Up-and-coming South African singer, Deard, digs into uncomfortable truths for his debut single, Antisocial, which drops today across all digital platforms.
The Pretoria-born, Limpopo-raised musician grew up with a love of music and has decided to chase his dreams with the release of his single – which he is excited to share with South African music lovers.
“I have always loved music and I wanted to do it for a living but where I grew up dreams like that are seen as unrealistic. My late grandmother and mother have always encouraged dreaming big and have always said nothing is impossible and eventually I decided that music is the life I want to live,” said the 23-year-old musician.
Antisocial was born out of Deard’s own feelings of discomfort.
“Because I was home-schooled I did not get a lot of social interaction, which eventually caused me to become antisocial. After I moved back to Pretoria, it was a struggle to find friends and read social situations and I just always felt uncomfortable. These feelings eventually gave rise to Antisocial,”
Deard who is currently studying towards his NQF6 Diploma in Music at COPA (Campus of Performing Arts) first had this song come alive while playing around on his ukulele.
“I had this offbeat chord progression and that became the basis of the song. At first, I produced the song but I was still very new to music production so I asked my production and guitar teacher to reproduce it for me using my original production.”
Deard believes that the song will resonate with many people.
“I think following Covid, everyone is a bit deprived of social interaction making them a bit antisocial. Antisocial might have sad lyrics but it is ultimately a song that communicates the feeling of hope and I think we all need a bit of that,” he said
Deard prefers not to confine his choice of music to just one genre and says that although his music is often described as pop he is also comfortable in Rock, Indie, EDM and House.
His inspirations range from South African musicians Riaan Benade, Zaan Sonnekus, Spoegwolf and Francois Van Coke to Ed Sheeran who he credits as his biggest musical influence.
“Probably my biggest inspiration and motivation is Ed Sheeran. Sheeran’s story is the reason I will never give up. In his words ‘If I can do it, anyone can’”, said Deard.
The release of Antisocial opened a creative floodgate with five more songs lined up in English and five more in Afrikaans.
Deard is a singer, songwriter and producer looking to make an impact on the music industry.
The best way he can describe his music is: “It’s me”. His music has been an emotional outlet and much-needed therapy over the years so when he sings an original song he tells a story with meaning. He tries not to be limited by the genres of today but if it has to give his songs a category, it would be pop, alt-pop.
In the end, this talented-musician writes what he feels, and because of this he has made songs in languages other than English.
Deard has also made Rock, Indie, EDM, House etc. When it comes to music, he can make any type of song given enough time.
He started singing and playing guitar around 2020 and has since learned to play a variety of other instruments.
He plans to spread his music internationally with the main objective being to go commercial. Deard’s long-term goals involve an international music school, multiple charities and eventually owning a record label.