12 Questions: DJ Fresh

By Newzimbabwe.com , 24 Jul 2008

Botswana-Born Dj Fresh, real name Thato Sikwane, is one of South Africa’s most-sought after mix masters. He is credited with pioneering the house music scourge which is engulfing Southern Africa. He arrives in Birmingham, England, for a one-off gig on Friday.Here is 12 Questions:

You were born in Botswana of course, but what set you off on this career path?
It was back in high school when I did my first gig at a school disco, I think I was 12. One of the senior boys who was supposed to DJ was from Zambia. He missed his flight from Zambia to Botswana. People knew I collected a bit of music, so I stepped in and I never looked back. I moved to South Africa at the end of 1994 to study advertising and journalism. One thing led to another, and when I finished school, I did auditions at YFM and got a job there. I left YFM for 5FM last year for selfish reasons. I love radio. As long as I have an audience, a microphone and a couple of CDs, I rock!

“I don’t think house has replaced kwaito. Kwaito was derived from house in the first place. What kwaito has done is evolve…”
-DJ Fresh

How have you dealt with the transition from cassettes to CDs and now vinyl?
When I started deejaying, it was cassettes all the way. It was a rite of passage. Everyone knows an orange BIC pen was made with a TDK in mind, it fits perfectly. My music, some of it I bought, some of it I recorded from friends some of it recorded from Radio 3 in Zimbabwe… from the Hitman’s (Peter Johns) shows. I knew how to record very fast, whenever I visited friends in Bulawayo, I made sure I had a cassette.
Now I just use CD, I moved from cassette in the mid-1980. I bought my first vinyl in 1988, it was a Karyn White Secret Rendezvous, it was the first record I bought with my own money for deejaying. It’s just continued to grow, now my records are probably 10000. But now it’s strictly CD for one reason — most of the music is not available on vinyl, either because it’s new or local. I would love to stay on vinyl but it’s impractical right now. Imagine having to travel to the UK with two vinyl cases. Last time I paid