Noel Nderitu: Social Media is my stage

Who are you and what do you do? Noel Nderitu is what happens when you mix good music and faith. That's how I would summarise it. I am a singer songwriter and I have been doing this for about four years now as a solo act. Before, I played a lot of session stuff for other musicians, directed music, did live performances and so forth but I started doing my own thing in 2013. That was when I released my first album called My Kind of Music.

As we speak, your newest album, The Bridge, is number 1 on itunes in Kenya. How did you manage that and how does it make you feel? The release was online and I just told people it was on itunes and they responded. It is encouraging because if a certain number of people are listening, it means I am making an impact somewhere. That is what keeps me going, because if your focus is money or fame, you will never have enough. I summarize my focus as 'impact' whether it's on one or a thousand people. I try not to base my achievement on something that is insatiable and will always be, regardless of the season, so that when I wake up I still want to do it.

Your song, 'You' from that album really blew up my Facebook timeline. (Laughs) That was the plan! Because I had been quiet since my first album in 2013, I did not know how to tell people I was back with new music and get it out there. A friend suggested that I get someone to do a cover and I ran with that. I asked the whole internet, asked everyone to do a cover. That is why before the song landed there was a lot of buzz online. That way, people learnt about the song from other people before it actually came out.

And you ended up with over 80 covers! Yes! It's the most covered Kenyan song. By the time it came out, a big percentage knew the song already. It was a good example of how one can now use social media because all the radio and TV stations that play that song got it off Youtube. I did not drop it to anyone. They just saw that buzz, went online, downloaded it and played it on their shows.

Is there a story behind it? "You" came from me seeing a lot of women I knew looking down on themselves, because the world says certain things about them so they either felt they were not beautiful enough or they had to do certain things to get attention from men and be something that they weren't.

I'd feel helpless over what I could say to them to make them feel beautiful and worth it, so I wrote the song so that for at least the four minutes and ten seconds that it lasts, they would feel like the most valuable thing in the world, and hope that it carries over after the song and changes the their world. It was like a hug to all women.

Are you dating anyone? Yes I am! I have been dating someone for one year, but that's all I'm going to say (laughs).

What's the story behind the album itself? I called the album the Bridge because I wrote a lot of those songs at a time where I felt helpless, and those songs acted as a bridge from point A of being helpless to point B of receiving strength. I wanted people to have a bridge for themselves as well if they relate to the songs.

And you do almost everything by yourself, unsigned and with no manager. It is not that I only want to do everything by myself, because if I feel like you are adding value to me I will give you an ear. I just have a rhythm that works perfectly for what I do and I love to have creative control. I produce most of my songs. On Bridge I produced five songs. There is nothing wrong with being signed, but for me you have to be able to do something for me that I can't do for myself. That way, Bridge came from a bedroom, morphed into a mixing room, now it is number one on itunes.

Do you make money from it? Yes! This is what I do full time. Some months are great, others are not, but I make enough to live comfortably. When the months are not great, I have learnt to look at my skillset and see what else it can do for me. Be smart about it. You have a certain window where you are... Like playing in studio sessions and teaching musicians. In Kenya, you cannot be closed-minded in the arts.

You describe yourself as the only live musician with a vlog. How is that? We have a music industry that has a commercial or mainstream sound, but there is an alternative sound rising up. A big part of alternative sound constitutes of live musicians, most of whom do not conform to the mainstream sound. In their concerts they play live instruments in a live setting. So out of that alternative scene, I'm the only one with a vlog. I am not solely this type of musician, but the demographic I appeal to more is those people who go for live shows.

What's the purpose of the vlog? The model today has moved from mystery to relatability, so the premise was so that people could constantly be aware of what I was doing. I decided to demystify what the process looks like and break it down for people. I put out content that is not necessarily songs, but is based around my music and my life, to make it very involving and make you feel like you are part of the process. I don't want to see a clean Instagram, I want you to see me do the normal thing. If someone can relate with you, even your music becomes more personal to them. It humanizes you.

Where do you perform? I could go from a corporate gig to an acoustic gig to a wedding gig. I am also passionate about the acoustic scene. The acoustic scene is also growing, where it is stripped down to the bare minimum elements like just me and a guitar or me and a piano and it is very intimate. There are small spots that do house concerts, so if you also count those as gigs....

So are you a Christian artist? I can fit into the church mold and still play a gig at the Alchemist without compromising. I do not like being boxed into a certain label. But every song I have written is from a personal experience and has always been informed by my faith. It keeps me sane and grounded in my faith.