Kayamandi

The name Kayamandi is Xhosa for 'nice home'. My first confrontation with Africa was in 2004 when I was teacher in Kayamandi High School, one of the few Xhosa speaking schools left in South-Africa. Kayamandi is a township near Capetown and I loved to be there, to be immersed in traditional Xhosa life. I loved the people living there, the teachers, my students, the parties, the music, the language, the riddim, the vibes! That is why I chose for the name Kayamandi. I want to have the African Kayamandi vibes in Belgium! And I want to contribute to create a nice home feeling amongst all reggae lovers!Since I met Benjamin from JB-sound 9 years ago I started to be more and more amazed about the vibes and the contents of reggae music. The more JB sounds' lp-collection grew, the more I started to love reggae music and the more it became a part of my life. I was enchanted by the melodies and riddims and I started to sing along spontaneously all day through. In 2005 I got some help from my youth friend Sebbe, alias the sick sequenser, also a member of punkband the sidefx, to record some songs in his homestudio. We just took some riddims from B-sides from lp's and over the riddims I sang a mix of melodies and lyrics derived from original melodies, but adapted to my own personal interpretation. You can listen to some of these songs on my profile. Last year I performed one song together with a group of children on a big meditation seminar in the evening program. Everyone loved it! Because it was so sweet and the message of reggae is so universal and also spiritual! My dream has always been to find some musicans with connecting vibes to play en enjoy together. So I asked around on reggae.be. And so I came in touch with the talented Arab brothers of the Dubtownband. The vibes were great already since the first jamsession. We are now working on some songs while getting to know each others vibes and to finetune our skills. And since June, Ragga Yves, originally from Belgium, but since longtime allready living in Jamaica, is joining the Dubtownband until September. Ragga Yves was one of the pioneers in Belgium to explore and bring out reggae music! So now Ragga Yves and I are bringing our inspiration together. Curious? You will soon hear how it is all working out!