Jackie Wilson Asheeke
Namibians will not let COVID-19 destroy creativity and the need to jam. A new group with hot beats just formed in 2020. They are called: The Musketeers. In the midst of a pandemic and lockdown, they are making music. Even if we dance alone in our homes or in socially-distanced venues, check out their new release, titled LOST featuring Azaria. Radio stations need to get on board with this music as well.
Their new album has 10 tracks all exclusively written, recorded and mastered by The Musketeers and Azaria, a female artist new on the scene from Walvis Bay.
The Musketeers are Georgio Van Wyk – Stage Name: Dj Jojo, Tangi Nghipetekwa – Stage Name: Dj Skull and Tokyo Manjara – Stage Name: Dj Zonesh. These guys describe themselves as “Three young vibrant and dynamic boys from the dusty streets of Walvis Bay and Arandis.”
They joined their efforts in February 2020. Dj Skull and Dj Jojo previously started off and worked together as Reckless Boyz.
Their release strategy is to put the album online on all digital music streaming platforms such as iTunes, Spotify and YouTube as well as produce CDs for the hard copy sales. They will have a live online release session on their Instagram page @musketeers_na.
The group’s profile says, “At Musketeers we make beats, record, master and produce our own sounds. We started off as individual Dj’s and we thought we could work together by combining our sounds and create something new and wholesome which is way different from what the industry currently offers.
“We make music because it helps us escape reality, it allows us to think and simply live in the moment, we have a philosophy that music is the only thing that speaks to you when everything else is unable to, we make music because that’s the only way we can share how we feel with everyone else out there, especially our fans.”
In response to one of my questions, the guys say that the challenges they face are financial.
“We have no sponsors or financial help, so far we’ve worked on our project ourselves without any significant help. We’ve done recording, mastering and marketing ourselves from home as we fall under no recording label or studio. We’d like to acknowledge all who have fueled our hustle with words of encouragement, be it in person or on social media. We send out thanks to our friends, family and fans. Most of all we thank Azaria Visagie. She’s been instrumental in the LOST album. Our manager Erastus “Erassy” Petrus has been another pillar in ensuring that we get everything in order.”
The newly budding ‘beat-men’ added, “We just started this year and we’ve made waves not just in Namibia but beyond the borders in a space of a few months without an album. That tells a significant story on its own. We believe an album can be the cherry on the cake to cap a great start of our musical careers.”
Get with this new music. Buy the tunes, don’t just download or copy them. Our artists need revenues to live on and keep making great music. Check them out on Instagram and show them some love with your likes!
