By Tafadzwa Zimoyo
Sungura musician and Khiama Boys frontman Nicholas Zakaria has finalised production of a video of his golden oldie, “Zomvelamvela” off his 1998 album “Yeuchidzo,” as he seeks to tap into the opportunities brought about through quality visuals to his music.
Zakaria, affectionately known as “Senior Lecturer” in music circles, revealed that the video will rekindle his romance with yesteryear fans.
In an interview with The Herald Arts, the left-handed lead guitarist said he felt compelled to tap into the value addition of quality music videos.
He was grateful for the support received from music stakeholders, including Eagle Focus Productions, who are the producers of the video.
“For a long time we had slacked on production of quality music videos and when we did, most, if not all of them were budget studio videos just for the audience and music followers to relate to our music and the team,” said Zakaria.
“I am, therefore, encouraged by our strides with the Zomvelamvela music video which was produced by Lloyd Mhungu of Eagle Focus Productions.
“We used the lockdown period hiatus to work on the video and from the amount of effort invested and the final product we have, I can safely say we have something special for the fans.”
The “Mazano” singer, who is respected for his ability to nurture music talent, said they had deliberately started with a golden oldie video to take fans down memory lane while they work on videos for more recent productions.
“We want to remind our fans of the Khiama Boys of old, while we work on videos to other popular songs like the much loved Mabvi Nemagokora, as well as other recent productions,” said Zakaria.
“We are pushing a Khiama Revival hash tag and we are calling on all music lovers, fans, critics and stakeholders to join us on this journey. We have fully professionalised and we can’t wait to unleash the fresh look in our camp, especially as authorities relax lockdown conditions.”
Zakaria, who has seen marked improvement in online presence, as well as corporate engagement after signing with a local brand management company last year, said it was all systems go at the long-running sungura outfit.
“We have scaled up our public communication and corporate engagement efforts thanks to our management company and we urge our fans to continue engaging with us on our social media platforms,” he said.
“For all corporate engagements and endorsement deals, our management company has helped a lot and we remain open to all such opportunities and partnerships. Going professional has helped us and we are geared for a greater boom as we move towards further relaxation of Covid-19 regulations.”
The affable musician has remained one of the most consistent musicians in Zimbabwe and has produced album after album, though critics have been questioning his outfit’s ability to tap into the digital world opportunities.
“We have remained consistent and we are encouraged by the recent recognition and opportunities. Early this year, we won Best Sungura Album at the Zimbabwe Music Awards (ZIMA).
“During this lockdown period we have also received enquiries from UK promoters and we are highly excited about those prospects,” said Zakaria. “
Asked where and when he will unveil the musical video, Zakaria said : “We are going to unleash the video next month at a private ceremony at Esteem Communications offices in Avondale. We have been working with Walter Chiyanja, the creative director and brand management for the company. Everything will go according to plan.”
Chiyanja said they were happy with the direction Zakaria was taking.
“When Khiama Boys asked us to help with brand management last year, we emphasised the importance of professionalism, quality audio and video productions, good public relations, effective brand management and engagement with all stakeholders, including the corporate world,” he said.
“We are happy to say Madzibaba Zakaria and his Khiama Boys outfit has been able to do a lot in that regard during this lockdown period.
“He has worked on campaigns, including the stop gender based violence with a local non-governmental organisation. This Zomvelamvela video attests to the pedigree in his team and we are putting all the stops for a successful launch.” The Herald
