The Artistic Evolution: A Full Circle Effect

Human beings are born as artists. It’s in our DNA, our biology.

We grow in art, think in it and most importantly, live in it. It is the most instinctive act of human behaviour. A medium of sacred communication and self-expression. Unfortunately, societal politics often encourage us to dissolve this half of ourselves. There are, however, some human beings whose artistic nature only strengthens as the years go by – knocking down countless obstacles as their spirits evolve.

This was auspiciously the case for a young South African from Jo’burg South named, Asanda Silo. Or as we like to call them, sonder the africanime.

For many folks, we begin our artistic journey by falling in love with one medium and then soaring with it until we take our last breath. In the case of Asanda, however, they utilized every and any medium in front of them to become the vocalist and artist they are today.

Like any child, their innate sense for artistic expression began with squiggles on a page with a crayon before they learned how to write their first words.

Already a miniature Picasso in primary, Asanda used their gift for drawing to build their street cred on the playground - where they sold their art as a side hustle for extra tuckshop money. As the years went by, (like all people of this world) they learned how to turn their squiggles into letters – giving them the opportunity to express themselves in a new medium.

As they stepped into a new phase of their artistry, they stealthily slipped their primary street cred into their back pocket – trading their colored crayons for a pencil. This evolution allowed for Asanda to embrace their writing hobbies at 9 years old. Already a well-spoken and conscious child, it was easy for this prodigy to begin creating poetry at 11 This growth almost seemed full circle, as they found a way of bringing colour back into their life, but with words instead of pre-school drawings.

Like you would have guessed, Asanda had challenged their creative palette once more by trying to sing their poetry at 11 – which consequently birthed their love (and skill) for music at 14 years old. Like a cycle, Asanda found themselves revisiting, reworking and reforming their love for art as the years went by – causing them to discover their alter ego, sonder [the africanime]: someone with an innate love for all things Rock, Alternative and Indie.

After years of evolution and experimentation, sonder was able to perfect their sound – which they like to describe as “very airy and pleasantly distorted” – a tune that plays on a beautiful edge of Rock and shoegaze. “They call it shoegaze because indie rock artists who started the genre used to play while looking down at their shoes. The music is often distorted and very reverbed, like psychedelic rock but blunt in its lyricism. It’s like you’re having a fever dream but somehow still aware of your reality.”

According to Wikipedia, Shoegaze can be defined as a subgenre of indie and alternative rock that is characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, and overwhelming volume. “The idea of ‘shoegaze music’ is slightly ambiguous as it doesn’t necessarily pinpoint a specific genre. Having said this, while anything defined as such has a distinct brand of sound, the label of shoegaze isn’t as definitive as other genres such as punk-rock or hip-hop.” (Drew Wardle, 2021)

Over the years, it has been clear that this musician’s sound is not only unique, but well respected. After being a choir conductor back in high school, Sonder has found themselves performing live at music showcases since 2019.

“I’d only performed once at the time, so I was not sure if it was something I like to do because I’m extremely introverted. When Vuyo started giving me a lot of opportunities to perform for his exhibition called Narowbi, it made me love singing my music for people. I’ll always be grateful to him for always giving me a platform, he’s the reason people in Johannesburg know who I am today.”

Outside of their live performances, Sonder has released multiple singles across all streaming platforms. They are best known for their songs: Trying, Woman Cry, Garden of Eden (feat. Lation) and currently, Breathe. Outside of these ‘best sellers’, Sonder released their EP, Pink Floyd is a Guitar in April 2020 - which in fact still receives great recognition to this day for its bespoke artistry. Outside of their current releases, they are indeed working on a project where they wish to play with a more advanced Rock sound (stay tuned!).

It is clear that Sonder’s journey within the music industry is yet to reach its peak. They still have more guitars strings to strum, more art to draw and definitely more songs to sing. There is no doubt that they know this. We can only wish that we too follow our instincts and see it in ourselves.