WINDHOEK-Sensational Jazz, Reggae and Rock singer, Shishani, says she had a great time in Namibia after returning to Europe over the weekend.
Shishani gave an energetic performance during the launch of her ten-track second album titled Sessions in Poland, at the Warehouse Theatre, before she departed to Europe. She says she also had an amazing time working with new musicians, producers and meeting new people in Namibia. “It was a wonderful process and I have made some special connections. Music is about people, sharing and creating it together,” says Shishani.
Apart from the launch of his album, Shishani also got an opportunity to perform at the Last Band Standing Independence show hosted at the National Theatre of Namibia (NTN) last month. “At some point, I also found myself jumping on stage and doing some songs with The Fate of Miss H at the Warehouse Theatre during my performances. I also started working on an amazing project together with the Warehouse Theatre management and the Film Director of the New Mission Films, Jana
Brückner,” says Shishani.
Shishani adds that since she is now back in Poland, she will have more shows while on the other hand promoting her album. Shishani’s album Sessions in Poland is a collection album of her personal and musical experiences over the past years. She says the album reflects her journey through Soul, Rock and Reggae music built around stories of her life. “In the album, I worked on the recording with one of the Polish producer and spent months in Poland. Somehow I felt appropriate to name it Sessions in Poland because it was such an intense and beautiful experience,” she says.
Shishani worked on her new album for the past two years. Asked about the difference between her new album and the previous one, she says every album has its own story and its process. Sessions in Poland was full of adventures and challenges, while the previous one was very pure and unpolished.
“With the new album, I wanted to take my time and develop a sound together with the producers and the band. I felt it is more mature, and reflects a broader spectrum of my musicality,” says Shishani.
Differentiating between Namibian music and the international music, Shishani says due to population size of Namibia, the Namibian music industry is very small compared to other countries. “However, the talent is abundant! I think there are global similarities concerning music industries everywhere. You have commercial mainstream music which gets most exposure, and then you have less commercial and non-commercial music which get less exposure,” she says.
She says her own experience has been quite a select and yet strong fan base listening to her music in Namibia. Her experiences making the album in Poland were mainly about entering a new world, meeting new people, new cultures, and receiving tremendous support and generosity throughout the process.
She says she also learnt a lot and it definitely made her grow as a person and as an artist. “Namibia will be the starting point of promoting my album and I am very happy that I am also in Poland to share my music,” says Shishani.
Currently, Shishani have two shows lined up at the African Festival in Würzburg, Germany and during the Glastonbury Festival in England.
“Now I am in full swing preparing for those shows here in Europe,” says Shishani.