We think of musicians as celebrities, but the idea that they consider other musicians celebrities and even have a wishlist of favourite artists that they would like to meet and just hang out with is almost absurd. 

Liquideep members Jonathan “Ziyon” Hamilton and Thabo “Ryzor” Shokgolo had their own star-struck moment when walking into The Signs restaurant in Rivonia on Monday afternoon, only to be met with their favourite stars Bucie (Busisiwe Nqwiliso), Sio (Siobhan King) and Lia Butler (Nombulelo Mzobe), Wanda  Baloyi, AzureDé and Jamali (Jacqui Carpede and Mariechan Luiters). 

The duo had initially been told that their visit to the restaurant was for the purposes of a television interview, but later learnt that this was somewhat of a prank as their favourite artists and a handful of journalists were actually the guests in a role-playing exercise where Liquideep were the waiters for the day. 

Curated by their publicist Bonnie Meslane, the event was a heartwarming end to Women’s Month featuring some of this country’s best talent of our era from both a musical and reporting point of view. The excitement among the guests upon the band’s request for their orders matched Liquideep’s facial expressions when they first entered the restaurant. 

The media played along, placing orders at a fast pace as people typically do at a busy restaurant and demonstrating the same level of frustration that customers do when their orders are late. The musicians didn’t hold back, and Wanda Baloyi did a stellar job of improvising as a “Karen.” 

Ziyon and Ryzor kept it professional, totally abandoning their stage names and introducing themselves to their “customers” by their first names. Some orders were delayed, the duo sometimes got caught up in conversation in between serving their guests and a glass broke. 

Anyone who for whatever reason was unaware of the role play, would have probably assumed that it was a normal day in the lives of waiters because the lunch was an authentic portrayal of how things usually go in restaurants. 

The duo said they both had new found respect for waiters, with Ryzor adding that he didn’t think it was an easy job and sharing his anxiety about the prospect of irate customers. 

“We used to DJ at Primi Piatti so we’ve always worked in close proximity with waiters and kind of understood what they did. This experience added another layer. Hospitality is an industry that requires you to master how to remain calm,” Ryzor shared. 

While his nervousness was well hidden, Ziyon expressed that he was completely winging it as he had never worked as a waiter before and was tripping and falling all the way. 

“At the end of the day, it’s all about service to people. This is just another way that we can  exhibit that because that’s what our music is,” he added. 

As a waiter, Ryzor’s observation was that Liquideep’s music playing in the background had a calming effect on the guests, lightening their mood and ultimately making his “job” a little bit easier. 

Ziyon described the musicians in attendance as warm and genuine, adding that meeting them in this manner was unexpected but they still made him feel included, needed and special. Ryzor expanded, saying when he was asked which Mbokodos were in his Women’s Month playlist, he didn’t connect the question to the lunch with some of these women but the experience had been an end to August as Mzansi’s women in music. 

“ I would love to do something like this again. It felt good,” said Ziyon.

The “guests” called for collaborations between Liquideep and the musicians who were present but only time will tell.

Their new single For The Night is out.