The Macksters!
Hey there Waking Life Readers! I feel so lucky to have been blessed with
another week with y’all. Another week of bringing y’all the lives & times
of today’s rising stars, & today we have 2 shooting stars heading towards
us at lightning speed. I’m talking about two of the world’s most beautiful
women, inside just as much as outside.
Yes that’s right my people, today we’re going to get
to know the Macksters!
Now, we all know that the music industry is
dominated by the male species. Don’t believe me? Well here are some of the
facts:
1) Top
Rapper Under 25yrs: Drake – I’m being serious. No lie, no lie, no liiiieee
2) Top
RnB Singer: R Kelly. The lot of y’all are probably like “NO IT’S BEYONCE!” Nope.
It’s R Kelly, Sorry. He’s been pissing on the competition for a while now
(Hehe... Get it?).
3) Top
DJ: Tijs Michiel Verwest a.k.a DJ
Tiesto! – Hard luck SHM. But don’t you worry guys’, I’m sure heaven’s got a
plan for you.
The men have been taking the music &
entertainment industry, to a whole other level but the women are not so far
behind! Beyonce has been named in the illustrious category of top 3, world’s
most influential people. Sitting in 2nd place behind Oprah &
just edging out President Obama. Everyone knows Rihanna is absolutely killing
it in every emo thing she does. And our very own Freshly Ground (lead by a
woman), is still recognized as one of Africa’s greatest exports.
Yes the women have been on our tails for a while
now, & with the inclusion of South Africa’s rising DJ talents, the message
is clear! “Look out boys, we’re coming for you” – Macksters
Now for those of you who are probably thinking; “The
hell...? Who are the Macksters?” “Mack-what now?” “Who’s he talking about?”
“Did he mean Musketeers?” (That last 1
is actually a real question some dafty I met during the week, asked me), If you
don’t know them by now, you will want to after reading this article!
Mackies, Macksters, Mack Twins, Mack sisters,
Mack-nificent - Whatever name you want
to call them, these two sisters are poised to take the DJ’ing world by storm!
Born Cape-townians, raised Pretorians, the Macksters have performed at some of
South Africa’s most upscale venues. From places in JHB such as Icon-Sandton to
going back to their mother city, Cape Town, & rocking out in front of their
home crowd.
From being extremely shy girls in primary school (A
primary school that was brutal for the shy kids. I would know. I was there. Oh
the horror!), to some of the most outgoing extroverts you’ll ever meet, the
Macksters story is one worth telling. A story where God & family, come
before everything:
Macksters:
“Well to be honest we weren’t really
quiet, I mean you know how you tend to be quiet when you’re surrounded by lots
of people, but when you’re at home, & you’re with your family, that’s when
you feel most comfortable. That’s where we were actually quite rowdy &
loud! That’s our little secret.
Also
it’s because we had each other, so why did we need anyone else? But as we
started getting older, making friends and doing our own thing, that’s when we
opened up & became individuals. We sort of went our own ways, finding our
own identity, while still being around each other. Now we don’t stop talking
hahaha. We’ve really come out of our shells”
Never stop talking, random & very down to earth,
The Macksters, being raised in a home where being humble was a must, are the
kinds of girls you can walk up to (with a smile gentlemen) & actually get
to know:
Macksters:”People
will sometimes be like ‘Hey look at the celebrities’ or ‘check your fans out’
but nah, we have friends, not fans. We’re still normal, we don’t think of
ourselves as celebs or anything like that. We’re really down to earth, we love
speaking to people, especially those who aren’t afraid to come up to us &
just say hi. But you really have to come up to us & say hi because we can’t
see hehe, we’re so blind. Also, our parents wouldn’t allow our success, get to
our heads. They always taught us to stay humble because we didn’t get here on
our own. Sure we worked hard, but really it’s the way people have uplifted us
that kept us here”
Now, what can we know about them individually?
Chanel
Mack: “I’d say I’m the more introverted
one. I’m like the mommy between the two of us, the ‘responsible one’. Even
though Charnay is two minutes older than me, I feel like I’m the older one. I
think before I do things haha.
I’m usually telling her ‘Charnay, just think
about what you’re doing before you do it. Cool down, let’s think about it’. So
I’d say I’m more of the rational one”
I wonder how Charnay feels about that?
Charnay
Mack: “Haha, whatever, whatever. I’m
more of the loud one, the extrovert. I’m the kind of person who just goes for
it. I’m a serious risk taker, constantly being like ‘Let’s do it!’
You only
live once”
Yup, she just said Y.O.L.O.
Charnay
Mack: “Well we got into trouble
together. So even though Chanel was the more responsible one, I still dragged
her into things. That’s what you do! You don’t go down alone. There’s two of us
for a reason!”
Growing up, they were always known as “The Mack
Twins”. Never seen as their own person, The Macksters decided that it was time
to break away from it, while also incorporating it into their brand. With a
taste for adventure, Chanel & Charnay were determined to discover what life
was like outside of the “Mack” status, placed upon them by the world.
When The Mackies decided to go into promotions
working for brands such as Vodacom
they learned that, rejection &
disappointment makes a person stronger. Not allowing anyone to bring them down,
they continued to grow into the kind hearted women they are today. Due to the
fact that they were exposed to a whole lot of rejection, the Macks had grown in
personality & in confidence. Getting more & more used to being in their
own skin, they divulged themselves in the music industry. But not as DJ’s
straight away, oh no, more like “Video Vixens”
Macksters:
“We got into the music video industry through a friend, Abigail Visagie. We
weren’t sure about it at first, because of the perception of video girls you
know? But we took it on as a way of business, it was our platform to getting
out there. So being in the music industry really helped us to meet new people,
network with people & also to put faces to our names. Which is now our
brand name, so being in the music video industry was actually one of the best
things we’ve done & we’re still doing it.”
Macksters:
“A lot of people have this idea that girls in music videos sleep with the
artists & all that, but it’s not actually like that. To most of us, it’s
just a job. You do your job & you go home no matter what the perception of
the people might be.
We
actually had a interview on SABC1 the one time, I can’t exactly remember what
it was for, but one lady stood up while they were asking us questions & was
like “But why do you need to be in Bikini’s to do your job”, trying to be a
heckler, & one of the girls responded with “Listen here, when you’re at a
pool party do you swim with your clothes on or bathing suit on?”
A music video is really like a movie. These artists are telling their stories through motion pictures, but that doesn’t mean that their lives are like that or that we are like that. In all honesty it’s just what sells, so we go out there, do what we have to do & carry on with our lives. So yes we get scrutinized a lot but that’s never stopped us before & we don’t see it slowing us down any time soon. It also helps that we have our parents backing. Our mom is the one who’s there behind us like ‘What are you girls going to wear?’, ‘How are you going to do your hair?’ She gets excited for us, which is always nice to have”
A music video is really like a movie. These artists are telling their stories through motion pictures, but that doesn’t mean that their lives are like that or that we are like that. In all honesty it’s just what sells, so we go out there, do what we have to do & carry on with our lives. So yes we get scrutinized a lot but that’s never stopped us before & we don’t see it slowing us down any time soon. It also helps that we have our parents backing. Our mom is the one who’s there behind us like ‘What are you girls going to wear?’, ‘How are you going to do your hair?’ She gets excited for us, which is always nice to have”
So, from shy girls to video vixens, video vixens to
DJ’s. The transition surely wasn’t easy. With their heads down on the ground,
& not in the sky, The Macksters made this transition look like a piece of
cake, especially considering the fact that it wasn’t.
Macksters:
“Growing up we were always into entertainment. We both did a lot of dancing
such as Latin American dancing, we both played guitar, performed at the state
theatre, we even used to put on shows for my parents.
The entertainment part was always in us but we didn’t know how to bring it out. Until one day when we were chilling with a friend of ours & he was like ‘Hey, what about you guys becoming DJ’s?’ we were just like ‘what?! Are you crazy? Who’s going to come listen to us DJ?’ A lot of doubts actually crossed our minds till one day we were like ‘let just give it a try, we’ve got nothing to lose’. Our guy DJ friends were kind enough to set dates aside for us so they could teach us how to spin, because we didn’t have the means to buy our own decks. They’re very hard to attain & cost quite a bit of money.
Sooner
rather than later, our practice got perfect & our friends were actually
quite surprised that we had such an ear for music & were able to pick up
the beat, cue music & all those things. So then they started introducing us
to other DJ’s who played different genres & from there we just got better
& better, picking up skills from each individual.
Till
one day they were like ‘Right, Charnay & Chanel, we think you’re ready! So
we’re taking you two to Rustenburg’ where we played in a Shebeen (A
bar... But not the nice kind. The kind you find truck drivers at) &
our nerves! MY GOODNESS! We were really shaking before going on, but after speaking to the
guys our anxiety went down. They basically just told us that nothing ever goes
perfect in the beginning, you will make mistakes in the beginning, so long as
you learn from them, & boy did we find that out that night.
We
were just playing music, having fun & accidently Charnay presses the ‘cue’
button & then pressed play again. The crowd was just on us! Yelling &
shouting, so we quickly played another nice song & just like that all was
forgotten & the vibe picked up again.
It
was a lot of fun & still is really fun, because you get to meet a lot of
people. At the end of the day you’re playing for the people, never for
yourself. After all, they are your customers.
Being DJ’s for us, has really helped us to stay grounded in its own way. We’ve been blessed enough to have the backing of friends & family, so it really motivates us to push through whatever we do. Because they really believed that we could do it, they never had a doubt in their minds so if they’ve got so much faith & belief in us, why not? Who says you can’t do it?”
Truth
be told, it’s not easy when we go out there & play a set because we always
get that look like ‘Girls...? What are they going to do?’, but eventually we’re
like ‘We’ll show you, just wait’ even though deep down we’re still shaking in
our boots, praying that nothing goes wrong. But once on set, it goes down! The
people start to enjoy the music & just like that our nerves disappear, we
get more comfortable & things just get better as the night progresses.
It’s
really enjoyable now especially, because when we started out, no one knew who we
were, so they always gave us the early slots. Now we’re able to do big shows
like the VW fest that just past in Hartebeespoort, where played in front of
plus/minus 10 000 people. People were looking at us, & again the
nerves appeared but then in no time things just came naturally to us. We also
played at the C4 party, which is basically an event which show cases the new up
& coming DJ’s of SA, Hosted by Warren Carollos. We’ve also played for other
radio fm’s & we also got asked to do the 5fm party, but really we’re not ready
for that yet, especially because we still have school. We really want to finish
our BSC degrees & from there we’ll see if we can do a lot more gigs.
Although it’s really nice to know people, having an education is just about everything! Which is something that we always stress to young people, especially our Sunday School Kids. You always have to have a back-up plan, you never know when things fail. But really with an education, many doors will open for you as oppose to not having none
Although it’s really nice to know people, having an education is just about everything! Which is something that we always stress to young people, especially our Sunday School Kids. You always have to have a back-up plan, you never know when things fail. But really with an education, many doors will open for you as oppose to not having none
Our
lives are really busy! We’re travelling up & down, constantly on the road.
We also played in CPT. We’ve met celebrities, especially through our music
videos such as Teargas, P-squared – who are also twins -, J.R. – who is pretty crazy but we love him.
HHP, Khuli Chana, Da Les, Bonang. So we’ve met a lot of people doing what we
do, travelling around. It’s really cool & amazing but humbling as well, ‘cause
they’re just like us, like you & me. Although they’re media personalities,
they’re also very chilled & friendly, & just down to earth! They’ve
also helped us to stay humble because they’re pretty humble in their ways. They’re
also very hard working which showed us that if we want to reach optimal status
we also have to put the work in! You don’t just give 50% otherwise that’s
exactly what you’ll get back.
But
that’s taking nothing away from everyone else that we’ve met who aren’t celebs,
they’ve really also inspired us to just keep at it & keep going! So to them
we owe a big piece of gratitude, & if anyone wants to talk to us, get to
know us, chill with us, we encourage them to say hi & not be shy. We are
more than willing to share our story. We love meeting new people, we not going
to keep our experiences to ourselves because it’s important to let people know
how you’re pushing, & it also motivates others to just do the same”
Indeed! I feel so fired up that I just want to
scream AMEN! PREACH!
These very well rounded, down to earth, vibrant
& energetic women are sure to make quite an impact in the DJ industry. I’ve
been lucky enough to be present at one of the parties they were spinning at,
& I have to say, they really did tear it up!!! Best way to describe their
sets would be by listening to that song by David Guetta ft Flo-Rida ‘Club Can’t
Even Handle Me’.
Well that’s it folks! There you have it, Macksters
taking off in 3... 2... 1
For more on the Macksters & where you could get
a booking from them, visit their website on www.macksters.co.za
or you could follow them on twitter: www.twitter.com/_Macksters_
That’s it for this week, but join me next time when I
talk to a rising comedian by the name Gavin Kelly.
For more on Waking Life Magazine, be sure to visit our
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Till then, take care of yourselves, & each other
PEACE!
