Artists to create funding entity

Various musicians are currently brainstorming the creation of an entity to assist musicians financially.

This comes after veteran producer Elvo Diergaardt recently publicly called for financial assistance to pay his rent.

Speaking to unWrap.online Joseph Tuhafeni, better known as Jossy Joss, said the idea was birthed after one of Namibia’s best producers, sound engineers and artists publicly announced his challenges.

“It can be Elvo today, tomorrow it’s another artist, but who will help them? We thus need to create an entity of some sort and an account to which all artists and the public could contribute N$10 or N$100.

“This could go a long way towards assisting artists,” he says.

Tuhafeni says many artists are currently struggling, with no one to turn to in desperate times.

“I am aware of Mahai, who perhaps just needs studio access and direction on his music to get off the street. There are many of them and they can’t all be roped into the employment sector as we are all aware that it’s a congested space with many young qualified Namibians also struggling to get employment,” he says.

The best way to assist musicians is to create a space where artists can flourish and be creative, he says.

“The studio is the best place for many of these guys, or being on stage. We hope that with the plans at the Namibian Society of Composers and Authors of Music (Nascam) we can create synergy to consistently have enough platforms for artists to showcase their talent and earn some sort of living from it,” he says.

Tuhafeni says the Covid-19 pandemic also contributed to the downfall of some musicians’ careers, who have not received any government aid to mitigate the situation.

“Many artists didn’t benefit from the government programmes at all, and for two years their income was badly affected,” he says.

Although an entity to financially aid artists has not been fully established yet, the aim is to open an account for funds.

“But the focus is on giving Elvo the help he needs, which is assistance with some studio equipment as his own equipment has been damaged.

“He needs a midi-controller and studio monitors to start earning an income for himself and his family.

“When we’re done with the legal process, we would call the public to deposit a contribution into that account, which we will open for public scrutiny.

“Corporates are also welcome to assist wherever they can,” he says. – unWrap.online