From singing other people’s songs to backing up artistes on the big stage, Symphony Band has done it all in the short time the band which is made up of Nyundo School of Art and Music has been around. Today, Symphony band is arguably one of the best bands in town, if not the best, given how their performances are applauded in bars and on concerts where they perform. Their performances are well attended, crowds show them love and almost every artiste wants them on their performances, from The Ben and Bruce Melodie to international artistes. Symphony’s very own Ariel Wayz, their female soloist has represented the country in The Voice Afrique 2020, in South Africa, and she is fast becoming a household name. Established in 2016, the band has since created a brand to reckon with. They have performed in some of the biggest events; East African Party, Kwita Izina concert that was headlined by American singer Ne-Yo, and Iwacu Muzika festival, among others. The band is made up by Etienne Niyontezeho, Frank Mugisha, Ariel Uwayezu (Ariel Wayz), Fabrice Irakora, Joachim Mugengakamere, Taylor Lukongo Ngoli. A few months after opening their studio, Symphony Records located in Kicukiro District, they have decided to start composing their own music. Symphony band’s only female artiste Ariel Wayz at a past show. The first product of their new journey is their new song ‘Hey’, where Ariel Wayz sings solo. However, they had released another one in December last year, but they were not yet ready to stick to doing their own music until they were ready to launch a musical career. In an interview with The New Times, Niyontezeho, the band leader, explained more about the band’s plans and what they hope to achieve with their music and what will be different. “We were operating as a band that helps artistes in their concerts, playing on dinners and other events. We were also making song covers, and now, we are now going to make our original songs as musicians. This means we will rarely play for artistes in concerts,” “But then, this will depend on the kind of feedback we will receive from the public, what they will think about our songs, and more,” says Niyontezeho. He said music is something they started doing a long time ago and now they feel it is time to take another step and challenge themselves to their music to another level. “We are starting now because it is when we feel ready as a team. We don’t want to take like a year before we release songs,” says Niyontezeho when asked about their next step. Having released a song before and it did not get popular, he says the band has learned from its past the don’t want to repeat the same mistake. “Our first song is not known because we didn’t promote it enough. We released it when we were not ready yet,” “We are going to make a whole different kind of music people usually listen to. Every one of us (the band) studied music in school, which is very different from most artistes. Although they are very talented and have some quite nice work, we are going to prove how different our music is,” he says. The studio is based at the boys’ home in Niboye, Kicukiro District. Producing music as a band is not the same as one doing things alone. You all have to connect in one way or another. He said they want to produce the kind of music people are used to, and then slowly they can transition into other genres which are not common locally to prove that they know what they are doing. He said that to meet their goal, they invested in their own studio from where they will be producing their own music, without having to rely on others. On social media, some people have predicted that the band would break up once they become musically established but Niyontezeho says that even today the fact Ariel does collaborations with other artistes some people think they are about to separate. “People have been thinking so much on Ariel’s collaboration with other artistes or even her own songs. They think she has become a solo artiste, but it is not true. We can even release a song with one person singing, and it is still our song, as Symphony. We can’t all squeeze ourselves in one song,” he said. He said they have many live recordings of cover songs they are planning and they are also working hard to release their own original songs.
