Ady Fleming on the music thriving in Rainbow Nation.
By Ross Holland
If you want to truly understand house music, just ask Adrian Fleming, the South African house DJ, music and event promoter and overall music enthusiast also known by his stage name, Ady Fleming.
Fleming has played in nightclubs and concert stages all over Johannesburg and across South Africa, his most notable performances being at the Rocking the Daisies music and lifestyle festival in Cape Town and at Deep Town Jozi, the monthly house party, in Johannesburg. He also plays at popular nightclubs such as And Club and ToyToy in Johannesburg.
He is riding the wave of what is a popular trend these days the world over.
According to Spotify, the period 2020 to 2022 saw Deep House South Africa showing a massive increase in streaming, both locally and internationally; the average year-on-year increase at 75% locally and 73% internationally.
This has seen Fleming expand his horizons with a roster of events and a possible international tour in the works, all whilst working on his new pet project Blun, a club event meant to explore the more dubby side of house music. Fleming has plans of splitting his brand into different avenues: a music agency, a record label and a music production company.
Fleming credits his love for music to his parents who weren’t professional musicians but had a great aptitude for it. Speaking to FORBES AFRICA, he happily recalls the days when he was asked to dance at family gatherings.
“I was a kid who just loved to dance at family functions… house music just gave me that feeling.”
He was in his teens when he had his first encounter with someone mixing music in front of a live audience, and says “it was quite cool”.
He soon learned to spin records from a childhood friend who was a DJ on weekends, and he chose house music, crediting pioneers such as Vinny DaVinci and Oskido who made the new sounds popular in South Africa in the early 2000s.
“We could easily resonate with house music because it had touches of soul, hip-hop, disco… it felt like home,” Fleming states.
At 16, Fleming formed a group comprising of adolescent DJs who played sets in the 2000s in and around Johannesburg South.
Along with other collaborations in the works, his new brand is taking form and Fleming has a busy year coming up. But he takes it all in his stride.
“Music takes time,” he adds in closing. For this particular South African house DJ, the beat goes on, and on.