IN the fast-paced music industry, creating a name and a brand of music that captivates the national audience is a mountain-climbing task that requires effort, skill and consistency.
It is therefore not surprising that a number of artistes tried once, became impatient and fell by the wayside before they were even known anywhere beyond their little circle of friends.
This has been the story of many budding musicians but certainly not one associated with Masvingo musician, Ras Chanduru, whose music has been getting generous airplay after the Government liberalised airwaves through the licensing of community radio stations where community heroes are rising.
“Ras Chanduru” (RC) real name Sylvanos Chanduru who is a teacher by profession and is not new to the music industry, shifted back to sungura from Zim Dancehall with a recent album titled Chishwe, his sixth.
He recently spoke to Sunday Life (SL) where he thanked the Government for allowing the establishment of community radio stations where artistes are appreciated by their communities first before going national.
He said the liberalisation of the airwaves through community radio stations was a masterstroke in promoting artistic talent, appreciation of ethnic diversity and in the growth of the broader cultural industry as communities were made to voice their concerns in a culturally contextualised environment.
Excerpts of the interview are below.
SL: You were into Zim Dancehall. What was the motivation behind switching from dancehall to sungura?
RC: As you know, the Zim Dancehall genre came after we have been listening to sungura for some years. Sungura has a wide reach in terms of audience and by switching to sungura, I have also expanded my listeners.
SL: You have released a new album, Chishwe. Can you briefly take us through the meaning of the five songs?
RC: We have a song entitled Munyasha, which is track number one. The song talks about the grace of God on one’s life where when one has found favour in God’s eyes no one can harm that person no matter how serious they may wish. So, in short, it’s just God’s protection to the one he loves.
Pakuzvarwa Kwemwana is the second track and talks about parents not wishing to have bad-mannered children even if they are known to be living an immoral lifestyle themselves, they wish good for their children.
Track number three — Chishwe, is where the album borrowed its name. Chishwe is a Shona word that describes a type of knot and it is a love song, where two birds exhibit their love as tied into that knot. It is inspired by the love of Solo and Mutsai from Gutu who were sung by legendary Jonah Moyo.
Comrade is track number four, where we talk about the heroes who fought for the independence of this country from the colonial regime. Some of them just passed on in the jungle and the whereabouts of their final resting places are not known to this day. We need to respect such selfless cadres who fought a good fight.
The last track number is Hondo. The word means war (quarrels) and in the song we sing against those who instigate war because it leads to destruction of lives and infrastructure. The song is a campaign against any type of violence extending from a household situation to international levels and is a call for people to preach peace.
SL: How has the album been received and has the opening of airwaves increased the marketability of your music?
RC: I am really happy with the reception I am receiving for this album. It’s really impressive. It has received good airplay on Hevoi FM, Awusheni FM, Great Zimbabwe University campus radio.
I still hope that ZBC radio channels will play my music since we have already submitted it to their library. Having more radio stations is good, it gives us the chance to have our music played and it enhances artistic talent.
SL: What do you think can be done to go past the challenge of piracy so that musicians can get something out of their creativity?
RC: The law should be a bit stern to those who breach piracy laws. We need to earn from our hard work as musicians. I encourage all musicians to register with Zimura, so that they can assist in the fight against piracy. I am happy that these days social media is paying as long as you are creative, let us be creative and have our work on social media platforms that protect us against piracy.
SL: Any expectation of collaborations with other big names in the sungura genre?
RC: Definitely, as a musician, I would love to feature with so many big names. Blending the talent makes a song unique, so I would love to do that. I have the likes of Alick Macheso, Tryson Chimbetu, Allan Chimbetu, Mark Ngwazi and yes, we are going to have them.
SL: You are a secondary school teacher. How do you balance the two and are there any chances of leaving teaching for music?
RC: It is a bit difficult to balance since teaching is also demanding, but I am managing, that is why you see that I am still teaching and releasing music. I work overtime in most cases that is during the night, holidays and weekends. As long as I am still capable of managing my time, I won’t quit teaching for music, No, not yet.