IN AUGUST LAST YEAR, Ariel Wayz, real name Ariel Uwayezu, announced that she quit Symphony Band to embark on a solo career after three years as a vocalist with the group. The decision came as a ‘surprise’ for the band that was looking forward to achieving greater things with the fast-rising singer, prompting the band to start over without her. The band leader Etienne Niyontezeho shared that Ariel’s decision to go solo was a huge blow to the band which was counting on her musical talent and admitted that it took a lot of effort for the remaining members to fill the gap that she left in the group. “Ariel’s departure has been an enormous loss to us asa group, but we had to put it aside and move on. It was difficult at thebeginning, but everything is fine now. We lost the vibe that she would bring tothe band. It’s like when a person loses an important part of the body,”Niyontezeho told The New Times in an exclusive interview. When she told the band that she was leaving, Etienne recalls that the absence of her vocals had become a missing link to make the band’s grand performances and that it had not been easy to cope in their first days. But, consequently, the band decided not to look for a new member to fill her gap because they realised that it was not easy to replace her. Instead, they focused on re-establishing new life after her departure. “A new artist couldn’t replace her immediately. We felt the gap she left in the group at the very beginning but, we were motivated by what we learned at school of music that ‘the show must go on’. The group is now as strong as we were when she was with us,” Etienne explained. In the absence of Ariel Wayz, Symphony was the leading band behind all artistes who headlined last year’s edition of ‘Iwacu Muzika Festival’ and, to Etienne, Ariel is no longer missed. “We are professionals in music and when a problem or a challenge arises, we handle it professionally. We do our best to avoid anything that destabilizes our band. At the moment, you can’t even know that someone is missing in our band. When someone leaves our band, we do all we can to prove that we don’t depend to anyone,” he said. Besides backing artists at concerts, the band is now focused on producing their own songs including ‘Idée’, a brand new song that they are dropping later this week. The song, which was produced by band producer Joachim Mugengakamere, alias The Major, is a collaboration with fast-rising singer and The Voice Afrique music contest candidate Alyn Sano. “It’s a love song that we believe lovers will enjoy. We thought Sano was a good fit for the vibe of the song and, with her vocals in the song, we hope people will enjoy it,” said The Major. The group is also working on an album that they expect to launch this year. They now have four songs on their name including ‘Follow’, ‘Respect’, a collaboration with Nel Ngabo, ‘Igitabo’ and ‘Hey’.
