Mahlaba is one of the names that is being shouted by the crowd of Bulawayo, many are dancing to the groove of his music of afro pop and jazz and still wondering who this person behind this great music is? Mahlaba is a stage name for Charles Banda who was born on the 20th of August in 1987, he ventured into performing arts as an actor, dancer and music composer in the year 2013. However before that he was a soccer player who made it to the point of playing for big soccer teams in the country such as Rail stars, Chicken Inn and Qualorton fc.
The shift of career path for him took place soon after the passing of his late father who was the founder of Sunduza Arts group, Simon Banda and he took over the leadership of the group after him. Along his musical journey he has worked alongside with the celebrated artists in the city, the likes of Albert Nyathi, Jeys Marabini, Willis Watafi, Otis Ngwabi, Sunduza, Desire Moyo and the UK based song writer Janet Wood on a tribute album titled shine like a rainbow. All these collaborations have played an important role in his career as they have been an eye opener for him in that music has no cultural boundary, rather it brings everyone closer as it mainly speaks volumes to the person’s soul.
Charles has achieved a lot since the beginning of his music career, he performed his late father’s song “Bulawayo” at the NAMA awards official opening ceremony held in Bulawayo large city hall in 2013 and during that same year he was selected to perform for the national team at the UNWTO official opening and closing in Victoria falls hotel, in 2014 he performed at the youth games in Bulawayo at Bouberfields Stadium. He composed his first single track in 2017 and the following year he did an album NDEBE ZAMI and the video of Ngikhethe Wena featuring Privilege Mujoli was released that same year. He was further on nominated at the Zimbabwe music awards for best traditional folk music.
Charles has met many stumbling blocks in his work but he has stood firm on overcame them as he had to move from his comfort zone of being a soccer player to being a leader of a group where he has to keep its outstanding performance and to take it further in production. He had to be mature in handling matters and being responsible of everything this resulted in personal growth in his music career and being a leader as well.
Opinion Session with Charles Banda
Q: A lot of young talent is being lost to drug abuse and other social ills , how can we as Bulawayo and a nation as a whole try to catch and groom these young talents?
A: his response was as artists they have to do shows at primary and secondary level and at the same time they identify and recruit these young talented children and groom them to be better by coming together in raisings funds to rehabilitee those addicted to ills such as drugs and also mentor the youth, promoting their talent ,polishing their skills not only in entertainment but in all spheres especially handiwork.
Q: What is the reason behind the poor support system / base for artist in Bulawayo and how can that be resolved?
A: he said that most people tend to turn to South African content and in the process local music suffers. More so Bulawayo just recently established its two first radio stations in under ten years or so which has opened an opportunity to promote the artists however it will take a while to stabilize the support system. Radio stations and television channels through them artists can advertise their work and it can improve our support system.
Q: How do you market your talent and what challenges do u face?
A: he says that he is still new into the industry hence he prefers to performs at schools and events as a way of getting his craftwork out there and known. Also he uses social media because almost everyone these days has access to it and it’s quick and effective. For Charles it’s very difficult to source people or organisations to sponsor him and other artists when releasing albums and so forth.
Above it all Charles is one man who is deeply rooted in African culture he loves pap and meat and he prefers black and white and he is a family man
I.G - Banda6818
FACEBOOK - Charles Banda
youtube Charles Banda
No comments:
Post a Comment