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RPM: Afromuza

Afromuza is a vocalist, DJ, Producer & Songwriter, based in London, UK.

Born in South Africa, Afromuza then moved to Australia and where she grew up and as far as she can remember been deeply connected & involved in music from early age, taking to singing and playing instruments with ease.

Around the 2011 mark, Afromuza aka Natalya set off on a pilgrimage to London, UK to pursue her career in music, studying songwriting at Goldsmiths University and has since written soundtracks & scores for two short films.

In terms of taste, her influences sway across the board and the style of music she digs for these days spans anywhere from global beats, soul, disco, funk through to techno.

Since her arrival in the UK capital, Natalya has gone on to share her sounds as a DJ at many local venues over the years including @ministryofsoundclub, @pacha_london and @egglondonofficial as well as European venues and festivals such as @letitrollfestival and @beats.for.love

Afromuza is also the one half of @pleasuresmusic, a techno duo that blends energetic techno with smoky Sade-esque vocals. Throughout their live performance, intricate rhythms and melodies are mixed with poignant live vocals for a euphoric listening experience.

Each week we will be taking a dip into the crates and minds of some of the digging scenes most prolific collectors.

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DIGGR: What were your earliest music influences?

AFROMUZA: “My parents have always been party people. So influences ranged from Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba, Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind & Fire, Buena Vista Social Club, through to Jimmy Hendrix and so on.”

D: Who’s one person who knows your record collection almost as well as you do?

A: “lad Dj Bugaboh, my husband.”

D: Name One Institution that changed your life musically?

A: “There was a show called RAGE on ABC (Australia) that played over Friday night into Saturday morning.

As a 6 year old I would stay up all Friday night and Saturday morning watching all the rave music clips and interviews with Prodigy and Aphex twin and clips of parties in Europe.

I was hooked! It really developed my taste for alternative electronic music.”

D: Weirdest most quirky record buying memory?

A: “My now husband and our best mate went to buy some 1210s from a guy who was moving to Ireland with his family. He’d been a DJ in the the early 90s and was ready to let it all go, as the decks had been sitting in his cupboard (in top nick) for 15 years or so.

His brother put the decks up on the ebay add and said he also had records that he was looking to sell.

We agreed on the decks and then we asked about the records, he brought them out and I had a look through and said we’d like to take them all.

He looked like he was going to cry. We had to ask him 3 times how much he wanted for them hahaha.

After a long time of him scouring through and telling us the memories of dropping tracks at after parties with Faithless I promised him they’d be in good hands and he handed them over. It’s a good feeling giving these records life again.”

D: What is it about vinyl that makes you dig it?

A: “Particularly with older records, it’s the feeling of having a tangible archive of musical history. I’ve got records from different times and places all over the world.

To me they are artefacts that tell a story about the moment in time they were created.”

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