Meet Lemon & Herb

26 — 05 201 1

We shine a light on Lemon & Herb, who formed as a trio in 2005, and now consists of childhood friends Don Sithole and Skhumbuzo Radebe who both hail from KwaZulu Natal province in South Africa. They credit their passion for house music to the late 90’s compilation albums local DJs put out and the explosion of house music on South African radio. Like pause pushers worldwide they were recording their favourite songs on the radio in between the talking.

They honed their craft and learned the software and sound whilst studying Mechanical Engineering at University. This gave birth to Lemon & Herb was born. Oddly the group name relates to neither of the duo, it seems they chose a moniker for the group that wouldn’t pigeon hole their sound as they grew and developed. With a firm eye on the business their debut ‘Zero Ground’ dropped on their own label Mixed In Motion and featured a remix from none other than US mega-producer Ndinga Gaba.

Winning an Atjazz remix competition with their twistingly deep uplifting remix for the Atjazz/ Robert Owens collaboration Love Someone solidified their entry into the industry. They haven’t looked back since. Releases with international labels that include Deeper Shader Recordings, Arrecha, Peng Africa, Ocha, Nulu, and DM Recs followed, but the 2011 release Velani featuring Moonchild Sanelly was a sign of things to come. Taken from their Ocha records album ‘Tomorrow In Detail’ its afrobeat, nod to tech, futuristic melody refrain a clear fusing of South African rhythms with world club appeal put them front and centre of the current African charge.

Their latest sophomore album Aura is a clear representation of the duo’s growth – it’s warm, and packed with message driven meaningful songs that can be rocked on the drive home or in the club