Unsung Hero: Dr Mavovo and Namibia’s Music Evolution

Legendary Namibian producer Elvo Diergaardt deserves a medal for adding value to Namibian music during a time when foreign acts dominated the local entertainment scene.

Apart from Jackson Kaujeua, Willie Mbuende, Ras Sheehama and a handful of other artists, Namibian music lovers in the 90s would mostly get excited when acts from outside the country, such as Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Brenda Fassie and Lucky Dube, were headlined to perform.

However, Diergaardt, better known as ‘Dr Mavovo’, introduced a sense of patriotism and love for our own music as he rose to become an instrumental producer to introduce classic hits.

Born at Rehoboth and raised by a single mother, he is down to earth, humble, soft-spoken and hardworking.

Dr Mavovo started his music career as a lyricist for rap group Noble Lashes in 1993.

The group won the best best vocal group category at the national music awards in 1995, then known as the Namibia Music Makers Awards.

However, the music wizard’s journey then shifted towards producing and sound engineering.

“We were part of a music competition at the Franco Namibian Cultural Centre with some other acts. And even though we did not win, there was someone in the audience who enjoyed our performance, and we were chosen to go to France in 1998 as part of a sponsored trip to perform,” he says.

The trip was in tandem with the France 1998 Fifa Soccer World Cup tournament, where the group went on to compete against other acts from Africa and Europe.

“When I was in France with my crew, some of the acts that were there advised me to rather pursue production, because that was where my interest was,” he says.

Dr Mavovo says he taught himself the trade until he mastered it.

“We did not have the internet and things like Google. I bought myself a magazine about production every month. I collected those magazines for three years, and that is how I gained my knowledge.

“I was also lucky to sometimes go to the NBC analogue recording studios and watch from a distance how the producers were working. From this I picked up a thing or two,” he says.

From there, he says he built his own computer from scratch, and that is where many hits like ‘Shidolodolo’, ‘Take Out Your Gun’, ‘Perfecto Tremendous Spectacular’ and ‘Piki Piki’ were produced.

He eventually got signed to work under production companies like Omalaeti, Deal Done Records and Ogopa Butterfly.

Dr Mavovo produced for acts like Matongo Family, Buti and Janice, D-Naff, PDK, Sunny Boy, Tekla, Ees, Exit, and PDK, as well as international acts like Speedy (from South Africa), Cabo Snoop (from Angola) and Naija Boy (from Nigeria).

He says today’s artists are different compared to those of yesteryear.

“Back in those years, you could see the artists’ passion. These guys were sweating when making music, because they knew there is no other way or outlet.

“Today’s artists make music like there is always a plan B, or like it is just a hobby,” he says.

Dr Mavovo has won the producer of the year accolade at the Sanlam/NBC Music Awards four times consecutively.

Often mistaken for a kwaito producer, Dr Mavovo is no one-trick pony, as he has produced and fused several genres, creating a sound unique to Namibia.

“Back then, when you won producer of the year, you had to produce an album for the artist of the year. It was one of the rules of the Sanlam/NBC Music Awards.

“That is why I ended up producing many albums for The Dogg, whom you now know as King Tee Dee, and Gazza.

“Many of those songs were just produced in my home studio with a microphone and computer. This is when I started with my production company, Lash Attractions, a name I got from my rap crew.

“I honestly fused a lot of sounds and instruments to create this unique Namibian sound,” he says.

Dr Mavovo later embarked on a journey to learn more about his craft as a student at the College of the Arts, where he studied music theory and took piano lessons.

He became a music lecturer at the same institution a few years later.

Currently, Dr Mavovo still produces independently and offers training for the Open Arms Music Project, as well as private producing classes.

He urges young people not to copy everything they see on television.

“This is a problem, because many of them don’t finish school, and they end up doing the wrong things, like drugs and crime.

“I just want to empower young people to be the best at what they do.”

– unWrap.online

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