Paxton: Enters a new era and talks upcoming album
Paxton is a South African singer and songwriter from Bishops Lavis in Cape Town. She captured the hearts and minds of Idols viewers across South Africa in 2017 when she won the competition and has since gone on to become a globally recognised artist.
Her first year in the music industry she earned 3 number 1 singles in South Africa and an album with allowed her to tour internationally. In 2018, she dominated the South African charts, firstly with a smash hit collaboration “Smother”. She teamed up with “The Voice” winner, Craig Lucas, and the song went number 1 nationwide on radio and streaming sites. She then went on to release “Angifuni” from her album, “This Is Me”, in May 2018.
2018 also saw Paxton hit the international scene immediately, with a performance as part of the World Children’s Fund in Sweden and receiving an ambassadorship from Queen Silvia of Sweden. She then went on to perform at The White Nights of St Petersburg, sharing the stage with the likes of Seal, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Kool and The Gang. 2019 she went into preparations for Musexpo in Los Angeles, where she performed for some of the biggest names in the Global Industry.
Since then, a lot has happened and now the 23-year-old artist is ready to reintroduce herself to the music industry. Paxton has shared that she is in a good creative space and is ready to give the world her new music. The turn of the year has seen her test her vocal capabilities with the release of the Amapiano-inspired song Touch and Go.
Touch and Go is a statement off her upcoming album signaling to her core fan base that she has returned and is indeed one of South Africa’s most talented stars.
“It has always been important to me that my audience grows with me, and I take them on this journey. Music is the way I choose to express myself; I am in the most vulnerable space when I am in the studio and always hope that people will get to know me and experience who I am when listening to my music. This is a new era, I have entered a new season and I am excited to introduce my core audience to this new version of me,” Paxton shares.
For more on Paxton read our interview below:
The following interview has been lightly edited for context and clarity
Daniel: Is there a good day to go to the studio in your opinion?
Paxton: If I'm in a great space, then I go to studio. it all depends on where I'm at mentally and emotionally. Personally, if I could just go to studio on days when I felt the best then I would but there are deadlines. Deadlines normally mean that I have to push through regardless of how I am feeling. I suppose it’s all about balance really which is difficult to find.
How has it been like recording in a studio for you? Was it something that you could easily adapt to?
Honestly? When I did my first project, this is Me, that was my first time ever in a recording studio. It was my first time working in a booth and working with a producer and a writer, very much overwhelming and exciting at the same time. Me being the perfectionist that I am and me being the over thinker that I am, I was really anxious for like the first few days, and then I got used to it. I have a recording hack, which is to record in the dark. I’ll put all of the lights off in the studio. It just helps with my creative process as well. It was an adjustment, definitely. When I record I like having at least 3 people in the studio, just the important people as I get very overwhelmed so definitely lights off when I record.
When you walk into the studio and you step into the room for the first time, what is the thing that caught your eye because you automatically see this huge equipment and I didn’t know that it was, I just looked at the mixer and saw all of these buttons and I remember thinking, what does this do? What is the first thing that caught your eye?
The first thing that caught my eye, and I’m thinking back to the first time I ever stepped in, was probably the massive screens on the wall because as you walk in it’s all that you can see. You see the producers programming. And I kept thinking, what is this? This looks like it’s from out of space, I don’t understand what’s happening here, why is this necessary? I thought it would just be a mic and a laptop and there you go. And then I saw everything that goes into it with the padding and sound proofing the entire space, it was weird for me. But that’s definitely what caught my eye.
Have you ever worked on fruity loops?
I tried it but it was too complicated for me.
Do you think that you would have achieved everything that you have now looking back?
I do feel like in a way, everything that happened was destined to happen. When I was younger this is the only industry that I saw myself in. If I wasn’t doing music, then it was going to be radio. I think that even if I didn’t win Idols then I would have found my way. Music is a passion of mine. You can’t ignore passion it is always going to be there. I knew that this was the field that I wanted to be in even if I didn’t know how it was going to happen – this was what I was destined to do. This industry is so complex and cutthroat. I feel like I just got my foot in the door and its been six years already.
How do you feel going into your second album?
I am excited. Just anxious as well because I haven’t released anything in two years. I haven’t released an album in five years. The excitement comes in when I think about the music that I have been working on. The team that I am working with they all know what they are doing and I feel that I am in the best place I can be creatively. I just know that the energy that I have poured out into the music will be a reflection on what is to be released.
What is the mood of the album? Are you going to make slow RnB album… In my mind there is two ways which you can go about this next album either you make that slow RnB album because I know that you listen to RnB music, or you can make a pop album which you have done previously…
It is still a pop album but its heavily influenced by Afrobeats, Amapiano, house and a lot of RnB when it comes to the production. I didn’t even think that I was going into this type of direction with the project itself. It wasn’t my initial plan.
What was your initial plan with the album then?
When we started working on the project I didn’t even know that it was going to be a project. Everything happened so organically. I was working with producers, and I didn’t think that I would vibe with the genres that they were dabbling in and suddenly, I enjoyed this sound and in this season of my life I think that this sound suits me perfectly, it suits the album perfectly as well. I can’t even choose a favourite song I feel connected to every song that I’ve made.
I don’t know if the album is finished yet but what song do you think the fans will enjoy?
That’s a tough one because I have so many exciting collaborations on the project. However, I do think that they would enjoy this collaboration that I have a with female South African artist that people will love. There are other songs that showcase my vocal range and what I mean by that is that the song is vocally driven. I know that my supporters love when I do vocally driven music.
What is your favourite studio moment?
I think that would be touch and go which was this year. That was when I realised that there is beauty in the team that I chose to work with. I also came to understand that something is calling me to create more and that is what lead to the rest of the project. Making touch and go was such a beautiful way to start everything. It was my first time working with a new team and they were lovely and genuine people.
Lastly, how have you found working with a management team?
It was extremely necessary. I was going into an industry that I have no knowledge about. I didn’t know how things worked, I had no knowledge about the legal side of things. Music is 40% music and 60% business. I knew that I needed someone to guide me and help me navigate my way around the industry. So, management was 100% necessary and I am happy that I get to work with a team that understands my vision.
