Production company to show Rehoboth the ropes on sound

Music production and sound engineering company Empire Productions was launched at Rehoboth on Saturday.

The company will, among other things, be training upcoming musicians on sound engineering and music production.

To celebrate the launch of their company, Elvo Diergaardt and Arlene Brandt released a song.

Dubbed as the theme song of Empire Productions, ‘Ek Weet Wat ek Weet’ features artists such as Edwin McCorney, Clifton McCorney, Eudy, Uncle H and Marly-B and The Crew (Ashley, Farren and Keanu).

“We decided to launch the company with a theme song and this sets us apart from the get-go. The song is about staying positive through hardship.

“We would like to think many would relate to the lyrics. The artists performing on the song wrote their own lyrics and this is what makes it so special. It was a team effort,” Brandt says.

She says the company’s slogan is ‘Quality over Everything Else’, meaning it aims to produce music of the best quality and provide artists with incomparable production services.

“We aim to motivate, train, market and teach upcoming artists and producers to become self-sustained,” Brandt says.

Brandt says both she and Diergaardt know what it feels like to have a passion and a gift with no platform to turn one’s skills into profitability.

“Empire aims to produce one pilot song involving five pilot artists each year. Also, one pilot album will be produced each year, featuring the work of the five pilot artists.

“We will work with five artists each year, doing production and marketing of their work and guiding them into the industry. The aim is to help them to be self-sustained artists by the end of each year,” Brandt says.

Diergaardt says the company also aims to help increase the demand and quality of Afrikaans music in Namibia.

“Afrikaans should be used more extensively in different genres of music and this is what we are trying to do. Our country is rich in talent, but Rehoboth especially has been blessed with talented singers and songwriters.

“The problem is just opportunities are basically non-existent. Hence the reason why Empire Productions has launched this project . . . we hope to make a small difference,” he says.

He says teaching is one of his greatest passions and he believes knowledge is only power when shared.

The services offered include beat production, recording, mixing and mastering, sound training, the shooting and editing music videos and community service.