Moonchild Sanelly

On today's episode of the IMRO Podcast we're delighted to bring you an in-depth interview with Moonchild Sanelly.

For the uninitiated, Moonchild is a South African singer, songwriter and designer, one of the biggest in fact - she's collaborated with everyone from Beyoncé to Gorillaz, developing a sound she’s dubbed 'Future Ghetto Funk'.

Originally from Port Elizabeth, Moonchild grew up in a musical family - her parents loving jazz, her brother a hip-hop producer, and her cousins were kwaito dancers

She moved to Durban, where she studied fashion, becoming known as a designer and spoken word artist performing in the cities poetry scene, before later moving to Johannesburg, and establishing herself as one of the most popular voices in South African music.

She’s released two albums to date, with work on her third album nearly complete and in a wide-ranging conversation with Danny Carroll, she spoke about the craft of commercially successful songwriting, collaborations new and old, finding her way in the music industry, plans for the future and much more beyond all that.

1:33 Most recent feature work
4:10 Recording her new album abroad with Johan Hugo (Self Esteem, Mumford & Sons, M.I.A)
7:50 Key themes of her new album
09:10 Collaborating with Self Esteem
10:00 Moonchild’s passion for collaboration, participating in songwriting camps
16:10 Moonchild’s early experience in poetry scenes and studying fashion and finding her sound
21:45 Family influence
25:00 What’s inspiring Moonchild now?
25:30 Moonchild on Damon Albarn
26:20 Learning from Beyonce and being an independent musician
27:30 Establishing an identity, moving to Johannesburg and protecting her look
28:30 Rejecting defeatist mentality
31:30 Anxiety that comes with success
35:00 How to disappear in a crowd
36:20 Importance of Moonchild’s sewing machine and manifesting
39:30 Female empowerment and women in South African society
40:50 Lineage of defiant South Afrian singers making an impact
42:20 Writing for sync and collaboration
43:30 Signature vocal
44:40 Being conscious of her audience and writing hooks
47:05 Influence and impact of her music and representation
49:15 How to sonnetise your emotion - distilling emotion into hooks. Not fearing being commercial
54:30 Writing about relationships
56:50 Reflecting on past experiences in songs
61:50 Plans to make the moon shine bigger 

Featured songs: Demon, Red Eye

Follow Moonchild on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moonchildsanelly
Stream and purchase her music here: https://moonchildsanelly.ochre.store/