Surreal Sessions, a duo based in South Africa, have been making waves in the ever-evolving music industry within the country. Jodie and Liam offer an honest insight into their creative process, musical journey, influences, and the struggles they have faced in the industry so far. The group was formed based on a close friendship that dates back to their time at Bellville Technical High School.  

Both members have been influenced by different artists and genres, which has inspired the group and led to their ultimate success. Jodie has always been a Skrillex fan, while Liam found inspiration in the work of Calvin Harris. Despite being influenced by artists from different spaces, they both share a mutual love for electronic music.  

From Amapiano and Gqom to deep house and Afro-tech, Surreal Sessions take inspiration from a wide range of artists, including DJ Lag, Tyler ICU, and Nova Boy, as well as legendary house producers like Joe Goddard. For Jodie, their musical approach is about staying current, keeping their ear to the ground for what’s new, and experimenting with fresh sounds—whether locally or globally inspired.  

The South African music scene is currently flourishing, with Gqom and Amapiano leading the way. These genres have become international hits in regions such as Portugal, Dubai, and England. Liam acknowledges the South African artists pushing these genres to the world stage, expressing awe at how their production continues to evolve with each release. 

Their creative process strikes a balance between working remotely and collaborating in the studio. Their shared vision for Surreal Sessions has been the driving factor behind their recent work and has helped them remain relevant in the ever-changing music landscape.  

Outside of music, Liam and Jodie have worked with various brands. However, one brand collaboration holds a special place in Liam’s heart: their work with Adidas. Growing up, Liam was a Liverpool fan, and during that time, Adidas was the kit sponsor for Liverpool. Working with Adidas has been a full-circle moment for him.

Reflecting on the challenges they have faced so far, Liam and Jodie highlight the difficulties of meeting deadlines and securing timely payments—an issue that many South African creatives encounter, as delayed payments are a recurring problem in the local industry.  

Now considered one of the most sought-after DJ duos in the Cape Town scene, Surreal Sessions share their experiences playing at Rocking the Daisies and various clubs. Their first performance at the festival was nerve-wracking, with Jodie admitting they didn’t expect such a large crowd at an early time slot. However, their second performance at Daisies was a significantly different experience—a prime-time slot and a packed crowd gave them the confidence they had earned from their earlier shows.  

As their success grows, they remain humble about their journey. With each passing year, new challenges arise. Liam recalls one particularly frustrating club experience where interruptions during his performance emphasized the need for respect in the workplace—even when the "workplace" is a high-energy club environment. Nonetheless, these experiences haven’t dampened their enthusiasm. They remain determined to press forward, focusing on future projects, including an upcoming album and more visual content for 2025.  

Jodie offers advice to younger DJs and creatives: trust your ideas and act on them. Success in the music industry, he points out, doesn’t come easily—it requires resilience, learning, and building connections. He shares this as we begin to wrap up our interview.  

For more on Surreal Sessions , read our interview below:
The following interview has been lightly edited for context and clarity 

Daniel: For those who don’t know who Surreal Sessions are, how would you describe yourself?

Jodie: We are two really good friends who love to make music and want to make a career from it. There is nothing much more to say; the music will speak for itself.

Daniel: What inspired you to go into music?

Liam: Who inspired myself and Jodie to go into music? I can’t really speak for Jodie because I don’t know, honestly. I think Jodie and I take inspiration from different people. What I do know is that he is a massive Skrillex fan. That is someone who influenced him to go into music. On my behalf, it was Calvin Harris; this was probably since 2009 and 2010. I was trying to figure out what type of sound he was making, and I constantly asked myself how is he doing this?

Daniel: Who are your musical influences?

Jodie: I think our musical influences vary and there are a lot of different ones. It all depends on different times within our lives. We both had different influences. But we take a lot of inspiration from electronic music. We even listen to a lot of electronic music on a daily basis. We always try to keep our ear to the ground and see what sounds work. We try our best to experiment. We have a lot of producers that we look up to. If I could name a few, it would be DJ Lag, Virgo Deep is another one who is a big influence on us right now. There are so many, even like Tyler, ICU, and older house producers like Joe Goddard. Even from our friends who are killing it in the Gqom scene like Nova Boy and a group called MMW. Another big influence is General C'mamane.

Daniel: How would you describe the current music scene in South Africa at the moment? 

Liam: The current music scene in South Africa is generally healthy. The Amapiano, Gqom, and Afro-tech genres are extremely healthy. From a production point of view, I would listen to these genres, and I would ask myself how does this even get made? How is a song like this made – it always surprises me. The innovative nature of the South African artists. On the other side globally, especially with Amapiano, you are now getting established Amapiano festivals in Dubai, Portugal, and England, to name a few. In England, the Amapiano genre is extremely big.

Daniel: How would you describe your creative processes while making music? 

Jodie: It depends on if we are in the studio together. Myself and Liam don’t stay together, so we usually send projects to each other. Other times we do go into the studio together. If we heard something that we like, then we would try and make something like that sound. Even on the day, depending on how we feel, our mood would naturally dictate what we make. We also feed off each other – we know what we like, and that comes from knowing each other for years now. We also know where we want to go with our sound as Surreal Sessions. When we start a song, it would be with the melody or the drums.

Daniel: Dealing with brands, what have been some of the highlights so far? 

Liam: The highlights are a lot. I think the one that stands out is working with Adidas. I hold Adidas close to my heart like a lot of people. A lot of people in Cape Town would prefer Nike, but I am an Adidas boy if I can put it like that. Even Jodie loves Adidas. I grew up supporting Liverpool, and at that time, Adidas was the kit sponsor of Liverpool, which is why working with Adidas is the highlight for me.

Daniel: Dealing with brands has been some of the challenges? 

Jodie: I would say some challenges would be trying to meet deadlines or the timeframe that they want the work done in. That can be something which is tricky. Not all brands, but the timing which they take to pay you can be a struggle, and you have to fight with them to get your money. I would say those two are some of the main ones.

Daniel: A lot has been made of getting paid on time within the South African music scene; many creatives have voiced their opinions about this. What are your thoughts regarding this? 

Liam: Getting paid on time is something that we all struggle with, especially in South Africa. I’m not sure if it’s going to get worse or if it’s already at that point. I feel that it is something that needs more discussing. Jodie and I take pride in being on time at our gigs. Whether it is 30 minutes before or even an hour. We respect the brands, so why isn’t the energy given back to us? We did a job for you, so we should be compensated on time as we held up our end of the bargain. Why should we constantly fight and fight for our set fee? I don’t know if it’s going to get worse, but it’s not fair in my opinion. Again, not all the club promoters operate like this – the majority of them do pay on time, but there are a few who don’t.

Daniel: Your notable shows include playing at Rocking the Daisies more than once. What was the first time like, and what was going through your minds at the time? 

Jodie: The first time was crazy. Playing at a club, the setting is different compared to a festival. We didn’t expect our set to be that full at the time we were playing. I think we played at 6-7 if I’m not mistaken. We were nervous, I can’t lie. The sun wasn’t even down properly, and by the time we finished, it had set. Compared to the second time when we played much later. We have been wanting to play at Daisies for years, and it was mind-blowing because those are goals that we set for ourselves, which was a good feeling to achieve.

Daniel: The second time at Daisies must have been surreal; what experiences did you take from the first time going into your set the second time? 

Liam: The first time we played Daisies, it was nerve-wracking. I didn’t know what to expect, and it is the biggest music festival in Africa. Once the first and second song is mixed and playing, the nerves are nonexistent at that point. The second time we played Daisies is in 2024, and it was a whole different ball game. I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t nervous – I was so nervous. It was a prime-time set – the whole dome was full, and everyone was watching us. If you’re not nervous for a gig like that, then you don’t have the passion for it anymore. If you are nervous, then it shows that you love what you do.

Daniel: How do you prepare for a set?  

Jodie: To be honest with you, Daniel, myself and Liam don’t really prepare for a set. We listen to music and receive new music, but we always try and add new songs into our sets. We don’t really come together beforehand to practice or plan a specific set. Normally, we would create a folder of music that we would want to play. When we feel on the day that it’s appropriate to play a certain song, then that’s what we’ll do. We are really connected, like Wi-Fi. But the most planning we would do is when we speak about something – how hard we want to go with the songs and where we want to go with the set and how fast we want to play the music.

Daniel: What has been the craziest experience in a club that you have experienced – good or bad? 

Liam: Jodie and I had two gigs in 2021 this specific Saturday. One was a private party gig and one was a club gig. The first one was the private party set, which was an hour to two hours. Naturally, even though I’m a DJ, I should be used to it, but if you’re standing for two hours, then you would be tired. After the set, I was tired, but we had to go and play the second gig in any case. We arrived at the club. The thing about the club was – the DJ booth was central, basically in the middle of the dance floor. It was a bar and club, and Everton was dancing around us. This few people were interrupting me specifically while I was playing and it was like scratching and messing with my side of the deck. I got frustrated because I was working and I’m getting paid for doing this. I don’t go to your place of employment and scratch on your computer or do things mad while you’re working. That was the crazy club experience!

Daniel: Looking towards the future, what kind of content and music can fans expect?

Jodie: People can expect a lot more music. We are working on visuals with people. We have a lot planned for 2025. We are going to release a lot of music next year. There is also an album in the works. We are trying to get a lot of visual content, but that also depends on the resources that we have

Daniel: Coming from Kuils River, how do you think that influenced you creatively?

Jodie: I think coming from Kuils River – people listen to house and electronic music. There has also been a big Hip-Hop culture. The person who mentored us, he started out his career in music as a rapper and then later transitioned into becoming a DJ. There are a lot of artists and DJs in the area. A lot of people that came before us and that we see how shaped our experience.

Daniel: For younger DJs and creatives looking up to Surreal Sessions, what advice would you share with them?

Jodie: The only advice I could give to people is that your ideas don’t come into your brain for no reason. You have to act on them and do it. Like they say, all the shots that you don’t take you end up missing. It is really about having that mentality and being hungry to do this. In the start, DJing isn’t the biggest financial thing – you don’t really make a lot of money. There are a lot of struggles that you have to go through in the industry. You have to have the grit if you really want to do this – you’ll end up going through all of this. It’s all a part of the journey. You have to be positive through it all – you can become an overnight sensation but it’s not always that it happens like that. It does take time to become good and learn the skills to make really good music. We are also just learning and doing our own thing. Just try to learn about the industry and how it works. Make connections, go up and speak to people even if you are introverted, the thing is you’re going to have to do it anyway. You might as well force yourself to do it. The best way to get yourself out there is to speak to people and make connections that way.

Daniel: Why the name Surreal Sessions?

Liam: I don’t know the entire backstory of the Surreal Sessions name. But I think Jodie was listening to mixes from a radio show and I think the name was so real sessions or so real something. He then came up with the name surreal sessions and I was like, “Let’s go with it.” That’s basically how Surreal Sessions came to be.