Marco Morgan - town planner

DJ Juice

Starting out as an MC in rap group Vice Versa in the early nineties, Juice has since become a true veteran to the culture of Hip Hop.

As a child his dream was to be one of the greatest lyrical artists, but got twisted when introduced to a set of turntables at the tender age of 13 by Andre’ Maggot (RIP).

Still doing his rapping gigs with the group, Juice decided to incorporate his turntablist battle skills into their act .In 1994 he joined the mobile disco scene with his brother DJ Maxi called “Twice as Nice” This was the platform that Juice wanted, but it wasn’t enough. He landed his first club gig at age 16, and then pursued his DJ career in the “underground” Hip Hop world.

Juice won his first DJ battle at age 17, and in the next year went on to win two more.

He has six DJ titles including “African Battle Cry” (ABC), African Hip Hop Indaba and KFM battle of the DJs to name but a few. After his sound engineering studies, he released a single with Ghetto Funk under Heal the Hood projects (Black Noise)

Since 2002, Juice decided to try out the commercial scene, and has played in possibly every club and pub and at events, wrap parties and festivals in and around Cape Town. Why a cocktail of flavors? “I used to be purely underground, since then my knowledge and taste has matured, my sets now include the best of both worlds commercial & underground with a twist of 80’s funk…to give a tastier blend to the mix.”

Along with his house freak brother (Maxi) they have successfully created Hangover Productions, and are the only DJ duo to play totally different styles of music.

Juice has starred as a DJ in two award-winning short films along with a few TV adverts.

Beside the normal gigs, Juice recorded two seasons with the show “Keeping it Real with Precious” on SABC 2, guest appeared on “Hectic nine 9” SABC 2 and a weekly radio show on Mutha FM (Nick E Louder) and asna guest on Goodhope FM, Bush radio and UCT radio. Above all, house parties are still his favourite gig.

Now working in the Television Industry, DJ Juice is also resident DJ at Zula Sound Bar, with regular slots at Ragazzi Apperitivo Lounge and Urban Chic Hotel among other gigs.

Toni Stuart - poet

Toni is a poet, writer and journalist. She is currently a reporter/sub-editor at Cape Community Newspapers. In July, with storyteller Nicole le Roux she launches a new youth storytelling mentorship organisation called I Am Somebody! Toni started writing poetry at 15, and it was her love for writing that led to a career in journalism. In 2003, she started performing poetry with Dala Flat Music and in 2004, with the record label, held 38 Special words and music: a monthly event of poetry and music collaboration. For three years she was part of the And Word Was Woman Ensemble: a performance poetry group which featured at events such as Cape Town Book Festival, Woman’s Parliament and Cape Town Festival among others. She has performed at numerous events in the city and overseas while travelling. Last year she ran an after-school programme at Hout Bay High School, using poetry and other art forms as a way of helping youth to express themselves and discover who they are and tell their own stories. ARTIST PIC: Nadine Christians

Greer Valley - visual artist

Greer graduated from the University of Cape Town in 2005 with a degree in Architecture and has since worked in the Architecture and Urban Design industries in South Africa and abroad. She also spent much time working within social development agencies using visual arts as a platform to inspire change and awareness amongst youth. It was through this work that she was inspired to create 'Hands On' – an organisation providing artist-led workshops to youth development agencies and NGOs. Through ‘Hands On’ she collaborates with other artists, poets and writers to create work with a strong social message. Her individual work is mostly large format charcoal, pastel, oil and collage drawings on canvas. She also does freelance photographic and design work.

Dylan Valley - filmmaker

Dylan Valley is a filmmaker specialising in documentaries and dabbling in different creative arts. He sees film as a powerful tool that can be used for social change. He was born and raised in Cape Town, growing up in Kuilsriver and later in Durbanville. In 2006 he obtained his Honours degree in Film Theory and Practice from the University of Cape Town where he made Lost Prophets, a film about South African hip hop pioneers, Prophets of da City, and where they are today. Since then he has worked for Plexus Films as a director on Headwrap, an arts and culture reality show for SABC1, and has freelanced on numerous other productions as director and camera operator. In 2009 Dylan was featured as one of The Mail and Guardian's "300 Young South Africans You Have to Take to Lunch". He currently serves on the board of the Documentary Filmmaker's Association.

Roxanne Kotze - photographer

I come from a very artistically-inclined family: painters, writers, singers and photographers. From a very young age photography has fascinated me. The darkroom process, the endless creative things you can do with digital cameras, and that feeling of satisfaction when the picture works out.

My family has moved around quite a bit. I have recently come back from New Zealand after having spent five years there. I have found travel is one of the biggest ways to be inspired in my photography, because since I have to be open-minded wherever I go, my ideas for photography follow suit. I try to give people a different view of things or to capture those little moments that can fly by so quickly.

The things that inspire me most to photograph are people, wildlife, landscapes and I enjoy macro work too. With people, the way I see it is that you can never capture the same moment twice. People are forever changing and it is important to me to make sure to document the changes. Nothing stays the same forever. I am always looking for ways to improve my photos.

My family has been a huge support to me. From day one they have encouraged me to do the very best I can and to challenge myself. They have believed in me and continued to inspire me every step of the way.

My mother told me something when I was younger. She told me of a story she covered in a newspaper about a woman who's nineteen year-old son had died in a car accident and the only picture she owned of him was his I.D photo. This had a great impact on me and my portraiture photography and I have never forgotten that.

I have also been bitten by the writing bug. I write poetry and short stories. Photography, however is my main outlet of creativity.

"I wish that all of nature's magnificence, the emotion of the land, the living energy of place could be photographed." - Annie Leibovitz

Expression Session 2 is here!

After the successful launch of Expression Session in April, we bring you Expression Session 2. This month, we feature 18-year-old photographer Roxanne Kotze who focuses on portraits with a difference and shooting in macro; filmmaker Dylan Greer will show the trailer for his documentary Incarcerated Knowledge, which has just received funding from the National Film and Video Foundation; fine art photographer and sketch artist Greer Valley will show her latest work inspired by the life and work of poet Ingrid Jonker; presentation by young town planner Marco Morgan who is working to merge the past, present and future ideas of town planning into a hybrid of exciting functionality that follows lines to be admired and respected within our daily use of city spaces; DJ Juice will be on the decks starting off the night and poet Toni Stuart will share some of her new work.

Check out the artists pics and bios above to learn more about them. See you at the session!