A studio that will provide free recording sessions for aspiring musicians from underprivileged backgrounds is set to open in Musanze in the Northern Province.

According to the promoter of Red Rocks Records Greg Bakunzi, the studio, which is the first community recording studio in the country, will offer free recording services to grassroot music talents.

Mr Bakunzi plans to run and maintain the studio through donations and his community-based social enterprise, the Red Rocks Cultural Centre. “The main goal of Red Rocks Cultural Centre is to partner with the local community to uplift their living standards,” he said.

So far, work to renovate the small building that will house the studio and install modern music recording equipment is almost complete.

Mr Bakunzi said Red Rocks Records will try to create sustainable jobs for local artistes by shining a spotlight on the music industry in northern Rwanda.

The project also seeks to conduct roundtable discussions with up-and-coming local musicians in order to come up with creative arts projects as part of community development.

Firoz Abdul, the studio manager of Red Rocks Records, said that Musanze was discovered to be home to latent talent that needed to be developed. The talent in the area was discovered last year when Red Rocks Cultural Centre added the Cultural Talent Show to its monthly community events.

Mr Abdul said their talent search identified 16 talented youth who are going to be the first batch of aspiring musicians to benefit from the free recording studio. The 16 artistes will, from later this month, record their songs under the mentorship of renowned Ugandan producer Henry Kiwuwa of Grayce Records, a music production house based in Kampala.

Mr Abdul said that even though Red Rocks Records will initially work with producers from outside Rwanda, they still intend to work with major Rwandan producers like Tracks slayer, Mastolla and Pastor P at a later stage.

“Working with a variety of producers will help these new musicians to find someone with a style that matches their own,” said Mr Abdul.

The studio will not only record audio music but also music videos to accompany the songs, according to Mr Abdul.

He added that the talent search, which was initiated last year, is going to be a regular event and Red Rocks Records hopes to discover more potential musicians.
He also clarified that the studio is available for artistes even outside Musanze.

For Ishimwe Rukundo, also known as Didox, the studio couldn’t have come at a better time as he was struggling to record several songs, and he’s optimistic that this opportunity is going to help him establish his career. He is a student at Musanze Polytechnic, an institution located near the Red Rocks Cultural Centre.

After taking part in the recent Cultural Talent Show, held at the Centre, Rukundo was one of the lucky 16 chosen to have their music recorded for free at the new studio.

Aimable Manzi, 21, was also one of the lucky winners at the Cultural Talent Show and, like Rukundo, is eagerly waiting record his songs at the Red Rocks Studio when it officially begins operating later this month.