There's no bigger dream that has been sold by Nickelodeon and Disney channel than the dream that you and your friends can save up for instruments, start a band and become a phenomenal success. Yet that dream is Adrian Dzvuke's reality. Alternating his life between being a university student and an elite performer on festival stages with visits to the studio in the mix, Adrian is man reaching for his dream while laying a foundation to fall back on.
Yet you couldn't tell that talking to him, he's soft spoken, laid back and hilarious. He has an infectious personality and for a moment there I totally forgot I was doing an interview. We were exchanging jokes back and forth, and laughing so hard that before long an hour was gone. Adrian Dzvuke has a sound that's like a blend of trapsoul and afrobeats, Bryson Tiller and Mr Eazi.
He's been hoping to work with Takura among other Zimbabwean artists and performing here is on his bucket list. He does feel there's a disconnect between Zimbabwean artists abroad and Zimbabweans back home. We spent good time discussing our pandemic fatigue and surprisingly Adrian performed at his first sold out show during this covid season.
Adrian has opened for Nasty C in Australia and also graced the stages of festivals like Groovin The Moo, WAMFest and Wave Rock among others. His family initially felt his music was taking him away from his studies but they've become extremely supportive of him.
We talked about the support for the arts in Zimbabwe and how it differs from Australia. Adrian won the award for song of the year from West Australian Music. This was for his song titled Bad Like Ri Ri which features POW! Negro. As he tells it this qualifies him to get a grant from the Australian government to fund the creation of a full project. Whereas in Zimbabwe you're just on your own when it comes to recording costs and production.
Adrian has amazing respect for Winky D and what he has done with his career in terms of the quality of content and longevity. He's not always up to date with Zimbabwean music but he tries to always to who's shaking the waves. Between pursuing music and studying, Adrian still maintains a day job. Along with his friends their journey started when they started playing at church, he invited them one time to play an open mic night with him and everything blossomed from there.
How old were when you realised you wanted to pursue music as a career?
I've always wanted to do music I don't know when it really clicked but I think it was like last year when I finally decided I wanted to take this serious when the music was gaining traction and we were getting booked for more performances. But I've always been into music and my dad actually got me a keyboard when I was about 13 and I started playing around with it and I started making beats and it just went from there
I only started performing outside church in 2018 actually and then we started getting booked for gigs gigs gigs and it kept getting bigger and bigger. Music has always been in my family though. My dad used to be in music.
Did your dad do music or was he heavily into music?
He had a band and he did music in church, he's been into music for long. You know radio presenters or interviewers from Australia don't really get this but my dad grew in Zhombe. Do you know Zhombe? (I nodded first but he couldn't see it so I said yes I know Zhombe). At their small church out there they found a keyboard somewhere and he started playing it.
When he came here he was playing music too in church and I was going with him. You learn a lot just being around the environment and I've seen that it comes out when I'm with my band or on my performances. People are always telling me they can't believe I've been making music for so short. So all the lessons I learnt are coming to fruition.
Adrian has a strong appreciation for the live end of music and although he loves digital production, he's always trying to infuse live instruments into his recordings. He currently produces his own tracks which is hard but he's hoping to record music with his band to add that much needed flavour of live instruments into his music. Alongside his bank Adrian has been nominated for best live performance awards.
When can we expect an album from you?
I don't know if it'll be an EP or an Album but I'm hoping to release something next year. At the moment it has just been singles, I have about 6 singles out right now.
He talked about how one shouldn't waste the opportunities that come when you're young and that's why he's been sometimes neglecting his social relationships, school and work to push the music. He realises how different regions have a dominant sound people listen to, from Zimbabwe with Dancehall to Australia with indie rock. Though Adrian just makes the music he likes he sometimes feels pressured to keep doing afrobeats because those tracks are blowing up. He's trying to find a balance between his artistic pursuits and what the fans want.