The Sunday Mail
THE name Peter Gwaza elicits little interest. But his brainchild, Kenako Musik, does.
“It is by design,” says Gwaza, in a relaxed conversation with The Sunday Mail Leisure at Kenako Musik studios in Borrowdale recently.
“I run other ‘more serious’ businesses,” he chuckles. “But let us talk about music, my passion, the reason I believe you are here.”
While other recording studios in the country charge a fee for an artiste to record, at Kenako recording is free.
“I am in the process of launching a foundation to support the arts and this is just the beginning. This platform we have given artistes to record their material is a launch pad for greater things to come because I am very passionate about the arts.
“We want to reach out to people that have talent but do not have the resources to nurture it. Most talented people do not have money not only to pay for studio time but even for transport to come to the studio,” says Gwaza, who celebrates his 50th birthday this month.
He adds: “Soon we will be taking the studio to the people. We will start by touring the ghetto before going on a countrywide search for talent in Zimbabwe and they do not have to pay a dime.”
But how did this businessman get into showbiz?
“Music and the arts came first for me. I was not a sports person at school but everyone was required to do some extra curricular activities, so mine were music and drama.” Gwaza says he was in all choir groups at school and at church, something that led him to form a ‘90s outfit known as the Gospel Millionaires.
However, at some point business and music clashed, forcing him to abandon his passion — but not completely.
“I would formulate ideas, fund the projects and work behind the scenes, taking comfort in the success of those ventures even though I did not get direct credit.”
Gwaza believes that he is one of the first if not the first person to bring the art of dance groups into the country back in the ‘90s when it was taboo to see half-naked women on stage.
“I travel a lot and during one of my travels I came across the phenomenon of dance groups in other countries and I said, why not do it in my own country? So I created the very first dance groups but again because of family, church, business and other forces, I was forced to take a back seat. Later on in the new millennium, that is when groups like Mambokadzi and others from Bulawayo started sprouting.”
Gwaza was to also discover Freddy “Kapfupi” Manjalima, funding his street theatre and entry into music. He again had to watch from the sidelines as Kapfupi rose almost to the pinnacle of the music industry, only to fall back into obscurity.
And then Gwaza opened Kenako Musik.
“Kenako is Sotho for ‘the time has come’ and I believe this is the time to step up the development of the Zimbabwean arts industry through the foundation we are launching,” says Gwaza.
Kenako Media, the company Gwaze founded in 2011, is a multi-platform media house with emphasis on social entertainment and lifestyle. It is the parent company of Kenako Musik.
Kenako Musik has become one of Zimbabwe’s leading record labels.
“Our main thrust is to cultivate talent, produce quality music and to aggressively elevate the essence of music as a major tool that enhances entertainment value for the consumers.”
The recording studio has a live instrument area, a sound engineer’s area with state-of-the-art equipment and booth.
Kenako Media operates two online publications; a digital magazine called The Parade and The Business Week, a platform for businessmen and women as well as prospective businesspeople in Zimbabwe and around the world.
Kenako Media was recently granted a web casting licence by the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe.
