By Jason Roeder
Berklee.edu Correspondent
October 2002

	Photo by Kim Grant
	Eric's Audio • "Ukweli" (E. Wainana) Listen: slow | fast

Eric Wainaina's brother lost interest in the piano his parents had bought for him, but Wainaina scooted onto the bench in his brother's place. Wainaina has spent two decades making sure his brother's present didn't go to waste.

A native of Nairobi, Kenya, Wainaina grew up at a crossroads of musical styles. There were the traditional songs in the Kikuyu language of Wainaina's tribe, played by his aunts and uncles and taught in school. There were the hits of Kenyan pop musicians who often sang in Swahili, one of that country's main languages in addition to English. And when Wainaina turned on the radio, there was just about everything else.

"I listened to quite a bit of Western music," says the 28-year-old Wainaina, a Music Production and Engineering/Songwriting dual major. "The Jackson 5, ABBA, R.E.M.—there's a lot more Western music on Kenyan radio than Kenyan music."

Wainaina first took the stage in elementary school productions of Gilbert and Sullivan and Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals. By the time he had reached the end of high school, he was singing tenor solos at festivals. It was also around this time that Wainaina really began immersing himself in a cappella music. Inspired by groups such as Take 6 and Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a South African group best known in the West for its work on Paul Simon's Graceland album, Wainaina and some friends formed 5 Alive.

"We toured Kenya extensively," Wainaina says. "We'd have three or four gigs a weekend. We'd sing a lot of gospel, so we'd sing in churches maybe twice or thrice on Sunday, while the day before we sang at a wedding or some kind of youth meeting."

As 5 Alive gained popularity at home, it enjoyed higher-profile performances, including the opportunity to open for r&b/soul superstar Barry White. Propelled by their success in Kenya, Wainaina and his fellow 5 Alive vocalists tried their luck abroad. Though they picked up gigs in Switzerland, England, and Northern Ireland, the stardom they sought was much more evasive than they hoped for.

"We went to the UK in search of fame and fortune," Wainaina says, "both of which eluded us...I think a cappella wasn't what the market was looking for at the time."

The group returned to Kenya in search of a plan. Wainaina had been acquainted with Berklee through alumnus Eric Ajuoga, and when he recalled the success of Berklee graduates such as Quincy Jones '51, he realized his next step would take him farther than he had ever been from home.

"I felt that Berklee was where I needed to be," Wainaina says.

Photo by Justin A. Knight
Eric's Top Five Albums: • Toyebi te – Lokua Kanza • Nothing to Lose – Youssou N'dour- • Paivepo – Oliver Mtukudzi • Graceland – Paul Simon • So Cool – Take 6   Honorable Mentions: • Nothing Like the Sun – Sting • Nomathemba – Ladysmith Black Mambazo

All the members of 5 Alive were accepted for admission to the college, but only three chose to enroll. Suddenly, a prominent artist in his homeland, Wainaina found himself surrounded by talented musicians.

"At first, it was a bit intimidating," Wainaina says. "One of the first experiences I had was bumping into a couple of guys in the hall who asked me to jam with them. So I sat down at the piano and started playing, but I just couldn't keep up. Then one of the guys got up and said, 'Let me play for a while.' He had amazing chops—and he was the drummer."

Wainaina is now in his eighth semester and, of the three former members of 5 Alive to have entered Berklee, is the only one remaining at the college. Chris left to study acting in New York; Victor returned to Kenya to work in a studio. But Wainaina, at the cusp of graduation, doesn't regret sticking with Berklee. He's learned so much.

"The help I got with my lyric writing really stands out," Wainaina says. "And my production classes have helped me make decisions with my music, decisions I never had to make before on my own because we always used to decide things as a group. Now, I'm making the calls."

He's making the right calls, too. His first solo album, Sawa Sawa, has taken off in Kenya and includes the smash "Nchi ya Kitu Kidogo" (Swahili for "Land of 'A Little Something'"), a protest against corruption in his country's government and a statement that has made him something of a national folk hero. But when his stay at Berklee is complete, Wainaina plans to move to New York. He's met with a manager there who handles African artists, and who knows what other contacts he'll make? That's just the near future, however. One day, he'll go home to fulfill his dream.

"I want to open a world-class studio in Kenya where world-class artists can have a recording safari," Wainaina says. "You record for a while, then you go out and see the country, see the wildlife."

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