So if you haven’t noticed yet, South Africa has talent climbing out of its mouth right now. Every time I open my browser I’m pleasantly surprised at the music I find. Yes, there’s still tons of horrible local content, but as of the last 5 years, South African music has been making leaps and bounds. Not content with being mediocre, many local artists have taken it upon themselves to better our local industry. Another-Day feels that it’s important to shine a light on all of these local artists, so every now and then we’ll be catching up with them. First up is a good friend of mine, Yannick Ilunga. He’s the frontman for Popskarr, but today we focus on his side project, Petite Noir.
photo by Adrian Louw
AD: You’re based in Cape Town. Have you lived there your whole life? Give us a little background info about yourself.
Yannick: Yes! But I lived in Europe for about three years in-between. I was born in Belgium, then moved to Cape Town and was up and down for a little, but now we are more stable. haha. My mom is Angolan and my dad is Congolese.
AD: When you discovered music, what was the sound that most resonated and stuck with you over the years?
Yannick: When I first got into music I was very young and was into a lot of popular stuff. I just wanted to go deeper and deeper into it. It was never what I thought I would make but I always knew it would be out of the ordinary. I went through many different stages. From Jazz to Metal to Rap to electronic stuff. But still manage to use all those things and add them in my music to make something completely new.
Yannick with Terrence Pearce as Popskarr
AD: With regards to music, how did your relationship with Terrence Pearce begin? And what’s the dynamic like between the two of you?
Yannick: We met through a mutual friend that he was going to start a band with, but then he was moving up to JHB so it wouldn’t really work, so we got introduced and started Popskarr.
Yannick: My references vary. Like I said earlier, I use all my influences to make something new. From Toro y Moi and Neon Indian to Fally and Fela Kuti. So nothing is ever going to be normal. And I think that it’s what music is meant to be like. People try too hard to be genre-less that they end up making bullshit or just being as generic as everyone else.
AD: What do you feel is the next big step for South African artists?
Yannick: Uniqueness.
Thanks so much to Yannick for the interview.