By Molefi Sompane
SASOLBURG – Many international pop stars begin their careers in church choirs.
But Andile Tau or Andy T got his education differently.
Andy T horned his craft by playing a home-made guitar made using old cooking oil containers. He later refined his skill when he joined an Acappela group.
He said: “I started everything in Kroonstad. I was young, in my teens. I started first by teaching myself to play the guitar. Then I met Paul Molapo with whom I formed a four-member group called Jipsy.
“We then auditioned for Radio Sesotho in the 80s and won but we failed to record our album with the radio’s help after missing the date of recording. It was hard because there were no mobile phones then,” he said.
Andy T later studied music at then then Arts College, FUBA. He recorded his first album in 1996 with his new group called Kwaito Blaster. The album got a warm reception from music lovers.
He still remembers that time: “It was just nice to sing. We didn’t sing for money we used to do things for free. I remember our album; Pump Up the Party which involved Kwaito and Ragga.”
The following year he met Thato Mampe and they were signed by Phil Hollis who used to own Gold Dust Records.
But the group split up a few years later, forcing him to look for work.
But Andy T also persisted as a solo artist and released an album called Lap One which had different genres. Later that year he released Lap 2.
“I can’t complain about how they have worked. I expected these sales. Although that was not a lot, I managed to keep on releasing albums and this showed me that there was something I was doing right,” he said.
Andy T has turned down different recording companies: “I rejected them because I have succeeded on my own and there is nothing that’ll stop me from climbing the mountain.”
Andy T is a father of two, a boy Arthur and a girl Tshidi. He is looking forward to producing youngsters and has started training his son to follow in his footsteps.
“My daughter is still young but she is showing a love for music already but I am hoping her brother will become a musician one day.”
He is unhappy though that organisers of the annual Fezile Dabi Jazz Festival continue to overlook him: “It pains me to see how these people sideline us here. However, we are doing everything to convince them that we can perform.”