About mee *stripped*

Hi, I'm Beraccah Kisia AKA (August Cellars). Nice to meet you.

I began In Eldoret Kenya on the blessed year of our Lord 1994. I shimmied out of my mum and she gave me a dope name and declared I was good #winning.

Mother got my name out of the Bible; she says it means Praise. If you look it up (Chronicles 20) you'll find that its the name that was given to this place where this old-timey king defeated other dudes and he was like OMG thanks and people gathered there to praise G from OMG #CollectiveConciousnessBro. Anyway, Mother would sing everything and she was a graceful goof about life; elegantly bouncing, exquisitely gurgling - everything a woman should be tbh lol. All I've every wanted is to be that full of light.

I remember sitting on the back steps of our bungalow, learning to read in the warmth of dusk, the goddess that birthed me (mum) hummed jolly made-up chore songs in the kitchen. My favorite book was about this truant hare called Bwana Sungura that was always up to some mischief (you remember those, yeah). Bwana Sungura had this song he would sing when he was up to jocking his neighbors millet. It went "I see a woman cutting millet, it isn't yours, it isn't mine, who does it belong to?" which was lol because he was pretending not to know who the millet belonged to so that he could appropriate it with a clean concience...lol

Anyway, when I read the millet verse, its like I could hear its tune lulling my mind, soon the sound was compelled to escape. Before I realized I had anything to do with it, I was hearing the melody outside of myself. I felt at home for the first time since arriving on earth.

Do y'all remember when Xfm was super punk, just had some guys playlist on, sometimes his computer would shut down and you'd hear that bloopy shut-down windows sound. My brother and I called it Frank Station at the time because you never knew who ran it, there were no ADs, just dope ass music. That's where most of my earliest musical influences came from. That's where I fell in love with rock music and poetry and Nirvana. That's where I heard Kanye for the first time. Gavin Degraw and Jack Johnson and RedHotChilliPeppers and like so many more.

I wrote my first song when I was about 12 years old. It was about our beloved Ascended Master Jesus and had this sweet lil' monophonic piano melody going(what is polyphony to a God amirite?). I invited my queen ass bff Tarsianna to check it out and she was like "omg doope" and I've been writing my own songs and singing them ever since.

I took it profesh in high school when I decided to learn how to play the guitar at 14. A year later, two other IRL queens joined my grade and I was suuper awkward to them and they were awkward back and it was love at first awks. We started a dope folk/punk band called Malapropism(because we felt out lives were a malapropism) and yes we ripped up the muthafuckin scene. We would play at school assemblies and talent shows. We played Battle of the Bands, where we were literally always the only girls battling. We even played at the village market food court when the house band went on break once.

What ever happened to Malapropism? (Answer coming soon...)

Anyway, at the time, it never occurred to me that being a recording artist and being a performing artist are two different things, so as I began working on my records in the studio, I was also performing at various venues around the city of Nairobi, churches and schools (as one does when they kill the game at 15).

Fast forward to 17, college times: I arrived at George Fox University, I had no idea that studying music was an option, but alas it was the next step to living my dream irl and so I dove in to four years of living and breathing music. To this day, I know that studying music at the university level was the greatest decision I have ever made. Not only did it make me an excellent musician, but it opened my whole world up to infinite possibilities. I became capable of things I thought were ridiculous(which, lets admit, is quite a stretch for me. so yes, very wild things) and I learned the only thing that counts in life: love.

In the summer of 2012, I wrote, recorded and released my debut album “Lunch Break” under the pseudonym “(August Cellars).” Lunch Break is a collection of some of my earliest compositions and has this genre-neutral sound that i'm in to. This album was produced by Uptown Records and recorded in my girlhood bedroom with a makeshift stocking for a pop filter and an old music stand as the mic stand. After the release of Lunch Break, I was featured on a Homeboyz Radio station show by presenter Monique Kabuye, it was the first Sunday when I missed church for work and yes my parents will never let it go #AfricanFolksAmarite

Due to the intensity of the music program in the ensuing school year, I took a back seat on promoting my album, though I was still writing music and performing it on various student platforms at George fox University. It was then that I also started playing lead guitar in the Voices of Praise Gospel Choir band which allowed me to practice my guitar and challenge myself as an instrumentalist. I was also involved in several choral ensembles for my program and it gave me a deep love of classical choral works

In the 2013, I got the chance to play my jams at the esteemed Burgerville Newberg Oregon which opened me up to pursuing more performance opportunities in my area. I would regularly play at The Coffee Cottage, a Newberg coffee shop, and I had the honor of supporting Sarah Ruth Freitag in a benefit to raise funds for her YWAM expedition.

In February 2014, my flame queen sister Hephzibah and I had the idea to produce a theatrical fashion show, we called it “Pretty Life” and we asked our friends to donate fabrics, I whipped up a set-list of songs that would work as the story that our dancing models would move to and our talented brother Philip Kisia took photos. Following the success of Pretty Life, Image Mountain was born- We have since curated several events, including The Calm Down Machine in Diani(2015/2016) and The Sama Eden ,a monthly holistic living trade market(2016).

In April of 2015, I released The Mountain EP which was produced by Ghastly Ghoul. After graduating university in May 2015, I composed film scores for Machakos Film Festival and the 48 hour film festival. I also started working on a follow up project to The Mountain EP which is scheduled for release.

I have always wanted to be a Teacher, I thought you had to choose one career and go with it f.o.r.e.v.e.r. But life is not a prison, even if you're in real prison. You're free to do whatever the hotballs you want, of course consequences are a real thing #causeandeffect

I began working as a Piano, Voice and Guitar coach at the Kenya Conservatoire of Music and taking on students on my own time as well. I later went onto teach with the Katangoma Music and Movement Arts program which was a priceless experience, if you have children, check out this program, it is the very best and unlike anything that happens in the world dudes.

In February 2016, I had the balls to open for Kenyan pop sensations Sauti Sol at the launch of their To Live and Die In Africa countrywide tour. Subsequently, I headlined Nairobi Undergrounds showcase titled “Africologically Being” featuring acts such as Dj Jack rooster and The Empress Achi3ng. I also had the honor of being called upon as a panelist for the Nufaidhi conference in may of 2016 which was a platform to educate people starting up in the music industry

I began doing background vocals, my first endeavour being Kaya collective featuring local rap legend(and my personal lyrical hero) Jua Cali. I was then recruited to join Superband which is currently the most coveted live band in Kenya having backed artists such as Gilad, Nyashinski and Kleptomaniax as well as Nameless and Dela. We have performed at Gilad Live, Westgate live, RMA Jaguar launch, the State dinner for Hon. President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Prime Minister of Israel, Koroga (Arts and culture) festival in Nairobi, Maseno University in Kisumu among may other venues. Oh yeah, I was a main act at Blankets and Wine (dec 2017) which was pretty neat.

I also began operating as Communications Coordinator at Construction Credit Trust (Kenya) which is a credit outfit that supports business incubation for Youth, Women and People with Disabilities in the construction sector. In June, my work at Construction Credit Trust involved organizing a Stakeholders Conference in Kwale County in conjunction with the Kwale County Government.

I believe that the training and networks that CCT offer present the youth with a chance to learn something new and effective so that we can create a sustainable and holistic Kenya.

So as you have ready, I was pretty busy and did the most but also the least in terms of taking care of my being. which obviously resulted in an epic metal breakdown in 2018 #CauseAndEffect #SelfCareIsEssential I took a break from everything vocational for the latter part of the year. I learned a valuable lesson in my time off, I learned that I am not a musician. Before you freak out and start wondering why you're here, let me explain: Ever since I heard the word, "Musician" was just a role I was playing - an act I was putting on in an effort to define myself. And so I had a persinality to protect, something to lose and something to gain from this. The "musician" became an expression of duality, of separation from God. The role I was playing was an impostor, obscuring my light creating a disparity between me and self. Yet the truth is that I am indescribable, unattainable, endless and birth-less.

I am still unlearning condescending what I am, yet like never before, I feel I have stepped in to a morsel infinity.

Now I want to give music from this infinite space, My focus is healing through music and nonresistance to life. We deserve better than this insanity we live on the daily, we deserve peace and presence, true joy and real, unconditional love. You deserve to live your best life like rn irl not tomorrow vicariously on some reality show about rich people. No more imaginary participation in Being. This music is the spoon and life is the cake, I hope that with some barz and real - ness we can all enjoy the F out of this cake #LetThemEatCake

Love,

Beraccah Kisia