Renowned gospel artiste Fabrice Nzeyimana has opened a modern recording studio in Kigali which is set to provide high standard quality of music in Rwanda. Born in Burundi, Nzeyimana who is also married to Maya, a top gospel artiste in the region, believes that his studio will significantly contribute to the music industry in Rwanda and beyond, by providing good music that people sometimes seek for overseas. In an interview with The New Times, he explained more on how the studio came to life. “I started to be interested in production because as an artist, I was not getting the sound I wanted for my own songs. The whole idea was to create a space where I can also produce the quality I wanted for my own records,” he said. “I love music that is well done and hate it when quality is only tied to the Western world, I gave myself that challenge to produce quality music here in Africa by creating wavelab” he added For Nzeyimana, the speciality of Wavelab is live Music, but the studio also offers other services such as live recording, podcast recording, video commercials and music production. “From my perspective I think our studio is versatile, we can basically do all genres of music, we have enough space to accommodate artists and still respect the social distance as advised by the Ministry of Health. We have multiple producers and we are able to record live bands” said Nzeyimana, explaining the difference between his studio and others in the country. There is a big team behind light projects that wavelab produce which include Ishimwe Khrisau, Issa, Aron Nitunga and Marc Kibamba according to Nziyimana, the owner of the studio. “We are able to work together even remotely. We collaborate and make sure any song that is released, comes out with the highest quality possible,” he said. Asked if he studied music, he said that he never attended any formal music school but he has been studying music on his own for the past 20 years as an artiste and musician. Although Nzeyimana is a gospel artiste, his studio offers services to musicians of all kinds of music. “Wavelab studio mainly records Gospel Music. This does not mean that we can’t work on other types of music. As a Christian, what matters to me is my beliefs and values. If a song doesn’t go against my beliefs, whether gospel or secular, I can produce it,” he told The New Times. Nzeyimana is among the few players of Electronic Dance Music genre (EDM) in Rwanda, having produced big tracks like ‘Yitwa Ndiho’ and ‘Ntawundi’, he promises to use his newly opened studio to lift this genre in Rwanda. “Not many people do EDM as it should be done here, which shows how we still have a long way to go. However, some artistes have done well in that area and as wavelab studio we would want to help boost that genre as well,” he said. Fabrice Nzeyimama is a Burundian artiste based in Kigali, who started his music journey in 2000 and relocated to Rwanda in 2015. He founded Heavenly Melodies Africa in 2005, a successful ministry in the region, and is now doing ministry together with his wife at Christian Life Assembly (CLA Nyarutarama). Some of the songs produced in the Wavelab studio include an all gospel stars song named ‘Sindohoka’ which was released last week.
