AN incomplete residential house located in Nyakabanda, a Kigali suburb is the home of Kesho music band.

The band name is derived from a Kiswahili word which means tomorrow. It was formed in 2012 by one of Rwanda’s strongest live performing acts, Martin Maniraruta, alias Mani Martin.

His music reflects a blend of Afro-soul and traditional Rwandan music, and features lyrics in Kinyarwanda, Kiswahili, English and French.

Kesho Band is made up of six members; drummer Jaymo, percussionist Joshua, guitarists Clement and Ras Kayaga, bass guitar player Sam and Mani Martin; the lead singer and director. The group records and performs with Mani Martin on his tours both at home and abroad.

The Destiny hit maker says he came up with the idea of a band with an aim of changing the face of Rwanda’s music industry.

"It was in 2012 when my cousin and I had a vision to start a band that would perform live renditions. At the time there was no live music in Rwanda. All bands performed playbacks,” he recalls.

As an artiste who grew up in church, Mani Martin was not fascinated by the idea of performing playback music. "We didn’t have members at the time but we had a burning desire to make a change on the Rwandan music scene.”

After developing the idea, his cousin, who was performing at Kimisagara Youth Centre, recruited some people he had worked with and they began rehearsals a month later.

"The start was really hard because people didn’t understand what live music was and no one could really seek our services. Music was dead basically. Even my former clients eventually stopped seeking my services because I had vowed never to do play back again and had opted for live music with my band.”

Despite the rough beginning, they never gave up and continued practicing for a period of six months.

"Out of curiosity, we went to the studio to record live music just to see how it would turn out and the result was the album Destiny. When we finished working on the album, we organised a concert in September 2012 but we were worried that few people would turn up,” he says.

To their amazement, their concert was a huge success and they never looked back. Their recognition went beyond borders. That same year, they were invited to perform in Tanzania at the Sauti za Busara festival which is among the top five festivals in Africa.

Trouble in paradise

Their new found success got them an invitation to perform in Europe in 2013 but that is when the band faced its first challenge. Some band members, except Mani Martin never made it back to Rwanda.  

"Even my cousin with whom I had started the band stayed there. I came back alone but never gave up on my band idea. When I came back I posted on my Facebook page that I was looking for people who could sing and play music instruments, and that is how I got my new members.”

It’s no doubt that Kesho band has put Rwanda on the map as they have graced several international concerts both in Africa and Europe.

In Rwanda the band plays at Greenwich Hotel Remera every last Friday of the month; they also perform at parties and corporate events.

Challenges

"It is very expensive to maintain a band because it requires buying costumes, salon expenses, transporting members and music instruments. It also requires patience because we don’t get constant gigs like artistes who perform playbacks,” the singer says.  

The crew has rehearsals everyday for two hours which prepares them for an event once summoned.