Ciano Maimba has only started making inroads in the wider music scene from intimate shows at Alliance Francais and the Goethe Institut. A student of Microbiology and Biotechnology at the University of Nairobi, Ciano’s love for nature shows in how he infuses sounds such as birdsong and water waves to his music, giving it an organic sound.

His current single ‘Peace Like a River’ was recorded by Lake Oloiden in Naivasha on his phone. It starts with the swish of water and the rising sound of birds chirping against guitar strumming. The song immediately creates an ambient mood where the artist and listener are one with their emotions and environment. Ciano’s voice is crisp and liquid against this as though it’s rising from the water.

“I believe in the oneness of all things. For we are merely streams branching out from an ocean of singularity.” 

Ciano says he starts with an emotion and then fine tunes his arrangements – instruments, lyrics and vocals – around this. Ciano, a second runner up in the continental music competition Airtel Trace Music Star, thinks of his music as:

“A melodic and lyrical poetism. I use my words to give tangibility to the music.”

Through music, Ciano is able to make his human journey accessible to his audience.