We have it (relatively) cool here in Europe. Being a musician is hard, allright, success doesn't come easy and sometimes it doesn't come at all. But still we thrive and keep going, composing and playing and imaginating new ideas for songs and structures. We are in love with the actual making of the music: building something from thin air till it actually has a life in its own, a little world with its own images and feelings. We also love playing music, whether it's with a modular synth or an oboe, and we love listening and seeing people performing music. Still, life isn't easy for most musicians....

But it can be REALLY hard and you're looking at piling up tough times if you're a musician in most parts of Africa. Jobs are few and far between, you need to care about you and your family, you often need to take odd jobs in order to survive and on top of that you want time to play music...This is what the musicians from the "Orchestre Symphonique Kimbanguiste" are doing: altho they are considered as middle class in Congo, they still fight hard times to even get to rehearsals, sometimes they build their own instruments and most of them are self-taught musicians. All of them...