Acrpost: A Project of the Pacific Association of Artist Run Centres

Event Description

Tumi Molekane is a speaker of fancy, the vanguard clairvoyant, one of South Africas brightest up and coming wordsmiths. He is an honest poet, an intuitive writer and responsible MC. This spitkicker has done countless work on the Johannesburg hip-hop scene, most notably the Dead Prez show in the spring of 2000, and the Black August tour to South Africa the following year, which featured Talib Kweli and Black Thought of The Roots. He has shared the stage with South Africas premier talent, such as Blk Sonshine, Bra Willie Kgositsile, Max Normal, Lesego Rampolokeng, and international talent such as Saul Williams, Sarah Jones and Mutaburuka.

Tumi was the feature of Yfms acclaimed pilot ad campaign, performing controversial poetry for the ads. Having worked on his project, The Tao of Tumi, in 2001 as a showcase, he is pioneering a whole new approach to making and presenting music. Around the same time, he compiled a collection of poems entitled The Black Inside Out.

The concept band, the Volume, is a creative joint venture between Tumi, Tiago, Paulo, Dave & Kyla.



Tiago and Paulo form the other half of dubrockjazzhiphopelectricfunk group 340ml, one of the freshest sounds in South Africa at the moment. Tiago C Paulo is the lead guitar-monster whose distorting, pitching and exquisite melodies create an unmistakable beauty that softens the edges of the bands sound. Paulo Chibanga is the beat-master on percussion, becoming an extension of the drums he beats. And then theres Dave Bergman, a relative newcomer who is an intense and broody bass player with long fingers that surf the chords with a laidback sense of smooth. Kyla Rose Smith, a fresh addition on the violin who brings a sense of grace, completes the cipher.

The collective result is a sound that lingers over lines of new-school hip-hop, beat poetry and funked-up jazz, which is sure to set a new standard to be followed in national line-ups.

In 2002, their first year together, Tumi and the Volume performed at the elite jazz venue Bassline in Johannesburg, The Independent Armchair Theatre in Cape Town, the Oppikoppi festival in Pretoria, the Flux Festival in Durban, Eargasms Mkonto, the TV programmes The Phat Joe Show and Castle Loud, and were asked to perform at the 2002 MetroS Music Awards. 2003 has seen them perform at the Tuks Rag Show, The Metro FM New World Music Festival, on the drama series Backstage, interviewed on ETVs Nightlife and Heita and supporting international acts Relax from Holland, Positive Black Soul from Senegal and Blackalicious from USA. They've performed alongside bands such as The Roots, Coldplay, Massive Attack and The Cardigans.