Durban - Lisbon is an artist’s dream. From architecture to ceramics and its famous melancholic genre of music called fado, it cannot but stir your soul.
That’s where one of South Africa’s most prolific musicians, Nibs van der Spuy, spent lockdown, which culminated in the album “Maiden of the River”, his first in seven years.
Next week he will bring the music to life when he jams with some of his best friends, all renowned musicians, at the KZNSA Gallery in Glenwood. Van Der Spuy said that during lockdown he would leave his tiny apartment in Paco de Arcos, about 30 minutes from Lisbon, and cycle for hours armed just with his guitar.
He found inspiration everywhere.
He described Lisbon as his creative base. He didn’t have a car and cycled all over, mesmerised by the coast, magnificent old churches, abandoned convents and forts.
At night he took his guitar, a notebook and “obviously always a little wine” to a “beautiful chapel on a hill” and create.
The entire “Maiden of the River” was written there during the nine months of lockdown and released in May this year.
The album features 10 of the 17 “innocent” songs he birthed along the coast of Lisbon and includes internationally acclaimed South African artists Guy Buttery and Mark Kilian.
Van der Spuy said Portugal always nourished his soul, even more so during lockdown.
Outside the chapel, “I was the only person there and you could hear creation singing again. There were no cars on the road, you could hear the roar of the ocean below, you could hear the birds singing again and that was the backdrop for my new album. Very powerful”, he said.
The folk roots artist, who has lived in Portugal for eight years, said he loved going off the beaten track, often riding up to 500km on his bicycle to the Alentejo region, revelling in the sight of olive groves, cork plantations and old wine presses.
“I come alive there, I really come alive there,” he said.
Because his studio apartment is only 30 square metres he had to get out for fresh air at night.
He said Portugal handled the lockdown well and at 10pm daily, when health workers returned home, people applauded them for their efforts.
Van der Spuy said his soul and spirit came alive again when people became silent during the lockdown.
“I felt like a teenager again when I picked up my guitar and the music came fast and furious. I got my innocence back again.”
Van der Spuy, who performs mainly in France, Germany and Italy, still has a home in Durban, but he uses Lisbon as his base.
He bought his apartment in Paco de Arcos in 2014 when properties were “dirt” cheap in Portugal but he would not have been able to afford an apartment next to “The Wheel” in Durban’s CBD.
He chose that town because there were no expats and the food and language were authentic.
“It’s very Portuguese. I love it, I absolutely love it,” he said.
Proficient in the language and now a Portuguese citizen, he said his heart still “beats equally fast” when he touches down in Durban.
While Portugal is a long way from his roots in KwaZulu-Natal, he said he was “eternally optimistic” about South Africa and just wanted to unite people through his music. “I feel I have an almost heavenly obligation to bring peace into the hearts and minds of people.”
This week Van der Spuy reunites with flamenco guitarist Demi Fernandez and pianist Neil Gonsalves. The trio, who have been friends for decades, will perform at the KZNSA Gallery on Thursday and Friday, December 22 and 23. Apart from Van der Spuy’s new release, the crowd will also be treated to a range of other music by Fernandez and Gonsalves.
People can also attend open lunchtime rehearsals at the gallery on those two concert days.
Tickets are R150 from Quicket.
The Independent on Saturday