Award-winning songwriter Peter E. Marx released his very first Afrikaans single, Wees Weer By My, with a message to everyone that is very close to his heart: “Never stop believing in your dreams. I’m an excellent example of anything is possible. Don’t get me wrong, I believe in this song wholeheartedly as I worked very hard at perfecting it, together with some of the best in the business, and as I do consider it to be really good and different to anything else out there, of course I feel that it certainly deserves its rightful spot in the Afrikaans music industry – whether it appeals to the masses or not.
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“However, what I also want to achieve and is honestly as equally important to me as what my own measure of success is, is to inspire and challenge others with if the following: If I finally managed to find my way back to this place where the possibility exists of my dream coming true before it’s too late, then anyone can. I seriously mean this! I urge those who are ready to throw in the towel to never stop believing in yourself or giving up on your own unique dream – your time will come! The puzzle pieces eventually just seem to miraculously fall into place, as I experienced several times leading up to the release of the song, which often left me completely speechless as the synchronicity and coincidences simply couldn’t be explained away rationally.”
Watch Peter E. Marx – Wees Weer By My (Amptelike Lirieke Video) below:
Wees Weer By My. Inspired by the ups, downs, heartaches and heartbreaks of a previous relationship, is the self-penned original, catchy European EDM sounding composition that Marx describes as his “ode to love…something that I’m clearly not very good at when it comes to the romance department”. He adds: “At least I can laugh about it now, but as most people know, at the time it felt like my heart would never recover and heal again. We’ve all been there, so I really hope that listeners will relate to and make the song their own. Despite lyrics that will haunt listeners if they listen carefully, as they do cut rather deep, the unique dance beat added to the song will also hopefully make some want to run to the dance floor. This sound is very popular in European countries as the current and modern genre, as many have commented to me to my delight, stating that they’ve never heard an Afrikaans song with the sound they really enjoyed when abroad.”
Early success with “Wees Weer By My”
Within the first week of its release, Wees Weer By My was included on Apple Music’s prestigious “50 Top Afrikaans Hits” playlist, clearly paving the way for what promises to be another hit as part of Marx’s impressive and diverse repertoire. Apart from being playlisted on a variety of radio stations, Wees Weer By My is even making its way up the charts – currently sitting at #11 on SFM’s Top 30 after it made its debut at #28 a couple of weeks ago. A promising start indeed.
At heart, Marx confesses that above all else his utmost passion is one for songwriting. Fortunately for him, he previously proved he has what it takes after he won numerous awards (including for “Best Original Song”), over and above writing two number one hits for his award-winning band, Milk, when the Capetonian was still living in Port Elizabeth several years ago. During this time period, Marx also wrote songs for other recording artists and even a contributed some songs for a musical that was presented several times over the years, which he also starred in before moving to Cape Town.
Peter E. Marx passionately states: “So as the adventure starts all over again for me, I really want to encourage other artists that if they like what they hear, which is honestly just one of many styles of music that I compose, that they shouldn’t hesitate for a second to contact me for potential songs or collaborations. I would be absolutely thrilled to write for or with others artists.”
The comeback with “Wees Weer By My”
Upon planning his return to the music industry last year (as up to this point Marx dedicated most of his time to his career as a communications specialist and publicist – another enormous passion of his that he says he absolutely loves as well), Marx approached gifted producer and composer, Chris Querido, with his demo of Wees Weer By My. “Now he is no ordinary producer, having not only scored music for several film and television projects, but Chris has actually worked with some pretty big international names. I sent the demo of Wees Weer By My to Chris, with the song being more acoustic at that stage, telling him that I just wanted to know whether I still had it in me.
“To my absolute delight, Chris responded positively and said that he really believed in the song, and would make some time available to work with me on it. Nothing would prepare me for when Chris sent me the final version of the song. The man is nothing short of a genius. We then had the song mastered with the same company in the UK that often works with Black Coffee and on several film projects. Relying on and working with the best in the business, I couldn’t have asked for a better end result – something that happens very rarely as any musician knows all too well.”
Next single – promises to be a big surprise for those who were alive and kicking in the 80s
So if Marx achieves success with Wees Weer By My over and above the initial achievements so far, or if the adventure with this single ends here, will we be hearing more from him soon? “Absolutely. I’ve already started working on the next single which is going to be such a pleasant surprise for those who were alive and kicking in the 80’s. The back story to all of this coming together is actually fascinating and a dream come true for me which I had since I was still in school, but I’ll share that when the single is released. Again, as with Wees Weer By My, everything hindered close to the supernatural with this song as well, so clearly it was meant to be that I should work on it,” he states.
Wees Weer By My by Peter E. Marx is now available on all popular digital platforms, including iTunes, Amazon Music and Google Play.
Image Courtesy: Supplied