Meet Lemon and Herb an Afro House duo consisting of childhood friends Skhumbuzo Radebe and Don Sithole from KwaZulu Natal Province in South Africa. Renowned for their distinctive rhythms and futuristic melodies, Lemon and Herb are a force to be reckoned with.
How did you fall into music, tell me about the beginnings?
Skhu
Why did we start this type of music? I think there was a lot of influence when we were growing up in South Africa especially with the compilations. For me, that’s when I was first introduced to House music, Soul Candi, DJ Fresh, all those DJ’s would compile a lot of European producers such as Atjazz, and other producers into one CD and those were distributed within South Africa during my teens. So, when I got the software to make music, naturally I gravitated towards the genre, that’s where I fell in love with House music.
Don
Yeah for me it’s the same as Skhu, very similar love to music. I think for me, the initial start in terms of music as a whole was through church. Playing the keyboard at church and then the soulfulness of music, the spiritual upliftment of music, it resonated with House music when I first came across it. Then you have Soulful House, Afro House and then that’s when I began to grow in the genre, we both had this love for the music and we thought maybe we could do something together.
You mentioned you play the keyboard, is that your favourite instrument?
Don
Erm, yes. It’s the only instrument I can play. I would love to play other instruments such as guitar, that’s another instrument I still tell myself I’m going to play. The nice thing about the keyboard is that I can find all of the other instruments in there and play them in my version of how I’d want to hear them.
Skhu
No I don’t play any other Instruments but I’ve messed around with the keyboard, I use it as a medium to produce. I can play a few chords here and there but I’m nowhere near as proficient as Don. He was literally playing the keyboard every Sunday, but I have my way around the creative process, messing around putting things together, I’m sort of like a crazy chef.
I think it’s beautiful that you guys started off as childhood friends, getting into this duo. What would you say are the challenges you face being friends whilst creating?
Don
Challenges…I mean in every relationship there are challenges. We are different people, different beings, we have our own personal preferences in what we do. For us, challenges would…let’s say we’re working on a project, the type of sound instruments the way you want to project it, it is a challenge that is a good challenge for us. I’ll put it that way because for example if I don’t like what Skhu puts in I’m not going to remove it. I’m going to say ‘okay let me find a way to make it work for me’. Then Skhu hears it and then he’ll say ‘yeah I feel you, but this is what I wanted to do’ If he was to put a guitar on the track I might say ‘the guitar is working but I want it to sound like this’ then Skhu will have a listen and say ‘well now that it sounds like this perhaps we may want to use a saxophone instead?’
There’s growth and change in differences you know, and that for me in general is what life is all about. In the differences we come together and in our music that’s one of the differences I find that still works.
What’s been the highs, the best part of working together?
Skhu
Best parts of working together is definitely travelling some of the things that I always think of is if I’m travelling just alone it can be a bit…a bit daunting you know. Traveling may not always be sunshine and roses but yeah this is one of the benefits and I get to do this life with my best friend. We’ve been doing this for a long, long time, I mean we grew up together and even till now we’re still together so yeah that’s the best part. Also, sharing our love for music, I think it’s just beautiful and that’s why we’re even here at Til Two today to share the music. It’s what we live for, just to share this beautiful blessing bestowed upon us by the Almighty!
Amen! Is this your first time in London?
Both
2nd time
Ahh, how are you finding it? I mean, we’ve been blessed today by having good weather. The first in a long time.
Skhu
Yeah..we need to change a few things in the future. We come in, land at the airport, go to a hotel, go play and then we’re out. I think in the future I would love to stay for like a week and explore. I think London has a lot of things to offer, it is a great famous city, a lot of history. It would be nice to just stay and soak in the culture for a bit. London is a beautiful city, it reminds me so much of my hometown in Howick which is a small town in the KwaZulu Natal province in South Africa. There are so many places in London that are similar, you know they give me a little bit of de ja vu.
I mean this is going to sound so cliché, but given that you are both South African…have you been to the Nandos-
Both
Yeah! Of course!
But I mean, in London?
Skhu
I see where you’re going with this, carry on!
Don
Okay we haven’t been to Nandos in London but we need to try it
I wanted to find out whether it compares to back home
Both *exclaims*
Skhu
As long as it has Lemon & Herb
Don
Yeah the sauce, the sauce!
Skhu
The chicken can change, but the sauce
Don
Truthfully I think the food is different even with franchises, it differs from city to city, country to country and I think that’s mainly down to the food people eat in these places.
I mean I was going to ask what sauce do you get when you go to Nandos…
Don
Actually, the hot sauce. Mozambique paprika sauce.
Skhu
Yeah!
Oh! So not Lemon & Herb then?
Laughs
Don
We’re not that self absorbed!
Congratulations on the new single this year ‘Find A Way’!
Both
Thank you!
Are there any upcoming projects, something to let the fans know?
Skhu
Definitely! We’re always in the studio making something, a few remixes are coming probably in the next few months. It’s sounding really nice, hopefully we get to see the final piece and you guys can get to hear it. Yeah, we’re working on a lot of music so keep your eyes and ears peeled.
Before any performances are there any random things or rituals you do? It could be prayer, banging on a desk etc.
Skhu
Definitely prayer, it might not be right before the set, it could be before we take a flight or individually at home. Prayer is the one thing that I can say for Lemon & Herb, it really grounds us. Just knowing that there is something bigger than yourself that is in control and takes the lead and protects us through these travels. With travelling there’s so much potential for things to happen such as accidents so we always take that prayer very seriously. Things can take a turn within a given minute and so we try and stay grounded and put it all to the man.
Don
When we come on and perform for people once you stand in front of the fans and the crowd who are there to listen to the music with the stage it’s almost like a pulpit and you’re presenting the message. You want to make people leave the place happy, you want them to enjoy and relieve themselves of any stresses they’re dealing with. We pray for that and we say ‘okay God make us your tool’ to relieve them. Prayer is powerful.
I mean that’s the beauty of House music; it brings everyone together.
My last and final question before I let you guys go, how would you describe the development of sound from ‘Edge’ back in 2019 to your last album ‘Aura’ to your latest single this year?
Skhu
There are elements that we like to have in our tracks, I wouldn’t say they always have to be in a specific set or genre but we’re always making dance music. We like to use a lot of percussive instruments; we always have like a little bit of soul elements in our songs. So those are really the elements that we try to mix and play with, whatever the outcome might be. The outcome might be different sometimes, it could be a slow, chill track, sometimes it’s an up-tempo high track. You know, there’s not really a formula to our songs however we try and fuse what inspires us at the time. For a long time, the percussive sounds are definitely something we connect with.
Catch more of Lemon and Herb on:
Instagram @lemonnherb
Special thanks to Sef Kombo and Til Two for making this happen
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