Binx, whose name was derived from a nickname her brother called her whilst growing up, has been singing and writing music since she was a little girl. With her late father’s encouragement, BINX took her music career to New York where she released her debut EP to great acclaim. “The African Bee” has had extensive radio airplay across South Africa, and BINX was interviewed on South Africa’s biggest Entertainment channel, V Entertainment. The rising pop singer has also performed at The South African Traditional Music Awards as well as performed live on TV to millions of viewers.
In this interview feature, we chat with BINX about her influences, the new project, the digital music world and more.
Full Q&A along with links and the video for Headlights below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
Binx – Firstly, thank you for featuring me! I am from a small beach town in South Africa. I’m a pop musician but I define my sound as “Prock” which is a combination of Pop with glam rock influences as I am highly influenced by David Bowie and The Rolling Stones. I also have some African influences therefore my dad and I penned the over all sound as “Nqu Nqu Prock Wave.”
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to stay the course?
Binx – My dad introduced me to the world of music and my mom and dad were highly involved with melodramas while I was growing up so I developed a love of the stage through them. There are so many reasons why I continue with this career choice firstly, because it feeds my soul. I am happiest making music and creating videos or fashion to go along with my creative vision. My family, because of their undeniable support and pride for what I do, my friends who I was so lucky to find in New York. They encourage me and come to every show, help pick songs to release and share ideas about what they’d like to see next from me. And of course anyone who has heard my music and either related to it, or enjoyed it or just supported it, fuels me beyond measure. I feel very lucky and excited about all that’s left to create in my life.
How is your new release different than previous ones? Did you set out to accomplish anything specific?
Binx – “The African Bee” was my first release so I have nothing to compare it to at the moment. But it did everything I wanted it to. I just wanted to get my music available to people to listen to, I wanted to introduce myself as a South African artist and garner as much exposure for it as possible. One of the songs on the EP called “Radiohead” actually went to Number 1 on a South African radio chart! Most importantly, it is a tribute to my Dad who helped me put it all together. I put it out for him because he is the reason I became a musician.
Do you face challenges as an indie musician in a digital age? How has technology helped you (assuming it helps)?
Binx – Yes and no. Yes being an independent artist without a record labels marketing or financial backing is tough and every day there is an influx of new music, or new musicians and we are all competing to get heard or seen.
No – The digital age has allowed indie musicians such as myself the opportunity and the platform to release and promote our own music on our own time all with our own creative control. Social media and the internet are fantastic tools to get yourself known, as long as you are willing to put in the time and effort necessary to see results, the digital age is probably the most exciting time for the DIY artist.
Where can we connect with you online and discover more music?
Instagram is my favourite platform because I love telling a story through images: @binxofficial
You can sign up to my mailing list on my website because I always send new releases or new information to people on the list first. My website is: www.binxofficial.com
And all my social media handles are:
Anything else before we sign off?
Yes, I will be releasing something new every month (new song, new video etc) until the end of the year for 2017! So I would love to connect with anyone who is interested in my music to hear what they think on the new releases. So please keep in touch.
My new music video for my song, “Headlights” is now out, followed by a new single release in June for the Summer.
Also, thank you again to Middle Tennessee Music for the interview. 🙂
