day, stating that we need to protect it. We also have no doubts about this and we are fully convinced that the future of dance music is African!
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So what’s the plan for 2023 and the future for The Siege DJ?
“For now the plan is to build a solid team/ family around my brand and release more music” sounds like a solid plan sir! and here is a Si Sessions exclusive ladies and gents…you better look forward to a Siege DJ collaboration with G Washington and Da Africa Deep. So you better make sure you follow him on all his socials so you don’t miss any of his exciting movements to come.
The Siege DJ signing out
We always ask our spotlighters to sign out with a favourite quote. So here is the Siege DJ signing out and saying, “remember who you are”.