Formula Indie Sessions : Interview with Benedicte Bayombe

What is your earliest memory connected to music?

I discovered that  I could sing when I was 10 years old. That day, I was a little bit sick and I started singing while being in pain and it was the first time I could realize that I had a beautiful voice. I was singing before but I didn’t pay attention to how I sounded. However , that day I was sick, I was able to listen to myself carefully. From that day I started singing in class during breaks and some of my  colleagues also told me that I had a beautiful voice. We were in 5th grade at that time(called 5th grade of primary school in my country if I try to translate it from French ). My colleagues’ appreciation encouraged me to sing more. I remember that some of them were already singing in their church choirs while I wasn’t singing in any choir at that time and  they were trying to compete with me most of the time when I tried to sing during breaks but some other colleagues were saying that my voice sounded better and it encouraged me to sing whenever I could, my singing became so noisy when trying to sing at home that my father started complaining that I was making noises. 

How did your passion for creating music begin?

My passion for creating music started in Russia, where I traveled to study because I got a scholarship from my local government. I wrote a free style and combined it  with the song “Here I am to worship” by Tim Hughes while attending a French church during my first year at the university. My pastor’s wife at the time appreciated  my remix kind of interpretation of the song. After my first year of Russian language learning, I had to move to another city  according to my scholarship program. In my new city there were no French churches so I started attending an English church ( church where the service is in English) and my leader there had a project to create a group with the choir where she wanted to work on her songs for release. When I spoke to her about my project to start recording songs in the studio, she told me that she was also going to create a group and that I was welcome to join so we can help each other to fulfill our music projects. My first song is titled “ Here I am” , an interpretation of the song “Here I am to Worship”  by Tim Hughes and it was released on December 17th, 2017 on YouTube which is my anniversary as a gospel artist.

What’s the story behind your current music project?

My next song will be entitled “ Yesu” , which means “Jesus”. It’s actually in Lingala, one of our national languages in The Democratic Republic of Congo. It’s all about God’s love and faithfulness in people’s lives. The story behind it is that we go through a lot in life but God has shown me, especially,  love and faithfulness throughout the years and I believe that many other people can testify of God’s love and faithfulness nowadays.

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?

My music is all about God’s love through Jesus Christ. People listening to my music will be able to discover who Jesus Christ is and how it is like to be a Christian. All my songs’ lyrics are actually focused on speaking about Jesus Christ and testifying about his love and faithfulness. My prayers are always that someone could find faith and strength in this chaotic world through my music. 

What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?

First of all, it is important to mention that after graduating from high school, I attended a Catholic Church’s classic choir for nearly 1year back in my home country(DRC), then I started singing in Evangelical Church choirs when I was in Russia( for about 3 years). From my experience, I’ve learned that hard work and professionalism is very important in music. Christians are most of the time focused on the spiritual side of gospel music but it’s important to remember that God is also excellent. So, we need to add some hard work and professionalism in what we are doing, to touch more people. This completely changed my way of making music because I discovered that some people don’t feel comfortable listening to unprofessional music, it irritates them, they may listen to it once but that will be it, they won’t be willing to listen to it in the future. So, prayers, hard work plus professionalism will surely produce blissful and outstanding music. 

What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?

I think that an excellent soundtrack, an amazing studio,  an excellent music producer as well as an amazing and loyal backup choir is essential in a creative process. 

Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?

As for now, I’m enjoying “Goodness of God” by Cece Winans. 

How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?

What I’ve been through my whole life till today proves that God is Loving and Faithful and when I started doing music, I decided to focus my music message on God’s Love and Faithfulness through Jesus Christ. 

What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?

I want them to realize how Great God’s Love and Faithfulness is. 

 What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?

Having released a total of 12 songs ( 5 songs as an EP and 7 songs as an Album), music taught me that releasing many songs in one year is good but making sure that your work is excellent before releasing it to the world is better than just being in a rush to release songs. Moreover, patience is very important in the music field. 

What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?

 I’d like to perform anywhere God will send me according to his will, I  really don’t have a specific favourite place , I can perform at as many places as possible where God may allow me to. 

If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?

I’d like to perform with Cece Winans one day,  having her as my music mentor will be a good opportunity for me. She has been in the gospel music industry for years and I could see that she is a faithful woman of God full of integrity. 

Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website,Spotify, IG, links)

You can listen to my music on YouTube and Spotify and you can follow me on TikTok, Facebook and instagram. Here are my links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1APNodpLUF/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/benedicte_bayombe?igsh=MWk2c3o3d2xxZjY5YQ==

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@benedictebayombeniwa?_r=1&_t=ZT-92rc60S4DmQ

YouTube: https://youtube.com/@benedictebayombe?si=UmOYeopJwmV4AIbF

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1NkFjje7Y3pnqvE6UhxRZy?si=wCi4UfBPT4KU16LiCObGZQ

Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?

My dream is to be able to release all the songs that I’ve written. I also hope I find a  producer because I don’t have any producer right now, I’m still an independent artist. 

What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?

I hope they will discover a sister in Christ in me and a living testimony that they can believe in Jesus Christ and count on him, he never fails.