Musical group recounts journey to the top

Juukua the Band started their music career back in 2012 while singing cover songs during events but over time they have been able to establish their own unique sound making them one of the biggest music groups coming from the Coast.

The group comprising four people namely, Juliet Mumia, Winnie Bwire, Enos Opiyo and Victoria Ofula, released their first song in 2013 titled “Expression” that talked about the challenges married couples face in relationships.

They later released the song “Minwa”, which they sang in Luo.

MOTHER

Minwa is a Luo word meaning (our mother). They say the song was basically about the mother who is in the society.

“You will find that most of us were raised by mothers and we wanted to celebrate them. We also wanted to celebrate the women who are not popular, as society tends to celebrate mostly the popular people,” said Mumia, one of the vocalist of the group.

But it is with their recent song ‘Fading Flower’ that rose them to instant stardom. The song is slightly relaxed and different to their usual style of music.

The song is a soft ballad that opens with a smooth saxophone and talks of love in all forms of life.

FIRST SONG

“Fading flower was the very first song we wrote as a band, but held on to it because at that time we were not sure on how the market and music industry would receive it. Ballard’s were not so much a Kenyan thing three years ago,” said Bwire, also a vocalist in the group.

Their story has been a turbulent one, but the band members are still committed to their dream to share their love for music and art with the rest of the world.

“It was not easy but what I can say is that it took a lot of hard work. You cannot just sit around and wait for someone to do something for you,” they say of their musical journey.

Other well-known music groups include the girl group Linda, who also shared their journey in music on the Lit 360 show on NTV and the website www.lit360.africa

For the band, when they are not in the studio you will find them at an event serenading revelers with their sweet mellow voices.

PAY FOR STUDIO

And this has helped them sustain themselves as recording artistes since it ensures that there is a steady flow of money that enables them to pay for studio time and also shoot videos for their music.

So what next for them? “Obviously record more music and release an album. We also want to be able to take it a notch higher to the international music scene and be recognized there as well,” says Ms Bwire.