Within seconds of hearing Thando Sikwila sing, I guarantee that you will be in awe of her amazing voice.
Armed with an impressive vocal projection , Thando was cast in the theatre production ‘Dream Girls’ and over the years has performed in a variety of Melbourne bands such as Sol Nation and Echo Drama. Her live shows have a reputation for pulling audiences in and her vocal ability always leaves them begging for more.
This month she embarks on an East Coast Tour of her upcoming release ‘Acoustic Love Letters’, the predecessor to her upcoming 2016 release ‘Digital Love Letters’, starting in Cairns on Thursday 15th October at Resonate.
When asked about her musical influences, Thando explained:
“In the grand scheme of things I would say a huge influence of mine is Jill Scott. She’s an African American Soul R&B singer. As well as Alicia Keys. But I definitely take a lot of influence from a lot of local Australian artist such as Hiatus Kaiyote which I’m listening to a lot at present.”
Music and singing has always been a part of Thando’s life, but it wasn’t till she made the move from Canberra to Melbourne that she started taking music seriously.
“In 2011 I moved to Melbourne after I finished Year 12 to complete at Batchelor of Music. I started getting gigs and that’s when I started perusing it seriously as a career.”
October see’s Thando touring her new EP ‘Acoustic Love Letters’ along the East Coast with a 10 date run including Cairns, Townsville and Airlie Beach. ‘Acoustic Love Letters’ will only be available at shows and is a predecessor to her upcoming ‘Digital Love Letters’ which will be released in January 2016.
“We had the idea to release a live acoustic version of Digital Love Letters before it comes out, just to give the audience a different perspective of the songs. Digital Love Letters is very electronic and produced, so I just wanted to give everyone an idea of how the songs started in there most honest form. I just write everything as piano and vocals. I want to give everyone an opportunity to know the music before the production.”
The tour will feature all the songs on the upcoming ‘Digital Love Letters’ in an “acoustic, broken down and honest” form.
Thando along with her backing band will perform at Resonate on Thurs 15th October before heading south for shows in Townsville and Airlie Beach.
“I’m really looking forward to coming up North and seeing another part of Australia. Touring is what I really love about what I do.”
Thank Sikwila performs at Resonate at The Grand Hotel. Thurs 15th October. Free Entry. Music from 7pm. ‘Acoustic Love Letters’ available at the show.
For our Townsville readers:
Fri 16th October at The Venue. 719 Flinders St, Townsville City. Tickets $15 available at Eventopia
Mitch Sullivan
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