Matsito’s son records debut album
TEDIOUS Matsito’s son, Tedious Muchapedza Matsito Jnr, has finished recording his debut studio album.
The six-track effort is set for release this month.
The young lad was thrust into the deep end to lead the once mighty Ngwenya Brothers following his father’s deteriorating health. Matsito anointed his son Muchapedza to take over the reins at Ngwenya Brothers after he suffered a second stroke.
The “Ndiri Pamusungo” singer now struggles to walk and can hardly sing. As a result, Muchapedza Jnr has had to skip certain stages of childhood after assuming the role of provider for the family and band.
While boys of his age are presently occupied with issues like acquiring the latest games and immersing themselves in movies, Muchapedza’s mind is besieged with grave matters. At 17, the young man is already leading a sungura ensemble that has band members old enough to be his parents.
Instead of waiting for his O-Level results relaxing at home, Muchapedza is toiling round the clock, trying to find ways of reigniting Ngwenya Brothers’ yesteryear spark.
He doesn’t even seem to be harbouring thoughts of proceeding to A-Level next year. And it gets worse. The young lad, due to his predicament, has been forced to frequent imbibing places that have “no under 18” restrictions, either in search of or for live gigs. This has been the case ever since he took over the band in May this year when he was still attending school.
His case is a typical swim or sink situation.
Muchapedza is the third born and eldest son in a family of five. Until the misfortunes that befell his father, music was the major source of income for the family.
While his mother has since secured employment in Kwekwe to try and lessen the burden on her son, her monthly earnings are not enough to meet family demands.
In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Mail Society, the budding singer was quick to acknowledge that he is going through a rough patch.
“I have had to do certain things that I would not be doing or even imagine doing under normal circumstances. I need to keep the band alive not just for the sake of my father’s legacy but to raise money to look after the family and to pay my father’s ballooning medical bills,” narrated Muchapedza.
“To date I have performed in a number of places namely Mazowe, Banket, Chegutu and Chitungwiza, etcetera. At times I also feature at Alick Macheso’s shows and I use every moment I spend with him (Macheso) to get counsel on some of the industry’s challenges.”
The forthcoming album, “Mandipa Mukana” was recorded at Macheso’s Alema Studios in Chitungwiza. Four of the songs were written by Tedious Snr while Jnr composed “Kutamba Nenguva” and “Pasi Penyika”.
“Macheso has made my journey easier. He honoured his pledge of giving me free studio time and is going to help market and distribute the album.
‘‘I cannot reveal the actual release date at the moment but it is certainly this December,” he said.
However, his band is facing a major setback due to inadequate music equipment and transportation to gigs.
The young lad initially had no intentions of embarking on a sungura journey as he wanted to be a dancehall chanter.
“I’m a dancehall singer by nature (chuckles) but that is now history. Sungura has gotten the better of me and I’m loving every moment on stage. For your own information, I have now mastered most of my father’s songs save for a few that I’m still perfecting. This has somewhat made me realise that I was taking a wrong route by choosing dancehall,” said Muchapedza.
Apart from perfecting his vocals, he is also in the process of grasping lead and bass guitar strumming techniques courtesy of Macheso and Matsito lessons.