David...Music...Art...

An Interview with David Chifunyise by Masimba Biriwasha

After a three year hiatus, David Chifunyise, 31, one of the pioneers of the unique Zimbabwean genre, urban grooves music  is back in the recording studio working on a new album project he has titled "Art".

“I took a three year break from music to work on my other passion software development. Though I was not actively recording but I never stopped writing songs and creating music so the new album has a variety of songs written over a longer period of time. When that happens, rather than the album being one fluid progression in terms of style and mood, the result is songs with very different styles and moods,” he said. Adding that the songs in this new project were much more that the urban groves songs we have seen from Chifunyise before, but they have a lot more artistic experimentation.

“That’s why I call it “Art” – I experiment on this album with a lot of musical styles and a varying selection of subject matter” said Chifunyise.

In an exclusive interview with Hello Harare, Chifunyise of the famed song and album "Tauya Naye" revealed that he always aimed at experimenting with music from a young age, but like many other artists venturing into urban grooves, in the beginning the going was quite tough.

"When I decided to pursue a music career, I did not intend to be part of a movement that would create a new sound but I had music within me that I wanted to put out there, the trouble is I was told that my style of music was something no one else was doing therefore many recording companies said it would not sell," he said. "They argued that there was no market for that type of music."

Undeterred Chifunyise continued to write songs and create his sound and eventually in 1999 he got a break when he met the team at Shamiso Studios who were focused on recording young, upcoming artistes and new sounds. With them he record his debut single "Tauya Naye" a traditional wedding song on a fast paced urban grooves rhythm fused with rap and RnB. The song was an instant hit receiving a lot of airplay on radio and TV and established Chifunyise as a household name on the local music scene which inspired the recording of his first album which was named after his hit single.

In 2002, Chifunyise self-produced his second album titled “The Private Collection” which was a collection of songs that he said appealed to him at a personal level. A song on the album titled “Sarudzai”, one of the hit tracks, was a crossover of sungura, ethnic and cosmopolitan music that created a vibrant, danceable, new sound, never heard before in Zimbabwe whilst showing Chifunyise’s flair for fusing different types of genres when creating his sound.  In 2004, Chifunyise released his third album titled “Zvandiri or As I Am” which he described as the most revealing album  that he has done to date, like a window into the soul of artist. In 2010, he launched a limited edition titled “Classics Volume 1” which is essentially a collection of his hit songs since the launch of his music career. 

Chifunyise said his musical style is influenced by an eclectic mix of sound. “What inspires me is day to day life and experiences. The spark and imagination to speak on issues is formed by my personal experiences, stories I hear about and the things I see in society. Sometimes songs come completely from my imagination when visualise a story or tune – it’s really is a result of a mixed bag of influences” he said.

“One thing I would have wanted to know early on in my music career is the importance of understanding music from the business angle as well. Though Tauya Naye was very successful, I never saw the sales figures or understood the distribution process and as a result I did not benefit financially from its success. I would advise any musician to get involved in the business side of things and understand it” he said. Chifunyise said that he learnt valuable lessons about music as a business from Tauya Naye and has since, recorded, produced and distributed subsequent albums himself.

Regarding the future of urban grooves, Chifunyise said that he believed that the genre was here to stay and that more and more urban grooves artists are now established and are successful in their careers, able to make a living from the art. “It can only get better. Our music recording studios are getting better and the artists are getting into the business side of things which is fundamental to financial success in this industry. Urban grooves is certainly one of the main music genres in the country today,” he said. Chifunyise said that music is his fist love and cannot see a time that he will ever stop making music.