Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone

Selma Kaulinge

I remember a few years ago I attended a show at the very same venue where Qonja and Lady May also performed some of their most loved songs live. And it was amazing.

It is unfortunate that the trend hasn’t picked up with other artists that usually perform with the infamous backing track. Because since then I have not heard of any other mainstream artist taking the stage will a live band, until recently.

I know for sure that if they were to perform live again, I wouldn’t miss it! As a music lover, these are the types of things that move me. An artist getting out of his or her comfort zone, and giving us something that is different from what we expect.

As an artist, sometimes one needs to get out of your comfort zone.You need to push yourself further and go beyond merely what is expected of you. This not only shows that you are a trying to be creative, but it gives back that extra bit to your fans.

Pulling off a live show is not an easy task. I recently spoke to Big Ben, who was the force behind the recent show, and is a true advocate of live music in Namibia. He broke down what exactly goes into putting together a successful live show.

You have a band that needs to rehearse; you need a space to rehearse, you need to pay band members.

So, it is so much easier (not to mention cheaper) to simply get on stage and sing with a backing track. But these artists do so much more, and in the end they gave their fans so much more.

So I want to challenge Namibian artists to go beyond what the fans and the critics expect of them. In the words of Jay Z, whose new album ‘Magna Carta Holy Grail’ sold one million copies even before its 4 July release, thanks to a deal with Samsung, it is time to “change the rules.”

This same mind set should be applied within the Namibian music industry, let us change the rules, and let us give the music fan an alternative experience. Let us do the unexpected and prove that we are the creatives we claim to be.

The Namibian industry is the perfect place to change the rules, even though it is small, the fans here are passionate and are hungry for something new.

The guys in Hip Hop have already started doing that. Groups like Black Vulcanite and Brain the Tool who have dropped EPs that prove that Namibian musicians have so much to offer the world. They speak a conscious message, they speak a message that goes far deeper then that of flashy cars and dollar bills that is fed to us by commercial artists.

Doing the same thing over again and following the rules sometimes gets a bit boring, for the fans and I’m sure for the artist too. So try doing something new, something crazy, something other people will think is impossible. Bring some excitement back to your art. This will not only make you a better artist, but it will make a better music industry.