Anyone who has made it in life has done so because of a determination to achieve their dreams.
Patricia Mabviko Musanhu
We all face trials of various kinds and it seems as if those who put themselves out to receive the hardest blows and survive them live to experience the true meaning of success.
The impression that some people have that those who have made it are “lucky” can only be misplaced. The reality is that everyone faces obstacles and depending on your response, an obstacle is either a stumbling block or a stepping stone. Benny Lewis put it this way; “The difference between a stumbling block and a stepping stone is how high you raise your foot.”
Eyahra Mathazia’s desire from childhood was to become a singer.
When she was in grade seven she took her first attempt at this and entered a talent singing competition with her sister. To her surprise she won this competition and was subsequently recommended onto another national talent singing competition. It was this competition that would open a door for Eyahra to get into the professional performing arts at the age of 15.
“This is where my love for professional performing arts started. However, singing was always my first love.”
Eyahra would soon find out that having a desire to sing and carving a singing career especially in a country where the entertainment industry is still to grow are two different things.
She was faced with numerous obstacles right from the beginning.
“I was very young then and I made mistakes that many teenagers make as a result of inexperience and lack of good judgment. I also come from a mixed family where we spoke English at home. I didn’t realise that this would be a major obstacle in my endeavour to carve a music career”.
Eyahra received a lot of criticism and was told that she would never make it as a singer if she didn’t sing in a local language. This affected her so much that she lost confidence and self-belief. During such moments Eyahra said that it was her family that kept her going.
She realised the importance of having a support system in the form of family and friends who continued to believe in her vision when everyone else had ceased to do so.
“It’s very important to surround yourself with people who think positively about you and who believe in you. They will help to keep the light in you burning when a storm comes,” she said.
Another obstacle that Eyahra faced was getting the recording process underway which process requires that one engages the services of a recording studio as well as finance the recording. One can easily get discouraged by a lot of challenges that they encounter during this process.
One of them is inconsistencies by studio personnel when it comes to taking bookings and being available on the day of the recording. However, encouraged by family and friends, Eyahra took a bold step and started working towards recording her first album.
She remembers one incident when she had to move from one studio to another trying to secure a recording date.
She chose not to give up although she met with a lot of resistance.
Her perseverance paid off in a way she had never imagined.
She landed herself at a studio where she met Jamaican Producer Everton Moore who immediately liked her voice and invited her to record an album with him. In 2009, she recorded a 15-track album with him which he subsequently took to Jamaica.
When he listened to the album, music legend Bunny Wailer got involved and played percussion on one of the songs. Another song on the album called “Babylon bring black babies home” which was about the brain drain that many countries are facing was added to the Bob Marley’s Hall of Fame by the Marley family between 2009 and 2010.
In 2010, Eyahra successfully recorded her first album followed by her second album in 2012.
“In November of this year I will be launching my third 20-track album called, A Simple Thank You. It’s a very personal album which focuses on personal morality, what we go through as individuals on a daily basis. I hope that people will all enjoy it.”
Eyahra is still building her music career and she is confident that she is in the right direction. She, without doubt, encapsulates Dave Shepp’s example of true success which he defines as, “accepting yourself for what you have to offer rather than what you cannot do”.
Patricia Mabviko Musanhu is a Company Director/Producer at Black and White Media Productions. She can be contacted at [email protected]
