Mama Dance is the publisher of one of the largest, high-quality African production music libraries in the world.  Pressure Cooker Studios are producers of some of the best quality music for productions on the continent.

They have competed on many advertising pitches and worked together on films like Five Fingers for Marseilles.  Pressure Cooker Studios creating the score in that case and the Mama Dance Music Library supplementing it where needed.

The two companies have crossed paths many times over the years, so it is a wonder why it has taken them so long to collaborate on a quality African production music project.

 

 How the collaboration came about

“We increasingly noticed that Pressure Cooker Studios was dominating on the bespoke film scoring and TV advertising front.  We loved their innovative sound and high production skills,” says Craig McGahey, CEO at Mama Dance.  “When the opportunity finally arose to work together, we leapt at the chance!”

An equal willingness arose from the talented team at Pressure Cooker Studios.

“There has always been a mutual respect between Pressure Cooker Studios and Mama Dance.  Craig and James (Matthes) have been speaking over the years about collaborating together,” adds Brian Little, General Manager of Pressure Cooker Studios.

“Eventually we had the capacity, and the product, to share two high-quality African production music albums to go into the Mama Dance Music Library.  We are excited for this to be the start of a partnership together. “

Fortunately, with such high expectations, the two albums do not disappoint!

 

Which production music genres were needed?

Mama Dance has seen some phenomenal success with the Amapiano and Afrobeats genres on their library.  Thanks to the growing popularity of African genres overseas and their co-publishing deals with both Universal Production Music and Sonoton, they are also starting to see the growth of quality African production music abroad too.  This made these genres an obvious choice as the starting point for Pressure Cooker Studios’ genius.

Craig reveals more about the albums, “Having been in a similar business a while back we knew that their angle on popular genres like Amapiano and Afrobeats would be more cinematic and dramatic which is what we are always looking for on library. It so happened that the guys from Pressure Cooker were thinking along the same line! These two albums are very different and highlight the range of quality African production music Pressure Cooker can deliver.”

 

Afrobeats African Production Music Album

MDML333 – CINEMATIC AFROBEATS – Modern Hybrid Scores

A truly captivating and thrilling collection of Afrobeats with a cinematic, dramatic and epic feel. Lush Orchestral arrangements combined with slick Afrobeats flavours create a stunningly unique and powerful album guaranteed to have you on the edge of your seat. Perfect for films, dramas, documentaries, advertising, sports and much more.

Superior Quality African Production Music

Pressure Cooker Studios have gained a solid reputation for creating superior quality music that supports storytelling.  It isn’t luck though as they have a philosophy behind their success as Brian discloses,

“What makes us stand apart is our ‘made by many approach’. At the core of the business of Pressure Cooker Studios is that everyone has a specific role to play based on their specific skillset. We nurture individual talent to make sure everyone finds their unique voice.

We also believe strongly in collaboration: everyone at the studio gets their hands on the music that we make, whether it is recording, mixing, orchestrating, designing or building a new instrument, experimenting with a new sound or even just some perspective given through a feedback session it’s always made by many at Pressure Cooker Studios. The best talent is paired where it is needed most and results in a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.”

The Mama Dance website is a busy place with thousands of downloads from Africa’s finest content creators looking for high-quality African production music along with the thousands of hand-picked, internationally produced tracks.  They have a similar approach.

“A decision was made a number of years ago to focus on quality over quantity which seems to have paid off,” says Jeff Moffatt, head of production at Mama Dance.  “We only work with the best composers and producers on the continent.  They respect the fact that we care about maintaining a high standard which in turn ensures that their music gets used in some incredible productions from Blue Chip commercials to Netflix films to Multichoice programs and even a couple of shows coming out of a small town called Hollywood!”

Amapiano African Production Music Album

MDML332 – AMAPIANO HITS – South African Style

Straight from the top of the SA pop charts comes this slick and glossy collection of trend setting Amapiano. Packed with plenty of infectious grooves, catchy melodies and top-notch production values these sophisticated and stylish tracks are a must for advertising, fashion, trendy lifestyle, daily dramas youth programming and much more.

The future of African content

So where to from here for these two African powerhouses and what does the future hold for African productions? 

“We are excited to see what the future holds through this collaboration,” says Brian.

“As far as African productions go (commercials, films and animations), we think the future is bright, fresh and cutting edge. There is a lot of good energy out there at the moment around telling authentic African stories through these mediums. And of course, this then means there is a need for authentic music and we are excited to push these stories and elevate them through music, as proudly African storytellers.”

Mama Dance feels the same way.  “For 20 years we have been pioneering quality African production music,” Craig explains.  “We released many of the first African genre or country specific production music albums before there was even a need for them.  We could foresee the need for Africans to tell their stories in their languages and with their music so we started educating composers in Africa about the potential of this industry.  Thanks to the explosion of African content, it is a relief that we find we don’t have to explain it as often these days! 

About Pressure Cooker Studios


Pressure Cooker Studios is a full-service Music and Audio Studio based in Cape Town, South Africa. We create the sound for ‘that thing’ you need.
We think about a project’s entire audio journey holistically, with your creative vision as the cornerstone for every decision we make along the process.
Through high-concept thinking and our collaborative approach, we work across both the Music and Sound pillars to make sure we work effectively and efficiently to deliver the best outcome for each project. 

We’ve worked extensively in the commercial, film and gaming industry.

 

Some titles include:

Commercial:

VW Kitty: https://pressurecookerstudios.co.za/projects/drive-to-defy-ft-kitty-phetla/

Chicken Lickin Undefeated: https://pressurecookerstudios.co.za/projects/undefeated-since-forever/

Narrative:

Seal Team: https://pressurecookerstudios.co.za/projects/seal-team/

Five Fingers For Marseilles: https://pressurecookerstudios.co.za/projects/five-fingers-for-marseilles/

Gaming:

Manor Lords: https://pressurecookerstudios.co.za/projects/manor-lords/

Ancient Dungeon VR: https://pressurecookerstudios.co.za/projects/ancient-dungeon/