Interview with Khazimula and Video Premiere

Interview with Khazimula and Video Premiere – Khazimula returns with ‘On a Dream‘, a cinematic adult contemporary ballad that feels both intimate and expansive, carrying the listener into a space where hope, reflection, and becoming meet.

Rooted in the creative vision of South African songwriter and storyteller Carol-Ann Meltzer, the project is shaped by meaning, light, creativity, and human connection, with Megan Marks bringing the song to life and Mark Beling guiding the recording into its final form. In this conversation, Carol-Ann opens about the story behind the song, the meaning of the Khazimula name, the collaborators who helped shape the music, and the larger journey that this release represents. Watch the video below.

Q & A with Khazimula

Q: What first made Khazimula feel like the right artistic name for you, and what did it unlock in your writing and storytelling?

A: I studied Zulu 1 at Wits University, but the truth is I cannot speak much Zulu at all. Yet African languages resonate deeply with me because I feel the spirit, rhythm and heartbeat of Africa. I was born in Johannesburg and although English is my mother tongue, I have come to realise that when it comes to feeling, language is bigger than words. Emotion, music, hope, love and human connection are universal. They can be understood across cultures, countries and generations. That is why the name Khazimula felt right. It carries a sense of light, radiance and possibility.

To me, it feels atmospheric, as though it glows beyond borders and belongs to everyone. It is not limited by race, language, religion or nationality. It speaks to something shared within all of us. Choosing Khazimula unlocked a different kind of writing for me. It gave me permission to write from the heart rather than from a plan. It opened the door to storytelling that is more soulful, intuitive and connected to the human experience. Through Khazimula, I discovered that my stories are not just about Johannesburg or South Africa, they are about hope, belonging, healing and the light that exists within every person. In many ways, Khazimula became more than a name. It became an invitation to let that light shine.

“If God wanted to hide the light, where would He hide it?”

Q: When you say Khazimula means “to shine” or “radiate light”, how do you personally define that light in the context of your life and work today?

A: I am reminded of a question I first heard from an extraordinary teacher, Nicole Landau. She asked: “If God wanted to hide the light, where would He hide it?” We all began thinking of distant places, high mountains and secret caves, hidden treasures. We pondered and debated, but none of us could find the answer. Then she smiled and said: “He would hide it where we would never think to look for it.” We sat there completely stumped: “In the darkness.” That insight has stayed with me ever since.

For me, the light is not the absence of darkness. It is what is discovered within it. We often imagine that light belongs to the successful, the confident, the enlightened or the fortunate. Yet some of the greatest light I have encountered has emerged from struggle, heartbreak, uncertainty, disappointment and loss.

It is in our darkest moments that we are invited to seek something deeper. In my own life and work, the light of Khazimula is the spark of hope that remains when everything else feels uncertain. It is the courage to keep dreaming when dreams seem impossible. It is the willingness to see the humanity in one another even in a divided world.

Khazimula is an invitation to play hide and seek with the light, to search for it in places where we least expect to find it, within ourselves, within others and within the challenges that life places before us. Because sometimes the light is not waiting at the end of the darkness. Sometimes it is hidden right there in the darkness itself, waiting to be discovered and allowed to shine.

‘On a Dream’ – merged through a series of moments

Q: What emotional or lived moment first gave rise to ‘On a Dream’?

A: That is a question I am often asked, and perhaps the most honest answer is that the full story belongs in Khazimula. ‘On a Dream’ did not arrive all at once. It emerged through a series of moments, conversations, disappointments, hopes, coincidences and awakenings that gradually revealed themselves over time. Like many dreams, it is difficult to point to a single beginning. Was it a feeling, a memory, a longing, a prayer, a calling? Perhaps it was all these things.

What I can say is that ‘On a Dream’ was born from a belief that even in uncertain times, something beautiful is trying to emerge. It is about holding onto possibility when the evidence is not yet visible. For those who are interested in where ‘On a Dream’ comes from, I would invite them to read Khazimula. The book tells the deeper story, not just of a song but of a journey. And like any good treasure hunt, some discoveries are worth waiting for.

Q: The song lives between dreaming and the here and now. What truth were you trying to hold in that space?

A: My husband David gave me a simple but powerful mantra: “I can if I want to. I can.” Those words stayed with me. There is a tension between dreaming and reality. To hold a vision for a better world when the world itself faces so many challenges can seem naïve. Sometimes it can even feel foolish to say out loud what you hope for, as there is always the possibility that the dream is too big, too idealistic or simply impossible. And yet something kept calling me forward. Often that calling would come during a morning run as the sun was rising.

There was something about the rhythm of putting one foot in front of the other that brought me back to the here and now. The dream might have seemed distant, perhaps even a pipe dream, but the next step was always right in front of me. The truth I was trying to hold is that we do not have to choose between vision and action. We can dream and do. We can hold a bold vision for what might be while taking practical steps in the present moment.

When ‘On a Dream’ was first stirring inside me, there was no certainty that anything would come of it. The dream may never have been seen. But today there is a song, a music video, a book unfolding and conversations happening. We are making our way up the mountain. Perhaps that is what faith looks like, not knowing whether you will reach the summit, but continuing to climb anyway.

Enter Megan Marks & Mark Beling

Q: How did Megan Marks become the right voice for your music, and what did she bring that deepened the song’s emotional honesty?

A: In no uncertain terms, I do not believe there is any such thing as coincidence. Megan Marks and Mark Beling came into this project exactly when they were meant to. It is perhaps no coincidence either that both of their names have quite literally left a significant mark on the music.

Megan Marks and Mark Beling have each helped shape the songs and the journey behind them in their own way. Megan brought a depth of feeling and authenticity that cannot be manufactured. She did not simply sing the songs, she inhabited them. She found the emotional truth inside the lyrics and gave them a voice that was both vulnerable and strong. What she brought was honesty, the kind that allows listeners to hear a song and feel that it is somehow telling a part of their own story.

Q: Mark Beling is both producer and a respected name in the project. What did he contribute to the recording, mixing, and emotional shape of the final version?

A: Mark brought that same depth from the production side. His contribution went far beyond recording and mixing. He listened for the heart of the song and helped shape everything around that emotional centre. He knew when to add, when to hold back and how to create space for the message to come through clearly.

His musical instincts elevated the songs while remaining completely true to their spirit. Looking back, it feels less like a series of decisions and more like a series of alignments. The right people appeared at the right time. Megan gave the songs their voice. Mark helped give them wings. For me, that is not coincidence. It is the quiet mystery of creation at work.

‘On a dream’ – The early Version

Q: Anne Steyn helped shape the first arrangement of ‘On a Dream’. What did that early version teach you about the song’s potential?

A: I do not think I would use the word potential. For me, ‘On a Dream’ was already there. What the world eventually sees, hears and experiences is a matter of time, place and discovery. Whether it was Anne Steyn, Megan Marks or Mark Beling, each person who became part of the journey was not creating the song as much as uncovering it. We were discovering something that, in a strange way, already existed.

I have lived with ‘On a Dream’ in the unseen for as long as I can remember. It travelled with me in my car, in my imagination and in my mind’s eye. It was hidden from the actualised world yet completely visualised within me. Long before there was a recording, a video or a book, there was an experience of it, a knowing, a feeling, a destination that somehow existed before the road leading to it had been built.

What Anne’s early arrangement gave me was not a glimpse of potential, but another glimpse of the song itself, another window into something that was gradually revealing its shape. Each version has been less about invention and more about recognition. The song was there. We were finding it.

Q: ‘On a Dream’ is positioned as Adult Contemporary / Cinematic Pop Ballad. What did you want that sound to make the listener feel?

A: To be completely honest, when I first started writing songs, I was not thinking about genres at all. I was simply writing lyrics and melodies because I was excited, so excited that I gleefully went to several major publishing houses convinced they would share my enthusiasm. One by one, they either did not get back to me or came back with the same message: “We do not know what genre this is.” So, when I hear ‘On a Dream’ described as an Adult Contemporary Cinematic Pop Ballad, I smile. I am delighted that it is being positioned as anything at all.

“Whatever the song awakens”

What I secretly wanted, deep down, was something much simpler. I wanted a radio song, a song that could travel, a song that people could listen to while driving, dreaming, working, loving, hoping or simply living their lives.

So, when people ask what I wanted listeners to feel, my answer is simple: feelings. Not a particular feeling, not my feeling when I wrote it, but their feelings. Hope, longing, inspiration, nostalgia, possibility, joy, sadness, courage, wonder, whatever the song awakens in them. Once a song leaves the writer, it belongs as much to the listener as it does to the composer. If ‘On a Dream’ helps someone reconnect with a forgotten dream or imagine something better, then it has done its job. The goal was never to tell people how to feel, but simply to help them feel.

Q: Your work blends music, poetry, reflection, and storytelling. How does that wider creative world change the way you write a song?

A: For me, a song is rarely just a song. It may begin as a feeling, a conversation, a poem, a dream, a story, a question or even an ordinary moment that later reveals meaning. I do not sit down and decide to write a song. It is more that I follow a thread of curiosity and eventually discover a melody within it. That is why my work moves naturally between music, poetry, reflection and storytelling. To me, they are all expressions of the same thing, different ways of exploring what it means to live a meaningful life.

A poem may become a lyric. A conversation may become a chapter. A song may become the beginning of a much larger journey. In fact, Khazimula emerged this way. What began as songs opened into stories, reflections, memories and questions about life, purpose, hope and connection. I often think of myself less as a songwriter and more as a detective. The song is one discovery, the poem another, the story another.

Together they reveal a bigger picture. That is why ‘On a Dream’ feels so connected to everything else I create. It is part of a wider landscape of ideas and experiences that continue to unfold. The music gives the stories a voice. The stories give the music a home. And somewhere in between, the journey continues.

Q: The song speaks about hope, discovery, and becoming. What do you hope South African listeners take from it in their own lives?

A: From a personal perspective, I am a white, Jewish, South African woman. These are important parts of who I am and the story I carry. At the same time, I am increasingly drawn towards what connects us rather than what separates us. I resonate with a non-racial, non-political and interdenominational approach to life, not because differences do not matter, but because shared humanity matters more.

For me, there is no room for hate. There is room for disagreement, diversity and different perspectives, but beneath all that every person carries dignity, value and a light of their own. That is what I hope South African listeners take from ‘On a Dream’, hope, and the understanding that the real treasure is not in possessions, titles or power, but in people. Our ability to learn from one another, care for one another and build something greater together is what truly matters.

South Africa has the possibility to set an example to the world. Through Nelson Mandela’s legacy, we already carry a precedent of reconciliation, forgiveness and courage. We are often called the Rainbow Nation, and I love that image. A rainbow is beautiful not because every colour is the same, but because every colour shines alongside the others.

My hope is that we continue that dream, choosing connection over division, understanding over hatred and hope over despair. If ‘On a Dream’ inspires even one person to dream bigger, love deeper or see humanity differently, then it has achieved something worthwhile. At its heart, ‘On a Dream’ is an invitation to discover who we are and who we can become when we allow our colours to shine.

Q: Khazimula is described as an evolving world that includes music, playlists, reflections, and a forthcoming book. How does ‘On a Dream’ fit into that larger journey?

A: In many ways, ‘On a Dream’ sits at the centre of the Khazimula journey, not because it is the only song, but because it carries many of the themes that run through the music, reflections, playlists and book. Khazimula has not been a carefully planned project. It has evolved organically through experiences, conversations, dreams, songs, stories and discoveries. Looking back, I can see connections between everything, but while living it, it often felt like following breadcrumbs through a forest.

‘On a Dream’ is one of those breadcrumbs. It is a song about possibility, about seeing something before it fully exists and holding a vision while walking towards it. The book Khazimula expands on many of the stories, reflections and awakenings that surround that journey. The playlists offer another doorway into it, and the songs give it a voice while the reflections give it context.

If Khazimula is an evolving world, then ‘On a Dream’ is one of its guiding stars. It reminds me that some things are first experienced in the unseen before they appear in the seen, that dreams matter and that sometimes the journey itself is the destination. ‘On a Dream’ is not just a song within Khazimula. In many ways, Khazimula happened when I followed the dream.

Q: When someone finishes the video and carries only one feeling or idea away with them, what do you hope that is?

A: Possible. Just that. Possible. Not certainty, not perfection, not even success, simply the feeling that something more is possible. That a dream is possible. That healing is possible. That connection is possible. That a better future is possible. That we are capable of more than we think.

The world can feel overwhelming, filled with challenges and reasons to give up. Yet every meaningful change in history began because someone believed that something different was possible. If someone finishes the video and feels even a small spark of possibility for themselves, their community or humanity, then I am grateful. Because possible is where every dream begins.

‘On a Dream’

With ‘On a Dream’, Khazimula offers an invitation to pause, reflect, and reconnect with possibility. From the isiZulu meaning of the name Khazimula to the song’s message of shared purpose, colour, and courage, Carol-Ann Meltzer’s work speaks to the beauty of growth and the power of artistic collaboration. As she continues building a wider world of music, storytelling, playlists, and publishing, ‘On a Dream’ stands as both a release and a reminder that some journeys begin long before the path is visible.

‘On a Dream’ will be available on 3rd July 2026.

Stream Khazimula’s ‘On a Dream’ here

Follow Khazimula on Instagram here