Getting to know Calvin Gudu 23’11’06

Musician/Singer/Songwriter/Producer
Record Label: Praise Worth Records
Interviewed by John Matinde
(Q). How long have you been an artist?
(A). Since the age of about 6.
(Q). How did you get started?
(A). Firstly singing at home at family gatherings, then at my local Church. When I was at Milton High School I wanted so badly to learn how to play the piano, but could not get as much access to the piano as I wanted, so as a result I would sneak into the assembly hall at night and practice in the dark. That was difficult to begin with but as time went on I was used to finding my way round the keys without looking. In the process I started writing songs which I presented to a local production company who thought my writing skills were good enough to join them writing jingles such as “Sun jam”, “TM hyper” and “Tarino”. From then I just got gradually sucked deeper and deeper into the wider music scene, and the rest led to now.
(Q). What difficulties have you encountered along the way?
(A). The local audience preferring overseas music to local stuff.
(Q). How did you overcome them?
(A). By keeping at it until the beat is truly refined.
(Q). When writing lyrics what inspires you?
(A). The joy in me and the desire for my fellow human beings to come to know Christ personally and experience his goodness. Man, there is no inspiration like someone dying for your sins so that you truly have dominion over all things and expand your territories in all aspect of your life eternally.
(Q). Why did you choose to be a musician?
(A). I didn’t choose to be a musician John. You know there are many things I chose in my life, but certainly music was not one of them. Being a musician is what God desires for me and I am simply being obedient to his call.
(Q). What have you been up to in the last 12 months?
(A). Working on The Album, Contributing my bit to the construction of (PWR) Praise Worth records and most importantly allowing the Lord to deal with me spiritually in preparation for the ministry.
(Q). If yes, what were the challenges you faced?
(A). For me personally the challenge has been going through a whole hip of great scripts presented by an array of writers for the same song and trying to choose which best represents the feel I had while writing the tune. But I pray to the Lord to give me wisdom to do the right thing. I also have a bunch of talented good people at PWR whose judgment I am happy to trust. That takes the pressure off of a little.
(Q). What do you think of African Urban Music at the moment?
(A). It’s a reflection of aspiration for growth, and I can assure you it can only result in growth. I think that the urban scene gives the Zim artist a chance to compete with the world players. Its at the infant stage now but believe me I see a lot of hungry creative artists who want the world. I do think though that we need to be mindful of the business aspect of things. Look, music is an industry man, and industry is business and if you don’t take care of the business then quit simply you have no industry. We need to understand figures, copyright laws, how money is earned, investments, contracts and so on. If artists understand the business then there will be less arguments with record bosses and artists will take control of their destinies and African Urban Music will have a future.
E-Mail: calvin@praiseworth.co.uk; www.calvingudu.co.uk; www.zimdi.com; www.praiseworth.co.uk