Based: George
Music was her escape. And through music she bloomed. When she steps onto stage, she is powerful. She embraces the spotlight and absorbs the crowds. Her strong vocals echo not only through theatres and other venues, but also through the hearts of her audience members. It’s like an intriguing, mysterious magic. there is one word to describe her: Dynamite.
Born in Melkbosstrand near Cape Town, Tanja relocated to the quieter, scenic Garden Route. This singer-songwriter, musician and performer is active at various festivals, weddings, shows and gala events.
Tanja started out with dance classes at the age of 6. She excelled in her exams and loved the beauty of stage performances. At home, she kept herself busy and mostly there was some form of music involved. Many a Saturday morning she would be woken-up by her parents’ LP’s – the sound of Money for Nothing or Highway Star making its way down the corridor – one can only wonder…
“Music has always been a part of me. I played a vast number of songs on keyboard before I could even write – without any training, you know, just sitting in my room, playing whatever popped into my head, be it something I heard on the radio or something I just made up.”
Tanja was very shy to open-up when she joined her first band at the age of 14. She initially started out as keyboardist and later-on agreed to singing backing vocals. Spurred by the positive feedback from audiences, Tanja gradually started to open-up and eventually decided to give it her all. At last – there was no stopping her. She got to sing as opening act for many well-known South African artists, like: Steve Hofmeyr, Jackie Louw, Chris Chameleon, Kevin Leo and many more. Venues kept asking her back. In a small town, such as Mossel Bay, she had a constant flow of gigs to keep her going.
Her debut album was recorded in 2009. By this time, she had experience in performing with various musicians and various styles. Tanja decided to make the album in both Afrikaans and English and to experiment in the Pop/Rock genre. All songs were taken in their raw state and the feeling was then built around it.
Her first music-video (Tevergeefs) was broadcasted on Kyk-Net. Tanja sold most of her CD’s by hand at her gigs. She met up with musicians to create a popular cover-band, The Wellcast, catering mostly for year-end functions, prize-giving events and wine-tastings. As animal lover, Tanja, together with the Wellcast, performs at fundraising events for SAPREC and SPCA.
When she was invited to audition for a local amateur theatre in 2014, she not only got a part upon her first audition ever, but got called back for a lead role in a next production (2015). From this, Tanja gained more stage confidence and even took it upon her to arrange a live-music line-up for a whole season with the help from a few friends. Here she had to deal with artist contracts, marketing of the shows, ticket sales, accommodation and meal arrangements, sound requirements and even being hostess. Bacchus Nel and Anton Goosen were among the artists she met in this specific line-up.
Tanja Storm fell in love with the theatre and through her involvement she was spurred to write her own tribute production. Came 2016, she got musicians together and they got working on Rockolution: The Evolution of Rock ‘n Roll. After Rockolution’s first few performances late 2016, Tanja started working on a 2nd production.
Tanja recently returned to studio and released a few more singles and her new music video (Môreson) is receiving positive feedback from numerous radio stations and is also being broadcasted on Kyk-Net