B Wonder ventures into video making

He is a younger brother to popular local reggae singer Robert Kabeera, aka Sgt Robert. But this has not stopped B. Wonder (real names Amos Matsiko) from breaking out as a musician in his own right, with songs like Dimbuka, Wacha Waseme, and Wacha Sikiriza to his name. Based in Kampala, Uganda, the singer has been digging inroads into the Rwandan music market since the beginning of the year, perhaps in an attempt to taste a bit of the showbiz pie like his more established brother, Sgt Robert. In May, he launched his maiden album, Wacha waseme, a move that was clearly aimed at lending face to his music before his Rwandan fans. He sings in Kinyarwanda, Luganda, Swahili and English. Spreading wings As an up-and-coming artiste, Wonder is only too familiar with some of the hurdles that come with putting out a good piece of music. Not only are the studio fees rather high for the average artiste, it is hard work finding the right video clip to accompany the song. It is against this background that he decided to venture into another aspect of music –video production. But with the move, the singer intends to shoot two birds with one stone: not only does it guarantee him the much needed extra buck to build his brand as a musician, it is also an invaluable source of useful contacts in the industry. As a video producer, his job is well cut out for him: “As a producer, I manage the entire process of making a music video, from pre to post-production.” Music video producers manage the operations of making music videos, from pre- to post-production. I draw the budget for the video, and work creatively with the artiste to bring out the best in the song using motion pictures,” he notes. His work also includes coming up with a storyboard for the video, hiring extra hands like behind-the-scenes characters, makeup artistes, dancers and extras, and scouting for appropriate locations for the video. He asserts that “the main responsibility of a music video producer is to reproduce an artist’s song visually, which also includes determining what type of images would be appropriate for the song, basing on its content. As a video maker, Wonder has decided to go it on his own, as a freelancer, as opposed to working in a production company.