Five minutes with singer-songwriter Jethro Tait

Johannesburg-based singer-songwriter Jethro Tait has been getting airplay on some of SA’s local music stations — and with good reason.

After starting a career in songwriting in 2013, Tait joined Four in 2014, a band that went on to win the first season of The X Factor SA. In 2021, his first EP, I Don’t Sleep, received a SA Music Awards nomination for Best Pop Album, and SAD, his most successful single, received a SAMA nomination for Record of the Year.

He recently released his single, Here With You, which forms part of a new body of work he hopes to release next year. “Here With You is a lead in to a bigger body of work that I am finishing off where I’ll be stepping into a slightly different sound. I’m trying my best not to rush it because they’re songs I really love and believe in,” Tait says.

We spoke to the musician to find out what’s on his cultural radar.

Where do you enjoy spending time?

I'm a homebody. I spend most of my time in my home studio. When I do get out, I love going to Asher's Farm Sanctuary in Pretoria. It's a sanctuary for rescued farm animals from the meat and dairy industry, entertainment industry and animal testing facilities. They do free tours where you can meet some of the animals. They also have a restaurant with amazing vegan milkshakes. It's one of my favourite places.

What podcasts do you listen to?

There are two I enjoy listening to. The first is And The Writer is... by Ross Golan. He interviews the writers behind the biggest hits and go through their journey of how they got to where they are. It's interesting and inspiring to hear first-hand from the artists and songwriters I look up to.

The second is My Dad Wrote a Porno which is really funny. A guy finds out that his dad writes erotic novels under the name “Rocky Flintstone” and he reads chapters from the books on the podcast. It's hilarious.

Have you watched anything interesting at the movies recently?

I enjoyed the new Elvis biopic. I've been to see it twice and I'll probably watch it again. It's so well done and Austin Butler is incredible as Elvis.

Where's your go-to restaurant?

I love Kaylee's Eatery. It's a plant-based vegan restaurant in Bedfordview with amazing food, smoothies, shakes and desserts. My favourite is the peri-peri bowl, which is their take on a Nando’s meal.

It's flame-grilled peri-peri plant protein “chicken” strips, vegetable spiced basmati rice and grilled buttery corn paired with a juicy tomato relish. I always get a side of spicy buffalo cauliflower nuggets and a chocolate brownie shake. I'm going to have to go there again soon because telling you this is making my mouth water.

What are your closet staples?

I'm very into my Converse Chuck Taylor 70 high-tops. They're the only sneakers I wear - as long as they're canvas. For clothing, I'm really chilled: T-shirts, hoodies, sweaters and jeans which I mostly get at Cotton On or Factorie.

From one musician to another, what music do you listen to?

I'm still someone who listens to albums. You'll rarely find me listening to a playlist or compilation. If I find an artist I love, I'll listen to their full album(s) on repeat. At the moment that artist is Jeremy Zucker. I've had his album Crusher on repeat for the past couple of months and I don't listen to anything else aside from maybe his previous album love is not dying. He's a great songwriter/producer and there's something personal and honest about the way he makes music.