How do you make a transition from almost two decades as a member of one of the most successful Afropop bands to carving your own identity as a solo performer?
Austin Willis Chimano, the baritone in the hugely popular Kenyan musical quartet Sauti Sol, officially embarked on a new phase in his career with last week’s release of his single Do You Remember.
“I had to take a break and decide if I still wanted to continue as an artiste,” he says to explain his absence since the band performed at their last show together at the end of 2023.
“This new single just came on the fly because I had planned to release another song. I did not want to release a song that is tone deaf or one that seems like it is vain,” he adds during an interview with the BDLife a day after the single was released.
“So much pressure in this world will take you nowhere,” he sings in the refrain, which is a reflection of the backlash he has faced especially since coming out as gay in 2021. “I felt like I had been put in a washing machine and I was just spinning round and round,” he says.
“I did a lot of soul searching in the months when I was on a break from writing and performing and now, I am focused on building my brand and remembering the people who are there for me.
Sauti Sol band member Willis Austin Chimano
Photo credit: Pool
“I would like my fans to remember that not everyone will like or love everything that you do, so don’t be pressured to live up to any expectations. Live, love life, do you, and that’s just what the song is all about.”
Do you Remember has a bouncy, uplifting sound with sparkling guitars and an infectious rhythm which is in sync with the message. “I am such a nostalgia baby so I always go back to influences that I heard growing up, that is why you hear that reggae-pop situation,” says Chimano.
His Sauti Sol bandmate Polycarp “Fancy Fingers” Otieno played the lead guitar on the recording and engineered the mixing and mastering of the track. “Polycarp is just the best guitarist and he was the first and only choice so he played on the song and put on his producer hat and mastered it,” says Chimano.
Session guitarist Ross Patel, whom he met in the studio during the recording ended up playing on the track and acclaimed singer-songwriter Lisa Oduor-Noah contributed background vocals.
“Lisa is an enigma, a powerhouse, her vocal prowess…. I called her and she just came to the studio, it was just chill. I was like ‘Lisa, just do what you need to do and work your magic’.”
Inevitably, some fans will draw comparisons with the Sauti Sol identity and Chimano is reconciled to that.
“I would like my art be thought provoking and to evoke an emotion. You either love it, or, I don’t want to say hate… as much I don’t always want to look at comments but there are times when I am like, “damn! you all are so hurtful.’ I just need to always remind myself to give it all and then surrender to the process.”
This period is also an eye-opener on managing his own affairs, away from the management of the band.
“Now, you have to call talent to work in the studio, and you have to negotiate because you have to pay people, I am dealing with invoices.
“I am happy that I am not out here looking like I need to be managed, and I am learning the inner workings of everything. A lot goes into the business. And a lot of egos, too,” he says with laughter.
This project will yield an entire album which seems a long way from completion even though Chimano promises a new song every month leading up to the end of the year.
“The album itself will be out before the end of next year!” he says, then adds in typically ironical style: “That could mean by February 2025, you know.”
Sauti Sol band member Willis Austin Chimano
Photo credit: Pool
He does not provide a straightforward answer on whether Sauti Sol will get back together again. “We are aways brothers, best friends and our WhatsApp group is very active.
We are still in the Alone Together phase,” he says in reference to the hiatus the four members of the group took to pursue their individual projects. As a teaser, he reveals that there is an entire album of ‘amazing songs’ by the group that just requires a few finishing touches.
He concludes with introspection: “The business of being Chimano is tough. I am a heavy introvert who would rather sit at home, watch Netflix, read and eat, but I love seeing the emotions that the music invokes in people. I feed off that energy. I am back as a new artiste.”
