At the Swedish Embassy in Kigali, where he works as a logistics officer, Théoneste Rutayisire has established a parallel reputation; an accomplished and passionate folk musician. 

Since 1998 when he landed the job at the embassy where he also doubles as a driver, the guitarist has been the darling of his workmates, especially the expatriate community.

The singer has put in place an arrangement in which he honors every employee of the embassy with a song once their contract ends.

Basically in the song, he chronicles the employee’s life and times while with the embassy, and in the country at large. The songs are usually named after the intended beneficiary, and to date, Rutayisire has made twelve such songs, and vows to "continue doing more.”

While making these songs however, he faced many difficulties with the producers and music studios he engaged.

Having studied music professionally for five years under a Minispoc programme, the least that he wanted was a producer who could listen to, interpret and translate his original ideas into songs. Instead, he laments, most of the producers always try to push him to do "their own style of music against my will.”

Other times, he was denied studio time in favour of bigger artistes; or out rightly conned of his studio fees.

No pain, no gain

He does not bemoan the harsh treatment he got from the said music studios, as the experience was to later shape his resolve to start a music production studio of his own.

It was in 2007 when he started doing a lot of research on the possibility of rigging a studio. "One day a producer told me that all I needed to start a simple studio was a computer and some software, and the rest would come one by one.”

He quickly mobilised resources and bought a computer and the requisite audio production software. Interestingly, he did not have any clue about audio production, a state of affairs that has persisted to this day.

Instead, he engaged the services of his young brother, Jimmy Kayayi, who at the time also had no audio production experience, just the interest. The young man later taught himself the ropes through watching internet tutorials, and by watching other established local producers while at work.

Rutayisire recalls

"We started very small, with very low quality production but we kept sharing ideas with different producers and musicians, both big and small.” One year later, the studio produced its first full album for Dieudonné Munyanshoza, Rutayisire’s brother.

"It is at this point that other artistes started knowing about us and coming to the studio. It is at this point too that Rutayisire started seriously considering putting together an album of his own, and today, the twelve-track album is ready. Titled Umuto Arakura (the little one will grow), the album boasts such other titles as; Umunsi Undutira Iyindi, Mama, Utegereze, and Mubareke.

Troubled childhood

The 51-year-old was born in Rusizi District, Western Province. Today, he is happily married to Marie Mukansanga, with four children; two boys and two girls. But his childhood was less rosy:

"My father died when I was just one year old, which made life extremely difficult for me, my mother and my siblings,” he starts, adding: "My mother was a peasant woman who relied on her hoe for the survival and education of her children, six of us in total.”

Amidst a lot of challenges, he attended Mibirizi Primary School, in Rusizi District, before heading to Gisenyi for his high school. After completing high school, he moved to Kigali, "to look for a job or for a life”. He also still nursed dreams of returning to school if means permitted.

In Kigali, he was lucky to have a sister who took him into her marital home. He embarked on job hunting, but no opportunities were forthcoming.

In 1985, he was lucky to be recruited as a mechanic assistant at the Ministry of Infrastructure.

While at the ministry, he was lucky to meet a colleague who was a gifted guitarist. "I asked him to teach me the guitar and he immediately agreed. Every day after work, we would go to his house for guitar lessons. Other times, he would come to my own house.”

Even with a good master however, Rutayisire’s ability to learn the guitar was slowed down by the fact that he didn’t have a good guitar of his own, relying instead on an old donation from a friend.

He was a curious student who asked many questions, but unfortunately the master didn’t answer most of them. "He had not gone to any music school so he knew little about music theory. He just knew to play the guitar.”

He concludes that "over all, it was a good experience because at least I got to learn the basics of the guitar like chords and strings. I started knowing the guitar, which was good for me at that time.”

By the end of one year, the master had taught him whatever he knew about the guitar, but the budding guitarist was still curious to know more.

"One day I heard an announcement on Radio Rwanda inviting people for music lessons at Minispoc. I was very excited because I knew it was my opportunity to learn whatever I had not learnt from the master.”

A total of sixty people were selected and he was the first to report for classes. "While there, I met with many musicians whose songs I had only been hearing on radio. Most of them knew how to play instruments and sing, but nothing about theory and notation, which are the basics of music.”

They spent the first three months learning notation and theory, after which they embarked on instruments.

Why the guitar?

In 1989, he saved some money and bought his first musical instrument - a guitar, although he also played the piano and saxophone at that time. He describes it as "the first time I took a good guitar in my arms and played it”.

"I settled for a guitar because it wasn’t so expensive as compared to other instruments.” He bought his guitar at Rwf 30,000, which he used strictly at home since the school to which he went provided its own instruments.

The same year that he bought a guitar, he also recorded his first single, Umunsi Undutura Iyindi. He took it to Radio Rwanda and it enjoyed relative airplay. "I was happy to hear myself on radio singing and playing the guitar.”

This encouraged him to devote even more energy to his music lessons at school. In fact, he stopped making songs to instead concentrate on improving his skills at the guitar.

After five years of music school (1989-1994), "I had learnt all that I needed to learn about the guitar”.

After school

The 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi started shortly before he completed his music course, and the school was forced to shut down. Similarly, he was left with no musical instrument of his own, after losing his guitar, saxophone and trumpet.

"I was only left with the skills I had acquired from school. I had no money, no job, and no musical instrument.” Instead, he looked around for odd jobs, because he wanted to save money and buy a few instruments anew.

In 1996, he landed a job with Care International as a driver and worked with the organisation for the next one and half years.

With the little savings he made from his salary, the singer started replacing his lost musical instruments, one by one, starting with his favorite, the guitar.

Moving to the Swedish Embassy

In 1998, Rutayisire landed a job with the Swedish Embassy in Rwanda, doubling as driver and logistics officer. At the Swedish Embassy, he started doing music again, aided by the musical instruments he had acquired from his previous job.