By Tonderai Ndemera
After having traversed through four semesters of university studying business management, Daniel Joel Chandimhara made the decision to pursue a new degree in Musicology and Ethno-choreography at Great Zimbabwe University.
Born on July 16, 1994 in Rujeko, Masvingo town, Chandimhara, who is known by his stage name “Djo Candy”, is also popular for playing the keyboard at churches.
“I was always into music from a very young age. I remember staying behind after church while I was still in Grade 2 to play the keyboard even though I barely understood what I was doing back then,” Chandimhara said.
This passion grew with him and haunted him for years, leading him to switch programmes just as he was about to finish his second year in Business Management, opting to start all over as a first-year student in Musicology.
“When the option presented itself, I didn’t hesitate. I knew it was the right move for me. I had seen that music took up most of my time to study as I would take my books and study from the music house at school,” he said.
“The switch made things simpler for me and opened up many avenues and platforms for me to fully immerse myself into the arts,” he said.
The talented musician participated in last year’s Dream Star competition, where he came tops in Masvingo province. He proceeded to the semi-finals held in Harare in August and snatched a place in the finals.
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“It felt good to be acknowledged at that level, I felt blessed to get the opportunity to perform for a panel that had Leonard Mapfumo,” he said.
Early Last year he joined the university band, Team Fusion, where he greatly contributed to the album titled Chingoma, which was produuced at Vialy Studio. It carried plug tracks such as Ndiwe Ndiwe, Chingoma, Ndirege Ndifare and Bho Zvekuti, all of which have videos.
“I can now play a variety of instruments including the acoustic guitar, bass guitar, saxophone, mbira, marimba, percussion instruments and I now know a lot about sound engineering,” he said.
He got a chance to attend last year’s Lake of Stars Festival in Malawi. He has four singles — Saiita Iyoyo, My Cookie, For Your Love and Good Size Yako — which are under his solo project.
Yesterday, Djo Candy led Team Fusion into the studios in Harare where they are working on two productions, which are collaborations with veteran Afro-jazz crooner Bob Nyabinde and gospel music star Sabastian Magacha.
