Bradley Anthony, The Falsetto King

Hard-working, talented, selfless and a helpful person. This is how renowned Namibian singer and founder of Song Night, Lize Ehlers, described Bradley Anthony.

“He truly embodied and lived the values of being one of the two Song Night ambassadors of 2016. And he still does. He is an example that following and working hard on your dreams, even when very difficult, can lead you to a truthful and beautiful life,” Ehlers continued.

Those who like being out and about in Windhoek will know exactly who Anthony is, as he no stranger to the Song Night stage. The 27-year-old soulful singer lends his talent to a variety of genres as he believes that if you have a voice, “you should be able to play your instrument to any kind of genre”. Anthony’s melodious voice and incredible range earned him the nickname, ‘The Falsetto King’.

Growing up in the capital, Anthony attended Gammams Primary School where he first discovered his talent and love of singing. “I started to sing in primary school doing Christmas carols. While the other children would be busy with the Christmas play, I would help with singing the carols,” he said.

After primary school, Anthony took on his high school career at Khomas High School, and it was during this time that he took his passion to the next level. After school, Anthony joined a local gospel group called The Trinity Celebration Band – a band the singer likens to South Africa’s legendary Joyous Celebration.

Anthony then joined the Song Night crew and started his singing career professionally. The singer mentioned that one of the biggest challenges he faces is not being booked constantly.

“There are a lot of challenges. I don’t get booked on a permanent basis for corporate events and for a few months you don’t have any gigs,” he said, adding that since he is a full-time singer. Times get hard, however, he pushes to promote his albums and boost sales.

For the past two years, Anthony has been an ambassador for Song Night alongside Priscilla The Namibian Dessert Queen and mentioned that although he had many responsibilities, he learnt from this.

“With new artists showing up every second month, we had to train them, give them vocal lessons, teach them how to interact with the crowd, how to control the crowd and how to pull a crowd. This is a large responsibility. It changed me a lot and taught me a lot too,” Anthony said.

The products of Song Night often have a big positive impression on their audience. But what sets them apart from other artists?

“We work very hard. Sometimes it may seem like we are playing on the stage, but we work very hard,” Anthony said, adding that they constantly attend workshops dealing with the music industry as well as how to be professional and how to handle corporate events.

Anthony also touched on the positive role that his mentor, Ehlers, plays in the lives of the Song Night singers. “She plays a very big role. She gives the opportunity to young artists to perform to showcase their skills, she provides the foundation. You should just show up and perform,” he said.

Having recently launched his albums, ‘Love for Christ’ and ‘Forever Love’, as the names reveal, his inspiration is love. However, he doesn’t just focus on the love between couples, but deals with the topic in a broader sense. “I guess I represent love. I don’t necessarily always sing about relationships – like the love between a boy and a girl or a husband and a wife. I sing about love in general,” Anthony said.

The talented singer has recently nabbed himself a whopping eight nominations at the Namibian Annual Music Awards. The list includes Best Newcomer of the Year, Best Male Artist of the Year, Best Afrikaans, Best Gospel, Best Kizomba, Best R&B, Most Socially Responsible Artist and Best Live Performance.

“I don’t know how it’s possible. I guess it is a result of my hard work,” Anthony said. “I’m happy that people can see my hard work. I was shocked at first. I’m a newcomer and I scooped eight nominations and I’m competing with big artists like Gazza,” he added.

Anthony revealed that he is currently working on his third album, ‘Hot Love’ and hopes to start on the next on soon, which will be called ‘Everlasting Love’. As well as completing his albums and launching by October, Anthony also said he plans to release a few music videos off of ‘Forever Love’.

He will also be performing on the NAMAs stage on the 29 April. The artist’s journey rings true with his slogan: Growing by the day, now a king.