How tough lessons metamorphosed Miriam Altman's life into a brand-new album and live performance

Vocalist, songwriter and producer Miriam Altman launched her debut album, The Butterfly Project, last month, and this Saturday music lovers will assemble at the Wits Theatre Complex to experience the music live.

Unpacking the music

The album opens with A Spirit Awakened, where the approach to the layering of the vocals and instrumental aspects of the music is reflective of Miriam's classical training.

Hers is an interesting story because while she is classically trained musically, she has never practised, and has instead held corporate jobs at Telkom, the South African Presidency and some of the country’s leading institutions of higher learning.

Her debut album explores transformation, grief, fear of the unknown, vulnerability and other universal themes. While Miriam has lived a full life and enjoyed immense career success, I’m almost tempted to attribute this musical glow to the theory about women finding true liberation after divorce.

“I’m not new to music, but I did leave it for decades. I've been thinking about it for years and I’ve finally decided that it’s time to actually just do it,” she asserts during our interview.

Less than 30 seconds into It's Over, I laugh out loud at the unmistakable South African influences. I've said this before and I reiterate: "Musically, there's no place like Mzansi."

The evidence? Canada-born Miriam's four decades in South Africa are ingrained in her musicality. This track has that distinctive South Africanness of taking a breakup song and turning it into a groovy tune instead of a melancholic lamentation. Think Lira in Noma Ungahamba, Bongo Maffin in Kura Uone or, in more contemporary terms, Nobuhle in Ngibulawa Nguwe.

Miriam’s dedication to musical self-rediscovery, learning rhythm and expanding her range is evident throughout the album.

“I can describe my music as experimental and contemporary jazz infused with Southern African sounds. I like sweet and spicy together, where you’ve got a hard-driving rhythm but an easy-flowing vocal.”

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what genre a musician classifies themselves as, or even whether they classify as any genre at all. For Miriam, what really makes a great sound is the melody and lyrical content.

Listen before you go. The Butterfly Project on Spotify

The creative geniuses who shaped the music

Among Miriam’s collaborators are Byron Abrahams, Luyanda Madope, Tlale Makhene, Lungile Kunene and many others. Her curiosity to experiment with contemporary jazz instead of classical music led Miriam to her first coach, Byron Abrahams, whom she speaks very highly of.

“He really took me under his wing, and the idea was to turn me into a musician and not just a vocalist,” Miriam shares.

She equally respects South Africa’s music schools across the University of Cape Town, Stellenbosch University, Tshwane University of Technology and others that shaped her musical training.

She attributes the engineering behind the album to Seredeal “Shaggy” Scheepers, adding that Luyanda Madope produced five of the eight tracks.

Her music interpretation teacher was multi award-winning R&B star John Legend through his Official Songwriting MasterClass. 

“There are artists who are amazing at interpreting but aren't that great at writing music. I was worried that I might fall into that category and he convinced me that I should write.”

This prompted Miriam to take different song writing courses and the fruits of these are in the ripe artistry that is The Butterfly Project. 

Audiences at the Wits Theatre Complex will experience it live this weekend.

• What: Miriam Altman- The Butterfly Project Live in Johannesburg
• When: Saturday 10 October, doors open at 6:00PM
• Where: Wits Theatre Complex
• Cost: R350, R200 students on Quicket

Caterpillars, butterflies and Miriam’s personal metamorphosis

The album didn’t come to be titled The Butterfly Project by accident. After moving to Cape Town following the end of her 30-year relationship, Miriam found a wall of her home covered in black caterpillars, yet few butterflies emerged.

She watched the caterpillars, curious to know their survival story and how they evolve into these colourful, beautiful creatures.

“I was going through a very dark period, wondering if I was going to make it through to the other side or if the divorce was the biggest mistake of my life."

She learnt that the caterpillars were actually getting into their chrysalis on her wall, where they enter a shell, turn into mush and then transform into the most beautiful butterflies.

Butterflies may have appeared to be cute imagery at first, but Miriam discovered that theirs is a profound story, which weaved into her own lived experiences and metamorphosed into the music.

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