 Hi guys this is Jason Zach from Nathaniel School of Music. I hope you guys are doing well. I'm with Blessing Chimanga all the way from Zimbabwe. An amazing musician who has his band who perform all over the world. They have a new album as well. There's going to be a link to their channel and the album in the description where you can pick it up. And usually I do lessons on our YouTube channel or play these riffs but we are since he's here and he has a lot of pearls of wisdom around him. I figured I will ask him and try and tap his brain a little bit for you guys. And this will be a great insight for those of you who are new to music, who are even established musicians part of a band or anyone who's a musician. So first of all I'd just like to talk about Blessing's journey as an artist. How did you start? I mean you've had a very different career. You play an instrument which none of us in India seem to have a clue about but it sounds special. And how do people generally come up in Zimbabwe growing up? I mean do you have schools or do you have a kind of a general culture where you just learn from each other? Well thank you Jason for having me. Thank you Natanya for hosting me. I'm so excited to be here. We're so full to be in your home and studio. My journey I believe I grew up I just came out as a musician. However I went to a primary school. I did the normal you know preschool first. Went to primary school. In primary school I started playing the normal drum you know because you got assemblies and you have to sing but in our primary school we didn't have a piano player so it was the drum that was more like the accompaniment. And from there I just grew up grew an interest in it by just playing the basic rhythm. Then my actual genocide in church so I grew up in a very Christian family you know we're in church every other day. And I would see the drummer playing and I'm like one day I want to play drums one day I want to play drums and I started playing teens at home. I hope one day I'll show you a picture of me playing like empty teens you know and from there that's when I was like you know one day when I'm given the opportunity I'll play. I play drums one service when the drummer didn't come to church. From there I went to a high school that had music as a subject. So what kind of pushes you to kind of do it you know because a lot of young kids at least from India initially the parents kind of force the kids at a young age to kind of do these grade exams. We have these things called grade exams. So I'm wondering in your case you just had that urge to play drums you had that passion to as you said play tin cans you know you just wanted to do it. I just wanted to do it. I can't actually say that there was a push because when I then decided to take a professional I was in trouble with my family. So the push was just within me. I guess that I had I'm so great for that I got that feeling and accepted that this is what I wanted to. So how did you go from like a young passionate drummer into like a pro like you obviously had to tell your parents and how did the whole process. Well I will be honest buddy it was a difficult process to tell my mother that I'm choosing music over everything else. My mom thinks I'm so confident enough to be a lawyer and not a musician but this was what I wanted. Anyway the high school I went to because we did music as a subject that helped me a lot because I was always excelling on that particular subject and then it's in that high school that most of the Zimbabwe musicians have been chosen by artists. So two of the great musicians then saw me when I was playing in that school band and they're like as soon as you finish school boy we are taking you. I had the privilege of playing with a guy called Oliver Tukuzi was the biggest who right now late but the biggest star of Zimbabwe and his son and me were best friends. So it's his son who really actually pushed me into the professional world to say no come come you know because obviously professionalism was in their house and from there I started playing for I don't know. Awesome if you can just highlight in the school scenario because why I'm trying to stress on that is in India in the whole of India there is no professional music taught in schools. Music is just something like you get an external musician to come and do a few workshops and students will perform here and there at some price days or functions here and there or you know how how did that just to enlighten us in India like how is music ingrained into youngsters at a at this insanely young age where I guess from that time in life you really need to choose and the profession gets more and more ingrained into your head. I mean we it's not every school in Zimbabwe I want to be very honest with you all the other schools have you know music as in general so you're going to sing a song in in your class and you're going to go for choir as a class and you're going to be taught what do re mi fa so is but in this particular school called Prince Edward school that I went to music was actually a subject which at so we have marks and stuff yes yes so out of six years from the third year onwards you can choose to take music as one of your subjects and that's what I did so in there you are taught to listen to different genres you go to the library and you listen to jazz and you listen to swing and blah blah blah you actually write the grading music exams from grade one up to eight so in the three years if you're really passionate you're able to actually write grade one up to eight which is for the instrument that you have chosen but at the same time also music becomes an extra curriculum that you do after school and that is the biggest thing in Zimbabwe so you've got your marimba bands you've got your jazz bands you've got your marimba bands you've got your singing bands and at that school it's a rule that every child has to do music as one of their curriculum so that has shaped that sometimes you don't know that you want to be a musician and it's when you are in those spaces every other day that you then find your passion awesome thanks so let's talk a bit about your music now I guess you've been doing the band the blessing jamanga band for a few years now what what is your general vibe like how do you go about the writing process of a song like how does it start how do you collaborate how do you find the right musicians and then when you're when you actually get together how do you make your own sound what you had in your head I guess you know while having a shower or wherever you had some vision how do you like get that out you guys have been touring the world now and it's incredible so if you can give us an insight on how you take an idea I'm guessing your song would start with some kind of an idea how do you take that and make it into what you guys do with dancing with harmonies with like and you guys dance and play which none of us can do you dance yeah for those of you who don't know so much about his band we have links in the description you should check it out there are videos and he can sing like a normal singer and dance and play the marimba which is a really really physical instrument and yeah he should talk about his fitness routine also later but anyway I think the writing process for me is very unique from every from many of the artists I don't write on the paper so I don't sit down and say this song I'm about to write is called flowers so my chorus is going to be like this most of the time for me I hear melodies in my head and I hear a line you know it could be a bass line it could be the tune for me it's the tune it's is that melody and how I know it's mine is if I listen if I hear it I sing it over and over again and if I sleep and wake up singing that same line it's mine you don't like record and back it up now in the days of technology I'm not doing that okay but before that from my first album of 2015 I would as long as I sleep and wake up singing that melody that's it it's mine so if you remember the melody when you wake up it's yours it's mine it's mine and from there I've had the privilege of working with one crazy musician called Elisha Simbeva is my keyboard player and I'm tell me a bit about him Elisha is a keyboard player he's really mostly a jazz player but but working with me I've helped him in opening even more things inside of him Elisha is a gift of taking that melody line and developing the band the structure which I can still do and for many years I used to do that for myself but you know sometimes when you have a second mind you get to hear and see things even differently so I've entrusted him with my music and the composition side so I come with this is the melody I'm hearing what should we do this is okay let me put chords to it and most of my work because of the playing of the marimba it's normally one four five because I've got cfg on my marimba and it's him who starts to put the extensions and making it at least you know so that every song doesn't sound the same and and then from there we normally develop the bass line and for african music west of wazimbab in music the bass is a pivotal instrument in the in the body in in the tightness of when you're singing the melody are you like also thinking of those other elements I am I am okay and and normally after the melody for me it's the bass so Elisha's being obviously the brought the chord work in I've brought the bass but because I'm a drummer by the time I'm done with the bass player I know exactly what drum groove I want and I think for me I've been one of the difficult musicians to work within the country because you come to my band I tell you what to play and then I allow you after you have understood what I've heard to become yourself in the music that's really good and I think because I've played with the same musicians for a very long time we have developed that sound together they now know I'll come and say and I'll tell the bass player and once we lock that one two three rehearsals I then say guys if I remember right you just said is that a kind of a thing or is it you're like just do it no I'll tell you something only you do I'll tell you one thing my my my roots um jazz skating so I used to listen a lot to Afro jazz music when I was in school so that's where you hear and and again as a drummer I had to sometimes especially when you're playing for pop bands you know for you to remember jacks and stuff like that you know try to remember those breaks by singing them so that has become part of me and it's easier for me when I've got a drum either they are new or I'm not touring with the band it's easier to say and so a lot of our followers are piano players right inevitably and songwriters and composers a lot of people play the piano or play the drums play the guitar but with the way we are chatting you're using a lot of your voice to communicate thoughts and ideas to not only your band but also to yourself to kind of internalize it and make it in your mind to be the next biggest thing so how important do you think vocalizing an idea or singing an idea is and even if if you are coming to become a guitar player or a piano player is being able to sing also important in this industry well I really think that one of my mentors taught me this that whatever you can sing you can play just like if you can walk you can dance so that became part of me again and I'll tell you whatever you can sing and becomes part of you it's easy for you to transfer it to the next person or to the instrument so yes I agree that it's important that you try and put it in within you by singing it because there's something about singing something and something about talking something you become engraved and inside of it and that's easy to to output I wouldn't kill guitar players that you should be able to be a professional singer you know for you to be able to but just being able to sing your chord actually helps you with your tuning because the worst of all if you become professional all these things are being marked about you you have to be able to be in tune you have to be able to play your instrument in tune so singing and singing along what you are playing it's a plus for you for so many of the ticks that the world is going to judge you when you get out there to be professional yes there's a lot of music in the band room so you singing a part kind of also gives you that ownership I guess over the part totally that's really cool and how how is your general jamming process do you jam or do you like just do you come up with the ideas during a jam or do you kind of compose it and then bring it into into the jam session is it all Jason it's always different for me yes yes I'll tell you actually this new album three of the songs I composed them on stage on tour so I started playing a progression I gave Ella the signal that follow me and I allowed everyone to play whatever they are feeling lucky enough we were recording that show so we're able to go back and take that you're saying you compose something randomly on a oh yes oh yes so are you saying that you know making music a lot of people think oh we need like an environment we have to we have to be locked up in a room and we have to like meditate and think and get into the zone do you think that happens or does music just kind of my friend I think that happens and the critical thing to every musician watching is find and know yourself the problem we have is identity as long as you don't know yourself you're not going to know what's going to work for you for Michael Jackson you would stand in front of a mirror and see lyrics written on a mirror for Blessing Chimanga I don't need to be in a jam room I don't need to be on the biggest stage I can be I'll tell you there's one song I wrote in Pondicherry in front of the river just out of Pondicherry and looking at the river I hear it came just like that is that on the new album it's it's on the old album it's on the Torse album so it's all about what works for you find yourself if sitting in a room I've got a friend of mine that he has to travel whenever they're about to write a new album they have to get out of Zimbabwe they have to go in a different space and they'll come back with 10 new tracks just like that so for me it's been different sometimes it's yes when we're in jamming and guess what you said this in another interview we had together for me I've written so many songs playing FIFA on PlayStation excellent and they've come they've come just like that and you're like this is it this is it so it I would say it's a dent it's an identity issue find yourself yeah so what you're saying is and a lot of people are obsessed about an environment to write a song what you're saying is it can happen anywhere anywhere and just wait for it it'll when it happens you better kind of capture the moment capture the moment capture the moment like a photographer exactly I've actually been told that one of these classical musicians um the one of the songs that you still play as a classical pianist it was a mistake okay wow and look at it now all over the world and that person is dead by now but the world is still playing and saying this is correct so capture the moment right a pen a very very important question I think for the viewers and for me to know because I think a vocalist in a band should also be an entertainer the rest of us like I'm in a band I just play my keyboard I move around I dance I smile a groove a little bit but I don't do what you do which is sing and be like an actor like a theater person and then you control the crowd of course you play an instrument so I'm trying to understand how do you do all these things and the most important thing I would like out of this question would be how do you grow or improve as an entertainer more than a musician a singer a very good you know a marimba player you have your roots but in your when I watch you guys play it's an entertainment act it's like I don't have to go to a movie today I'll watch the blessings from the group you know so you guys are really entertaining god so how do you do that thank you Jason again I'm going to refer this and and and quote my mentor olivam to good who said to me you have to be the number one fan of your music you have to love what you're doing so for me whatever I'm doing on stage it's it's not animation that we have set in the practice room and said you know what at this point I'm going to jump to the left and no no no it's for me understanding the atmosphere that it's in the room and what I can do to make it even blowing our mindset and focused every time is we want to have we want people to have a memorable concert a memorable time with us uh so how do you improve yourself to become an entertainer I'll just say number one enjoy what you're doing for me there's actually a book I'm writing called the law of stage and the third thing I've written in that point is enjoy you know when you enjoy what you're doing it's it's it's easy for you to transfer to the people and then number two be confident what you're doing is correct people have paid money to come and see that okay so give them 150 and thousand percent of confidence they're going to love you for it and of course they're jumping and playing at the same time it has taken time to find myself you know to say okay this works certain things doesn't work it's not every marimba player that's going to jump the marimbas like what I do but there's two good marimba players so this is me uh this is me just on stage showing that I love what I'm doing I can on this whole stage I can jump around and blah blah blah uh so I I hope you got me for you to be to improve your entertainment side of the music and it's very important no one wants to come to a show where you're just looking sad we have paid money hey two thousand rupees to watch you just be like wake up show me confidence and we will love you for it yeah how do you tune off just before you play a show like at the backstage you've done so many things there's social media there's this there's that there's deadlines you have to get food after the show and all these things and then your show's in 10 minutes so is there something you do or how do you get wine wound up for that gig that's a very that's a very difficult question Jason because you have just nailed exactly what happens you know for me I've not had a manager in the longest time actually most of my career so you are thinking about them asking that because I think you you manage the group exactly exactly um for me I think I I take myself to my first time when I told myself I'm about to do this that's that that thought line always come back to me that I have to perform this show like the last one just in case tomorrow I want to be able to perform again there's no ritual that I do I don't do this whole quiet moment for myself or whatever yes as a routine and a tradition for me and the band because we are all Christians we hold our hands and we pray that's only other thing that we do but besides that that mindset always comes back that even if there's one person maybe that person is in the committee of a Grammy award for me to win it so I have to deliver no matter what no matter where no matter number of people no matter what of course yes great I just have one one or two final questions which would be tell us a bit about your upcoming album I think the album is out it's it's available for download or streaming or purchase on the internet I'm sure so you could just tell us a bit about it the music in general who you've collaborated with if any and yeah so this third new album of mine is called Simply Me and with Simply Me I was just trying to really bring out the me so we the first two albums are Studio Recorded but this one is my life project we went all out for a live concert really made sure everything was on point and we recorded the album live because so many people would always say that they only find me in a live gig and we wanted to translate that so that 20 years from now there's something for the next generation to watch or to listen to on this album we also went crazy we didn't sit only in the normal African vibes African rhythms I actually have a rock song on this album I actually have a reggae song on this album and then the other six are really my typical me but I've added a bonus track which is a tip just a marimba song no vocals no other instruments it's just marimba multiple marimba so how do we hear this so it's available online as we speak it's on iTunes it's on Spotify and I'm so glad that we have started the Simply Me world tour we are hoping to reach 10 nations physically with the album and hopefully yeah hopefully you make some revenue out of it considering CDs and all that do you have like merch or those sort of things uh unfortunately for this start of the tour we have not uh because we really were testing waters and trying to see but so far just the shows we've done in India the interest is high the message is good because all I'm saying in this album is be proud of who you are you are fine as you are as Indian as you are you're okay and for those of you who missed that he said he's recorded this album live that is not easy so I mean we can talk about that in a later interview I'm sure but wow doing a live studio what do we call this live studio album yeah because it's there to download yes yes yes must have been tough I definitely give us some tips plus post-production on top of that oh wow it was special but it was a good experience awesome and it's it's great to see how how you've come out of the the COVID situation and in India we've had a lot of musicians kind of just getting out of music just doing something else in India I guess we have options we can do a day job or we have other things I don't know how it is for you but it's great first of all you know kudos to your band and congratulations for doing so much work thank you considering it's this really ridiculously tough not only to just be stay healthy it's really tough for a musician to do anything you can gig you can make money our revenue comes from playing in front of people yeah we couldn't do that for so long it's great that you came out of it so again guys this is blessing Chimanga from and his band will be available on youtube and there are videos there's and make sure you purchase simply simply me sorry simply me on all the streaming platforms don't just go and stream it there'll be an option to purchase it as well so make sure you purchase it and then head over to his channel give it a like give it a subscribe for sure and there'll be a lot of content coming out from his channel as well stay tuned we have a few lessons also done by blessing himself and his team they've talked about some really cool musical concepts a lot of creative stuff a lot of refreshing stuff subscribe to our channel as well if you've watched this video for so long i'm sure you have to do it like now do it and yeah there we go yeah so i wish blessing all the best any final words for your fans or for any upcoming musicians who are in this scene we call music yeah man thank you jason what a pleasure what a time thank you for this and everybody watching i just want to say keep on keeping on keep on going don't give up we have just come out of the west moment and it's now time to recover music is healing music is for the people bring it on no matter where you come from who you are what genre bring that music and guys this guy is a legend thanks so much dude thanks brother take care all the best and catch you very soon thank you all the best safe travels god bless thank you man