Byron Major’s single ‘May Flower, has a fresh take on soul and funk

Byron Major has achieved quite a lot for a 23 year old - he’s performed his original song ‘South Africa’ at Nelson Mandela’s Boston birthday celebration in 2013, shared a stage with Pavarotti for his farewell tour in South Africa as part of the Drakensberg Boys Choir and sang alongside Grammy Award winning songwriter Paula Cole at a songwriting showcase at Berklee College of Music. His new single ‘May Flower’ is a funky soul track produced by multi-platinum selling producer Andy Whitmore (Lemar, Atomic Kitten & Eternal) in the Londoner’s Greystoke Studios.

Putting Byron Major’s music into a box is not going to work. While his style is certainly influenced by his early classical music training, Byron takes on elements from traditional South African music to Motown and 21st century electronica. His musical influences derive from artists such as Stevie Wonder, Prince and Marvin Gaye but his philosophy of musical variety is one that rejects categorizations. “My dream is for all of music to live under one umbrella, in one home. To me, genres in music is like racism in society – not applicable”, he explains. He likes to describe his own sound as ‘soultronic’.

Byron remembers: “I started writing songs at the age of 12 years, and used my pocket money to have my songs recorded at a studio near my home. So when other kids were out playing and going to the movies, I stayed at home and wrote and produced songs.” At the sweet age of 17, he made it to the Top 24 of Idols. The songsmith has perfected his art during a degree at the renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA, which has fostered the careers of alumni such as Quincy Jones and John Mayer. In 2015, Byron Major’s music was playlisted on 21 radio stations across South Africa, including 5 digital stations in the UK.

The song speaks about the push and pulls that lovers experience in a passionate relationship. Byron Major draws his songwriting inspiration from reflecting other people’s relationships and life in general: