Fame Is a Bliksem – Ees

A loving person, someone who likes good vibes, and proudly Namibian – that is how Ees sees himself.

Baptised Eric Sell, the Windhoek-born musician, who has been based in Germany for close to two decades, is still pursuing his music career – but more vigorously than before.

“My passion to make music is still the same since I’ve left Namibia to settle down in Germany in 2008. In fact, I’m working much harder now because of the work ethic I’ve inherited from my counterparts in the German music industry,” he says.

“I’ve learnt that you have to be ruthless in your pursuit for success. Talent alone is just the last piece of the puzzle. You have to be hardworking and highly professional in your approach. I’ve worked with so many talented musicians in my life, but they have nothing to show for it.”

Ees says his love for music was influenced by top international bands from the 50s, 60s and 70s, like AC/DC, Chuck Mangione, Elvis Presley, Middle of the Road and Uriah Heep. His parents used to dance to this music while he was still a pupil at Delta Secondary School in Windhoek, he says.

“In Grade 12 I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I was even taken for career guidance but it didn’t help.

“I told my parents I wanted to be a musician and record my own songs. I virtually lived in that studio at the time,” he says.

Ees says he got hold of the key to the studio and secretly made a copy of an album while discovering himself musically.

For the track ‘International’, featuring kwaito superstar Gazza, Ees says he even slept in the studio.

The kwaito star says he grew up on farms around Gobabis, Otjiwarongo and Elisenheim, outside Windhoek, before he started his educational journey at Delta Primary School.

‘International’ was the song that really introduced him to the industry, he says.

“I was releasing songs and played a few gigs, but that not enough to convince people I was serious about music. But when I collaborated with Gazza on my first big hit, ‘International’, people started to take notice.”

“I didn’t stop there. I crossed the Orange River to go into the studio with Mandoza, the biggest fish on the South African music scene at the time, to produce ‘Ayoba’. That was my biggest song and most successful project ever.

“The song won me two awards in Namibia and one in South Africa.”

‘Ayoba’ won the best collaboration and best kwaito awards at the Namibian Music Awards, while it clinched the most gifted kwaito music video award at the 10th annual Channel O Africa Music Awards in South Africa.

“It was a marvel working with Mandoza. He was a talented musician and very humble. What people did not know is that he had a very big heart. After speaking to his manager I went with Elvo and Zolani to Joburg and we recorded the beat,” Ees says.

“He was in his element when he heard the beat and he just said ‘let’s do this’. Little did we know that what we were cooking was going to turn heads and become one of the biggest songs of the year, both in South Africa and back home in Namibia.”

FRESHNESS

Ees, who has also collaborated with other top Namibian artists like the late Ras Sheehama, Exit & Mushe, Lady May, Top Cheri and Tequila, is currently in the studio working on his 16th studio album, titled ‘Freshness’.

He says the title of the album was influenced by adding amapiano to his music.

This, he says, is very big in Germany. “In fact, it has gripped the whole of Europe.”

“The songs are very fresh and I’m now also performing with a live band. There is no room for backtracking lip-syncing in Europe. You have to perform live if you want people to take you seriously and support your music. Kwaito remains my preferred genre, though,” he says.

“I am currently rehearsing with my band for a few concerts around Germany, and I would love to take my new music to Austria and Switzerland.

“I would have loved to tour Europe, but it’s very expensive.”

Ees says he is now a full-time musician after spending at least two years working in a radio studio on arrival in Germany.

SIDE HUSTLE

Meanwhile, he is promoting and marketing his Nam Flava merchandise more aggressively than ever, he says, because one cannot rely on music only.

The merchandise includes a clothing line, kapana spice, chutney, biltong and tekkies, vellies and plakkies, all coded with the Namibian flag and the Nam Flava logo.

“A few upcoming artists always come to me asking me for advice. I tell them all they have to do is to browse the internet because all the information is there for free.

“They must do the music they love and believe in themselves. Fame is a bliksem: You drop one good song, then you think you’ve made it big,” he warns.

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