Musaimo wa Njeri: Kikuyu music legend still rocking on


Interview @ Mbiri Super Studio
Since he hit musical fame in 1983 with ‘my dear kwaheri’ Simon Kihara popularly known as Musaimo wa Njeri has recorded almost 200 songs and forever etched his status as a Kikuyu Music legend.  Yet, were it not for troubles he faced early in life he would have ended up an architect as he wished.

Early Starts
From a young age growing up in Kangema Muranga, Musaimo was drawn to music and loved listening to songs by Baraka Mwinshehe of Tanzania, Dr Nicol of Congo and fellow Kikuyu Musician DK Kamau.  “I desired to sing like them,” he said.  As a youth in 1979 he campaigned politically for the late minister John Michuki who gave him Sh5000. By then due to lack of fees after high school he became a casual labourer and stone mason like his Dad. Every cent he earned he saved.

Still Musaimo composed songs as a hobby with Mwalimu wa Gatanga a friend.  The first song they recorded was on ugly looks ‘Njungi ya Kiruka’ in 1981 with their savings but unfortunately it didn’t hit.  He continued composing and among those songs, was ‘My dear Kwaheri’ which when he wrote he didn’t think much of it. He sang it casually at his house in Dandora. Friends who eavesdropped on him singing it convinced producer Waweru wa Maingi late brother to Wahome wa Maingi another Kikuyu Musician to produce Musaimo . As he remembers, finding producers even then wasn’t easy.   

Breakthrough
“It was an instant hit,” Musaimo recalls.  The song’s success gave him access to kikuyu musical giants like Kamaru from whom he learned the band organisation.  He owed the song’s fame to musical experience he got studying at St Theresa School in Eastleigh.  Under tutelage of Father Arnold Grol the school had all musical instruments and Musaimo taught himself to play the guitar.  After mastering it, he bought his own for Sh40. This irked his dad as guitars in the 1970s were associated with rebellion. Still the guitar enhanced his musicianship by using it to compose.
Simon Kihara aka Musaimo wa Njeri

In early 1980s, he formed Mbiri Young Stars band with backup musicians like Kimani Thomas and Joseph Wamumbe from Gatanga famed for producing many Kikuyu musicians.  When ‘my dear kwaheri’ song hit they loved to be associated with the band.  The song is about a lover’s letter to his girlfriend after leaving her to work abroad makes Musaimo view his composing style as prophetic. 18 years after the song release Musaimo performed in the UK for the first time. While there he narrated that anecdote to his audience who were amused by it.

Composition Style
For him a song's melody comes first, then adds a message and records it. For a song to be timeless Musaimo says the message and original melodies are key. He cites his hit song ‘chai wa 14’ as an example. Since he recorded it in 1990, it’s still requested in his shows. His songs themes revolve around lost love, life’s troubles or people. “Songs today lack longevity,” he said.  
He observes troubles musicians experience makes for deeper messages in songs especially those like him who came from humble backgrounds.  “There is no pretense,” he said.  Musaimo also observes playing instruments among musicians today is a dead art. When recording, he plays lead, rhythm and bass guitars. This he adds aids to his composing.

Western Influences
 Like his Western Country music contemporaries like Alan Jackson and Don Williams, Musaimo loves when his songs are accompanied by guitars. His latest songs ‘Chugio ni maisha’ has country music flavor to it while a 1990s monster hit ‘Mwigerekanio’ has a heavy rhythmic bass guitar lead. He composes a song in a day or two then works to improve it in weeks following.  His 1994 award winning hit album Combination took six months to finish. Technology has made his work easier than as he uses electronic drums in studio, saving the manual ones for live stage performances.
Though he runs Mbiri music shop Musaimo admits today its shows that sustain him.  Per show in Kenya he charges around 30,000 and in a month he may have 5 to 6 shows especially in festive periods. “The more your hits the more the invites,” he said. He also gets international invites in UK, US, Canada and Australia attended by over 500 people charged at $25 per head by promoters.  

When on those shows he plays ‘mugithi’ hits in addition to his own music.  “It leaves them so nostalgic about home,” Musaimo said. Overseas he carries his Ovation guitar and programmed drums as carrying instrumentalists would be expensive.  He values to play his music live than with CD accompaniment to retain some of its core authenticity.

Piracy
Though most of his classic songs are famous he admits piracy has hit hard compared to when he started.  In the era of gramophones he sold 30,000 ‘my dear kwaheri’ albums.  However with advent of easy to copy media like CDs and cassettes, album sales have dipped.  “You sing a hit and end up with nothing,” he observes.  He estimates from his almost 20 albums without piracy he may have sold even half a million copies.  He also notes only paltry royalties are paid to them by Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK), even after all the airplay his songs receive on the media.

Music Pays
Nevertheless, he is grateful music has enabled him make a living to educate his children.  His daughter named after his mother Njeri scored straight A’s in her 2012 high school final exam.  “Everything I own is from music,” said Musaimo sentimentally.  Musaimo, advices budding musicians to learn composition and write music that gives advice not corrupts or is shameful. “Know your audience and dancers in your songs shouldn’t dress provocatively,” he said.
Strumming a tune on his Ovation Guitar

Mentorship
In over 30 years in Kikuyu Music, Musaimo has mentored and first produced now famed musicians like Hezeh Ndungu, Joseph Kariuki wa Kiarutara and Warukemi.  He urges Diaspora fans to buy original Kenyan not pirated.  Among Kikuyu Musicians he is the first to have his music in SoundCloud and Apple’s Itunes platform and admits he earns from it. “I’m much updated on latest music technology,” he said.  His band has a website www.mbirisupersounds.com and also shoots his music videos through his own Interco Studios. To produce an album he charges Sh30, 000 and to shoot music videos it’s Sh40, 000.

Awards
His musical efforts for this Kikuyu Kenyan guitarist have won him awards from MCSK for his Combination album and Kisima awards in 2005. He aims to enlarge his production capacity and start a media school to train students interested in music and media production. Musaimo can be contacted on his email mbirisupersounds@yahoo.com .  His studio is in Sheikh Karume road in River Road, Nairobi.

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