Serge Iyamuremye is an urban gospel music artiste who has in recent years rocked the gospel music scene in the country. He has dominated airwaves and his single Arampagije won him various accolades in the 2014 as the Rwanda Song/Artiste of the Year during the annual regional gospel music awards, Xtreem Music Awards. He is one of the most talented and innovative gospel artistes in the country and he recently organised the fully attended One Spirit Concert, where he launched his third album titled ‘Biramvura’, and brought together several regional and international gospel acts. The singer had a chat with Sunday Magazine’s Sharon Kantengwa about his musical journey and plans for his career. Take us back to when you began your music journey. What inspired you to start a music career? I can say it began from my mother. She realised my passion for music and enrolled me in a music school. That was in 2011, although I had already began recording my songs in 2009. What can you say of your experience in the music industry? My career has grown over the years and I have grown personally, with my music. The music industry is not easy to break though especially if you are a gospel artiste so it has taken hard work to be able to make a name for myself. I am currently a student pursuing accounting at Kigali Independent University (ULK) and I have been able to balance both careers. As a gospel artist, what are some of the challenges that you face in the industry? My biggest challenge is financing my projects, especially as a singer who is trying hard to make it big in the music industry. Financing music projects especially the music videos that require a lot of money. How have you been able to market your music to the secular audience? Well, our task is to serve all people and not necessarily those that attend church. We are called to minister mostly to people living outside church. So, I think it is God who enables me and it’s him that touches them to attend my shows. Which artistes inspire you musically? They are many but it’s mostly Jonathan McReynolds and Travis Greene from USA. Their music speaks to my soul. What lessons have you learned from your musical journey? I have learned the importance of patience because I didn’t just make it musically in a short time. It took me a long time and prayer for my dreams to come to reality. Which other artistes do you wish to work with? As artistes we are supposed to be diverse and collaborate with as many artistes as we can. We have many talented singers in Rwanda and I hope to work with most of them. It’s not easy finding the best artistes to work with but I will do it. What other projects are you working on? I am currently working on my video and will be releasing a new song hopefully next week. I’m also working on a collabo with a friend from Zimbabwe. I will be sharing it soon.
