Sereetsi streams to the natives in lockdown
Spira Tlhankane | Saturday April 11, 2020 14:28
While people are tired of their daily lockdown routine, the Serubing concert was an opportunity for the natives as his fans are called to keep sane.
The concert started at 7.30pm and Sereetsi said he wanted to allow people to finish up with the state of emergency issue first. This time around Sereetsi did not have a live band backing him, but all he had was his four strings guitar.
The man who some few years ago came up with the living room concert concept was performing for the natives right in the centre of his own living room. It was not just the fans but also some of the local musicians were watching and appreciated the effort shown by Sereetsi.
Sereetsi did not just perform but he kept interacting with his audience by responding to their comments throughout the hour-long concert. In an interview Sereetsi said it was the first time he did an online show.
“We are seated at home so I remembered that there were shows we were supposed to do like The Hamptons which were postponed. There are people who like live shows so it was only right that at this time when we are dealing with this COVID-19 we get people together to share their humanity,” he said.
Sereetsi said people are social animals because they like to mingle and get out there so the lockdown could be dehumanising at some point. “Music can bring people together and we can’t let that thing die so it was important to do that. I am very happy about the response,” he said.
Sereetsi added it is potentially profitable, but it is just that they have not really focused on it because Internet is a struggle in Botswana. “We have always been focused on traditional platforms like live shows and music festivals so I see this as a new revenue avenue for artists,” he said. He added where people are present there is always a potential to make money. “We just need to figure it out and this is where things are headed. While live shows still remain powerful the online platform is also a powerful tool,” he highlighted.
He said the demand is overwhelming therefore the intention is to do another show even though monetising the show is a challenge. Sereetsi said the natives needed the show to keep their minds off COVID-19. He urged other musicians to look into this as well because it is a growth area. During the show Sereetsi kept revealing his Paypal account and number in case anyone wanted to contribute and show support by sending money.
Sereetsi performed many of his songs from both Motoko and Four String Confessions albums. He also did cover songs of the late legendary folklore musician and four-string guitarist Stampore. He said Stampore was one of the artists he admired so much while growing up.