By Natalie Nyathi
Australian based gospel artist Realm Minister, is coming back in the new year to shoot visuals for several of his latest works.
The Zhombe, Kwekwe born gospel crooner told Zim GBC NEWS that he has been working flat out in Australian Studios at the same time working by remote with Zimbabwe based producer Oskid.
” Am hoping to come back to Zimbabwe, to release those pending projects l have been doing because l have several videos that l have to shoot from back home”, he said.
Born Sindiso Nkomo, Realm Minister says he has faced a lot of challenges, sometimes resorting to selling livestock in order to finance his projects. Realm Minister recounts how he started having an interest in being a musician when at a tender age of 7, he turned school furniture into musical instruments.
When at home, he made guitars out of empty olive oil gallons and he converted other empty tins into drums.
“l used to ask my mom to bring me those empty olive oil gallons every time she took my dad on medical check-ups. l would then produce a musical instruments from these empty tins”, he said.
He tells Zim GBC NEWS that being raised in a rural set up, for him was no obstacle as he saw his road to stardom in the music industry as clear as a major freeway in a first world country.
” That Zeal and Passion l had for music continued to grow and spread in me. I tell you that by the time l got to high school,l was certain l had the ‘it’ factor. I then moved to Bulawayo in 2006 after an influential member of the AFM church, who is my brother in law discovered my talents”.
Sindiso Nkomo ( Realm Minister) then got the opportunity to enter a recording studio for the first time, to record what would be his first work to be put down wax.
“I released my debut album entitled ‘My Covenant with God’, in 2011 with the help of Pastor Charles Charamba. l salute him for laying a solid foundation for my recording career.
The hardworking Realm Minister then took a sojourn from recording in order to promote his debut album. But he did not really stay away for long because he was back in the studio three years later in order to record a body of works he later titled ‘ Realm of Worship’.
This 2014 sophomore effort consisted of eight tracks and out of those eight, only one was Shona and the rest English.
” My second album didn’t do very well on the market, but what we can note is that my first ever video came from one of the eight tracks that made Realm of Worship”.
Realm Minister also ‘gives props’ to another industry giant, Minister Michael Mahendere.
“By the grace of God, I got help from my brother and mentor in music Minister Michael Mahendere at the time he was busy with his own record called Getting Personal with God 2”.
” I had almost quit music at the time after being duped by a Bulawayo based producer am not going to mention
I then moved to Harare where l met Jabulani Ndhlovhu. ln 2017, l also got to work with Tinashe Magacha and l then decided to stop singing in Shona and English and employ my mother tongue that is Ndebele”, said Sindiso Nkomo ( Realm Minister).
The result from my collabo with Magacha was a song titled ‘Thelu moya’ produced by Carven Gumbanjera. This effort was launched at Kwekwe mining museum hall and the results received were encouraging.
“From there l then discovered that the people that followed my music wanted me to concentrate on songs such as Thelu’moya”, he added.
“In 2019 Nkomo (Realm Minister) came up with ‘Hamba Vangeli’ which he recorded with one of the most sought after producers Oskid, however, he had to dig deeper into his pockets in order to afford studio time with this A list producer.
“I have no regrets for the production costing me an arm and a leg, because
Hamba Vangeli’ received massive airplay on many Gospel Charts and got into the top 10. This made me finally realise my new style was working”, he said.
In Australia, where he moved to in the beginning of 2022, he has recorded a duet with that country’s renowned gospel recording artist Chloe Jones. The cut is entitled ‘ He is Risen’, which talks about how Jesus died for humanity and the benefits of the cross.
This song is set to be released in the first half of January 2023. He has also not stopped working with Oskid as he has several volumes of unreleased material that he and the Harare based producer are still polishing.