Denis Manuel
Evelina Castone discovered her talent for singing soon after she gave her life to Jesus Christ six years ago in grade 12.
Upon joining the church choir of the Burning Fire Ministry, she soon became the lead singer and while contemplating if she can really sing for a larger number of people, found herself recording her first album in the studio.
The 28-year-old Castone, who was born and raised in Tsandi in the Omusati region, recently released her debut album ‘Ehoololo’, which means choice. It consists of 12 tracks and she composed all tracks with the exception of track 7 (Uuyelele) which was composed by Daniel Babi.
“This album really shocked me because I never knew that I was going to release it last year, as everything just happened so fast. At the time, it was very hard for me to get money, I never had a sponsor but all gratitude goes to God almighty for the life of my biological mother Emma Katoma who assisted me financially,” Castone told VIBEZ!
In terms of collaborations, she worked with Psalmist Frans, Mathew Kinnoe and Lala Sackeus, and on production, the whole album was recorded, produced and mastered by Jux Adolf of Tulela Music Production.
“Moving forward by God’s grace, I hope to expand my career and experiences across different music industries, particularly gospel,” she noted. Sharing her musical journey, Castone said her brother David Lukula always used to say “Evelina loves music.”
“He was mad about music too, and began to teach me vocals and some strategies on how to become a better singer one day.”
With his motivation, she started listening to South African Gospel artists, which led her to become a fan of the late Lundi and Dumi Mkostad.
Challenges
In terms of the challenges experienced along the way, Castone said being a female musician has not been easy at all.
“You need to be a good songwriter, a good graphic artist, a good PR (public relations) person, a good manager, and a good engineer. Why? Because if you’re simply a good musician, you’re not good enough. I think this is the case in many industries. I always feel like I have to be doing everything for me to be given respect, whereas a male musician can be given respect just for being awesome at music. A female musician has to work that much harder to prove herself in all areas of the business. It’s not easy work at all,” she explained.
Her intention at the start was to change her life and wanted to create an album from which she could launch her career as a vocalist or at least take the first step on her newly-discovered path.
She said Ehoololo has transformed her as a person because when she began the journey, she didn’t anticipate the experience would be so rich. “My plan is to focus on my music career, hoping that this career shall change and build our next future generation through the powerful message in it.”
Christians don’t support gospel music
Another challenge she experienced is her lack of marketing skills.
“There’s a big challenge because gospel musicians can only perform in churches or make shows for themselves to generate income but the problem is many Christians don’t really support gospel that much. People in bars, shebeens and clubs know the meaning of support and they support well.”
Castone encouraged fellow gospel artists to come together in one spirit, love, unity and support each other and the Lord Almighty shall elevate them.
“Don’t listen to what the mockeries are saying about gospel musicians/music, focus on the talent you have because it is from God.”
She has a suggestion to avoid people sharing artists’ work without permission, saying: “I’m thinking, if possible, producers should come up with a system of locking songs for it not be shared via WhatsApp.”
– mdenissanie@gmail.com