Junior Taurus & Lady Zamar
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Junior Taurus & Lady Zamar

Pretoria, South Africa | Established. Jan 01, 2010 | INDIE

Pretoria, South Africa | INDIE
Established on Jan, 2010
Duo EDM EDM

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"Magazine interview"

Junior Taurus and Lady Zamar are a house duo from Pretoria, South Africa. Junior Taurus is an all-star producer, DJ and sound engineer. Lady Zamar is a soulful vocalist. The duo’s sound can be described as a mix of commercial and broken beat house which they’ve made popular on dancefloors country wide.

Their three hit singles, Mamelodi, Run Away and Pitori have had us on our feet since we got a hold of their debut album Cotton Candy, which dropped in October 2015.

Speaking to ZAlebs, the dynamic duo explained how they manage to gel so well creatively and why they decided to title their debut album Cotton Candy.

“We decided to name the album Cotton Candy because the first song on the album is called Cotton Candy and also the music is kind of sweet and stuff.” said the group’s vocalist, Lady Zamar.

Known for their melodic tunes, we also asked the house duo how they manage to continuously gel as a collective in this fast paced industry that is forever changing its sound. “Look, no two days are the same. Our working process is totally different, what happens is that when Lady Zamar comes to my studio at home, we’ll go through a couple of beats that I’ve made either a week before or even a year before and then we’ll listen to them and see where we want to go with the song. But it always must come with a melody, it’s rare that we start something from scratch on that day.” Explained Junior Taurus.

Known for their sing-along hooks and catchy lyrics we couldn’t help but wonder who is the mastermind behind the lyrics of their tunes. Lady Zamar admitted that she usually writes the verses whilst Junior Taurus laces down the chorus.

“It’s never really the same, there are some songs that I write completely independently and then there are other songs which he (Junior Taurus) has written and then there are those which we co-write together, especially choruses!

I really don’t understand why we need to repeat something over and over again, but he always tells me that it’s for catchiness and for people to get into the song.” said Lady Zamar.

The duo has described their recent success as amazing and to an extent unbelievable.

"It's so crazy Lady Zamar and I are so down to earth, so we're still trying to get used to the fact that people approach us now in the street and start singing our songs to us, it's a bit unreal and weird at the same time." - ZALebs


"Cotton Candy Presser"

Producers and vocalists in the house music genre are often a match made in music heaven. But more times than not, they go off to work with other people. So it’s rare to find a producer and a vocalist who actually decide to become a group in this genre.

That decision has fared well for Junior Taurus and Lady Zamar who are nominated for two South African Music Awards (Samas) this year. Up for Best Duo/Group and Best Dance Album for their debut, Cotton Candy, the group is on its way to enjoying success.

I caught up with Lady Zamar, who could not contain her excitement about the nominations. She tells me: “For Junior Taurus, being a music producer for 12 years and never getting where he wanted to be with this music, it’s really exciting. For me, it’s mind-blowing. It feels like a tribute, like saying: ‘you can do this’. A lot of vocalists, especially in house music, don’t get a chance to be nominated for awards in their first year.”

Best Duo/Group of the Year is considered one of the big five categories of the Samas. In the Best Dance category, this duo is up against the likes of Black Coffee and Mi Casa. So it’s no wonder that Lady Zamar wants to win both.

“Aaaah,” she screams, “I wish they would just call us like: ‘And the winner is…’”

I ask if she has her acceptance speech ready and she responds: “Always! Since I was in high school, I always dreamt of winning awards. I love Black Coffee and used to watch people like Mi Casa on TV when I was younger. I was nowhere near these things so it’s humbling. It’s an opportunity only God can give.”

She also adds: “I love the South African house scene. I think what it needs is more up-and-coming musicians – just so that the older artists don’t get too comfortable. Because that’s the worst thing that can happen for the industry. I hope no one – including myself – gets comfortable because it’s a very inspirational playground.”

Junior Taurus’s friend was so inspired after hearing Lady Zamar at a poetry session that he knew the pair had to work together.

As Lady Zamar remembers: “I met his best friend at the time at a poetry session. I used to freestyle a lot and one day he heard me and approached me. He said: ‘There’s a guy I know who makes music, come through’.

“So we went to the studio in 2011 and did this song called Around the World. And that was it! Every time they wanted to make music, they’d come collect me at my place. You blink and three years have passed.

“Then in 2014, Junior gave someone our Mamelodi song and that’s how people started to get to know us. He put it on datafilehost and in two weeks, it had over 100 000 downloads.”

Mamelodi became a huge club banger. It received a lot of radio airplay and was played on TV. For artists who are from Acacia, in the north of Pretoria, it meant a lot to the duo for the Mamelodi township to show them so much love.

Lady Zamar exclaims: “Mamelodi booked us a lot. Every week we were there at least twice. One night, we were driving back from a gig in Mamelodi and Junior said: ‘I think we need to make a song to pay homage to Mamelodi’. I mean, they had been booking us all the time and if you looked at Pretoria show line-ups, our names were always there because of that.

“He just said: ‘Just write how you feel about the place.’”

Lady Zamar writes a lot about her real-life experiences so only time will tell if a song about awards comes out.

Junior Taurus and Lady Zamar’s Cotton Candy is in stores and online. - Independent Online


Discography

Still working on that hot first release.

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

Junior Taurus and Lady Zamar are a house duo from Pretoria, South Africa. Junior Taurus is an all-star producer, DJ and sound engineer. Lady Zamar is a soulful vocalist. The duo’s sound can be described as a mix of commercial and broken beat house which they have popularised on dancefloors countrywide. They started out as constant collaborators, with a working relationship that goes back a few years, with Lady Zamar providing the vocals for Junior Taurus’ singles including “One night stand” and “My heart goes”.

Although individually both artists have rich musical backgrounds, writing, composing and production is what led to their joint decision to form this duo in 2014 after their first unreleased hit single 'Run Away' debuted on the local airwaves and in major clubs all around the country and surrounding areas. It was at this time that Taurus & Zamar released that though they had worked with other producers, DJ's and vocalists that it was time to join forces and work on more collaborations.

2015 saw the release of their run away smash hit “Mamelodi”, which was a radio chart topper and propelled them into stardom. Lady Zamar also featured on Adil’s hit single “Buy me the moon”, a collaboration with Afrikan Roots, which did very well with the urban dance market.

In October 2015, the duo released their much anticipated debut album “Cotton Candy”, which charted in the top 10 dance album charts. The album was nominated for “Best Duo or Group” as well as “Best produced Album” in the Metro FM Music Awards. The Album has also been nominated for “Best Duo or Group” as well as “Best Dance”at the SAMA 22 awards, announced on 21 April at the Soweto Theatre.