“The rich resonance of his voice makes Michael Bublè’s seem rather thin by comparison... comparisons with the great Tony Bennett are inevitable, Ike Moriz performing swing is that good.”

Ike Moriz was born in Hamburg, Germany but the presence of extended family members living in South Africa meant he first visited the country as a four-year-old and he grew up loving the country and considering it his home. He studied at the Hamburg College of Music earning a degree in music-teaching and jazz-performance. While at the college he joined an international exchange program that allowed him to study under different teachers at the Rotterdam Conservatory of Music, the Southafrican College of Music (at the University of Cape Town) and the College of Music Carl Maria von Weber Dresden, broadening his musical vision. Ike had long been a David Bowie fan and also enjoyed the glam rock scene of the ‘70s. In the late ’90s he was into Brit pop and alternative rock bands such as Pulp and Blur and went to live in London. For the next six years Ike taught music to help pay the bills and played in a hard-rock outfit called Stunt Double which was “a kind of Spinal Tap thing.”

“It was always about the music for me,” recalls Ike, “not fame.”  But as their popularity grew various members would either give up or want to move on to bigger and better things. To make ends meet Ike began busking in London.“I made really good money busking,” Ike reveals. “A lot of buskers are untrained, self-taught 'wannabe rock stars', so when people came across me they were pleasantly surprised that I could play and sing so well. My musical training really helped!”
Ike performed his own compositions on the hard London streets and tube stations and loved it. “You can really judge how people react to and receive your music when you’re busking. The immediate response is an amazing experience. If they’re not hooked in seconds, they’ll just keep walking. But if you can get them to stop and listen, and then to throw money down for you, you know you’re doing something right!” The busking experience made Ike realiZe that he should become a solo performer. He met Steve Kent who had produced several of George Michael’s hits and the two worked together and released Ike first single Fall into the Sun which went to number one of several radio stations in England and Europe. The song is about suicide so its popularity surprised but pleased Ike. He sent a copy to South Africa and proved equally popular here. The single was flowed in 2002 by an album called Mirrors and Shade which was released in 17 countries and went to number one England, Holland and Australia among others.

At this time Ike appeared in several major movies such as Alfie with Jude Law; Shanghai Knights with Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson; and Love Actually with Bill Nighy. He also appeared in UK television series such as Eastenders, Family Affairs and Holby City. In 2003 Ike released his next album called Play Me which similarly to Mirrors and Shade garnered favorable comparisons to David Bowie, including from David Bowie himself who listed Ike’s cover of Starman as Bowie’s “Song of the Week” for three months! Ike is fiercely original and insists on playing and recording his own music but the Bowie influence is very apparent in his first two albums. The Sad Songs from Play Me could have been lifted directly from Ziggy Stardust (okay,if you insist on the full title: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars) and although Ike may not be entirely happy with the comparison it is a huge compliment because the song is certainly good enough to have been included on Bowie’s iconic record.

In 2005 Ike visited Cape Town and played a few gigs at the erstwhile Acoustic Café in Muizenberg. He was blown away by the reaction of the Cape Town public. He had become disillusioned with the superficial London scene so thought to himself, “you only live once” so he should spend it doing what he loved in a place that he loved and moved to Cape Town permanently. By his own admission, Ike went a bit overboard when he settled in South Africa. He spent big money making videos with super-models and appeared on local TV shows and in leading magazines.

In 2007 Ike released his third album All Around the World. This album was an accessible mixture of pop-rock and easy-listening radio friendly songs. What sets this album apart is that the David Bowie influence is less obvious and Ike has established his own sound and persona. Although he does pay tribute to Bowie in Watching the Sun by including ‘Station to Station’ in the lyrics and in the bonus track Still uses the familiar David Bowie pronunciations and inflections. Again, the comparison should be seen as positive because the song is a good one. The stand-out track on the album is Starry Night, a duet with effervescent, bouncing-off-the-walls personality Elana Afrika, which still receives regular airtime on local radio stations. Any number of other songs on the album such as All Your Heroes Are Dead, Killing Games, Anything You Want, Bite the Dog and I’ll Be Your Man could (and should) have also been hit singles. All Around the World really is a solid collection of songs. A great album.

Ike grew disillusioned with the Joburg scene. “It was just another London, very chicy and snobby,” so Ike decided to forgo Jozi and settle in Cape Town. One of Ike’s earliest loves was jazz which is why he studied it at college. To challenge himself artistically he began experimenting with jazz again and had no intention of making anything for public consumption. When he played his new jazz/swing styled songs for his friends though, their reaction was unanimous, he should record and release this music which all agreed sounded very cool. So Ike decided to change everything and reinvent himself as a jazz/swing performer.

Over the last two years he has been recording no less than three albums to be released as the Stardust Trilogy towards the end of this year. Parts 1 and 2, titled Stardust and Body & Soul respectively are already available on iTunes and Part 3 called Angle Eyes has just been completed. The albums are a collection of swing standards and some original Ike Moriz songs. In pop/rock mode Ike’s voice ranges from a hard gravelly rasp to a soft and gentle whisper. In swing mode the rich resonance of his voice makes Michael Bublè’s seem rather thin by comparison. Indeed, comparisons with the great Tony Bennett are inevitable, Ike Moriz performing swing is that good. Ike is busy recording another rock album to be called Breathing Dreams to be released in early 2010. If this new collection continues the same growth Ike demonstrated on All Around the World, it is bound to be a huge success all around the world!

When Ike is not recording in Paris Studios in Fish Hoek he is performing at gigs around the Southern Suburbs such as Deli Delish and La Cuccina in Hout Bay, and the Constantia Nek Restaurant, or at corporate functions for people who know that Ike Moriz is perhaps, alongside Jesse Clegg and the Parlotones (whom he rates very highly), South Africa’s most accomplished musician and performer. People may ask, if Ike is that good, why isn’t he an international superstar? “It’s never been about the fame,” explains Ike, “it’s always just about the music. I’ve got to be true to who I am. Music is my religion. My way of communicating. When I write a song I feel like the music is coming through me. It’s a beautiful experience to write a song that becomes something that has an influence on other peoples’ lives.”

Ike is assisting a vocal group from Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay called Brothers with Voices (BWV - who Full Circle will feature in our next issue) and who have an abundance of vocal talent but little business acumen to take it further. Ike has paid for studio time and helped them record a CD called Peace Dream, after one of the songs they covered in isiXhosa from his All Around the World album. Ike loves Hout Bay and Cape Town. “I’ve always felt this was my true home,” he says with absolute conviction. He spends as much time as he can walking up Chapman’s Peak and around Hout Bay.

Although he has enormous talent and the supermodel looks that makes the ladies gaga, Ike is a very humble, deep-thinking and caring man who is seriously involved in community and environmental concerns. A very refreshing change from people who grab their 15 minutes and believe that entitles them to behave obnoxiously and treat ‘lesser mortals’ as just that. Ike couldn’t be further removed from that ugly stereotype. He really is a sincere, down-to-earth good guy who would no sooner be rude or disrespectful to anyone than he would stop writing and performing. For more info about Ike and where he is gigging visit his website: www.ikemoriz.com.