She has been in the industry for 33 years, has 16 Albums and is known as ‘Thandeka’, the Loved one, a nickname given to her, which describes perfectly the affection people feel for this talented woman.
She has been an integral part of our South African history and is an important part of our Heritage.
I am talking about PJ Powers.
Her hit ‘World in Union’, which she sang at the Rugby World Cup in 1995, is proof of this South African legacy.
She also contributes to many charity initiatives and has brought out a new album called ‘Destiny’.
You are a very integral part of our history and heritage
What made you choose Afro-Rock as your style and genre of music to perform?
PJ:
“I didn’t choose it, it chose me. With my career it was just a gorgeous mistake really. I was part of quite a heavy metal rock band, in the early ’80s, called ‘Gymslip’, and then I was in ‘Hotline’. ‘Jabulani’ was just a normal rock ballad and had no African influence at all and the country at the time was very divided. Zulu played Zulu, Pedi played Pedi, English played English, Afrikaans played Afrikaans… it was very divided.”
“ For some strange reason a Kwela Radio Station in Soweto picked up on this song. They were very vernacular, so it was very bizarre when they played it. They played Johnny Clegg and simply because it was the vernacular and so there was shift suddenly. My manager called me and said that we had been invited to play in Soweto. This was a shock. I had always loved Miriam Makeba but had never listened to this station.”
“What happened was that I was embraced by these people and then I realised I was face to face with Sipho ‘Hotstix’ Mabuse and Lady Smith Black Mamabazo and others and I thought that I have this huge gift, that I am being exposed to such culturally rich musicians and music. Why am I looking to America and England for my influences? So subconsciously this music filtered into me and it was the right thing. It was a conscious thing to be with Kwela music and to play for that market. But I have no idea why they love me, to be honest.”
Perhaps this was your destiny!
PJ:
“Yes it is part of my destiny. I was in Jabulani recently and I felt like I was going home. It is where I am very comfortable.”
You were banned by Government from playing and from being aired on radio in 1988, and Nelson Mandela encouraged you to continue and supported your music.
PJ:
“He hadn’t heard my music, I don’t think, but what happened was that he noticed in some of the newspapers that he 
managed to get, that here was this white girl that was making an impact. When I met him years later, he told me that the story that struck a chord for him, was that when I performed at a Durban University and I sang a song that I dedicated to Madiba, who at the time was in prison, and they threw bottles and cans at me and I refused to get off the stage and I said, they will run out of cans before I stop singing and that is the story he heard and it stuck in his mind.”
In 1995 you sang at the World Cup – that must’ve been incredibly overwhelming for you. You were part of this momentous occasion. Describe this moment?
PJ:
“Once again that was Nelson Mandela. I wasn’t the first choice to sing at that concert. He said that if someone is to represent the country with Lady Smith Black Mambazo, it has to be PJ Powers, so that once again was a decision he made, which was fabulous for me.”
“It was an amazing feeling for my career. What I didn’t realise at the time, was that Mandela used the Afrikaaner culture and me and apartheid and rugby as a tool to bring this nation together, which was the most unlikely thing that you would think could do it. That is how he did it.”
“I didn’t realise, but I was part of a very calculated political campaign. It turned out to be a good game. I was interviewed for the documentary and I didn’t quite realise just how political that move was ‘playing the enemy’ – which was ‘Invictus’, the movie. The most momentous thing was when at the beginning of the World Cup Rugby, there were these sporadic old South African flags, for a month, and I would say within a week that flag was gone.”
Tell us about your new single, ‘Destiny’?
PJ:
“Destiny is about exactly what it is, creating your own destiny. I came out of a very dark period about 5 years ago. I was an alcoholic. Basically, I was pretty vulnerable and afraid and despite my public persona, I have insecurities. It was frightening for me to go back to the studio and my manager said I have to make another record, there is a public demand. I set about writing. I called it ‘Destiny’ because it finally hit home for me that despite everything that happened to me, it was my destiny to sing. It is my pre ordained destiny, hence the name. The single has been out for 4 weeks. I am very proud of it. The record has a lot of pain, a lot of joy and I feel that it is the most honest record I have made.”
You are a patron to the Tsogo Sun, Sun Cares Academy Programme, why did you get involved with this inititative?
PJ:
“That is a wonderful thing that I am a part of and I am incredibly blessed to be part of it, and a patron of it. There are an amazing amount of gifted kids there in the townships. The reason I said yes to go out there was to discover young talent and to give them a chance. Those children now know that they are not forgotten. I think too many children in our country fall through the cracks and it is a tragedy and I know there is nothing worse than thinking that you have been forgotten. Now these kids, thanks to Sun Cares, know that someone cares for them and that they haven’t been abandoned. It must be a lonely world for these kids. That is why I decided to get on board with this project.”
You also do a lot of motivational speaking and work, why?
PJ:
“Basically, I have a company called ‘The Power of Appreciation’ and I work with various companies. I don’t believe that you can be in a state of gratitude and unhappy at the same time. I think that what we lack in this country is a lack of a love of life because we are not grateful enough.”
Tell us about your involvement with Kamogelo, the rapper, who is part of the Sun Cares Programme? He blew me away.
PJ:
“He blew me away as well and I want to try to launch his career but the one thing I am not interested in doing is regurgitating this American stuff. I said that if he put on local inspired clothing and rapped in his own voice, and didn’t do everything that all these other rappers do, he would go far. I said to him that he must find his own voice. He is a brilliant craftsman and his lyrical content is amazing.”
Tell us about your Second single?
PJ:
“I have recorded a song with Dozi, but in tandem I have also got a song I will be releasing called ‘December Rain’. It will be released on a specific day in December because I actually wrote it for a friend of mine who lost her husband in December and the song is about not always having to be brave. It is the 1 year anniversary of his death.”
“’Sadness’, which is the duet I recorded with Dozi will be released within the next few weeks.”
PJ = PJ Powers
See the interview with Shanda Paines, talking about the SunCares inititative, on the theatre site.
