Kennedy Thal:Still he rises!

| Thursday January 24, 2013 00:00

 

Limitless is the one word that he uses to describe himself, because in his list of achievements you can tell that this young man certainly lives by the dictum 'the sky is the limit'. Born to a Motswana mother and an American father, 24-year-old Thal says he was born musically inclined however at the age of seven after he got his first ever keyboard he developed the passion for playing the piano. 'I went on to take professionally graded piano lessons both here and in the United States of America (US) and played at numerous recitals and concerts at school and at my grandmother's church from a young age,' he says. He says his talent  in playing the piano grew tremendously and developed a strong classical background.  It is during this time that Thal discovered his singing talent and eventually song-writing.

He took his skills to greater lengths when he was introduced to Fruity Loops, a computer based music production software in which he learnt songwriting, music production, vocal recording, arranging harmonies and how to master everything into a self-made track. The young musician says however he hasn't reached a point where he is able to compose songs for other artists, but hopes that one day he will be able to write for pop icons and stars around the world., Thal says growing up as an aspiring musician, he had underestimated the pressures of being in the music industry and thus when he quit school to pursue his career he had thought everything would be plain sailing. 'Reality hit me like a brick in the face. I spent countless years just writing music in my bedroom, song after song, without any clue whatsoever how to translate that into a tangible following, a tangible presence in the industry and some sort of an income. But in the long run, I learnt the ropes, on my own, and I grew an incredible business mind to go along with my talent, dream and my passion,'  he says. give up on himself, or his love for music but rather became dedicated in learning the ropes with his dream, talent and passion.

'I had my low moments where the years went by and I was struggling. I didn't have the faintest idea what I had to do to go from being a bedroom singer-songwriter to being someone with an actual following who generates money and can book events and sell his music but as time went by, I learnt to translate my passion for music into a business and slowly but surely it is growing,' he adds. He says his music is influenced by anything and everything that he goes through and faces in life, his personal experiences, that of the people he's associated with and his fellow musicians too. He describes his music as modern day pop with feelings, emotions, lyrical content and meaning. He says it also contains jazz, blues and soul with classical nuances in it. He also adds on that it is modern and is about love, life, dreaming, loving and to be loved. Thal's claim to fame began in the reality musical television show My Star and with no doubt that has opened so many (otherwise) closed doors for him. It pushed him beyond his limit and through it; he was able to get over his phobia of talent search competitions. Thal says after My Star he got more bookings, more people wanting to work with him, more collaborations and more radio stations wanting to play his music amongst others. 'I had a following before My Star but it was nowhere near a tenth of the following that I have now, being a My Star alumni, and for that I'm forever grateful,' Thal says. After My Star, Thal was given the opportunity to study at any institution of his choice in Southern Africa and he was fortunate to get an admission at the SAE Institute in Cape Town to pursue a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sound Engineering something that he had long wished for. He says he had tried to enrol at the same institute based in New York but due to funding was unable to go through and he deeply expresses his gratitude to the Government of Botswana of which is sponsoring him through the My Star beneficiary program. Early last year, Thal released his first mix tape, Live Love Dream Hustle Pray in which he entirely put together from recording to designing the cover. 'I worked tirelessly on this project for weeks and months on end and did it all in my bedroom on my portable recording set up,' he says. The mix tape was initially released as a free online offering and was only sold to fans that were willing to go an extra mile to show support from all over the world.

'I am very proud of my mix tape and it served its purpose as a free introduction to let people know who I am as an artist and hopefully, a reason for people to then buy my next offering when it comes out and is strictly for sale,' he adds. Apart from his musical talents, Thal has added modeling to his list of achievements. In August last year, he was invited to take part in the Gaborone Fashion Weekend, and the Colour of the Desert Fashion Week and he does do a lot of commercial photographic modelling for newspapers and magazines. Thal is also an amateur entrepreneur, having begun a small housing project and hoping to have it complete by end 2013. You can certainly tell that this young is very proud of his achievements and is determined to see himself growing as an individual. 'This is only the beginning and I will never stop growing or wanting to be greater than what and who I already am. I feel like even if I have countless people telling me how good I am at what I do, I won't stop wanting to be even better, I won't get comfortable and I definitely won't ever be satisfied with being what the next person is satisfied with me being. I still have a very, very long way to go and I look forward to every single step of that journey.' Thal says he is working on his second project, Love Fearlessly, which will be strictly for sale and will be released hopefully on May 20th, his birthday. 'Our destinies will never be parallel and the fruition of our dreams never synchronised. Just focus all your energy and ambition on your goals and your success will come in due time. Chase that dream relentlessly and if you don't make it, die trying,' he says. This young man is certainly headed to greater heights, with his fans eagerly waiting to see what he is going to come up with next.