With the voice of an angel and the looks to match, Sal AngeL broke the hearts of teenage girls across the land when he decided to quit Ice Cold Mob late last year.
The three-member boy band enjoyed much success during their brief time together, winning critical acclaim (not to mention a YAMA) for their breakthrough single ‘About You’.
Local RnB will never be the same again!
It must have been a difficult decision to leave Ice Cold Mob?
It was a really hard decision.
I invested and dedicated my whole life to the group to be honest.
At one point it started affecting some aspects of my life.
It was like I was in this relationship where I was so in love and nothing else mattered.
It really, really took a while for me to arrive at the point of leaving!
What actually happened?
I knew this was coming!
Look, to be honest, I think more than anything we had different visions and ideas about the project.
There was no common ground.
When such things happen, especially for a sustained time, you tend to stay in this stagnant position because nothing is going well.
It was really hard to move forward and then we start playing the blame game.
As a brand you are supposed to move forward, especially in Botswana where it is particularly difficult to remain relevant for long.
We had different paths we wanted to pursue.
And what path will Sal AngeL be pursuing?
To be honest I haven’t really planned much.
This whole issue has affected all of us in the group.
It has been hard to think ahead but I am planning to release a couple of songs this year.
I had always been recording and so the plan is to put out a lot more visuals and singles this year.
How has Covid-19 affected your growth as a musician?
There were so many shows we were booked for that were cancelled last year, shows which had big paycheques!
So more than anything Covid-19 dented us financially.
There is literally no money to help push new projects.
The music business is generally expensive in nature because marketing new projects cost money, which normally was generated through music shows.
So are you in support of opening-up the industry again?
I am not in support of opening the industry but I am also not in support of closing it down completely.
Some of us were dependent on show performances and so it is really hard to get money without the shows.
I feel like we should all reach a common ground to solve the situation and make sure both parties are happy to prevent surges of [Covid-19] cases in the country but also cater for musicians to make a living.
If you were given a superpower for a day, what would you choose?
I would be super rich!
I feel like if I had a lot of money I would be able to help a lot of people out there.
Not just the poor and the needy but the musicians in the country because there is so much talent in Botswana which needs to be invested in and exported to make even more money.
Five things people don’t know about you?
1. I have total creative control of my craft
2. I am not a born talent
3. At some point I couldn’t even hit a note
4. I am a fine artist
5. I love music more than anything
