‘Leve’ song’s video by Mozaik premiered |06 February 2023

Members of Mozaik: (l to r) Isham, Hugues, Isis and Jean-Yves

• Mozaik calls for affirmative action from everyone

« Leve  mon pep, mon pep leve Seselwa leve, in ariv ler pour ou leve Leve, mon pep leve,

Seselwa leve, in ariv ler pour ou briye »

Uplifting, motivating, and powerful lyrics of the creole song ‘Leve’ by local band Mozaik, whose video premiered at the Docklands cinema on Thursday evening in a ceremony organised for family, friends and sponsors and which was attended by the head of state Wavel Ramkalawan and the First Lady Linda Ramkalawan, Vice-President Ahmed Afif and his wife Stella Afif as well as other dignitaries.

Mozaik – comprising the Rath siblings, Isis and Isham, Hugues Arnephy, Jean-Yves Julie and Vicky Emile, who was absent for the ceremony, said they wrote the song in 2017, and added the music during the Covid-19 lockdown back in 2020.

They said that back then, they felt they were not ready to release it, but now was the appropriate time.

According to Isis, ‘Leve’ is a metaphor for everything in life, “everything that you want, everything you need to do, you need to rise, take the step to be able to achieve it. It is a positive affirmation that you need to do every morning”.

For Hugues, ‘Leve’, targets everyone, regardless of age, while Jean-Yves says the song refers to “motivation, driven with passion” , where people are called upon to live with passion and to do everything with courage “as if there is no tomorrow, because life is short, so you need to do everything now”.

Mozaik says the music genre used is a fusion, although most people will classify it as rock, because of the base of the song, which is the use of distorted guitar.

“It is not a rock song but rather a fusion of a lot of other things put together and the main reason is because ‘Mozaik’ itself is a fusion. We all come from a different background, I have a rock background, Isham and Isis have a choral background and Hughes is a guitar player, so all these merged make ‘Mozaik’, our colours,” explained Jean-Yves.

Other than seeing the video for the first time, guests were also able to watch a five-minute reaction video of renowned local personalities after hearing the song for the first time, and these included President Ramkalawan, Patrick Victor, Jimmy Savy, Sandra Esparon, Sylvie Ah-Time among others.

They also saw behind-the-scene footage of the making of the ‘Leve’ video.

Thursday’s event was also to thank the sponsors towards the project, which were many as ‘Mozaik’ had gone to great length to market their song, from wrapping two SPTC buses in their colour and name, and making use of the Seychelles international airport grounds, to shoot their video.

Jean-Yves said they wanted to do things differently and to stand out, and the band had no regrets for undertaking the projects which meant a lot of sleepless nights, hard work and perseverance.

Isham said now that it was over, he was happy and hearing and seeing the final product, after so many years, was also worth it, as they had not rushed with the project. For Hugues, he was glad to have made a difference in Seychelles’ music, while Isis said she was relieved, as the project was intensive with a lot of pressure from the beginning.

“A lot of people think we are not singing, but Mozaik is here, performing in hotels every night. But we have another audience and we were not doing anything for our people, so that is why we shifted our priority. Today after years on one song, I am so proud of every single person behind this project,” said Isis.

This was echoed by Jean-Yves who said the project was also a time for them to nurture their talents and he was proud of everything they did collectively.

Mozaik plans to release an album although it did not reveal when this will happen.

The song ‘Leve’ was recorded at One Step studio, while the video was shot by Paradise Media and Pana Film, and edited by Fastidious Films. The song’s video with lyrics has already been released on local radio and on youtube and the video will be online today.

Patsy Canaya

Photos by Louis Toussaint