Tinashe is a Zimbabwean born artist, who moved to England at a young age, and now hails from Hackney. He has appeared on Uncle Melvin Odoom's Intros show on Channel 4 (yes "...delicious like a pot of jollof rice...") and was one of the artists featured at HMV's Next Big Thing concert.
His music has been compared to that of British pop star, Frank Musik, but in my own words, I think it's more like a jam session between Daft Punk, James Morrison and Oliver Mtukudzi; explosive, intricate and with all the makings of becoming legendary… And also the new soundtrack to my life! I caught up with the T man and we talked about music, his trip to South Africa and Transport for London!
It was dejavu all over again as this was yet another phoner, like with JJC. I could let this one go, seeing as he was getting ready to go on tour with the Noisettes:
C: So how does it feel to be going on tour with the Noisettes?
T: It's really exciting! It one of the few good things that have happened in a while and I'm really happy to be doing it.
C: How old were you when you moved to England?
T: Twelve. It's great though to have experienced living in both countries. I can still speak Shona, but with a slight English accent now!
C: Was it a big change for you?
T: No, not really. My mom had been living here for about four or five years before I came so she was settled, she was working three jobs, and as you know, here you've got to really work hard to get where you want to get.
C: Your Myspace page says you were meant to become a doctor and "wire money back home" but you got sidetracked by Michael Jackson! What made you want to pursue music?
T: Well, music was a lot more accessible as a career this side and at school I had a really good music teacher, so that got me really passionate about it. Once I started playing the guitar, I was hooked!
C: How did your parents take it?
T: (laughs) Well as you know, they expected me to become something 'respectable' like a doctor or a lawyer, so you can imagine how that turned out. My mother wasn't too happy about it to begin with because I was supposed to be sending money back home and she didn't think I would be able to do that if I pursued music. She is really proud of me now though.
C: Your sound has been compared to Frank Musik, but I think you sound more like a mix of Daft Punk and Oliver Mtukudzi. What do you think?
T: (laughs…a lot) Well Oliver is a real legend, and I get that comparison because we both play guitar, and mbira. I'd describe my music as more of pop, or indie pop.
C: Who are your musical icons?
T: Wow, there are so many…[long list of names]…Donny Hathaway, Al Green, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson…There are just so many of them.
C: You write your own music? What inspires you?
T: I listen to a wide range of music, pop, obviously, alternative, hip-hop, RnB, soul, and thats where I get a lot of inspiration from. I would love to start doing some collaborating and so forth but at the moment I'm trying to establish my own style and myself as an artist.
C: You were in South Africa recently, what was it like? Did you perform there?
T: Yeah it was really good, and we actually performed at the airport for first class tickets. It was kind of weird actually because we were asked to perform and we'd be given business class tickets in return, but we got them so that was cool. South Africa was really great though, it had been a long time since I was back in Africa so it was really inspiring to be there. I did want to go to Zimbabwe but there were restrictions on filming at the time so it was difficult to go.
C: On your trip to S.A, did you find any artists that you think are really making moves there?
T: There were a few artists that I saw, I can't remember their names, but what I can say is that the music in South Africa is really upstage and there's a lot to look out for there.
C: Where do you think that African music is going, as a whole?
T: Its going! There are a lot of African artists that are making it big such as Tinchy Stryder, Dizzee Rascal, Akon though they are not necessarily making traditional African music, they are paving the way and I think soon there will be some real African artists that will begin to appear on the charts.
C: You've gone through a lot to get where you are today, what advice would you give to a young person who, like you, is aspiring to make music as a career?
T: I would, tell them to make music their number one goal, their number one dream and to work hard, because that's the only way to get anywhere. If you do that then eventually you will get noticed and you will get where you want to go.
C: I did my research (like the good journalist I am) and found out that you used to work at Transport for London!
T: (laughs very hard) Yeah I did, for a very long time actually! It was my period of hard work and sending money back home. My mother was like, "Is this what you do?"
C: Did you ever get abused by a member of the public?
T: All the time! Usually it was some drunk person who'd just start yelling at me. It was a really stressful job.
Well I for one am glad that Tinashe has moved on from his TFL days, and that he is now making not only his Mom but all his fellow Zimbos (myself included) proud. One thing he said to me that I think is something that is really important for all Zimbabweans living here to think about is this,
"There are a lot of bad things that Zimbabwe is known for, and people forget about all the things we can be proud of. That's why we need to keep working hard and be proud of where we come from so that in the future, we can make a real difference."
