Verve Magazine CPT, Cape Town (2025)

08/07/2025

The Winter season has officially arrived! With the spine-chilling breeze and heavy rain raging over the nation, we at least have our many musicians blessing us with their gifts to warm our ears during the upcoming freezing months.

And of course, we at VERVE, have done it once again. In our third installment of our roundup selections, we’ve gathered the many new bodies of art, crafted by the numerous emerging artists trying to make a mark in the music scene. Link in bio.

A compilation by

30/06/2025

“After we first pitched the show at the 2023 Teksmark Festival, Anzio encouraged me to re-work the script as a one-man show. He wanted to challenge himself as an actor and to challenge me as both the writer and director"

Ahead of upcoming production at the end of July, our theatre writer Nicole Shamira took the time to reflect on his most recent piece - 'Please, don't call me moffie'.

Receiving standing ovations at earlier this year at its two sold-out performances, Charles traces the play’s genesis to a spike of online homophobia three years ago, when an influencer weaponised Islam to justify queerphobia.

Go read the full article at the link in our bio, and be sure to check out "This Bra's a Psycho" opening at The Atrscape Theatre on July 29th.

27/06/2025

“So we figured we could do it. We could go out there, put on shows, get the small artists, secure the small venues, and just run it. Because not enough people are taking the initiative. Not enough people are like you guys that have started your own publication.

It aligns perfectly with our own advertising strategy of getting into the industry and networking with artists who will go on to need media one day, while still helping them out.”

After a few years of successfully running their own media company, .co.za , Jess Myhill ( )and Sihle Mkosi ( ) have decided to start a new endeavour - Moss & Music.

down with them for an interview, and attended the show on the 29th of May at the rustic Glenhof Manor to find out more about Cape Town’s newest intimate live music event, and the sentiment behind it.

Read the full article at the link in the bio

25/06/2025

“I hardly make music to inspire people; I mainly make music to inspire myself. Like I said before, I speak about my experiences that I’ve already had, what I want to experience, and what I am experiencing.”

“And I feel like my latest project, “international guluva: prelude”, is a full introduction to who the f**k I really am. With the other projects, I feel like I was hella emotional, not to say that it’s wrong, but I was emotional with the things that didn’t really matter to me. With this one, I feel like I unpacked a lot of how I really feel about a lot of things that are happening around me and just about how I really want to see myself.”

To truly describe one as a creative, the passion and thrill of doing what you love is essential to becoming who you really want to be. Talent isn’t everything - the work and drive are needed for any individual to make it in this competitive world of music.

I met Bvse a few years back at my close mate’s 21st birthday bash. On our first encounter, I just knew something was intriguing about his persona and it made sense when he told me he was a musician trying to make it in this world.

Check out the full article at the link in the bio

Photographer: .bonnie
Stylist: .eye.wonder

24/06/2025

“For me to use my talent or gift to break the barriers, not only in the music world but in a societal context is a dream that’s unfolding for me. Because I can see it.”

For .parbhoo , music is one of the few things that can bridge the cultural divide we experience. That lack of knowing, that resistance to something new, it’s what holds us back from connecting, but also experiencing.

After her autumn edition of Ragas Beyond Borders, the series of concerts rooted in Indian Classical Music and culture, I sat down with the talented musician to understand her why.

It revealed a fundamental truth we’ve all always known - that there is so much more than meets the eye.

Read the full article by on VERVE, link in bio.

Featuring beautiful Images on the first three slides by the extremely talented

20/06/2025

“For the longest time making music has been the way that I process things. Love, lust, and heartbreak at the moment.”

“I’m working on a new project and I’ve had to kind of operate with a different mindset, I’m pushing myself. I’m in the process of realising my message in a bigger scope. I think that maybe in my last project, where I had to establish myself, I felt the need to get approval from people at the college. Now I’m figuring out how to do it for myself.”

recently, undertook a photoshoot with , resulting in stunning visuals. jumped at the opportunity to sit down with Giuliette to put text to image to reflect the presence of the songbird.

Read the full interview at the link in our bio, and be sure to catch Giuliette on the 27th of August at the

16/06/2025

What does Youth Day mean to you?

Following on from our ‘Poems for Freedom Day’ post we decided to commemorate this June 16th in the same way.

49 years ago today students marched to oppose the introduction of the Afrikaans language as a medium of education - a peaceful protest which resulted in the killing of school children, a national uprising against the Apatheid government, and sparking international unrest.

We learn about it in school, but how many of us actually reflect of the happenings of that fateful day?

We present to you the works of , , , , and curated with images by

With this, we pose the question: What does Youth Day mean to the youth, and more importantly, what does it mean to you?

"Performance Art" by
"Uprising" by
"Heads of Hydra" by
"Is it You?" by
"Is there an answer for perfection?" By
"A letter to you(th), 31 years later" by

Images and curation by

09/06/2025

How much can happen in a year?

Last year today we posted our first post, telling the world who we are and what we've set out to do.

As we celebrate our birthday today, we would like to thank everyone who has been a part of our journey thus far. From our first interviews, to stepping out in the space for the first time; from the friends we've met to the family we've found; from the artists who reached out to us that took us so much further than our scope of just Cape Town, to the writers and photographers that reached out to be a part of the moment and add their voices to the platform - thank you all

VERVE would not be where it is after just a year without everyone one of you. We thank you for believing in our mission and pushing us to take it even further. We have achieved milestones that we only expected to after a few years. And we couldn't do it without the belief that fuels us.

Thank you, each and every one. And be sure to keep your eyes out for a word from Ntsika and Jeriah coming soon.

With love,
The VERVE Team

Shot and curated by and

05/06/2025

“In the beginning, a lot of my work was on me, which is a weird thing. My style morphed from being a lot of realism, and now it’s merging into realism with a bit of abstract concepts that are coming up. I’d have to take photos of myself and position the camera in certain ways that would fit the same frame that I had envisioned. Then I’d have to stare at myself for fifty hours because that’s how long some of these paintings took. It’s very meditative, and it’s a weird kind of therapy.”

The roads of life carry everyone on their own path. Your path crosses over countless others, and people can spend a day, a week, or a season on a path parallel to your own.

Lindokuhle Skosana is one of those people.

Jeriah caught up with an old friend to document his creative journey and explore the realms of storytelling that engaged in.

Read the full conversation at the link in our bio

02/06/2025

As the new month dawns comes the time for Volume 2 of the VERVE Monthly Round Up.

With winter now fully upon us, what better time is there to lock in and explore the wide variety of music that is on offer by the talented creatives of this country, and beyond.

After just about a year of digging into the local scene, one would think that we’ve plumbed all the depths of innovative artists, yet time and again we’re blown away by new talent.

Check out the full article at the link in our bio, and be sure to listen to the playlist on Spotify for a glimpse into the creativity of the scene.

And keep plugging us with your releases, or things you think we should keep our eye out for. We’re tapped in, but we can’t find it all without your help

01/06/2025

Just as Spring signals new beginnings that can be felt in the air, the rising of the sun brings the hope of a new day.

It is precisely that hope and opportunity that Andrea Davids ( ) and Lois Flandorp ( ) aimed to channel when they founded Sun Raise – the grassroots organisation that aims to support financially dis-empowered students, through community and creativity.

Through community Sun Raise has directed the warmth in the sky to shine down onto David Arries, allowing him the honour of graduating in September of this year - through presence, people and community.

Our own sat down with David(.thugg ) to hear his story.

Read the full conversation at the link in our bio, and stay tuned to for activations and opportunities to donate or volunteer

Images by and

31/05/2025

“At the end of the day it all comes down to communication- all of the genres that I like communicate in some way. In punk it’s a more forefront political communication sonically and lyrically- it’s more obvious, its loudness, for example. In Jazz, harmonically, it’s revolutionary, it’s in the dissonance, that tonal dissonance. Jungle and hip hop, sampling artforms, feel very political to me- taking sound that has existed at a point in time, as opposed to Drum and Bass where the sounds are made, not taken.”

has known for several years, during which time their sustained presence all over the scene, their depth of knowledge, and their profound love for music have remained constant. Central to Conor’s practice is a political and aesthetic commitment to holding tension.

In our latest interview Em and Conor discuss the distinctly Q***r sensibility with which Conor perceives the local Jazz scene, and their approach to curating a platform for up and coming artists.

Check out the link in our bio for the full interview, and follow to stay updated with the latest gigs, like the Jazz Jam happening tonight

Verve Magazine CPT

08/07/2025

30/06/2025

27/06/2025

25/06/2025

24/06/2025

20/06/2025

16/06/2025

09/06/2025

05/06/2025

02/06/2025

01/06/2025

31/05/2025

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