Rus Nerwich on living artfully and uniquely

Congrats on being nominated for 2 SAMAS's. You were just up in J'burg because of this, what was your purpose for going up there?

Yeah it was an exciting experience, interesting and eye opening to see how much the industry is being stimulated by corporates that obviously have their own invested interest but there's actually a buzz and vibe going around the industry. I went simply to be a part of the experience to see on what level things are being done because musicians you often find have a lot of negativity about things like the SAMA awards and only when you go inside it do you realize that there are a lot of credible people working in this machine.

Is this the first time you have been nominated?

Yeah I never really entered before.

Other than Under the Poetree being nominated for best Urban Pop album and album packaging what has the reception been like for it?

It's been amazing it's been really really good.

The album design and packaging is very interesting were you involved in that?

Well I maintain a high level of influence and control over everything just because things need to maintain and keep true to the original conception. So of course I am not a designer and a graphic artist but the artist I worked with; we have a close relationship and I stay involved in the process of the design.

One of the SAMA categories you have been nominated in is best Urban Pop album; would you describe your sound as Urban Pop?

It's great they have done me a massive favour I think Urban pop is an amazing succinct way of describing music that is both very accessible but also reflects an urban modern environment.

And your music has evolved over the years would you say?

Yah my five other albums were all instrumental jazz albums with the exception of certain parts and aspects. I'm writing all kinds of stuff all the time this is just one element of my creative reality that I am putting out now. I have loads of music in my head that I plan on getting out of my head.

Your album Beyond the Wall is an interpretation of music from the Holocaust area. What were your reasons behind creating this album, why did you want to get involved in that?

It started off with me going to the museum and I came across a book that was about music in the ghettos and camps and I never contemplated that was ever around and it was an obvious avenue for me to follow and go down. It's music that is born out of a human experience meaning that the actual melodies have substance and have a potency that contain the experience of the composer in them, the melody contains the spirit. And so that was one reason cause I get to engage and it is also an amazing area of study.

You have many people performing and guesting on your albums and live performances, can you tell us about the collaborative process, how involved are the artists or is it mainly your vision?

Because I come from a jazz instrumental/ improvisational background I am constantly co creating music with other musicians. In the case of Under the Poetree it is important to recognise what your strengths are and recognise in turn what your weakness are and bring in people who are able to perform at a high level. Also bringing in other people gives you fresh energy, they bring their own personality and colour to the musical scenario. In this case they were 15 musicians working with me. And I am a bit of a control freak because everyone wants to add their 2 cents so I'm always open to hear people's suggestions but I also have a very clear vision of where I want the music to go.

Your music seems too often have a deeper meaning for example there is a song on Under the Poetree about global warming there seems to be quite a strong spiritual or social message in your albums.

Yeah you know I'm a happy guy I'm not anti establishment I'm not particularly political. I think there are some very simple principles that if applied and understood and felt make life that much more pleasant for everyone so I try and infuse those things into music cause there is no better way than accessing people's inner world than through music. It's like a no- brainer.

Would you say that there is a basic message in your music?

Not really but just be conscious of what's going on around you.

How did you get into music?

It's funny I've often thought about this and I go back and forth. In some ways I feel that I never really had access to music as a young kid but then in others ways it was a very big influence in my life. There are certain songs that I heard when I was a kid that made me feel stuff for example like the song from Rocky “Eye of the Tiger” the theme song of Karate Kid, Fame like I remember being in school and listening to Jason Donovan and Kylie Minouge and then Michael Jackson I was a massive fan and then I went through a period when I wasn't into music and I never played a musical instrument till I was 17. My father had a cafe in Seapoint he was a drummer and one night a saxophone player came to play with them. I had never seen anything like that it blew me away so I decided to save up to buy a saxophone. I was disgustingly bad and I took this saxophone with me when I travelled. I used to busk to make cash but I was so bad and then I went to Istanbul and saw a concert and after the concert I called my mom and said I was going to become a professional musician.

So did you have no professional training then?

I studied music for four years at University. I dropped out of University I didn't graduate. But I'm a pretty self thought kind of guy, it's my way.

What are your Musical influences-favourite SA bands?

I was a jazz nut like Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane I love Prince a lot, Sting, James Brown, Marvin Gaye. I got into hip hop a bit later I love Bob Marley. Some classical music Debussy I like Red hot Chilli Peppers. South African musicians, Winston Mankuku, one of the greatest saxophone players to ever live for sure. Shoo so many.

If you could collaborate with anyone alive or dead, local or international who would it be?

Internationally Prince would be up there. Prince is an extraordinarily creative guy, proper. He's got all the traditions in his music, from Jazz funk hip hop he' like a trendsetter in terms of the musical world.

What do you feel would better enhance the SA music scene/industry and do you think South African music industry and media channels provide enough support for local talent?

Artists who are more involved in their careers, artists who took more responsibly with their relationships between themselves and the public. The machine that is built is built as a response to the artist so business only exists where there is a gap, no businessman goes there are 3 million bottles of orange juice in the market I think there is a gap for a new orange juice .Musicians build the industry so from the industry side I think their weakness is that they don't have the foresight to recognise artists that have potential for the future. They are just looking for a guy they can sell quickly someone poppy.

Do you think there are enough media outlets for the industry in South Africa?

We have the same amount of media channels as everyone else it's mainly the issue of getting access to those media channels. So like the media channels are businesses and they thrive on advertising and buy in's from the record companies. At a certain point you have to realise you are dealing with a business. I am a musician but I'm also a businessman equally so I don't approach it from this naive perspective that “I made a nice song why can't they put it on the radio.” They won't put it on the radio because they don't care about it. I care about it and when they see that they are going to benefit them they might put it on. I'll penetrate from any angle I can because we all want to be successful. You got to keep on trucking.

Do you think social media is the way to go for bands these days?

Yah I don't know. Do you have cockroaches in your house have you ever noticed that they all run in little clumps together? Of course you use whatever vehicles you have but there's like how many bands listed on facebook; millions. It takes so much to record an album release it tour and get it into the world and then do that for 30 years. I'm not a one hit wonder kind of dude I'm going to be making music till I'm decrepit they are going to have to pull me out of a f**king wheel chair you know what I mean. I'm stopping when I can't blow anymore when I can't play. You know till someone needs to change my nappy on stage. Of course you use whatever channels you've got. Music is so subjective people ultimately want to engage with the personality in the long run. [If you can hook fans at a young age and keep them that's what we should be striving for] I'm in the business of relationship development I just do it with songs. You need to be much smarter as musicians these days, the reason I mentioned the cockroaches it not that I'm saying the bands on MySpace are like cockroaches but you need to find a way of elevating yourself above the mass and you have to do that by living artfully.

Have you toured overseas?

Yah I've toured a bit. Last year I toured in Europe for 3 months. This year I will go back to Europe for 5 weeks in the end of June. That's in Jazz clubs and festivals.

Future plans what's next up?

Next up I'm going to put all the energy I can into making the Collective Imagination a massive success in SA and much abroad as possible. I'm going to finish writing a children's book that I am nearly done with I'm going to record at least 2 new jazz albums in the next 2 years and I am going to be releasing an album under the title the Collective Imagination. And I'm going to have as much time on the beach as possible in that process.