Artist of the Month - Janelle Botha

A casual interview with JANELLE BOTHA, Vocalist/Guitarist

- Personally, I remember hearing you sing for the first time and being blown away by your stage presence and talent. Please tell us a little bit about the pre-show preparations involved.

- Thank you. Stage presence came quite naturally to me but it has improved greatly over the years with experience. Preparing for a gig usually takes me half a day, I like putting together my set list and running through it before I get myself ready for the show. An important part of my routine, to calm my nerves, is drinking a cup of coffee and smoking a cigarette before I go on stage.

- We love your unique 1950’s pin up style. Where does the inspiration for the style come from?

- I'm not really sure where it started to be perfectly honest. To me, it just looks modest yet attractive. I have come to learn that when I feel good, I perform better. Getting dressed up makes me feel pretty, it sounds silly, but it helps with my performance and stage presence.

- Does that unique flare reflect in your song choices at all? Why?

- I have always enjoyed 1950's and 60's music, my voice also suits the genres that were popular at that time, such as jazz and blues. So most of my set list reflects that. The main reason for that is because I enjoy singing those songs, singing those songs makes me feeeel gooood.

- How long have you been singing?

- My mom would always sing, walking around the house, and would coax us into joining. So generally speaking, singing started at a young age. I started taking formal lessons at around 15.

- Where does the passion come from?

- My passion for singing definitely comes from my mother, we would stand in the kitchen while preparing dinner and sing "Vader, Jakob" as a cannon. One person starts and the second falls in just after, but you have to time it right and focus on what you are saying, and then to make it more challenging she would change to the French version before I completed my part. We would continue in French for a while and then change it up again. She made singing fun. I think that is why I cannot imagine a life without singing.

- Is having a good sense of humour and a thick skin a necessary part of being a performer?

- You really do need to have a thick skin at times, just like any other job you might have, there will be good days as well as bad. I always prepare an extra set list of songs I know will cheer me up, just in case something tries to swing my mood on stage. A good sense of humour can help with sticky situations, especially when someone requests a song you don't necessarily want to play.

- Tell us a little bit about performing on Namibian stages and what it has meant to you as an artist.

- I absolutely love being on stage, having been invited to a few stages really boosted my confidence levels, which in turn helped to improve my own song writing. I've never been skydiving but I imagine the adrenaline rush is similar. There is always a point in every performance when I get that kind of rush, it's very addictive.

- What was your most memorable performance/ good or bad or funny?

- I was feeling very brave one night and decided I wanted to do a little bit of a musical thing. (My ultimate dream would be to play in the musical, Chicago). From where I was standing that night, the singing was great but I now understand why I don't try and dance while I sing, hahahaha! I don't have regrets though, I felt a little stupid after the performance but I wanted to do it and I did. So it was worth it.

- Have you been working on any new material during the lock down period? How has this time in isolation affected your music?

- I think for everyone this lockdown has been a bit of both, good and bad. I think artists draw a lot from their emotions, and as we can all agree this lockdown has people feeling stuff they didn't even know they would. I am very excited to start work on recording what I have done thus far.

- How has the SNM served you as a platform and how do you find our markets?

- SNM invited me to perform at the market and it was actually my first time back on stage in Namibia after returning from my job abroad working on a cruise ship. It definitely did help me get my name back out there. When I stayed in Cape Town I used to attend night markets on a regular basis, so I love that I can finally enjoy it here in Swakop as well. A market at night with fire, wine, and music, everyone chatting and just having a good time and relaxing, that's my kind of date.

Contact Janelle to book her for events, parties or grand openings.

Cell: +264 81 374 1598