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Inside Governor Sakaja’s multimillion mobile recording studio – WATCH

Nairobi County Governor Johnson Sakaja flanked by CS Defense Aden Duale during the launch of the public mobile recording studio at Uhuru Park on April 18, 2024. PHOTO| WILFRED NYANGARESI

The County Government of Nairobi recently launched a fully-fledged mobile recording studio truck that will be moving across the county.

The studio, which is one of its kind in the county, will target young talents in the streets or estates within the county who are talented but lack the capital to showcase what they have.

This is part of the plans that Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, who has an interest in the entertainment sector, to uplift the lives of local artists under his term.

While the demand is high, the county says that the single truck will be moving around all 85 wards even as it plans to procure more.

Some of the equipment inside the truck includes pairs of over-the-ear headphones, which are used to monitor audio during recording sessions, the Audio Mixer Console, to control what’s heard on air, four studio microphones, and a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW).

Also, the studio contains three guitars, a drum set and speakers.

While the county did not reveal the total cost of the studio and the truck, the entire project is approximated to have cost the county millions.

While speaking over the studio, the celebrated music producer Clement Rapudo Sijenyi, alias Clemo, who is the Chief Officer in charge of City Culture, Arts and Tourism, said that they are aiming to improve the lives of local artists who have the talents but are unable to have the platform.

“It is a platform not only for artists but producers as well and we will have equipment for DJs to come and practice as well.  This is the first mobile studio in Kenya but we intend to have more but also have stationed studios in all the sub-counties,” Mr Clemo said.

“Knowing that we have many artists in Nairobi. We can do all the mastering and mixing within this facility, so we need to construct other studios for mixing and mastering and that is a different cost.”

 

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Nairobi County Governor Johnson Sakaja flanked by CS Defense Aden Duale during the launch of the public mobile recording studio at Uhuru Park on April 18, 2024. PHOTO| WILFRED NYANGARESI

He also stated that the county will provide a platform where the artists can register and book appointments when the truck is in their wards.

“We will be moving to all the 17 sub-counties within the Nairobi County. The recordings will be free of charge, thanks to the governor…ideally, I was hoping that we have a studio for every sub-county. It is an ongoing conversation. If funds are available, we can have a studio for each sub-county.”

Dr Anastacia Nyalita, the County Executive Committee Member in charge of Inclusivity, Public Participation and Customer Service, lauded the move as a milestone for the county.

“It is a big milestone because in the governor’s manifesto, one of the commitments is to promote the creative economy, and this goes a long way in doing that at no cost,” Dr Anastacia Nyalita said.

Since the governor assumed office, he has inaugurated two festival competitions, which provide opportunities for the locals to perform before hundreds of residents.

One of the programmes that the governor initiated is the Nairobi Festival, an annual event where the county celebrates the vibe of the city.

“Vibe of the city is one of the top ten priority flagship projects for the governor and this goes to help us realize the manifesto and reignite the city’s vibe.” Dr Nyalita said.

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