Former 061 front man Le-Roy Vladimir Mohamed popularly known as Quido in the music circles, has been making sure business thrives in this ever competing market.
Recently he and his team hosted the Boulevard aka BLVD Fest, which aims to bring life to the Central Business District (CBD) after hours. He told Entertainment Now! that most people leave the CBD after 17h00 weekdays and weekends its quiet.’’We wanted to use the non-conventional space to make it look good and attract people to come together and have a good time. The Boulevard is a unique celebration of tastes, smells, sounds and sights’’ he explained.
They have turned it into a 3-day event, which includes everything from food, drinks, retails, craft stalls to brands that want to display their merchandise and get the word out there. It took place from 28 February till 1 March 2020, while plans are underway to see how frequent they can host it.
As the year progresses more festivals are the talk of the town as they compete for revellers to frequent their events. Quido and company wanted to take a place that after trading hours isn’t regarded as safe in the CBD and change that tone to say it can be safe and enjoyable at the same time.’’We have securities that closed off the event. Also usually the events are huge in magnitude especially festivals and we wanted to tone it down yet get it to be exciting for our clients’’ he said.
Never one to shy away from hard work he is involved in several other industries that include food & beverage, a private school in the CBD, vending machines and convenience services just to mention a few.
When quizzed if he will ever return to the music business the “Die For My City” and ‘’Soweto’’ hitmaker said he misses the industry a lot when he hears new sounds and old sounds.’’ To be honest I do see myself recording something again. Perhaps not performing, as I do not like the hype that comes with it, but recording just for the sake of creating good music. I have been approached by several guys and I am always keen. The biggest issue is timing’’ he confessed.
He believes that currently, the job market is not favourable for anyone. More people need to become job creators and not job seekers. To start creating or selling something, because anything and everything has value to someone.
‘’For musicians and youngsters, In Namibia – most of them don’t benefit by being a household name, being famous and don’t get to make money from it. I would say use that fame and propel into a business. There are plenty of creators out there that have huge social media following. Just monetise it’’ he ended.
slunyangwe@nepc.com.na