Delicious melody lines,captivating poetry,contagious rhythms.All of the above are descriptive of Ziya's music.
Her debut album "Oertoekoms" resonates a unique ,mysteriously fresh sound that revolutionizes Afrikaans music.
Ziya's music is an unusual blend of styles, an aural feast of mood and texture in stark contrast with the commercially formulated music on the shelves.
The sound of this upcoming artist is unlike anything you've heard before, unlike the status quo,unorthodox and quite intriguing.

"Oertoekoms" takes the listener on a journey and is guaranteed to captivate listeners from across many different sub-cultures and generations.
Its bilingual(80%Afrikaans,20%English) and the content is an eclectic fusion of innovative rock,contemporary and pop with an African tinge here and there.

The album kicks off with the striking opening track "Verlore" that marries 'new-school-rock' rhythms&rhyming(featuring Ajax) with classical choral and opera vocals.
There are beautiful ballads like "Klou" , "Balsem", "I just" and with its romantic poetry and raw,old-school jazz feel ,"Trane" soothes the mood(featuring Maestro Victor Masondo
on double bass). Thought provoking lyrics in "illusie" ,questions tongue-in-cheek ,a lot of traditional Afrikanerdom issues like religion, the old anthem and the Afrikaner identity crises. read more. {Goes to Piece of mind or blog spot/blog,depending on which option we choose}"Swart op Wit" reveals a controversial approach to immigration,violence and our african roots on a music bouquet of rock reggae,african vocal sketches & concertina bits while "Hush" challenges the audience with these words: "Your sons and your daughters are waiting to see if you'll heed the call to make history".

Altogether its a timeless production,a harmonious marriage of masculine rhythms,feminine melodies and tasteful poetry that will shift paradigms.

Ziya quizzed:

1. Why is it the first time the world hears of you?

Its all about timing..Since a young age,I had so many opportunities to sign record deals, but my parents where wise not to launch me pre-maturely.
I think that if I plunged into the music world and stage life too early, I would've been moulded into what other people wanted me to be, instead of who I really am.
It didn't take me too long to figure out the pitfalls of contracts etc and decided that I can never be a little show horse performing to fill someone else's pocket,at the cost of my own identity, compromising my 'voice' as an artist and therefor I actually avoided the stage for a long time.
One of the major issues that an artist/performer battles with is to not revolve one's life around being the "treffer" of the week or performing to please other's expectations, but to be secure in who you are whether the crowds cheer you or 'boo' you, cause crowds change like the weather.
Marriage and kids matured me and established and secured my true identity.
Music is not the most important thing. Its a part of who I am,but its not the only thing I am.
God and my family is my greatest passion and inspiration;music is an expression of this.
With all of this in place, its evident that the time is NOW.

2. Your favorite artist/bands?

Chasing Furies,Linkin Park, Sarah Mc Clachlan, Coldplay, POD,Diana Krall, Alanis Morisette,Fro-fro, Stina Nordenstam,Ajax,Sting,Bijork,Delirious,U2,Massive attack,Cindy Morgan

3. Name all your specialties as a muso.

Composer,arranger, producer, piano,keyboard,vocals, music director,session vocalist,choir director,music programmer,jingles, soundtracks.

4. What is your musical background?

I had Unisa piano exams during my school career and there I learnt all the rules of classical music, so now I know how to break them really well.I also sang in any and every eistedfodd and participated on about every item on school events,talent shows etc.My father bought me a keyboard when I was a very young girl and that's where I learnt my composition and arranging skills.I used to dissect and copy every keyboard demo song or radio song, starting with bass for instance, then the drums and then recorded it on the floppy disc of the keyboard. Since matric ,I've been recorded on various compilations,recorded session vocals,co-producing my album named "Saturated" and performing at various events,composing and producing for and with other artists.

5. What is the symbolism behind the sword on the "Oertoekoms" cover?

Firstly, I was so bored with all the sleazy and cheesy album covers that's out there, that I chose a non-trendy theme that could be ancient or futuristic .I had this idea for a very long time and wanted a surreal location as the backround.The Symbolism?All of us are engaged in a spiritual , psychological war, wether you believe it or not .Its the Matrix pulled over our eyes.The invisible system put in place to make people clones,followers of trends and whatever the media, religion and society dictates. Everything is designed to make you forget your true identity and urges you to engage in the ratrace, to perform to others' expectations.The battle is for your heart.Its designed to make you escape into a construct in order to escape the reality.This war destroys families and marriage, it wants to mess up our kids and breed a generation of dead/cold people,walking corpses, chasing after who knows what?.Its makes you work harder to earn more to buy shit we don't need(fightclub).I call it the James-Bond-and-Barbie movement.Propaganda through idillic billboards of super successful men and super sexy women- something very few can live up to and even if you personally meet the iconic ,perfect model that posed for this enormous billboard that everyone lusts over, you discover that she sticks her finger down her throat after every meal because she's feels overweight and ugly.It paints a picture of what your life should be,what you should look like and what you should drive,which restaurant you should dine at and which cellphone suits your image.It reminds you that you're not good enough and you can never live up to this picture,this life.
The war is against the false construct of life,God,yourself and the universe,against the warped paradigms that blur your vision
The war is against the destructive cycles of the generations before us, against the lies that keeps you away from your true identity and from your destiny.
The fight against the fake in pursuit of beautiful reality . Read more {This trigger sends you to the blog spot where I discuss topics}

6. Why did you choose a album title like "Oertoekoms"?

The title is based on a concept called 'ancient future'. Isn't it so interesting that the past repeats itself?As I started embracing my roots, a process began in which I was stripped of everything excess,everything additional and what remained is raw reality and authenticity.I could only embrace my ultimate future by facing, dealing with and changing things from the past, breaking cycles of former generations, replacing false indoctrinated things by the church and systems with pure, raw truth. Ek moes met die oerdinge worstel en dit wat lewe bring koester en dit wat verwoesting bring oorwin, sodat ek n toekoms kan he sonder om gehipnotiseerd in vervloekte spore van my voorvaders te volg.(Click here to listen to track 3 titled "illusie" that speaks about this)

Racism existed between Greek and Jew in ancient times and today, in spite of all our knowledge and technology and history books filled with knowledge, we still have the same issues between white and black, french and english, protestants and catholics.

T

Fashion trends of 20 years ago make a comeback.In the modern age people loved fake, materialism, industrialism and then you get to post-modernism where its fashionable to be health conscious and to drink bottled water with a calorie count on the label and 'lifestyle' gets branded . Everyone wants to stay in an estate with a "natural" view.People are moving away from the city and crave the peace and tranquility of the countryside. There's a huge movement towards organic, free-range, mud-baths , rustic furniture and costume and set designers of futuristic films draw inspiration from ancient fashion and architecture .It is as though we want to live simplistically ,like we ient times.with this old ancient paths where things were simple and deep and beautiful.
The second meaning is the fight against destructive cycles of former generations so that we can establish our own identity, not based on indoctrinated things from the past for instance white and black living together in a new dispensation.

7. Tell us about your family?

Can I write 6 pages please? I have so much to say about them.
I'm married to an incredible man called Hannes. Let's just say I was taken out of him like Eve out of Adam.We are serious family people.I have 3 babies in nappies at the moment.(Who knows how many kids we'll have,hiehie.) The eldest daughter named Kyna(2yrs 9 months old), middle son Gian(1yr 10 months old) and Leo(5 months).During Gian's pregnancy I composed the first part of the album and during my youngest baby; Leo's pregnancy, I composed the latter halve of "Oertoekoms" and recorded it till my 36th week of pregnancy. My family is definitely one of my greatest inspirations when I compose. The depth and love we share shapes my thoughts and ignites a passionate flame that keeps me alive.

8. Why haven't you released your "Saturated" album commercially and will you release it soon?

I had the awesome privilege of meeting the Lighthouse crew that became close friends and gave me an incredible opportunity to make an album with no strings attached.
The whole project was a learning curve and experimental project where I learnt the logistics of the recording and technical side of producing.
I wasn't interested in stepping full-time into the music industry back then. At the time I was working on youth upliftment projects and loved it too much that I didn't want to give it up.
I also believe the time wasn't right to go commercial yet.
We will make "Saturated" available later this year on this website and it will be released on the same donation base as "Oertoekoms".A percentage of the donations will be put into a fund to enable other artists,like I was enabled.

9. Why did you decide on making an Afrikaans album, when your first album was in english?

This is quite a long story...I worked in an english environment,had english friends and sang english music,so when I started composing "Saturated" ,I naturally wrote in english, but I also had hurts about my Afrikaans roots.I then developed internal racism, prejudice towards my own kind and in some way despised my heritage and wanted nothing to do with it, firstly because of the sins of our fathers and secondly because of the tags that people place on you when you're afrikaans.There's the "I'm stupid' sign, similar to the ones the afrikaner kids had to wear around their necks when they were oppressed by the english,and then off course the assumption that you are necessarily racist when you're Afrikaans speaking.I made 3 vows namely:1."I'll never write Afrikaans music". 2."I'll never marry an afrikaans man". 3."I'll never stand barefoot and pregnant in front of the stove.Besides, who needs more children when we're sitting with an entire fatherless generation that needs help?'ll first pursue my dreams, change the world and then perhaps have a kid".These words ladies and gentlemen where my last and most famous ones. I'm madly in love with the "Afrikaanse boerseun" I married and we had 3 kids in the first 3 years of our marriage, while I composed and recorded my afrikaans album.

10. What is your recipe for writing fresh music?

There is no recipe.Freedom is the key to it all.My husband and I gave up suburban bliss in exchange to live our dreams. No one was dictating to me what to write and I didn't have the pressure to sell x amount of units. I had total freedom. The great thing about this approach is that whether 1 person loves my music or a million, it doesn't matter.I'm not trying to make huge money in the music industry, I'm simply being true to myself, fulfilling my redemptive purpose on this earth and as a result,this music will touch and change whoever it needs to touch and change.

11. Who are the people that made the biggest impact on your music?

My belated father who was my greatest fan, who loved and believed in me and trained me for my destiny.
Nick Costaras and Lighthouse crew, who never accepted my second best and who was instrumental in unlocking spheres of my musical ability I never knew existed.
Hannes Viljoen, who changes my paradigms,covers my weaknesses and still loves me unconditionally when the lights die down and the show is over.

12. Why are you not selling your music ?

The price I had to pay in tears, loss and life experience in order to sing the words on this album is too high for anyone to afford and cannot be bought with money.
By putting no price tag on it,I 'm making my music accessible to everyone and giving them the freedom to make the donation what they want to for the downloads and CD's. Some might feel to donate a R100 000 and others might only be able give R10. I'd rather let everyone have access to the best quality of music and download it straight from my site and donate, rather than getting a watered-down version off some pyrite site. I'm doing distribution solely through this website.If you see this for sale anywhere, its illegal and not original.I don't even sell my own music. To donate click here {This trigger goes to the 'Donate for an album' page}