By Chantel Erfort
Up until his matric year in 1995, Keeno Lee Hector was “completely ready to go out and be a graphic designer” but then a recommendation that he take part in the Volkswagen Music Active Programme changed his direction – and indeed, his life. I recently met up with Keeno Lee, who was a year ahead of me at Livingstone High, and has since become a popular face on TV and voice on the radio. While musically, he’s possibly best known as one of the Black Ties singing trio, he also performs as a solo artist and has a couple of tracks on rotation on radio. Onscreen will have seen him in a number of local and international movies. In fact, during our interview, someone called him to ask “what was that Vin Diesel movie you acted in now again?” In case you were wondering, the movie is the 2020 release, Bloodshot.
Locally he has starred in, among others, Barakat, Arendsvlei, and Skaapboer – and he has acted in seven different stage productions of Hamlet. But, he tells me, he is never cast as a bad guy. “Why?” I ask. “They say I don’t have a bad guy’s face,” he throws back at me.He adds, scowling: “Then I ask them ‘what if I do this?’ But they say I just look confused.” Our interview is peppered with this kind of self-deprecating humour and reflection as well as
a couple of accents and entertaining little performances.
Most recently he featured in Spinners, a local series which attracted enthusiastic reviews from fans locally as well as international attention – and awards. According to Showmax’s website, Spinners became the first African series selected in competition at Canneseries; and won three awards, including Best TV Series, at Dakar Series. While I have vivid memories of Keeno Lee performing on our “stage” in the quad during the 1990s, he tells me that his primary interest at the time had been the visual arts – because he was good at sketching – and that he had been very good at his language subjects, once even scoring a
perfect 100% for an English literature exam. “Apparently that was very weird,” he tells me.
When probed about his interest and abilities in English, he says he read “voraciously” because it took him to places he’d never been and enabled him to see “places I wasn’t able to see in Lansdowne” where he grew up. His other love was art, a subject he did up until matric, and he still has most of his high school portfolio, he recalls. But I want to know how he got into acting. So, he tells me about Music Active, a programme which enlisted youngsters from schools across the Cape Flats to participate in a six-week workshop series in which they were immersed in drama, dance and music.
“I didn’t want to do the drama component because it looked cheesy,” says Keeno Lee. He didn’t want to do dance either because, well, “I just can’t dance. That’s not my vibe.” And because so many participants were interested in music, the focus was on choral work. “So I went and did traditional choir. I joined the Xhosa choir and that is why I can sing very loudly to this very day,” he quips. It was this programme that led to the staging of Who Killed Jimmy Valentine, in which Keeno Lee landed the lead role and which went on to be such a huge success that it is now part of the high school curriculum as an official setwork. Keeno Lee is exceptionally proud of having been part of the genesis of this work.
And on that note, I drag him back to the 1990s. To Livingstone High. Tell me about the teachers who made an impression on you, I ask. “Bernie Searle was a massive influence,” he starts. “She treated and talked to us like we were adults and allowed us to explore our creativity without judgement. “Paul Moore,” he adds, “showed lots of interest in me – as a person – and always asked how I was. “Ashley van der Horn who was my class teacher for many years never spoke down to us ... and Mr Banda always checked up on me. He knew the performances were demanding. “And Miss Maggot... she always encouraged us to read widely.”
And what advice does he have for young people interested in pursuing the arts as a career? “Find your niche ... what interests you ... and get good it,” he says without skipping a beat.
And, and, and... How can the alumni association give back to the school, and how should current pupils make use of the alumni? “We have what students don’t have,” says Keeno Lee, “and that is experience. We can provide invaluable reference points and perspectives that they will not have experienced yet. “Honestly, I have made so many mistakes they can learn from,” he says. “As for the students... Grow your network of support. When you’re at school, your network is limited, but the alumni can give you a leg up or an intro into a world you want to get into.”
Follow @keenolee on Instagram
Comments