Meet Rwanda's singing family

Strong Voice is the perfect definition of ‘family enterprise’. Or more precisely, a family music band: This talented reggae music ensemble is made up of five siblings (three brothers and two sisters), all from the same mother and father. The close-knit musical family does not just sing together, they also live together in the family home in Biryogo, in the heart of the city suburb of Nyamirambo. What’s more, this home also doubles as their musical base. The five siblings are; Dusabimana Heritier, Nteziryayo Patrick, Niyigena Pacifique, Uwace Carine, and Uwimana Rachel. When I visited their home on Thursday afternoon for this interview, I found Heritier, Patrick and Pacifique setting up their equipment in the compound for rehearsals. Moments later, a group of students materialized carrying a sick and motionless Rachel into the compound after suffering an attack from school. I was later informed she is a backup vocalist for the band together with Uwace Carine, another sister who relocated to Gisenyi where she is married. At 27 years of age, Dusabimana is the eldest of the siblings, and leader of the band. Dusabimana hails from an electrical engineering background, and you are likely to find him fixing things like electronic gates and generators when not singing. He describes reggae music as something big to him: “It’s spiritual music and it’s like a bible to me, with all the message that is needed to change people positively.” L-R: Brothers Patrick, Héritier and Pacifique rehearse as their parents look on. (Moses Opobo) Started as Kidz Voice Dusabimana reveals that the band was formed in 2006, and at the time was called Kidz Voice. “The idea came from our father, who used to, and still plays music himself. He loved music and played the acoustic guitar. He used to go to Burundi to buy cow hides for making percussion instruments. Since 1972 he was a musician and used to be invited to play at social events like weddings.” First to join the band was Dusabimana and Nteziryayo Patrick. “Patrick was the first to learn the rhythm guitar, while I was learning the bass guitar. Eventually, we started to make our own compositions using the guitars we had,” Dusabimana explains. After two years, Pacifique, the youngest sibling joined the band. “I told him we didn’t have a drummer for the band and needed one. I actually had to interest him in the band because he was still a kid, but I told him that together as a family we could do something,” Dusabimana explains further. The siblings learnt to play guitar from a friend of their father called Kayibanda Bakari, a reggae musician. Because of Bakari’s friendship with their father, he used to frequent the family home a lot, in part to teach the youngsters the ropes. Nteziryayo recalls that after gaining skills in playing the guitar, “composing songs came easy for us, I think because of the musical talent given to us by God. We also read the bible a lot for inspiration in storytelling. Even the situation around us gave us inspiration to write.” Today, he is the band’s lead vocalist, composer, and plays the rhythm guitar. He describes the band’s early days as Kidz Voice as “a long struggle.” “We were in a struggle to make music but also to get a place where we could play it. We struggled to take our music to the bars and other public places. We played strictly reggae because we wanted to build a distinct identity.” In 2011, the kids wrote 14 songs and recorded them at Dreamland Studios in Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi. Titled African Child, the album was released on July 4, 2011 in Bujumbura. On why the band had to travel all the way to Bujumbura to record, Dusabimana explains: “Reggae music in Rwanda was not popular as compared to Burundi. Most of the producers we had here could not record a live singing session. We wanted a producer who could record our songs exactly the way we wanted them, not one who would force his own ideas into our songs.” While in Burundi they enjoyed moderate success, performing at such venues as CCF, the Public Gardens, at Musee Vivant, and in Gitega, the second town of Burundi. Coming of age In the middle of the year 2013, the siblings took a decision to change the name of the band from Kidz Voice to Strong Voice. “When we started we were kids. Kidz Voice was a band formed specifically to give a message to the young generation. But now we were growing musically and lyrically. We felt it was time to start giving out a universal message,” Dusabimana explains. A brotherhood thing. L-R Patrick, Héritier and Pacifique. (Moses Opobo) Changing name was the easy part, but getting their fans to know about it was not as easy: “It took us a lot of effort. As Kidz Voice we had so many fans. When we changed name there was confusion. Some of our fans thought we had separated, or that we had stopped singing, explains Niyigena Pacifique, who plays drum for the band. Niyigena extols the benefits of working in a family band: “It’s easy because we live together. We have no specific time for music. Anytime that we find ourselves together at home, we just get together to do something. We don’t have a hard time planning our schedule because music is our life, and reggae music is the destination, the future that we have chosen.” As Strong Voice the band lays claim to such songs as; Reggae prophet, Amahoro, Uhoraho Tabara, Baje Africa,Ntawe Bitabera, and Umuhigi, which all carry conscious reggae messages. In Rwanda, the band has performed at One Love, at the FESPAD music festival in 2012, at the Kesha festival, and at all KigaliUp music festivals. In February, they performed at the Isaano Festival at Petite Stade, and earlier this month, they held a concert alongside Lion Manzi in Gisenyi. In May, they performed at the Doa Doa International Music Festival in Jinja, Uganda. What was special about the Uganda performance is that their father, Kamere Antoine accompanied his children to the festival. Indeed, the boys describe their parents as their biggest fans: “They (parents) are our biggest fans. They like our music and support us by coming to all our concerts. When we have concerts in Kigali, both of them always make it a point to attend. Besides, they give us parental advice and a home to sleep. That’s the best support any musician could ever get from their parents,” explains Nteziryayo. Both parents were around for the entire duration of the interview, with the father occasionally strumming away at his acoustic guitar. “When I see these children play music I feel very good and proud. All I can say is that it is a blessing from God,” the father said simply. His wife and mother to the singers, Tuyisenge Jacqueline had this to say: “It feels very good and comforting to attend my own children’s concerts or to watch them as they rehearse. When a child has a talent, parents should always give them a chance to explore it. School is very important, but what I think is that parents should help their children to strike a balance between school and their other talents.” Towards the end of the interview, Nteziryayo begs to leave, and I soon learn he is headed for school (St. Joseph’s College in Nyamirambo), where he is studying Civil Engineering. He is in school between 5:00-9:00 pm, after which he is back home “to make some compositions, play my guitar, and create new stuff.” His inspiration comes from reggae icons like Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Lucky Dube, “plus all reggae musicians, including my brothers”. He believes that reggae music “carried people from darkness to light. Our songs carry good messages that can bring about positive transformation in society”. The youngest member, 18 year-old Nteziryayo Pacifique is also in school (St. Joseph’s Integrated Technical College in Nyamirambo), where he is studying Construction. He hopes to become an architectural engineer in future. He attends school from Monday and Friday. “I do music when I get home from school at 1:30 pm. I relax for about an hour, then set drums in my room and play. Then I relax a bit, do some architectural drawings and read my notes.” The future From their modest savings, the band has bought some music instruments and a car. “We are presently working on our second and third albums concurrently. We are putting together equipment for our home studio, which should be ready in two months time. We have already deposited the money for the equipment which will soon be shipped in from France,” explains Dusabimana. “We are organizing a concert in which we will officially announce the change of name from Kidz Voice to Strong Voice later this year. Once our studio equipment is in, we hope to find a house that will double as a studio and home for Strong Voice.”

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Meet Rwanda's singing family