Murishi was born in Tanzania in 1996. His path as a refugee led him to the Congo, Burundi,
and then in 2011, to Uganda. As a child, he could not afford a musical instrument, but he has a
lovely singing voice and by age 14, he was already writing music. His lyrics are about life, “birth,
death, happiness, change, everything,” he says. Murishi arrived in Madison in 2019 and lives
with his aunt, Furuha, his wife, Safalani, and her mother and brother. One of his new songs is
likely to be about his son Rasly, born in July of this year.

With an ODFR Skill Building grant, Murishi aims to take online courses to learn composition and recording techniques for music production. He is gradually purchasing basic equipment to build a studio to record himself and fellow musicians, including a keyboard, microphone, sound board,
and computer.