Khanya Balani
Bio
Born in Cape town (SA) raised in Klerksdorp a small city in South Africa. Khanyas music influence has always been set by his family, from his grandmother exposing him to gospel and traditional music to his uncles always bringing home jazz and hip hop tapes. So in the mid 90s it was never surprising to find his uncles tapes in Khanyas cupboard ranging from kwaito to R&B music and with an impressive collection of hip hop singles that were appreciated by a few, it was apparent to his family that music was his thing. Up until this time Khanya had never really heard house music till one day on a Friday night while returning from a night praise ceremony with his grandmother he switched on the radio, surfing for a station he came upon metro fm one of the biggest urban radio stations in South Africa and playing on this radio station was a new sound unfamiliar to him. A sound, which was consistent in its rhythm, ever changing and enjoyed by all his older cousins who were in the car with him. He was hooked every Friday and Saturday night you would find him next to his radio listening to Dj mixes till the early hours of the morning. At this point in his life Khanya was use to small town living he had never seen a big city before, in the late 90s Khanyas family relocated to Johannesburg and at the age of 11 he had to adjust to a new way of living. Big city life was new to him, he was exposed to bashes (street partys)and was attending them at the age of 13 with friends from his neighborhood here he could see the djs at work and these djs played all kinds of house music, it was a new world and this music was becoming so popular so fast. With the introduction of cds to Khanya and his friends, famous local djs who were packaging songs from all over the world into compilations were idols to him, with the different styles of house in his collection of compilations hes taste of music was refined, he would hear songs from Kerri Chandler with his raw and pure deep sounds on track 1 to MAW with there upbeat and urban sound on track 12. He absorbed everything like a new baby learning about the world.
Through high school Khanya was just an admirer of the genre, up until 2007 on his final year of high school thinking he would go study law his close friend Steven Hollenbach asked him why doesnt he go with him to a dj school instead his best friend Brendan Hollenbach suggested that he learn how to make music. With no previous knowledge of song making or playing any instrument Khanya applied at the Academy of Sound Engineering where he was part of 200 students chosen to study there. To keep his family satisfied he majored in broadcast but was never shy to go into studio and listen to people jam, becoming familiar with softwares such as Reason and Pro Tools , Khanya was learning to make his own music and falling back on the knowledge hed read from music books he had bought in college, he was learning something that he had passionately listened to through out his life, which brought him so much joy and happiness. On his final year Khanya had made friends with many producers and djs at college who would give him tracks to dub mix or remix which lead to him taking the music home, and at his own pace and at the comfort of his own home his passion for making music saw him go out less on weekends, instead he would stay home and nurture his talent. Producing for two and a half years and reaching new levels Khanya Balani is an addition which hopes to be a veteran in house music. Soul Sun Soul Music will be releasing Khanya Balani first track entiled AgainBio
Through high school Khanya was just an admirer of the genre, up until 2007 on his final year of high school thinking he would go study law his close friend Steven Hollenbach asked him why doesnt he go with him to a dj school instead his best friend Brendan Hollenbach suggested that he learn how to make music. With no previous knowledge of song making or playing any instrument Khanya applied at the Academy of Sound Engineering where he was part of 200 students chosen to study there. To keep his family satisfied he majored in broadcast but was never shy to go into studio and listen to people jam, becoming familiar with softwares such as Reason and Pro Tools , Khanya was learning to make his own music and falling back on the knowledge hed read from music books he had bought in college, he was learning something that he had passionately listened to through out his life, which brought him so much joy and happiness. On his final year Khanya had made friends with many producers and djs at college who would give him tracks to dub mix or remix which lead to him taking the music home, and at his own pace and at the comfort of his own home his passion for making music saw him go out less on weekends, instead he would stay home and nurture his talent. Producing for two and a half years and reaching new levels Khanya Balani is an addition which hopes to be a veteran in house music. Soul Sun Soul Music will be releasing Khanya Balani first track entiled Again
