ROBYN SASSEN
It was after a soiree of her own songs that she hosted at her parents’ house as a teenager that it dawned on Levine that this “was something I could do”. It wasn’t exactly a eureka moment, she adds. “It was one of many moments.”
While conjuring up songs came naturally to her, performing didn’t. “I’m quite a shy person,” she admits. “And there are times when performing in public is still challenging. The more I work, the more I love creating songs to share with people.
“I’ve written many ballads over the years, but I wouldn’t call myself a balladeer,” she adds. “I’ve had a range of different approaches in my songwriting, from up-tempo to slow, and I’ve experimented with different genres. Over the past few years, I’ve been writing in the folk genre, which has recently shifted into something else. It’s always hard to pin down one thing that defines me.”
In 2007, her career exploded into general awareness, resulting in the release of several albums since then as well as much touring. Her latest album, the seventh one, is titled Canyons.
“Mozambique”, the single from this album for which she’s just developed a video, “was inspired by the time I spent at Mozambique’s Festival of Rock & Roll, or FORR Festival, in Ponta Malongane,” she says. The lyrics ponder time.
“It’s amazing how it can take years to absorb an experience before it comes through in your writing. That happened with this song.”
The song, she says, “signals a departure from my folk/country style”. Its style is far more poetic than her folk songs.
When Levine writes a song, she begins with the music. “I start by writing a riff on the electric guitar. And then words come, quickly or slowly.”
Publishing a song isn’t difficult, but it’s important to do it right so you can earn money from it, she explains. “You need to register it with the SA Music Rights Organisation. This means it is copyrighted. If the song is played on radio or TV, you earn income through that avenue.”
Levine has recently elected to self-publish her own work, she explains, commenting on how the whole music industry is shifting because of budget issues and the prevalence of the Internet. “Getting syncs [when a song is played in an advert, on TV or radio] these days is harder and harder. A lot of companies with tight budgets will go to music libraries for music samples rather than commission composers.”
So, it is easier and more effective to get her work out herself because the music publishing companies are big, and solo artists like her might get lost in the administration. By promoting herself via platforms such as social media and YouTube, Levine is able to get more people aware of what she is doing in a more direct way.
She explains that performing and recording are two sides of the same coin. “It’s a juggling act,” she says. “You don’t want to perform while you’re recording because you want to get the recording completely right and as good as possible. But if you aren’t performing, you aren’t earning from an important income stream.”
Levine opts to record in home studios: they’re less stressed environments. But the recording is expensive, particularly if you’re a solo act with no band. Yet, she says, she’s in it for the long haul.
Levine also does private gigs. “It’s a nice way for people to hear your music. Just playing at someone’s house, just stripping it down, is quite remarkable.”
When she reaches for a guitar these days, it’s an electric one. This wasn’t always the case. “I was about 13 or 14 when I took acoustic guitar lessons. Guitar seemed obvious. It was mobile; it was intimate. Playing the electric guitar is newish for me. I started playing it when I joined up with Josie Field. She was playing ukulele and acoustic. I was playing banjo and a bit of mandolin and acoustic. When we recorded our full-length, jointly written album Tigerlily, we wanted more instrumental variation.
“So, we had an electric guitarist – a session player – come to play. And then I learnt his parts. I’ve fallen absolutely in love with it, and haven’t put it down since.” But don’t be misled; the career of a full-time muso is “95% hard work”, she grins. “The rest is romance. When it comes together, when there’s a product that comes of hundreds and hundreds of hours of work, it’s magic.
“Making art is an incredibly fulfilling, soul-enriching thing. You just have to be very dogged about it. But it’s wonderful. Being able to create something is a wonderful gift that just keeps on giving back.”
Looking ahead, Levine has a gig at the Radium Beer Hall in Orange Grove on April 14, and will be going to America in June.
You can find “Mozambique” on YouTube.
