COLUMN
February 17, 2007
Posted to the web February 20, 2007
Joseph Ssemutooke
Kampala
He was born and bred in the Kampala suburb of Kasubi. His gifted hands can satisfactorily play a wide array of musical instruments, ranging from the hard-to-master keyboard to the bass guitar. He is behind a great chunk of the songs that have rocked Kampala over the past couple of years, and celebrated and obscure artistes alike incessantly grapple for the opportunity to work with him.
He is Tony Makumbi of Dream Studios in Kamwokya, known to most as Tony Houls, the maker, together with Eddie Yawe, of such hits as Taata w'abaana, Ssente, Babigambo Boys and Fire Anthem.
Like many other celebrated musicians around the world, Tony Houls had his musical talents develop beneath the solemnity of church walls, courtesy of his parents' subscription to the born-again Christian faith.
"My mother was part of the choir of Glory of Christ Church in Kasubi," he says of his entrance into the world of music, "so I crossed paths with music early in life. But what interested me most were the instruments and I set out to learn to play them. I turned out to make quick progress."
By the time he reached P5 Tony could play the keyboard quite well, and within no time he could play the bass guitar as well. A couple of years down the road, he had mastered the instruments.
He recalls: "By S3 ( in 2000, at Nakasero Secondary School) I had become a key instrumentalist in the worship team and I would be summoned from school to play at crusades. That is the time I got the name Houls, given me by the Pastor Hebert Kiwanuka."
About the same time he met Yaawe, the owner of Dream Studios, who helped him begin the journey in to professional music. Yaawe, then a struggling singer, had formed a group called Dimensions 2000, comprising future stars like Phoebe Nassolo, Ronnie Ndawula, Betty Mpologoma and the Late Kezia Nambi, and he asked Tony to help them with studio work. Tony joined hands with the group and they released a number of tracks, of which only one, which had a political inclination, made any impact: the Democratic Party hired the group to perform the song at its rallies in Masaka in 2001.
Just then Yaawe got a scholarship to study Public Communications in Norway and Dimensions 2000 fell asunder. Tony, heart-broken, fell back to his studies while operating a video library along Luwum Street.
But Yaawe, who had relocated from Norway to the US, had not given up his music aspirations. He still harboured his dream of setting up a music production house and he let Tony in on the dream. He would call and reassure Tony that he was returning to fulfill it, and after one year he returned and set up what is today known as Dream Studio. And since then Tony has never looked back, but has gone on to become an accomplished music maker.
What makes Tony successful is his burning love for music. He spends more time in the studio than anywhere else, more than with his family.
"Sometimes I get into trouble with my family over spending very little time with them, but I always try to make them realise my situation," he confesses. "This studio is open 24 hours, and many times I have to come very early and leave very late. Like today, I came here at 3:00am and will not leave until after 10:00pm. But that is what the job requires."
Couple that with his humble and polite character, and there is no way success could elude Tony. Despite having been behind such monster hits as Never Trust, Ssunda and Funtula, he possesses not even a scintilla of vanity, addressing all and sundry with honour in a most soft-spoken manner.
Perhaps the abundant humility is born out of the fact that Tony has led a pious life ever since he was a child. "My parents raised me with Christian principles, and to this day I have upheld Christian values," he says. "I am currently a member of Pastor Kameese's Praise Christian Centre at Sheraton Hotel, and I revere God more than anything. It is
He says working in a secular environment doesn't affect his relationship with God.
He is the producer of a number of well-known gospel artistes including the electrifying Martin Sseku, Ronnie Mukisa and Gad Lule.
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