South Africa’s amazing, award-winning band Mi Casa is back with a brand new album titled Familia. Familia means family, but it can also mean squad/crew in a very ‘street’ kind of way and this incredible family made up of producer, DJ, Keyboardist Dr Duda, singer/songwriter J Something and trumpeter Mo-T, are back in the scene and again eager to remind their loyal fans why they won their hearts in the first place, six years ago. With an incredible, distinct and memorable sound, fun,groovy and hearty (meaningful) lyrics, quirky (smooth) dance moves, the band has sold out shows worldwide.
But here is something absolutely nobody knew …
Four months ago the soulful dance band (trio) almost broke up and below the band shares how they almost parted ways.
Familia drops on the 4th August with first single “Nana” dropping on Friday 30th June. With no features, just the trio, this album reminds you why Mi Casa is the best band in the business.
“6 years ago we were complete strangers, today we are brothers – familia.
6 years ago nobody knew who we were, today we have thousands of fans all around the globe, our familia.
This album is all about our journey as brothers, as a band, as a group, as a team, as a movement, as a familia.
We did a lot of reflection on this album. A lot of looking back. A lot of digging. Because the more you grow the more complicated life becomes and you tend to lose sight of certain things. That’s why our first album played such a huge role in inspiring us when we were creating this record. We were so innocent when we made that first album, just three dudes making beats and creating melodies. We knew nothing about a “hit” or a “cross-over” song. All we knew was that we wanted to make good music. We wanted to spread good energy around our country with the gift that we believe we possess.
Musically on this record, we have been inspired a lot by our heritage, our culture, our countries, namely South Africa and Portugal. Before every recording session we spent an hour listening to different songs from way back, just to be inspired, to be influenced. From the old South African house classics, to traditional Portuguese music and exploring the countries that musically inspire us such as the Brazilian sound, the sounds from Cabo Verde specially the legend Cesaria Evora, and the dance scene in the UK. We have been soaking up so much music, letting it digest so that we could produce what we believe is the best music we’ve ever made.
“If we could get through what we got through recently, we will never break up. This album is happy, you can hear the happiness. It’s a true reflection of where we at as a familia,” Dr.Duda.
It’s been an interesting journey for us. A romantic one at most. So much happiness and so many happy memories.
“If I were to be 100% honest with everyone, I was always worried because we never argued as a band. It was always just good vibes and if there were any issues we would sweep them under the carpet just to keep that good energy up,” J’Something.
But about 4 months ago we were contemplating pulling the plug on the band (the whole damn thing!). We had some arguments and really just had some issues within the team. This was such an important part in our career and as a family. Arguments within families are so common. Mother arguing with her kids. Husband arguing with his wife. Brother arguing with his sister. This is another reason why we chose the title – Familia. This is also generally the point where most bands do break up. But we were willing to communicate, to speak openly about how we felt with one another and that’s the crucial lesson for us. To stay communicating. Another important lesson is that you need to fight for the things that truly matter to you. This band is everything to us. We really believe that because we managed to get through that moment we are able to make the music that we have always dreamt of making and that’s the music that you will be hearing really soon.
We cannot please everyone. Not only is it too much pressure, but it’s impossible. We want to be proud of the music we make and we want to make music for you guys, the people that support and love what we do.
We sincerely hope you enjoy this project as much as we enjoyed making it for you.
You aren’t our fans anymore. You are now officially our familia.