Daniel Izere, commonly known as "Dany Beats”, is a music and documentary producer at ‘Made Beats Studio’, in Kiyovu, a city suburb. His love for music, especially rhythm, started at the tender age of 12.
Although he started from scratch, he is now one of young talents Rwanda is blessed with. He shared his challenges, and triumphs, milestones, in his career with Sunday Magazine’s Joan Mbabazi.
When did you first think of producing music?
I have been working for 10 years; I started in 2009 in my form one at the age of 12, though without any skills. I could try making beats, music instruments, and adding melodies which I could sell to my friends for some money for upkeep, I did this for about four years.
With the simple computer that I had, I kept teaching myself something new each day, my turning point is when I started recording music, ever since then I have never looked back. When I sit back and listen to the songs I have worked on, it gives me hope for a successful career.
How was it like in the beginning?
I had two friends that I met at SOS Technical high school in Kigali; these were Christian Ishimwe and Mucyo David, what connected us even more is that each one of us had a unique talent that the other lacked.
Mucyo was good at piano and Ishimwe was creative and had a good ear, since I was skilled in recording and mixing, it was easy to work with each other.
In 2014 we joined Dreamland Studio which unfortunately closed down and for some time; we were on our own and by then lacked skills and would produce a song at just Rwf 20,000.
In 2016, my colleague and I formed Made Beats studio and we have been able to work with numerous companies and musicians.
How is it like to be a producer?
It is a type of work that requires a lot of hardwork, patience and commitment. We have a timetable; different studios reach out to us especially when they are busy. It is a load of work to do at the same time, as we have clients every minute.
We write, compose and select songs. We also propose changes to song arrangements, coach artists and musicians in the studio, control the recording sessions, supervise them, and much more.
Tell us some of the songs you have produced
They are pretty many; I have worked with Sintex in "Twifunze, Rita Ange in "Jamaa, Aime Bluestone in "Bimparire among other musicians like Real Emmy, Riderman, Marina.
How much do you charge for a song?
Prices are negotiable. Established artistes pay around Rwf250,000 per song while an upcoming artiste is charged least Rwf100,000 per song.
Apart from recording songs, what else do you do?
I do voiceovers, documentaries, sound trucks for movies, and short theaters Which companies have you worked with so far?
I have worked with Rwanda air, Multimax, Ministry of Agriculture, Imbuto and many others.
What are some of the challenges that producers face?
We have limited time, we have many orders to work on yet some clients are impatient. Some even go to an extent of insulting us yet sometimes we have sleepless nights working.
What kills my morale is a client pressuring me or if they lack appreciation for my services yet I am sure I have done a great job. It gets so busy that sometimes we lack time for ourselves and our families as we can’t turn down a deal.
Every minute there is someone calling for you to listen to their song, or record for them something or give them advice but then we know how to handle that, it just needs a time table to guide us.
Another common issue we face is that some clients don’t pay, they keep on promising until you give up on them. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I want to cause an impact in the music industry; my plan is to leave a mark by supporting many upcoming musicians to become better every day. I also want to travel the world and meet other producers so that I learn from them.
editor@newtimesrwanda.com