After eight years of being a backing vocalist for some of Mzansi’s heavyweight musicians, Cape Town singer- songwriter Monique Herold is emerging from the shadows and stepping into her own spotlight.
With a fresh look and sound, the 26-year-old recalls starting out singing in church at thae tender age of 7. Born into a Christian home, gospel music played a big role in her upbringing.
She aspired to be a chartered accountant but followed her passion for music after high school.
In her ‘’gap year’’ (2015), Herold joined to Cape Music Institute in to study music, and that was where she realized this is what she was born to do.
“Ever since I graduated, secular music has always been my job. I’ve worked in the secular industry for about five years.
“I’ve always been open about who I am, so my audience and my followers always got the best of both worlds, if you want to call it that.
“I’m open about my relationship with God, and I’m open about the fact that God has blessed me with the gift to create music of many genres. I’m blessed enough to have an audience that supports and understands my journey.
“My music has always and will always be inspirational, whether gospel or secular, and I think my audience resonates with that consistency.”
Herold has worked with industry greats including Loukmaan Adams, Emo Adams , Alistair Izobell, Elwira Standili, Robin P, Karen Kortjie, Garth Taylor, Sasha-Lee Davids, James Bhemgee , Claire Phillips, Vicky Sampson, 3 Tons of Fun, Jody Williams, Maddy Abrahams, Can Skylark, Salome, The Black Ties, David Kramer, Signature SA, Craig Lucas, Terry Fortune and The Pedestrians.
In 2018, Herold and her brother, Caleb, started a Youtube Channel called ‘’The Herolds’’ where they interviewed local artists and spoke about their many different industry experiences.
“The Herolds” became a local sensation and the public loved the duo. They interviewed various artist from Khaya Mthetwa, HLE to Loyiso Bala and more.
Aside from her musical career, she became a CEO of her own auditing firm and her own hair salon business called, MoodyHair by Mo, alongside duties of her non-profit organisation, “Mo Love Project”.
She explained: “2020 was the start of this new chapter. The pandemic and the shut down forced everyone to have some type of self reflection, and that’s exactly what I did.
“In this time, I started writing music, and once again, I fell in love with the creative process of creating music. That was when I wrote my new single, ‘New Me’.
“I always write what I feel, and the new music I started writing was very different to how I use to write. This new sound, new feel that people get from this new song, is as simple as that ‘it’s new’, and it’s who I am now. It’s the, ‘New Me’.”
Herold says her journey was not easy. She overcame countless obstacles on the way, but continued to work hard.
“Many of the obstacles I faced were internal; I had to overcome insecurities that I’ve lived with for most of my life. I needed to start believing in myself, or else I’d be my biggest enemy.
“I needed to discover who Monique truly is and start loving her first. I believe the moment you win that internal battles, you’ll be able to over come anything that comes your way. I now see how important that was to this journey.”
Of her debut single, she shared: “Its about the journey of discovering yourself. The old me has past, and the new me is here to stay. Its about evolving from a caterpillar into a butterfly. Its a song of empowerment.”
“New Me” will be launched on all digital streaming platforms on September 25.