Bertholdt makes U-turn from retirement

By Rosalia Davids 

AFTER announcing his early retirement from music early this year, music veteran Bertholdt Mbinda has had a change of heart stating that his upcoming album would not be his final project. 
In an exclusive interview with Confidente on his forthcoming album, Mbinda admitted that music was his only source of income.  
“To be honest I am literally nothing without music, unfortunately, it happens to be my only job and it has been paying all the bills thus far. When I spoke about resigning I meant that I’d be pursuing a different market and label and that I’ve been in contact outside our borders regarding greener pastures,” he said. 
Although he revealed that he has been in talks with music geniuses from outside the country, he said he can only shed light on it after his contract is completed. 
“For now I have to keep redeeming myself musically. So, on an international platform it’s not my last album and definitely also not for my country,” he added. 
Asked about the title of the upcoming album he said it’s Nostalgia, which means a sentimental longing or wistful affection for a period of time in the past. 
“I fell in love with the title as my name has been a household name for years and being a veteran in the music department actually made me want to give Namibia and the entire world out there something creative but also a touch of the old me,” he noted. 
He went on to say that his next offering is produced by a Rehoboth-based producer named AI-Jay while he also contributed to the production phase with the help of many others. 
According to Mbinda Nostalgia will be released in August, or latest September. 
Questioned on whether the music industry has grown compared to the past, he said, “We haven’t grown that is in my own opinion. But we’ve grown in becoming greedier and more divided as a nation in music. You can be as talented as you claim to be but if there’s no law or act in place then you won’t survive.” 
He added that the arts industry is not sustainable enough as it lack capital and resources; and he called on corporate companies to rescue the industry. 
“They need to step in; only they alone can create the difference we need. We spend more money paying outside artists and then we forget to even let them pay tax. We spend more time making other artists rich by playing more of their music and not our own. To do all that, there needs to be an act or law in place ready to fight and protect us as artists. So there is so much that has to be done and in my own words we have a lot of growing to do,” he emphasised.