Singer and songwriter Andy Bumuntu recently joined one of the most well-known and entertaining radio stations in Rwanda, KISS FM, and is now looking to grow and be an inspiration to many in this new adventure. During an interview, Bumuntu talks about how he joined journalism and what pushed him towards this new endeavour. Inspiration “When I was young I liked to talk to people and have conversations with them. Not only talking to them, but also giving them a moment to share stories as well as listening to their opinions, in that way of interacting with them I learn while sharing with them my stories and inspiring them,” he says. “I’m a person who likes to understand and be open to all kinds of people, I like to exchange ideas with others as well as interact with them, I can say that is what pushed me to be a presenter,” he adds. When Kiss FM posted that he would be working on the radio, Bumuntu says he felt that he was the one they needed. “They approached me and it was a great pleasure for me even if I didn’t think that I would be a presenter.” Working as a radio presenter is a big opportunity for him to achieve his goals to inspire even more people every day, the singer says. “This is a good opportunity to talk to people every single morning, I feel like I have a platform to share good messages, messages of hope,” he says. Bumuntu says artistes and presenters all do the same thing in society, communicate. “Through music we share messages and communicate to people and that’s what a radio presenter does, it is a career which is in the same line with being a musician,” he says. He adds that in recent years, he was a narrator, song writer and theatre writer. “When I started music, I was an actor in Mashirika, and there was a time I met with people,” he says. Bumuntu’s first goal as a presenter, he says, is to share ideas with people and inspire them. “This is a very good industry in Rwanda, and in journalism you get a chance to be heard by a lot of people.” Bumuntu is currently the presenter for a morning show every Monday to Friday from 6am to 10 am called ‘KISS FM Breakfast Show’, alongside Sandrine Isheja Butera who was previously working with comedian Arthur Nkusi. Talking about his upcoming projects in music, he says that he is preparing to release an 11-track album dubbed ‘Pleasure and Pain’. Asked about the album’s name, he explains that it is because ‘life is like two sides of a coin, living this life is to juggle pleasure and pain, all happen in life’. 10 of the songs on the album are solos and some of the producers working on them are Michael Makembe, Flyest Music, and Bob Pro, among others. Bumuntu was inspired by his big brother, Gaby Umutare, and he started performing with live music bands where he got the opportunity to show Rwandans what he can do. Some of his latest songs are ‘Bwiza’ featuring Yvan Buravan, ‘Snack’, ‘On fire’, and ‘Valentine’.
