As a young girl growing up in Gitige,
she was in demand to sing in churches, competitions and countless
school music festivals. “People always wanted me to sing,” she
remembers. She loved listening to the song ‘Njambi’ by the
Kikuyu music veteran John Ndemethiu as well as Queen Jane from a
neighbor’s radio cassette. But after high school, her music dream
dimmed when she got employed as a teacher in Dandora for the
underprivileged children. It was a welcome relief as she had lived
with her brother in Kibera after coming to Nairobi. . “Still I
wrote songs for the children to perform” she remembers.
Teaching wasn’t her choice
profession, she had hoped to be a nurse but lack of fees hindered her
admission to college. For the next 10 years, she taught at various
primary schools but quit, due to low pay to work at Njogu ini
Restaurant. Teaching gave her the performing name Mary Teacher.
Working at Njogu Ini, she was able to save money gradually for
recording as her musical passion had reignited. To meet artistes she
admired their music, she attended Mugithi to see them perform. On
one such performance, she met Karis wa Kinyozi Poa in 2011.
Recording was a gradual process. “I
would save a little then when enough record a song,” said Mary. In
total the album plus shooting the videos cost her Sh200,000. She has
no regrets for spending that amount, as she values investing in
quality. She advices new artistes to care of quality if they want
their songs to be played in various Kikuyu radio stations. “Use
money to get money, don’t cut corners in a bid to save and have low
quality albums produced at a cheap studio,” she said.
Her investment paid off well, after
releasing the album early 2013, and took it to the three Kikuyu radio
stations in a week, Whispers was getting vibrant airplay. “Radio
producers only load quality music in their databases,” said Mary.
She adds contrary to the view that getting your song on radio is
hard, and radio producers aloof, if the song is good it’s played.
She also advises new artistes to be patient “You can’t take a
song to radio today and expect it on air tomorrow, don’t hurry the
producers,” said Mary. Friends have also helped as they request her
songs regularly from radio presenters.
Inspiration for her songs comes in many
ways. Taking a walk can lead her to humming a tune randomly from
nowhere. When it happens, she records it on her phone. She also
listens to people in discussions or reads newspapers and if something
interests her she composes. The mournful son ‘Nganiria Baba’
came as a result of something she observed as a teacher. Her young
pupils, who mostly came from dysfunctional slum families ripped apart
by illicit brews, had tragic stories.
Some of them, especially young girls
served Changaa an illicit brew with their mothers to men, who in turn
would sexually harass them. The parents also cared less on the
wellbeing of their young daughters due to hopelessness. She recalls
a case where a mother’s lover seduced the daughter, yet her mom was
indifferent. As a result Mary wrote ‘Nganiria Baba’ a song about
a daughter begging her mother to stop the father from making sexual
advances to her. After getting the tunes, she looks for the message
that best fits the mood of the tune she has saved.
“If the message is sorrowful, the
tune has to carry the sorrow,” said Mary. She says Whispers a love
song is slow and soothing to match the feel of love. In her laid
back songs, she likes to spice them with humor depending on the songs
theme. Composing is a gradual process for her and may take days to
get the stanzas, phrases and ideas to be coherent in her songs.
Mary classifies her music as stage
music that can’t be performed by CD playback but instruments. Live
music, she says makes it possible for a musician, to put cheeky
embellishments in the song, when performing in clubs to match the
celebratory mood and engage revelers. It also helps a musician to be
flexible depending on the region. “If in Mombasa I may spice my
music with some Taarab,” she says. For live performances, she goes
with 3 guitarists, drummer and one vocal back up. She charges, from
Sh35, 000 to Sh50, 000 depending on the event.
Though content with her start in music,
she says marketing herself as a performer and music is not easy. “I
have to be aggressive in looking for club gigs,” she says. Money is
also a factor in promotion, distribution and reproducing more CDs
which are slow moving. So far, she has sold 500 CDs and VCDs hence
preferring club gigs to CD sales. Societal perception is also
negative to ladies like her in secular music. In clubs, when
attempting to sell her CDs men are reluctant to buy, as when they
take it home wives are suspicious of interactions with female secular
musician.
“For us it’s a job I use to pass
messages, there is no malice,” Mary says. Still when starting out,
Mary tried to compose gospel songs which she admits was challenging
compared to secular. “Gospel music is a calling I lacked words and
inspiration,” she said. To date she has performed in over 10
venues, the most memorable being in Red Nova along Kiambu Road. Of
the 10 reputable artists invited, fans kept asking for her to go back
on stage. She attributes such good performances to being backed by
skilled instrumentalists. So thrilling was it, she landed an invite
to Meru County.
“I hope to get more of such invites
even outside Kenya,” Mary said. She urges her fans in the Diaspora
to invite her to perform and they won’t be disappointed and God
will bless them for the support. She also thanks local fans for
requesting her songs on radio.
Her family is very supportive of her
career and she hopes in future to fully concentrate in it without
having to hold another job. She finds juggling the two careers hard,
since she requires time to be creative, practice, study and polish
her musical ideas for her second album. To be a better and unique
musician Mary, studies songwriting crafts of other established
musicians like Ndemethiu to learn the skills to their success.
“Don’t just write music study, research, listen and learn,”
said Mary.
Besides the fans, she is grateful to
Njogu Ini Hotel Management who assisted her financially and allowed
her to shoot videos in their premises. She aims in 5 years to
support and produce budding artistes in her studio. She urges
established musicians to nurture upcoming ones and not rip them of
their hard earned cash by sending them, to sub-standard studios to
pocket extra cash. “I’ve heard of such cases It destroys their
morale and sadly sets them back far,” Mary the mother of two said.
Kikuyu Musicians Media Rights
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