MUSIC TO THE WORLD WITH ELDER GADZO

In life there are always people who are considered as elders despite their age. In this issue, we have one such elder who shared with us his journey as Elder Gadzo.

"I was born in Harare, Zimbabwe and did my primary level in Norton at Chiedza Primary school. I started making music in my fourth grade and then did my secondary level at St Eric. I discovered l was good at being a Master of Ceremonies (MC) when l was doing form one where l was already part of the Interact Club. At some point l also became a DJ. I had a sound crew called Positive Vybz then moved to Roots Radix sound crew in 2004. That is where I began creating Music to the world clan and I began wheel spinning. Back then people used to call me Gadzo Mix because I was good at mixing music. As time went on in the music industry, mostly through pushing works of other artists or rather helping artists be known, people started calling me Elder Gadzo.

The statement “Music to the world” came up like this, as a wheel spinner l wanted and still want the local music to reach the global market. This statement has nothing to do with any type of music genre in particular. The most important thing was concentrating on taking all types of music genres to the global market.

On any normal day I am always be in the studio doing what I do best as the Elder. I enjoy creating mixtapes which are a combination of music from different artists into one. When coming up with a mixtape we concentrate on our fans versus chosen artists. We look at the music the fans like and/or prefer to listen to. I also do marketing, advertising and look for greener pastures for other artists. It is my job to locate or create bigger platforms for artists to appear and perform whether live and/or recorded. This is done so as to enable the artists to be exposed to a larger market and be recognised globally.

An artist without proper airplay always finds it hard to be known, hence l come in to help them get that needed airplay on different radio stations across the globe. We also push their videos until they are on big television stations like Channel O, Trace Urban and more other well recognised TV stations. The most common challenge to take note of in the music industry is gaining and maintaining a following. Artists need fans to keep their music alive. They need to work hard to create "good" music, market, distribute and host shows where they perform for the market.

With hard work, in five years’ time I foresee myself with an arts centre, a local radio and television station which will be broadcasting internationally. My aim is to take local music and distribute it all over the world through different means for example internet, radio, television and social media. As an artist, I would like to encourage those who are in the same industry with me to keep on working hard and reach the global market in music business.

For more information on my works you can contact me on +263713386582."

Interview By DrThembieTanya

madziwathembie@gmail.com +263719675521