Favourite colour?
Kenaz: I’m not good with favourites… Lets see. Deep red, yellow, green (but you’d have to know me well to know the exact shades). I’m naturally drawn to earthy tones though.
Favourite food?
Kenaz: Food. Full stop.
Happiness is…?
Kenaz: I believe happiness is everywhere, but its present only in this moment. You can only be truly happy if you can be totally real, honest, and feel good in your own skin. I believe anyone can reach that place if they live consciously and make a point of honouring themselves.
How did you get into music? Did you always know you wanted to be an artist?
Kenaz: I feel like I’ve always been an artist, and always will be. It’s in my make-up. I just live it out in different ways. I started playing the guitar because it felt natural, and I wrote songs as a way of making sense of my world growing up. My music was my companion. It was always there. When I needed it, and it still is, but now its taken on a whole new life; I’m in a magical place in my life at the moment where what came naturally to me is becoming a conscious decision, and something I can work towards. I’ve learnt to be dedicated, to make plans (something I used to hate doing), and now it’s actually becoming exciting to me. I have a mission, and how wonderful it is that that mission can be something that excites my soul!
Your style is difficult to pinpoint. What/who inspires you?
Kenaz: If my style is different I think it’s mainly because I don’t think too much about my music when I write it. It comes from a deeper inspiration, I suppose kind of like the Surrealism movement in art where the unconscious mind is primary in the creative process and the artwork itself is deep awareness materialized in the moment. I feel very drawn to this way of thinking. All my life’s influences, ways of thinking, ways of being, are expressed in my music in this way. I aim to remain as sincere and true to what I’m feeling in the entire creative process.
What is music to you?
Kenaz: Wow. Music is passion personified. It’s an escape and its a way of finding your way home. It’s definitely honest. There’s not much space for hiding in music, a keen ear can easily tell where you’re at just by listening to your music. So it’s scary in that way, but also exciting. Music to me is a journey of self-discovery and a way of relating to the world around me.
Is there anything you try and achieve, or a message you’d like to get across through your music?
Kenaz: I don’t feel it’s my role to bring some message across. I’m still figuring life out, so I can’t tell anyone else what’s right for him or her. What I found I could do is just be as honest and sincere as possible. I feel we live past each other as a society, not ‘cause we’re too busy, or too tied up with anything else, but because we don’t dare to bare ourselves in front of others and be vulnerable. So we close our true selves up and we pretend to be better, smarter, more interesting than we are, when, if we can only be ourselves, we’d realize how interesting and unique we are indeed! So I try to express that level of honesty, and if anyone relates to my songs, or finds a message for them, then I’m stoked.
Your album is called IN A MOMENT. Where did you come up with the title?
Kenaz: It’s the title of the 4 line spoken word piece that’s on the album. Its about a moment that encapsulates where you are in your life at the time, and an almost out of body view of yourself, life and society in general.
What are your plans for the future?
Kenaz: Plans? Oh yes, I’m supposed to be all about plans these days aren’t I? Well, I’m running with this musical horse at the moment, and I certainly want to explore many different worlds with it. Next year will hopefully see me playing a lot of festivals in and around SA. I’d love to take my music over the waters sometime and see what the folks over there think of it.
One person in this world you’d like to meet?
Kenaz: Two, actually… Jamie Catto and Duncan Bridgeman. They amaze me with their project, 1 Giant Leap. I’d love to sit around a campfire with them and have one of those world-saving conversations!
