Mi Casa: On fame and their quest to go international

When the three of you started out, did you think you would get this far?

We thought we would be this group that performs at corporate functions and sells only 5,000 CD copies. We never imagined what the bigger picture would look like. It is amazing that we are hitting the African market hard and have grown internationally. The love we are getting from Africa is so much, the collaborations with Wizkid, Yemi Alade, Sauti Sol and Eddy Kenzo are incredible... and there’s more to come. We are making amazing music and we are having fun on this journey.

Did you also perform at weddings, like most bands do when they are building their careers?

We did everything, we were joking the other day that the only place we haven’t played at is a funeral. And guess what, we ended up playing at a friend’s funeral who was in the television industry. We have played everywhere, from the most dangerous places to the safest. That’s why we always say we don’t choose where we go, but where our fans want us to be.

Was Sauti Sol the first East African collaboration you did?

Yes, the guys are so amazing. We met them by chance and we started making music in a lift. We met in Tanzania. We were there for some awards when we bumped into them in an elevator and exchanged details. It was as simple as: “Guys, let’s lay this track down”.

In the song ‘Fo fo fo’, what does the line ‘Ikibamba sana wapi nduru’ mean?

Somewhere in the song it says let’s party and have some fun; from there let’s go and rest (laugh).

You have toured the world and possibly made lots of money; what’s the biggest lesson you have learnt about money?

We have learnt its value, that we shouldn’t be controlled by it. Yes, it’s good for our career and for maintaining our lifestyles but we will never let it get to our heads. But we have never been in this for money, we just want to make good music and let it unite the world. Not once have we mentioned how much we want to make as a group. We can’t predict how much money we want to make, just as we can’t predict how big we are going to be.

In the ‘Movie Star’ video with Ugandan singer Eddy Kenzo, J’Something looks very comfortable with rollers in his hair at the salon...

He actually loves those types of things, he’s not scared of trying out things. Dr Duda, too, who is the producer of the group, likes to be adventurous.

Are you all in relationships?

Mo-T is married and we are single.

Mo-T, how do you deal with female fans because it can’t be easy for your wife?

It’s a decision I made at the beginning of my career because of the type of person I want to be perceived as. I’m a family man and a guy who loves spending time with his family. At the same time, I have my career and I love it. I’m blessed to have a wife who understands this and she has been supporting me from the start. She’s really been great. I’m glad I chose her because if I decided to have many girlfriends, I would have been lost, considering how much we travel. It’s all about being happy and knowing that I have structure.

When ‘writer’s block’ strikes musically, how do you guys get out of it?

We usually hold the song back until we are happy. We sit down, even if it’s just one person who’s not feeling the track and two are okay with it. We will not release it until we are all dancing to it. That’s how it’s been with all of our albums. We have to be excited about the song or wait for a sign that it’s going to be huge. Sometimes we are right and other times we are wrong.

Whom do you trust to listen to your songs before releasing them?

We just go over own songs, but we do get advice from close friends and family and we call people over for listening parties to see what they think. We don’t want to be big-headed and think we know everything. 

Sometimes you get racist comments on YouTube, how do you deal with such?

We do read them, but we dwell only on the positive. We don’t go there to start arguments because people have their own issues. We don’t want to be held back by arguments. 

Do you care about YouTube views?

We do, because it shows the amount of support we get as a group, who is looking at our music and where we are going with our career. Sometimes we think our fans are just from certain places but others are from countries we never thought of. We have fans who are just waiting for Mi Casa to get to their country.