BANDASSERY
By The Too Early For Birds Collective:
Hellen Masido, Bryan Ngartia, Abubakar Majid, Brian Njagi, Mercy Mutisya, Gathoni Kimuyu, Wanjiku Mwawuganga – Book and Lyrics
Mbogua Mbugua Mbugua and Eugene Kanyugo- Music and Lyrics
An armed bank robbery goes so wrong that the gang ends up in another time period. A wild, witty, street-slang rap and romantic journey through Kenyan crime stories and Kenya’s musical history.
Writer & Composer Profiles
Abubakar Majid, Writer & Composer
Abu Sense; also Sensei, is an actor, filmmaker, spoken word artist, script writer and musician from Nairobi, Kenya.
He co-created Too Early for Birds; a successful theatrical and multimedia show detailing excerpts from Kenyan history through a youthful take, and can now be found in various studios and film sets across the country.
Putting his work together into bodies of work in order to answer questions like, “where can I find your work?”
Brian Ngartia, Writer & Composer
‘Ngartia’ is a Kenyan writer, poet and thespian who’s been active in the Kenyan performance scene since 2011. One of the most prolific writer-performers of his generation, he has juggled fiction, poetry, non-fiction and drama.
As part of his work as a director of Story Zetu, a Kenyan content production company, he is one of the co-founders of Too Early For Birds, a series of storytelling productions based on Kenyan history.
He has performed around Kenya and East Africa. He recently gave a TEDx talk and performed at the UN in collaboration with UN-Habitat.
His name has appeared in the credits of some Kenyan TV shows. Repeatedly, he has sworn that he is not known for bad puns on social media.
He is currently the main adlib conceiver for Bandassery - the Story Zetu musical in NBO-MTI.
Gathoni Kimuyu, Writer & Composer
Gathoni Kimuyu is a producer, writer, actor and digital content creator. She has honed her craft while working on several Kenyan TV shows which air in the country and regionally. She is also responsible for a number or highly effective TV ads. In the last three years, Gathoni has delved into theatre, revolutionizing how Kenyan stage productions approach media and PR.
She was part of the founding team that created the immensely successful series of stage productions based on Kenyan History; Too Early For Birds. She is part of Story Zetu, the production company responsible for the series, and has produced the two most recent and most successful editions: The Brazen Edition (stories of Kenyan women as researched, written and staged by women) and The Tom Mboya Edition. Gathoni is also very active online, notably so on twitter.
Over the years, she has been at the forefront of the Kenyan digital community. In 2012, she started #VerbalIntercourse, a sex-positive platform to combat the stigma and shame around sex conversations in Kenya. She has since been part of several impactful digital campaigns, including podcasts in partnership with leading brands. As a survivor, Gathoni also campaigns against gender based violence and for women empowerment.
In 2019, she gave a TED Talk on her experience with GBV. Gathoni enjoys writing, travel, meeting new people, talking, listening to music, charity work, and a good laugh accompanied by good food.
Hellen Masido, Writer, Composer
Hellen Masido is a writer, photographer and filmmaker with a BA in Theatre Arts and Film from Kenyatta University. She's also a fabric artist who dedicates her nifty hands to designing film sets as well as creating props for theatre.
A starter, she and a couple of friends in 2011 founded Story Zetu, the company that now produces the hugely successful theatrical Too Early For Birds.
She has been a stage manager for the show; and is currently working on adapting the staged stories into short films especially for children and young adults.
When not creating art, Hellen enjoys hiking, gardening, reading fiction and watching films. She does not play favorites with books, movies or music but ranks Janelle Monae pretty highly.
Mercy Mutisya, Writer & Composer
Mercy M. Mutisya lives in art. She is an award-winning filmmaker, recording and performing artist, writer and researcher with several commendable projects under her belt.
She was part of the research and writing team in the Tom Mboya Show, courtesy of the Too Early For Birds team.
She was also part of the stellar cast who put up an outstanding performance that left the audience thrilled and critics enthralled. Her writing skills have opened doors to different media houses in Kenya, where she has taken part in developing various TV shows.
Other than film and theatre, Mercy is curving a niche for herself in the music scene. Her vocals and song writing skills are beyond tip top. We can't wait to see what more she has in
Mbogua Mbugua Mbugua, Composer
Also known as M³ is a musician, record producer and an instrumental. Born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya he began his musical journey at the age of 6 playing piano. Later on he picked up drums and trumpet in primary.
He began production during his final exams of high school after playing drums and keys in different bands and church looking to go to the next level. Having produced and worked with various artists in Kenya, M³ has created many styles of music.
He first interacted with the Too Early For Birds Crew in June 2018 and they hit it off right away. They began developing the Bandassery Musical with Eugene Kanyugo, a fantastic musician, creating new songs and tunes.store for the world!
Eugene Kanyugo, Composer
What do I do? Law student, pianist and bass guitarist. Current projects: Band-assery (with musical arrangements on Rambo Bambo Boom)
Why am I here? Currently battling with the struggle every lost soul in the artistic world with a foot anywhere else does. Where do I go, which one is for me, where do they meet? But one thing is for sure. Kanyugo is a law student by choice; a musician by heart; and powerful beyond measure to make those worlds meet and make the ends more than do so too while at it.
Why Band-assery? Right question is, why the hell not? Going berserk with the grooviest Kenyan criminal and musical influences from back in the day not only excites the musical bone in me, but I get to work with the most hilarious and amazing humans who could only but have been idols to me before some of these projects. So yes, not only do I get to share my skill and talent in music with some of the most creative writers and musicians in the industry, but I guess it doesn’t hurt to occasionally save them from potential intellectual property offences in the process.
Thanks NBO MTI (Kanyugo Out!)