Fast track to success
Ntombentsha Msutu
MOTHERWELL resident and businessman Bonke Bunu's love of music and sound is putting him on the road to success.
The NU3 resident is a qualified sound engineer by profession and is producing sweet sounds from his place of business in Motherwell.
After he got his diploma in sound engineering, he decided to move to Johannesburg to search for a job. With a rough start, it took him about two years to get his first job as a sound engineer. He joined a recording company called Sting Base to Base Records.
He worked with well-known kwaito artists Genisi, Gazi and Super. Starting his career focusing primarily on kwaito music, Bunu now does production work for gospel and house artists.
Originally from Port Elizabeth, in 2009 he moved from Johannesburg to Motherwell where he started his own studio and recording company, with his partner, Sakhele Mzalala, called Zonke Bonke Records.
"Back then when I started working as a sound engineer, I only focused on kwaito, but as time went by I started saving up to buy my own equipment because I had dreams of owning my own studio," he said.
After establishing his business, the studio started recording artists like Nutty Fella and Azi.
"Owning a record company is hard work, especially in a township, because artists here have a lot of talent but lack funding.
"They are unable to pay for an hour of recording and to complete the whole CD costs a lot of money. Those are some the challenges we come across as artists," Bunu said.
Bonke and Mzalala also own a studio in East London. They recently produced an album called Perfect Compilation: House and Kwaito volume 1.
"The album is still new. We worked with artists from Mthatha, Wittlesea, Queenstown and East London. The album features artists like Nutty Fella, Azi, Buja, Pelle Pelle, Nazz and Nondo.
"I am also busy with an album of a Nigerian gospel singer, Emmanuel Dickson, known as Cus," Bunu said.
His work does not only end with mixing albums for people as he also designs CD covers and conducts photo shoots.
He can be contacted on 079-597-9980 or 076-120-4006.