By Kennedy Nyavaya
Mufakose-based arts organiser Tinei Notice Mazura, aka Boss Bingu (pictured right), has opened up about the painful period since his fledgling production house — Bingu Village Studios (BVS) — was gutted by fire last year, the subsequent emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic and pains of nurturing new talent in the country.
Early last year, Boss Bingu realised his dream of establishing BVS, but since then all has not been rosy for the passionate arts promoter. In an interview with Standard Style recently, he recounted how a technical fault, last year in August, left him and various aspiring musicians counting losses as their projects went up in smoke.
“When the studio caught fire we tried all we could to save it, but we were not successful so we lost everything and it was devastating,” he said. “Another thing that made me sad beyond the incident is that there are people who influenced people I had been working with then including our in-house producer to leave me during such a hard time.”
But, with the assistance of colleagues and well-wishers, BVS bounced back in February this year before the Covid-19 pandemic threatened to douse the new flame again.
“Things have been hard because most of the people we work with are ghetto youths and they do not have much so we reduced our prices to as low as a dollar for a session and sometimes we would record free to remain in the game,” said Boss Bingu, whose efforts to cope in the game have been supplemented by handouts of late.
A mechanic by profession, Boss Bingu insists that his work in the arts is driven by passion and the wish to see unknown artistes rise through to be recognised on a grand stage.
“I am working with underground artistes who wish to get to the stage of being called upcoming and those I have worked with so far are doing good,” he said. “There is lots of talent in the ghetto, but this talent without resources is as good as nothing because it will not go anywhere so we as ghetto promoters we are struggling to give them a chance to record easily so they can be heard.”
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Meanwhile, Boss Bingu — also known for promoting traditional dance troupes — said even if the relaxation of Covid-19 regulations has made their way of doing business easier, “there is need for more corporate financial support for our projects to be sustainable.”
