A Fresh Take on Fresh

DJ Fresh says he tries to be a nice guy, but its also clear hes a guy with a serious side to him. Driven by his love of music, hes equally driven by his love of family and his commitment to making a meaningful contribution to the youth of this country. Born in Gabarone in Botswana, Fresh (aka Thato Sikwane, aka Big Dawg) purposefully flunked out of law school so that he could come and do media studies right here in South Africa. Its the only time Ive failed on purpose, he says, confessing that he always seeks out impossible and improbable challenges. And, yes, thats partly because boredom isnt on his agenda, but also because he loves new frontiers. When I left YFM, for instance, everyone expected me to move to a station like Metro FM, he says, but I found the new territory at 5FM very appealing, a very different ballgame. So now he charms a much wider audience every weekday afternoon during drivetime, bringing them his unique mixes in his trademark deep voice. The voice matches the name slang for someone who is well-built which was given to him many years ago by friends. His other nickname, also the name of his production company, was given to him by a listener about eight years ago and it just stuck. So Big Dawg it is, although his friends and many of his fans still call him Fresh. True to his voice, his frame and his name, Freshs philosophy is Go big or go home!, which puts his approach to life into a nutshell. He was first drawn to music by his fathers collection of vinyl records, and it all just grew from there. My Dad had every Springbok Hit Parade album, says Fresh, so I cut my teeth on everything from Michael Jackson to Marvin Gaye. At the age of eight, he started asking for blank cassettes so that he could make his own music compilations and, at the age of thirteen the freshest DJ on the block got started when he began spinning at school socials.

When asked what the pull of house music in particular is for him, his response is unexpected: House is about the message as much as its about the music, he says. It grew out of disco in the late 70s and early 80s, and was one of the few forms of music then that dealt with subjects as broad as love, religion and politics. Some of the greatest protest songs of late 80s, for instance - like Everybody by Blackbox and Sweat by Jay Williams were house songs. All of this is perhaps why Fresh has 15 house albums under his belt, including dj ski vs big dawg, a collaboration album which was released last year. Hes now hard at work on his next album, although he says he doesnt get nearly enough time to spend in the studio anymore. The proud father of two children, with a third due in October, Fresh says he has a lot of balls in the air. Its not easy to balance it all, he confesses, but somehow I manage, a feat he puts down to planning and diarising everything. After all, I diarise time for business meetings, for my shows and for my gigs, so why shouldnt I diarise time to spend with my kids? Children and young people have a special place in Freshs heart, which is why he approached his alma mata, Boston Media House, about starting a scholarship programme for talented matriculants who cant afford tertiary education. When I was at YFM, Id talk to fans outside the door before my show, and so many of them told me theyd managed to get a good matric, but had no way of continuing with their education. So I approached Boston, and we started out with three scholarships eight years ago. The DJ Fresh Scholarship Programme now offers 200 scholarships for disadvantaged students through Boston, Rosebank and Monash Colleges every year. I did it for the kids, not for the publicity, says Fresh, and Im really pleased by what weve managed to achieve. It means I can sleep at night, he laughs. And this is when the serious side of Fresh shows itself. Everybodys talking about Eskoms load shedding at the moment, but few realise that electricity is still an unobtainable luxury for most. I mean, how many of

those in the middle class realise that only 10% of South Africans earn over R10 000 a month? Asked how he feels about his future and the future of his children in light of issues such as these, he nevertheless says hes positive. I still think this countrys going to fly, he says, and I want to be part that; part of the solution and not of the problem. I want to use my position to spearhead change, to build this country. Its been a great home to me and my family, and I want to put back in. Im not going anywhere A typically Fresh approach.

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