Getting to know Dominic Neill – Honeydew’s international singing star
Dominic appeared on SA Idols in 2012, the same season in which Shekinah Donnell appeared on the show.
We take a moment to catch up with South African Idols Season 8 Top 7 finalist Dominic Neill, who has moved to Berlin after living in Welties and Honeydew for 26 years.
Dominic is known best for his 2016 collaboration with DJ Kent on Love You Still and his 2017 collaboration with Joe Louis on Better Day, both sending the South African music scene into a frenzy over who this new kid on the block was.
Dominic, whose home language is German, was born in Brixton on 28 April 1992, and he grew up in Weltevreden Park and Honeydew while attending the Deutsche Internationale Schule Johannesburg in Parktown his entire school career. Dominic discovered his interest in music early on in his life, having started piano lessons at the tender age of four.
He learnt to play various instruments throughout his life, and only discovered his talent for writing music when he was 15. “It started as a sort of diary for me but then progressed to more of a passion as I got more comfortable and started to spend more time just writing and trying to improve,” he said.
Dominic was only 20 when he competed in Idols, having “entered on a whim”, but is grateful for what he learnt there. “The one thing the show gave me was experience. At 19 I’d played to huge live and TV audiences, and everything that comes with that sort of pressure really prepares you for everything else. It also showed me what value I could bring to the industry and it goes a long way in exposing your strengths and weaknesses,” Dominic pointed out.
His collaboration with DJ Kent had come after a four-year hiatus following his Idols SA appearance, during which he studied marketing and graduated with honours in June 2017. A year after obtaining his honours in marketing, in June last year, Dominic moved to Berlin, citing a desire to change things up as his reason for making the move.
When asked about the highlight of his career thus far, Dominic pointed out the impact that Love You Still had all around South Africa as his standout. “The impact that Love You Still had in South Africa is just incredible; it’s that sort of impact and that wide reach that I think every artist strives to achieve.”
Dominic is currently signed to Universal Publishing on a global deal, and is working closely with the German office as well as a partner label in Berlin called WeAreDiamond.
Dominic’s latest musical release is Give Me Your Love, a collaboration with British DJ James Carter. You can listen to it here:
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