Artist Interview: Thandi Gamedze

Artist Interview

Thandi Gamedze | Spoken Word Artist

March 4, 2016

This morning, I recorded Thandi’s spoken word titled “Your Pen” in my bedroom studio. Thandi hails from South Africa and is a third-year student at BSSM. She also has a huge heart for social justice. I interviewed her after our recording session and got to learn a lot about her creative journey with God and the revelation she has about God’s great value for creativity.

What is your dream as a spoken word artist?

Song Diary: Love Looks Like Something

About a month ago, I wrote this song called “Love Looks Like Something.” Before we jump into the song diary and unravel the inspiration behind this song, here are the song and lyrics:

Lyrics:

Verse 1

Your sentiment is great, but it doesn’t heal my pain
You can say all that you want, but it doesn’t make a change
If you won’t even consider lifting just a finger
To clothe the naked, feed the poor, help the needy, heal their sores

Chorus

‘Cause Love looks like something
It’s not just words, not just a feeling
Love looks like something
It’s not just wishing, not just believing

Artist Interview: Martin Farrell

I had the privilege of recording a song written by the talented Martin Farrell called “Heartbeats.” Martin is a fellow student in my Revival Group and also the first person I recorded after coming back from Taiwan, kickstarting my recently new music production journey (which I mentioned in this post).

Take a listen to Martin’s song “Heartbeats”:

Credits: 
Vocals/Guitar – Martin
Backing Vocals – Brennan Ohlman
Producer – Melody

Our Kickstarter Anniversary! A Look Back

A year ago on March 5th, 2015, we successfully funded my first Kickstarter project. Within 30 days, we had raised more than $20,000 to produce my debut album “SUDDENLY” (available on Bandcamp and iTunes). People from all over the world—U.S., U.K., Canada, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Switzerland, and France—pledged their financial support to this project and helped to make my dream come true.

Today I would like to commemorate this journey and retell the story as I remember. For me, it was so much more than just a fundraising journey; it was an adventure and a discovery of God and of myself. But to tell this story, I need to go back even further. I want to start at the very beginning, when this dream of recording an album first started.

“Planting a Garden” – My Music Production Journey

A Good “God-Idea”

I want to share a bit of my journey recently—a journey that I’ve found to be quite new and exciting. It all started about a month ago before I left for Taiwan on a ministry trip (my third one in the last five months). In revival group, many people were sharing their struggle of fundraising for Azusa Now in LA (April 9^th, 2016—Revival is going to break out, guys!). I heard their dilemma, and I wanted to be able to help them somehow.

Giving them money seemed like a direct and possible solution, but I am also a “poor student” and technically the money I have is not my money but given to me by my parents and other supporters.

I thought about my talents and resources and came up with an idea. One thing I know about my revival group is that many of us are singer-songwriters and musicians. Personally, besides my parents and other generous supporters, one of my sources of income is through selling my music. So I know, music sells.

“That’s what I can do. I can help my fellow classmates record their original music, which they can then sell online to raise money for Azusa!”