I was a mechanic – Francis Amo

Gospel star Francis Amo has revealed that he once worked as mechanic but abandoned the job because music was a big deal for him.

According to the talented gospel musician, music was dear to his heart and there was no way he could have given up on that for any other profession.

“I took that decision that music is my true calling and I had to move on from being a mechanic,” he told NEWS-ONE in an exclusive interview.

“Recently, I went to my master and he was like wow if they had kept me at the mechanic shop like they would have destroyed my gift. Now they see me on TV and they are happy for me,” he added.

Francis Amo started music at a tender age with an interest in playing drum. He went for music rehearsals after rehearsals while schooling at the same time.

But he had to give up on school at class 6 because there was no money to support his education. He then decided to be a mechanic and so he joined a local mechanic shop where he underwent apprenticeship. But he never allowed the interest for music to slide away.

“Whenever I hear music performances from afar, I leave the mechanic shop to go and listen to the performers because there was a big determination to be a musician. When I turned 14 years, I decided that I want to sing. One day, our praise and worship leader wasn’t in church so I told my pastor I can play the drum and same time sing. And he gave me the opportunity to try,” he narrated.

The pastor, he said, was impressed and got a keyboardist to play while he sang. From there, Francis decided to give up on drumming and focus working on his voice.

“I worked on my voice for seven good years. I was not drumming or singing; just working on my voice,” he stated.

Later he moved to Accra to further push his music career. Then he started backing artistes, including Grace Ashie, Andy Frimpong, Ophelia Nyantakyi and a lot others before meeting Ohemaa Mercy who recently signed him to her to Royalty Music label.

Francis Amo’s matchless energetic performances, coupled with his toe-tickling musical arrangements, have won him the hearts of many around the world.

“I don’t joke with my rehearsals. My rehearsal is like my performance. I mean I rehearse like I’m performing,” he revealed.

He described his formative years as a musician as serving and paying his dues to the gospel industry.

“I did mechanic apprenticeship for three years but I didn’t have the opportunity to ceremoniously graduate because of my music career. Now I can fix my own car sometimes. I am also able to detect what is wrong with the car if I take it to a mechanic,” he added.

Currently, he is one of the many celebrated names in Ghana’s gospel music industry. He has two albums to his credit with the second album titled ‘Ngooba’. He is currently waiting to launch his third album under Ohemaa Mercy’s record label.