 |
| SHANGA |
Manuela Udemba known as Shanga was born in Bern, Switzerland, as Manuela Adeyemi to a Nigerian father and a Swiss mother. Her early memories of singing involved recording herself on a toy tape recorder at the age of three. She would sing back songs she heard on the radio and make up new melodies.
Growing up, there was always music in her home, with songs by The Beatles, Michael Jackson, all the way to Fela Kuti, and not to mention her father, who played a variety of African drums.
Her love for and appreciation of art intensified when her mother founded a gallery, where Shanga spent a great part of her childhood years. She had her elementary and a bit of her high school education in Nigeria – a period she describes as the best character-molding years of her life, and she remains grateful for the experience.
 |
| SHANGA |
Much against her will, in her teen years, she and her family moved back to Switzerland, where she started writing lyrics and training her voice. The decision to face her music squarely was made during a visit back to Nigeria after several years of absence and missing the country. The energy of the vibrant city of Lagos gave her the extra push to take the risk and pursue her dreams.
 |
| SHANGA |
The ball started rolling in the right direction for her when she took the bold step and quit school. She started working to save up for an audio engineering school which she attended in Hamburg. This experience helped her to push harder to perfect her sound, and gave her the freedom to record her music by herself. To further help her compositions and stage performance, Shanga took up playing the guitar.
The last piece to the puzzle of willing to step out into the music world was when she started referring to her “stage self” as SHANGA. The name came to her in a dream, where she felt a connection with the pseudonym for reasons still to be discovered.
 |
| SHANGA |
An EP Album later, after her studies and the return to Switzerland, her main focus centered around playing live alone with her guitar introducing her debut EP Album "embracing vulnerability" which created a unique and intimate atmosphere fitting the concept of the album. Her journey so far opened up doors to play in various countries like France, Germany, Nigeria and Switzerland.
With a new album still in the works, Shanga put together a band called "SHANGA & the Groovers". The band's main focus is to combine the soft tone SHANGA embodies and combines it with the groovy sound the band has been working on and perfecting since the beginning of last year. The new music that has been created is rare and can't be missed out on.
With the aid of her husband on the keys, Shanga now explores more genres, infusing Jazz, Neo-Soul, Gospel and Blues with her initial art, which is going to be reflected on her new album to make her music vocabulary broadened and dynamic in the ears of the listener.
 |
| SHANGA |
She now has a video blog called "am bis pm SESSION" where fans can keep up with her rehearsals and get a way to interact with her through song requests.
※ ※ ※
Manuela Udemba, besser bekannt als Shanga wurde in Bern geboren als Manuela Udemna, ihr Vater ist Nigerianer, die Mutter Schweizerin. Shangas früheste Erinnerung ans Singen war, als sie im jungen Alter von drei Jahren sich mit einem Kinder-Kassettenrecorder aufgenommen hat. Dabei hat sie Lieder nachgesungen, die sie im Radio gehört hat, und dazu Melodien improvisiert.
 |
| SHANGA |
Während ihrer Kindheit war das Haus immer voller Musik, dazu gehörten die Beatles, Michael Jackson bis hin zu Fela Kuti. Zudem hat ihr Vater, eigentlich ein bildender Künstler, verschiedene afrikanische Trommeln gespielt. Durch ihre Mutter, die eine Galerie führte, lernte sie weitere Künstler kennen und wertschätzen, wie sie sich durch ihre Kunst ausdrücken.
Ihre Grundschulausbildung hat Shanga in Lagos, Nigeria, absolviert. Diese Jahre gehören zu den besten ihres Lebens und sie ist dankbar für diese Erfahrung, weil sie ihr Wesen geformt und sie zu dem gemacht hat, was sie heute ist.
Comments
Post a Comment