In 2008, Tino and his parents moved to South Africa from Zimbabwe. At this stage he was a young 6-year-old boy. His family settles in Swellendam and it is also here where Tino spends his childhood.
During his high school years, his life revolved around rugby and academia and always believed that, like his grandfather, he would become a farmer on a tobacco farm in Zimbabwe. His hard work and excellent academics at Oakdale High School of Agriculture, ensure him a full scholarship from Klein Karoo Saad Produksies.
At the age of 19, he picked up a guitar for the first time. “I didn’t really sing at the time, I just hummed along with the rhythm,” he says.
Little did he know that this would be the beginning of Tino’s (whose mother tongue is Shona) Afrikaans music career. Although a career in music was not part of his planning, he immediately found a new home between the tunes and the words.
Tino soon realizes that music offers another way to express emotion. The longing for his friends in Zimbabwe gives rise to his first single, AFSTAND (DISTANCE), which he writes with his friend Dieter Sullwald.
He makes the decision to have the song professionally produced and it ends up in the hands of the famous producer, Tertius Human. And the rest is, as they say, is history.
Tino describes the process as magical. Within a matter of a week, one song turned into 10 and thus a whole album was produced – STERREKIND.
Today, Tino is proud of what his music means to other people. In his humility, he praises the Lord for the reception his music enjoys on the radio and among the public.
His music is currently played by some of our country’s biggest radio stations and graces numerous top 10 hit parades. One of his highlights is the number 1 position his song AFSTAND achieved on RSG. “It’s these things that inspire me to write more music”, explains the young artist of 21.
Tino is grateful for his family who support him even though his family can’t understand any of the Afrikaans lyrics. “All Afrikaans lyrics my mother knows are that of Transkaroo,” he jokes.
Tino’s focus is currently on his agricultural studies. He also plays rugby for the u/20 team at the University of Stellenbosch.
If you ask him what his advice is to others, his answer is, without hesitation: “Don’t wait for something good to come your way. If you want to be a musician who plays the guitar, you just have to pick up the guitar and start playing.”
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