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Inside the start of Swangz Avenue

The studio was opened at Muswangali on Salaam Road. The name Swangz came from Muswangali.
Benon Mugumbya and Julius Kyazze
Benon Mugumbya and Julius Kyazze

According to Benon, they performed in Denmark, Sweden and Belgium.

When the gigs came in, Benon was a producer at Fenon Records, owned by Steve Jean.

When he sought permission to go and perform, Jean was reluctant because Benon had a huge workload but he finally accepted.

During the tour, Benon got the idea of buying studio equipment and starting his studio.

Two months back in the country, they got another opportunity to perform in the U.S. This time Jean couldn’t permit him so they parted ways. 

While in the U.S., he bought more equipment and came back ready to start the studio in 2008.

The studio was opened at Muswangali on Salaam Road. The name Swangz came from Muswangali.

Benon Mugumbya soon realised that while he was a good producer, he wasn’t good with business. He then teamed up with his friend Julius Kyazze to form what’s now Swangz Avenue.

Who is Benon Mugumbya?

A renowned music producer and record label co-founder, Benon Mugumbya grew up in Ntinda along Semawata Road where he was raised by a single mom, having been born after the passing of his dad. He's the last born 

He went to Budo Junior School, Ndejje S.S. for O-Level and Namasagali College for A-Level.

While he started singing while in school, it’s in S.6 vacation that he teamed up with Vampos was working at a takeaway on Kampala Road to start singing.

Mugumbya was also working with an internet cafe and they used their earnings to pay for production.

The first song titled Keep on Dreaming was produced by Arthur KD who was a hot producer at the time.

Working at a cafe, gave Benon access to the internet that he used to learn music software, and started making beats

He would later meet Eddy Mpagi as he was starting Good Enough Studios and he offered him a job.

Eddy was one-half of the singing group Ngoni and he was the first to tell Benon that he could become a good producer 

At Good Enough, he continued to learn production while still working on music with Vampos and they recorded some songs there.

After a year at Good Enough, Benon was offered a job at Fenon Records, owned by his idol Steve Jean. His first assignment at Fenon was producing radio adverts.

He was later fired from Fenon after he failed to balance production and singing. At the time they had started getting gigs that saw them fly out of the country.

In 2008, while on a trip in the U.S., he bought music equipment and came back ready to a studio, which would turn into Swangz Avenue. Its first home at Muswangali (where the name Swangz came from) on Salaam Road.

He would soon realize that he wasn't good in the business side of music and that’s how Julius Kyazze teamed up with him. They had been friends.

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