Now on their ninth release, Cape Town-based Umgido Records represent the South African underground with their classy take on Afro-house, influenced by the likes of their countrymen Black Coffee and Siphe Tibeka and often incorporating the minimalist, jagged sound of gqom.
The label was founded by Athie Umgido (pictured above) and Da Fresh Umgido, who are also a production duo known as Umgido. The duo grew up in the Eastern Cape where Athie’s father was an established DJ. Athie is now well established in Cape Town, where he also runs Bridges For Music academy and BFM Records in Langa township, providing opportunities for local kids to get a foothold in the underground electronic music scene.
Best festival
Wolfkop, which is Afrikaans for a wolf’s head. That’s my favourite festival, but I would say it’s one of the smallest in Cape Town. It’s a three-day festival by the lake. Aesthetically, it looks nice because it’s on the water, there’s some lilos. It brings up all the elements that I like when I’m going to a gig.
Axel Boman was a headliner this year and the other label that I run, BFM Records, had a takeover, so they gave us the Sunday to get our DJs to play there.
Biggest DJs
The first one I would say is Floyd Lavine. Just like me, he’s not from Cape Town but he’s been living in Cape Town and he blew up here, so I would say he owes it to Cape Town. He’s in Berlin now and he tours a lot. As Afro-house people, we look up to him a lot.
I would nominate Siphe Tebeka as well. As a producer he is on his own level – not too big overseas, but really big in Cape Town. He gives out some of the best Afro-house you’ve ever heard – Afro-house influenced by techno.
Best club
Modular. Best club in the world! I actually have a night there, which happens every month. I would say that anyone that comes from overseas enjoys Modular, because it feels similar to Berlin. No phones, underground, responsible clubbing, even though it gets crazy. It’s a free-spirited club.
I feel like the reason why a lot of people love it is because in Cape Town there’s a lot of cop visibility. Sometimes they do come in and close clubs. But people know that whenever you go to Modular, you’re safe and you just go home after that and you’re probably going to have the best night ever. That’s what I love about it, it’s very welcoming to people that love raves.
Unsung hero
Ivan Turanjanin. He’s been in the industry for a long time. He has a night at Modular and he’s so supportive of younger guys. The first time I had my own event was through him.
I mean, it’s not easy to play in the white scene because first of all, you must know people, and what type of style are you gonna play? And at the same time, sometimes you might feel like you don’t belong, understanding that some people grow up in Cape Town without ever having seen a European person before. But I feel like he really makes it a point that we are included in that type of scene, so it doesn’t feel closed.
The likes of Siphe Tebeka come from that, and myself. He preserves the culture and gets to know each and every unknown DJ instead of waiting for you to blow up, and then suddenly people want to know you.
Biggest tune
A song that we did called Barr-Setta. It was played by Keinemusik, Black Coffee – everyone used to play it. I’m not sure if I can mention our song, but it’s the biggest song from the other label that I run, BFM Records, and I would say it’s one of the biggest songs in the country now, in terms of Afro-house.
Best hangout spots
Where I am now, Bridges For Music. It’s a place where everyone that comes to Cape Town might enjoy because they might leave with something in their hearts instead of just seeing everything we’ve seen before.
We recently had Martin Garrix visit us and before that it was Black Coffee. It’s a school but at the same time it has a lot of history. We usually take people on a township tour in Langa, to get to know where everyone from the school actually lives and check out the neighbourhood.
Best record shop
Cape Town’s fave vinyl spot, Roastin’ Records. They stock everything! I was quite surprised when I went there. I was looking for some house because I wanted to play some vinyl, and you find that they stock everything from Mbaqanga – traditional South African music – to classical music, old school punk rock, literally everything.