Born and bred in the “The Creative City” Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape, Viwo Kulati hopes to show a side of relationships that often goes unnoticed with her new single titled Chilly Breeze. The single is available on iTunes, Spotify and all digital platforms.
“The lyrical content of love songs I’ve heard growing up speak about how a girl loves their guy, how a guy hurt their girl or how sorry a guy is for hurting their girl. So Chilly Breeze is showing the other side of things – how women can also be in the wrong in relationships,” Kulati said.
“The song has soul & jazz influence which you can hear a lot in the voice, keyboard and also African influence which is very apparent in the bassline of the song.”
Although this is Vivo’s debut single, she’s been very involved in the music industry, especially in the jazz genre, as a frequent performer at the annual Grahamstown National Arts Festival. She says the Festival drew her closer to music and the arts at a very young age.
Kulati is one of the many artists to emerge from Victoria Girls’ High School, where she studied music and classical voice. She’s gone on to study Jazz at the University of the Witwatersrand. If she’s not studying, Viwo is either teaching, rehearsing, or getting ready for a performance.
“I’m usually very calm before a performance actually, the anxiety for me always comes afterwards especially when I get home and I start reflecting on what happened on stage,” said the talented Jazz vocalist and songwriter.
Kulati’s mature stage presence, powerful and crystal clear voice have gained her experience as a performer and she’s shared stages with Thandiswa Mazwai, and The Brothers Move on. She has also performed alongside the amazingly talented Dumza Maswana at the National Arts Festival.
The Orbit: Home of Jazz in Joburg is one of her favourite stages that shaped her career in jazz.
She shares that her creative process when it comes to making music is simplicity: “When I have an idea I usually just pencil down the lyrics of the song with a either a solid verse or chorus, then I work on the song structure with my friend Josh Mokoena. Or I come arrive with a fully complete song and Josh and I re-imagine it.
“I think the way I write is quite straightforward. I don’t ever try to complicate it.”
With inspirations like Anita Baker, who she says she grew up listening to, much like the songstress, Viwo’s new single is influenced not only by jazz and R&B, but also traditional African music which is apparent in the song’s baseline.
This powerhouse is in search of her identity as a singer and a performer. She is surely one to watch. Follow her on her social media pages.
Twitter: @Viwo_K
Facebook: Viwo Kulati
Instagram: Viwo Kulati
