Talented and tenacious, Zolani Mahola of Freshlyground kept our spirits high during the soccer World Cup.
“I’m a singer in a band that’s doing well,” says Zolani Mahola, lead singer of Freshlyground and mistress of the understatement. Not only is Freshlyground doing well, it’s one of the most successful bands to come out of South Africa, fronting the likes of Robbie Williams and performing for audiences in their tens of thousands.
Perhaps it’s her Eastern Cape roots that have planted an unaffected modesty in this star. “Eastern Cape people don’t take all this stuff about ‘making it’ so seriously,” she smiles.
Born and bred in Port Elizabeth, Zolani moved to Cape Town many years ago, but retains a special affinity for the Eastern Cape, where her father still lives. “People are down to earth there, and I appreciate this attitude to life because even after the biggest concerts, I go home, close my front door and it’s back to me and my life.”
This isn’t the case though when she steps out her front door and heads into the public. There’s always someone asking for an autograph or seeking a piece of her charm. But Zolani takes this all in her stride and goes about her day – chatting to people, laughing with them, and obligingly answering their many questions, including my own.
Like how does she sing when she’s not feeling well? The bubbly singer recently found herself lying in bed in her Cape Town flat, buoyed up by a mountain of tissues. “It goes away when I’m about to sing – it must be all the adrenaline!” she replies. “When I’m about to go on stage, I can feel a change come over me. It starts about an hour before, when I do my physical warm-ups. I stretch and flex my body as if I’m about to run a race.
By the time I do my vocal warm-ups, I can feel the adrenaline flowing.
“I don’t need to be alone when I do this – people can talk to me and it looks like everything is the same, but I know my whole body is gearing up to go on stage. It’s less daunting now than the early days when I was more worried about how I’d perform.”
‘There’s life in our music here! There’s a depth of feeling in the expression
The US, Canada, Egypt, Morocco, Tanzania, Holland, France, Italy, Germany… Zolani is seeing the world with Freshlyground, which has been together for seven years now. She joined the band when she was 21, while studying drama in Cape Town and playing in a punk outfit called Tropikill.
She smiles at the thought of Tropikill, a world apart from the finesse and craft of Freshlyground, which Zolani explains has evolved from Afrofunk to Afropop, with a more precise pop format informing their distinctly South Africa sound.
Pop runs in her veins: her teenage icons were Michael and Janet Jackson. “They were played a lot on the radio when I was growing up. We didn’t have CDs or videos, so the radio was my main source of musical input back then.”
Today, her main source of creative sustenance is the diverse range of creed, colour and age among the members of Freshlyground. “It gives the band the widest net of musical and life input, as well as wisdom across the generations – from 20-somethings to the 40-somethings,” she says. “The older members are supposed to be the wisest, but sometimes they’re the silliest,” she laughs.
Described by Time magazine and The Washington Post as the personification of the ‘rainbow nation’ ideal, Freshlyground is the stuff that South Africa is made of. “There is life in our music here! There is a depth of feeling in the expression, a certain joy that many other cultures have perhaps lost,” says Zolani, adding: “I think it’s the sun.”
And the sunshine is indeed one of her favourite things about living in South Africa. “It gives me joy because, when I was little, I would be sitting at the window in a kombi that would take me home from school, and a patch of sun would come onto my face… I’d close my eyes and think: ‘This is what God’s love feels like’.”
Regarding the ‘rainbow nation’ aspect of the band, Zolani finds this “completely natural”. She comments: “It’s how the world should be.” For her, the main difference between South Africa and other parts of the globe is the lack of women’s freedom of movement.
“In many cities around the world, women can move around freely at any time of the day or night – something we don’t enjoy here, and which should be a natural part of life. I really hope this changes.”
But Zolani refuses to let this get in the way of a fun night out when she’s not on stage. “I really appreciate my friends. People can be addictive and my friends fit this bill. I love getting together with them at one of our homes and spending the evening making each other laugh and making something to eat.”
She especially enjoys a good lamb curry – a dish she professes to be really good at putting together. “I have this affinity for Indian food and I get my spices at Atlas Trading in Cape Town’s Bo-Kaap. It’s one of my favourite stores.”
It only hit me when I was older about 16, that I didn’t have a mother and there wasn’t a soft place to land. It made me appreciative of women…
Of late, Zolani has been trying to eat regular meals to help keep her blood sugar levels balanced and “all that other stuff’, she says in her carefree approach to staying healthy. She also started ‘walk-jogging’ several months back.
“I walk-jog up Lion’s Head, not very far, like 5km or so, but I’m hoping to improve. I’ve always dreamed of being a runner. Doing it for real now is pretty amazing, but it took a while to get into it.”
One day soon, perhaps, she’ll be writing lyrics about conquering Lion’s Head or sprinting along the seashore, another one of her favourite things. “I love bodies of water… I’m very drawn to them, like the sea, lakes, big rivers – they lend themselves to a contemplative state,” says Zolani, who writes many of Freshlyground’s songs.
A hardworking band, they practise five days a week for several hours at a time, whenever they’re able to meet at their studio in Long Street.
“We work hard, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously,” she smiles again, radiating an infectious joy even when she’s feeling unwell. She says life has taught her to choose joy: to embrace each and every day.
Zolani could easily have gone the other way, having lost her mother at just six years old, when she passed away during childbirth.
“It really only hit me when I was older, about 16, that I didn’t have a mother and there wasn’t a soft place to land. It makes me appreciative of women and maybe a bit mystified by them – especially older women; they represent the mom I never knew.
“As I get older and become more of a woman, it’s interesting to think that I had a mother who was once 28, too, and perhaps experiencing similar feelings about being a woman to my own.”
Letting go of outdated beliefs is part of being a woman nearing her 30s, says Zolani: “Things are becoming a bit clearer for me, especially boys! They are not as important as I thought they were; actually, they’re much sillier than I thought, and that’s quite freeing. When I was younger, having a boyfriend was very important to me; now I’m no longer ‘in need’ of one.”
Zolani is single. Or, as she puts it, has not been in a relationship with one specific person for a number of years. Her last long-term relationship ended three years ago because ‘of natural causes’ – they just grew apart and decided to move on.
Now she’s loving the freedom of being a single girl. “I’m enjoying flying solo, checking things out in the world, and the different ways that people live without being answerable to anyone.”
.. we are certain that Waka Waka will inspire people around the world to celebrate the gathering of nations at the place
where it all started.
Here in Africa.
But this isn’t to say Zolani never wants to commit – it’s actually something she looks forward to: “It’s great to have a partner, somebody you can get really involved with in life, even if it’s not a formal marriage commitment.” She’d also like to have children one day. “What else are we here to do?” she giggles.
But, for now, she’s far too busy working to look for love. The band recently launched their fourth album, Radio Africa, which, within two weeks of going on shelf, sold 10 000 copies.
Freshlyground has also collaborated with international superstar Shakira on ‘Waka Waka’, which has been chosen as the Official Song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The band performed alongside Shakira at the Closing Ceremony, which was held shortly before the final game on July 11 in Johannesburg’s Soccer City Stadium.
Says Zolani: “We are thrilled to have collaborated with Shakira on ‘Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)’, especially as we feel that the song captures the spirit and energy of the African World Cup.”
She adds, “We are certain the song will inspire people around the world to celebrate the gathering of nations at the place where it all started. Here in Africa.”
Text by Heather Dugmore. Photography by Patrick Ryan and Jonx Pillemer. This article is featured courtesy of the July 2010 edition of Longevity magazine.
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