 Next up is the first interview. We want to talk about making it big as a live performer in Kenya. And here to talk with us is Koyo. That's the way you pronounce it. Koyo. The way you were telling me, you're supposed to say Koyo. And Henry, who's also an artist in his own right, but also a guitarist, Karebuni, to the E-Circuit. Not the life of a performer. Let's just dive into it with regard to how you write your songs. You write it differently from anyone else who's just a recording artist? I think some writing on its own is a craft. So any songwriter, there's a songwriter first before they are either a recording or a performing artist. So you write a song and then you decide whether you want to perform it or you want to record it. I don't think necessarily the process is different because I could use a bit to create the song and then I could go and collaborate with Henry. Okay, could you come closer to the microphone? Thank you. Thank you very much. And now, why I'm asking this is because whenever I see people who are actual performers and not recording artists, they in tune with whatever they're doing on stage and it's like they wrote their songs with the stage in mind. Do you have that process with you? Ya, so you write the song and then there is the performance element which is also a little bit of a production. So you have to see yourself performing the song before you even so say that I get to working with it with a band. So there's me as Koyo, I come up with a song, I come up with an idea and then I go and share it with Henry and then Henry tells me oh ya maybe this is what works, maybe we need to put breaks here. And so if I'm a true artist or performing artist, I would envision what those breaks mean. So if it's a song about love and it's very passionate and we have Bruno Mars is a very good example if you're studying an artist, you'll notice how passionate he gets on certain breaks or how he expresses himself. So it's just using everything that is happening at the same time to create that atmosphere of a live performance. Exactly. So there's the performance atmosphere and then there's the recorded atmosphere and one of my favorite artists is Erika Badu and she says that when you're recording a song you are actually creating a moment that is frozen in time. So what he was just playing is a moment that was made and frozen in time and then we keep enjoying that and it's easy to play back and be like ooh it's giving me this vibe. But then performance is different so I could sing one song in a thousand different ways because it's all about interpretation. It's a mood thing. So the same song probably do a demo hopefully but you could have different variations. So that's how you end up being a jazz singer, a folk singer depending on the twist you put to it as the artist. Yes. I like that. I'd like to hear your take on it because as Koyul said those songs then you bring out whatever you want to come out on stage but before we do that there's an EP that just came out with four songs and it was live recorded. So should we expect that live feeling from the EP? Of course. Like I said when you're recording something you're freezing that moment in time or you're documenting that moment. So the EP that we did is called Bloom. We recorded it at Michael Joseph Santa and it's a four track EP so all the four tracks you get to hear if there was heaving during the song you will get to hear a little bit of that. If there was dynamics, loudness, softness you get to hear all of that but really there's nothing extra that has been used to filter that particular performance so it's as raw as it was. Discapturing that moment. Discapturing the moment. But now probably what we did different is it's not your regular fund recording so there's a little bit of upgrading but really it is the raw moment. The raw moment. Now Henry, with regard to creating the music now as the guitarist in the band what's the process? Once you've given the melody do you create those breaks yourself or how do you envision that process? So when we get the songs actually what happens most of the time is you always want to know what's behind the song what's the message so when you start creating you always know the mood to give the song so maybe a melody song or a love song you give it a mood of love you don't just put many things so it's the message but when it comes to other songs like those hype songs they need like more energy so that's to put more breaks crazy intros you do it like crazy interludes but a soft song give it a mood when you are playing music like the audience someone doesn't know about music so you create a mood for them to enjoy. So what's the process? What's the process? What's the process? What's the process? What's the process? What's the process? The thing about being an artist and it's really watered down but there's a lot of work so we have to think like scientists what does the audience want How will they feel when they hear this when I get to this break when they connect with me I get you now in terms of being a recording artist do you feel like there's a lot of cheating going on let me explain why I'm asking that because there's a lot of it's processed the vocals are processed overly processed to some extent people are sounding robotic and even the music like Henry just said he needs to understand where it's coming from so that he creates that mood but now with regard to most of the songs on air play that's not the case so what do you think? So number one I am both a performing and recording artist so my experience with the studio my first instance was very frustrating because I couldn't understand why I have to tone down because then you can't be all loud you have to be a bit more contain process your voice and take it as loud as you want to be yes and then they will process but one thing I've also learnt as an artist I am also in control of the output so I can say I do not want I don't want auto tune and sometimes I've been very deliberate and say I want auto tune to this extent I want auto tune on this song or not because then that's also so auto tune is the dynamic creator mood as well yes so I use it as a tool they have very many different artists but not as a vocal replacement exactly so is it complimenting your craft and your output so I always think about the studio process as a craft on its own and how am I working with all the different tools but with all honesty do you feel like they are doing less work than you are because I still end up doing live versions of my music then I put in a lot of work clearly I don't want to talk about that because I believe there is a lot of choice and maybe you thrive I love the studio process or I am challenging myself to embrace it even more but I thrive on a live stage that's where you belong on the live stage now Henry with regard to creating that mood and that melody we are just talking about the processing of vocals and now everything is just banga this, banga that, banga this but now in terms of now they read them on the creation of this music do you feel like there is a better way to go about it in terms of the content out there right now in Kenya actually what happens with him any music we are going to play today he only sense him singing without even instrumental so I listen to it and then sit down I come up with 3 themes I go with the band basically what producing is but now the raw essence of production so what happens with people outside they are not taking their time to understand the music because music is not something when you wake up it takes time I played guitar for 8 years now and I am learning and played for him for 4 years now because I think you are an equivalent of a producer what would you say to producers out there in terms of connecting with the people and making them feel the music well I always feel like producers when you bring them the track they want to do them the way they feel them the way the artist should feel the song so that is the problem so when you are in the studio producers may ask you what song do you want to play what song do you want to play but as you can see when you start having an attitude so producers when they have an idea they compliment you okay okay they are supposed to be a meshing and a blending I think collaboration is key so there are times where I could write a song and then work with a producer to produce the song so if a producer is not listening to my ideas then that is his project it's no longer my project I'm just voicing his project but if he is open to my ideas and accommodates them then we have to try to ensemble but then it's also it's too much to listen to his track you have to mesh with that idea that's different than yours why should it be different when I write a song and you don't want to listen to it you don't want to listen to my ideas because sometimes some songs you get inspiration like a full pack you can hear the sounds you can hear what will work best with this particular song and then you go to the producer now not unless you're really open to that time around it's really crazy you become very closed off now DJ NHK also have something for you because you know you are a local distributor of music and live performances is Nakoga requested in terms of like a recording of live performances and how do you feel like there should be a demand for it yeah they should if you let me very consider it there's the normal sense of I have this problem but when it's live there's something to meet there's that caffeine that gets you there so for live I prefer to be honest live much more than that okay we're not getting your voice could you check check so my point is for live okay let's say for instance where you go to weddings and you have the DJ and the live performance so these both guys will play different sets but when it comes to when the bride and the groom want to do their dance I'd prefer live because live is at the moment because honestly I think even during that performance anything can happen the bride might trip on a rose petal or something then Koya would be like nah nah nah then smooth it out because the DJ would just be like make it even more dramatic yeah yes yes so live bands even when you go to these festivals and where this live band is that feeling to it okay to DJ I don't mind but the DJ get you hyped but live performance get you get you in there in terms of setting the mood we will tell you about love songs why you already smiling Mr Henry anyway this is what I have to ask love songs there was a demand for Nigerian love songs a lot of them they were just funky but now in terms of live performances it's setting that mood do you always pull from your own experiences even though it's Koya's words because you have to also set that mood with that in mind so Henry music always always feel like music for you to play music or any idea even you for you to talk you must have heard from someone talking you get to listen then for you to interpret and then you talk so that's like music I want to do an experiment because Koya you are about to do that with your voice but I want you to interpret love using a riff with your guitar this is a simple experiment just like a solo solo guitar easy there we go okay now I get it but now with your voice because now that's your instrument how would you interpret love with a riff let me call it a run I also think humming is such an easy way to get into it's how you interpret it we're very good to listen you can't get that in a studio you can't get that process I don't think it will be the same effect but now you mesh that together which we will do in just a few minutes people are eager to hear the collaboration that you came up with but before that let's still talk about live performances in Kenya revenue wise people are saying there's MCSK this, this, risk that but now live performances is where you're in control of the revenue you're going to receive because it's in accordance to how much work you put in so do you feel like making more money than recording artists it's the best of both worlds if you're focusing on a recording career then there are avenues that you can explore that will make you a lot of money other than just even the sale of the music I think people who are entrepreneurial think beyond and they sort out deals like endorsements if you have a huge following on your social media you can monetize that there are different ways to make money and not necessarily through the music it could be through the brand and that goes either way for live performances and recording artists but then for live performances it's even harder because if we do a gig with Henry and say we're being paid X amount of money then it's easier to do a split between the two of us but then if we're doing a band we're doing like 5 8 guys so that's a whole piece band and that means if you're still paying us X amount of money and not Y amount of money it becomes really hard because that means that the 8 of us need to probably do more shows to get more money but also the fewer depends on the brand so is it more difficult to brand yourself as a performing artist Mr. Henry other than recording artists because I think for recording artists it's like but now for a performing artist rather you need to give a demo of what you're capable of in that gig so do you feel it's more difficult to project your brand actually live performance getting a festival gig is so hard because for you to get that gig what special about you what do you have to offer more because maybe people have had all types of music what do you have to offer so you must put your A-game apa kuna kubahatisha for you to get that gig when you get A-game then you set standards you don't look for gigs now you start being called for if I could add on that our culture here interesting because if you travel to places like just in the region Tizayad and Yuji they are very pro but even if you just travel to Maistar you will notice that there are many bands on a daily basis Monday to Monday but in Nairobi it's probably to cement it's a fast taping or Friday theme and it's not consistent and we're still competitive so for me it's probably revisiting the culture that we have as entertainers so if you're curating a show you know the value of a band or a live performer then include that also from an industry perspective what are we doing to make sure that we all coexist and we all thrive before we continue I'd like to take a short break and just give the people a sample