After a year of freelancing and engineering at various gigs around town I have began to realize that there is a huge wealth of music and performance talent in Kenya; Nairobi specifically, in fact, much more than you might think. I also realize that people are now generally more willing to pay more for this type of entertainment.
But as I have stated before, we are still miles behind as compared to the international music scene when it comes to technical skill on lights and sound and basically all the small components that actually make a show a SHOW! And this is not because we do not have the equipment or the means to get the right equipment and facilities, but the skill behind putting these things together is lacking.
The other thing I notice is that yes, we do have a few popular artists who have won awards here and there and get loads of gigs and air-play etc., however I do believe we do not yet have bonafide Kenyan Superstars. Taking nothing away from the few who have worked hard to become heroes, role models and trend setters in Kenya, I still believe that in the next 10 to 20 years (or even sooner) there will be still space for young artists to go far beyond what we have ever seen in the Kenyan music and entertainment industry!
Yes, there are a few things that will go into making or creating such artists including training and development of talent, cut-throat business & marketing strategies, new business models and PR for music and entertainment that will give us an edge and make Kenyans competitive on an international stage. All these things will play a part.
But if I may so humbly suggest that one of the biggest parts of this (if not the biggest) will be performance and presentation!
You all remember that one Coldplay, Jay-Z or Beyoncé gig you watched and thought, “OMG this is it!” and many artists including the late great MJ had that one album, gig, music video that propelled them to the stratosphere of superstardom!
I believe there a quite a few Kenyan artists or musicians even DJ’s that are capable of creating these kinds of spectacles, if I may call them, in their live performances!
The technical side of achieving this is really important and more attention to detail on the audio visual side needs to be observed. To create the ultimate Kenyan Superstar; sound and visual display need to be taken more seriously than they have been in the past.
This is one of the reasons I have created Sound Mind. As well as working on music production, mixing and film scoring I am also taking the next step with live sound and looking for artists who understand this and how important their live sound is for them.
Artist specific sound and engineering will take the industry to the next level!
And it would be my pleasure to be a part of creating bonafide Kenyan Superstars. I intend to achieve this through the skill and knowledge I have gained over the past few years working for and with some of the best in the industry.
It is time to do what it takes to get us to the next level!
LongHorn ([(-_-)])
.I agree,but you see the problem is not the musicians but rather the situation they are in. Every musician has an idea of their sound however good,bad or copied it is. But very few can get that sound at a live performance because:
ReplyDelete1. Equipment-the number of musicians with their own equipment in Nairobi are less than my fingers. Now this means that most musicians have to use borrowed rehearsal spaces and instruments in churches or hire studios which are mostly costly and with bad instruments (ive been to one that even the keyboard is off tuned!) They spend very little time rehearsing that they cant insist on a specific sound to be identified with.
2. Event organisation. Most gigs i go to,sound is always still being set by the time the event should be kicking meaning that one band does sound check for every other performer,if they are lucky. Otherwise there is never sound check. Now,thats because guys are always late. The best is to have sound checks on the eve or atleast 3 hours before the show.
3. Sound technicians. Most musicians dont have their own technicians,which is very crucial if they did. The usual sound guys are usually ignorant and proud,handling all artists as just performers whose business is to merely perform. They have one basic standard that they use throughout an event making it imposible for any musician to get their desired sound.
-most gigs dont have enough equipment like monitors on stage and microphones.
-some have faulty instruments like a moving or inadjustable drumset.
I think our problem is big and it needs a huge change by everyone involved in the industry from organisers,musicians and engineers.