Loving Parents (Circuit Mixer)

Naledi Chai (aka Loving Parents) is a Johannesburg‑based DJ and anti‑disciplinary artist who blends filmmaking, sculpture, sound art, sound design, and music production into immersive, boundary‑pushing experiences. She co‑founded the research‑archive collectives Fly Machine Projects and Septober Energy, and holds a BA in cinematography, sound design, editing, and scriptwriting. Her practice explores object displacement, spatial perception, and the reimagining of discarded materials, centering Sub‑Saharan African art methods and epistemologies.

Chai has showcased sound‑based work on Boiler Room TV, the UK Radio Drama Festival, Radiophrenia, and Club Late Music as well as work created through Netherlands based radio art residency, JA JA JA NEE NEE NEE in 2024. She curated Johannesburg’s first Drone Day in 2024 and was selected as a resident sound artist for Reforesters’Lab Sound Clinic in 2025. Currently, she runs the experimental sonic space “brokken//binaryy,” holds a residency at Oroko Radio, and produces experimental electronic music as Pillow Man.

In 2025, she delivered notable DJ sets at Septober Energy, Oluzayo Festival, OppiKoppi, Groove Biennale, Trevtober, and Love2Love, earning praise for her genre‑defying selections and energetic stage presence. Her evolving body of work continues to bridge traditional African sonic heritage with contemporary digital culture, making her a vital voice in South Africa’s experimental music scene. Chai’s installations often incorporate field recordings from remote South African townships, layering them with modular synth textures to create dialogues between past and present. She has collaborated with visual artists to produce live audio‑visual performances that travel across galleries and festivals, from Berlin’s CTM to Cape Town’s Infecting the City.

Her curatorial projects emphasize community participation, inviting local youth to remix archival sounds and re‑imagine cultural narratives. Through workshops and mentorship, Chai nurtures emerging talent, fostering a network of creators who challenge conventional genre boundaries. Her research interests include decolonial sound studies, materiality of audio media, and the politics of noise in urban spaces. By weaving together theory and practice, she positions sound as a tool for social critique and collective memory.

Chai’s upcoming projects include a multimedia exhibition titled “Echoes of Displacement” and a collaborative album with international noise artists, slated for release in early 2026. Her work has been featured in publications such as Wire and NTS, and she regularly contributes essays on African sound culture to academic journals. With each new venture, Naledi Chai expands the possibilities of what sound can mean, making her a pivotal figure in contemporary African art.