Vocalist. He talks about his firsts. PHOTO BY CHRISTINE KATENDE
UP-CLOSE: Christopher Evans Kaweesi, popularly known as, Chris Evans is a renowned Ugandan songwriter, vocalist, recording and performing artiste. He hit the air waves in 2009. He tells CHRISTINE KATENDE about his firsts.
The first thing you do in the morning…
I thank God for taking me through the night and I dedicate my new day to him.
The first thing I do at work…
After breakfast, I go to my farm. (I have tomatoes, maize and poultry). I spend my day there and, I concentrate on music at the weekend. Unlike coparates or salary earners, I do not have a specific routine. There are days I have to hit the agro-input market to buy pesticides and other chemicals, feeds then proceed to the farm until close of day.
My first girlfriend…
A girl at the university (name withheld) but things did not go as I expected because we broke up after a year. I am uncomfortable disclosing details.
My first kiss…
It was with some girl at university in my first year, but I don’t want to talk about her.
My best friend…
Prisca Gertrude Nabakooza. She shares and is always ready to help.
My first earning ….
Shs20,000 from Rihanna and Ndisasulaki.
My first song was about Rihanna …
Because I had a crush on Rihanna, the American singer that I would hold a pillow tightly whenever I heard any of her songs. I felt as if we were together.
However, the lyrics in my song were about a girl I feared to approach still at the university yet I would continuously send her money and shower her with gifts through a friend for about six months. When I eventually opened up, she rejected me without giving me a reason.
What I like about my career…
I came from a nobody to a somebody. Many undermined me from childhood. It is the opposite now, I am respected by many because of my career, I have met and interacted with people of high profile.
My fear is…
Approaching a girl because I fear being rejected. The fact is that the people who surrounded me while I was growing up contributed a lot to my low self-esteem and that’s why it takes me long to accept people’s compliments, I at times think they are being sarcastic.
My most memorable school experience…
In Primary Seven, a teacher sent me (the brightest pupil) for a pre-PLE English paper exercise (akasasi) and I refused to respond to his call. He got angry and said I was proud. I doubt it was the paper we sat for in the end.
The other scenario is about a plus size teacher who had made it routine to send me by the roadside to stop taxis for her. But one day, I saw her rushing to board the taxi I had stopped and I composed a song about her size, obunene bulinga bulwadde (being fat is equivalent to having an illness). I didn’t know she overheard me, I was punished the following day at the parade.
I will never forget…
When my people were against my music, yet they could not afford my tuition for my university course of choice (Medicine). I escaped from home because they had tried to chase me away several times.
On several occasions, I spent nights in old cars in the garages. The owners of such would also chase me away in the morning, referring me to as a beggar. But after releasing about four songs, I became a darling to my relatives and they called me back. Most of them depend on what I reap from my music.
Are you in a relationship?
No, I am busy preparing for my concert but I intend to embark on a search for a beautiful and hardworking woman thereafter. I gave relationships a break because I have been hurt many times.
Best advice I have ever received…
My late grandfather, Wilson Kalule cautioned me about being proud and to always mind my steps, what I do or even how I do things. This taught me to be humble.
Biggest regret…
Not knowing or even seeing my mother, I was told she passed on when I was very young. She did not live to enjoy the fruits of my sweat. I also regret losing a beautiful girl to another man. I didn’t trust her yet she loved me so much and I used to think she was mediocre. It is after she left that I released Neberela Eno.
What are you up to?
I am preparing for my Bwebinyuma Concert on July 5, 2019 at Club Obligato.
