Biography
Ethel Elaka Gondwe was born in Zambia and raised in the UK. From a young age, Elaka had developed an interest in the performing arts and creative industries with her first acting role in a play as the first lady to Zambia's first president Kaunda, which was performed in the presence of the president and the first lady herself, during an independence celebration event. Whilst in high school Elaka performed in the school's summer productions of Bugsy Malone and West Side Story respectively, as well as a student scripted comedy play. Due to the curriculum at the time, Elaka was forced to choose between taking computer studies or drama as the subjects clashed, and she chose computer studies, and opted to join the school choir in order to continue participating in performing arts. This decision would later have a great impact on her choice of starting career, and became a great help in Elaka find her voice, as well as have the opportunity to perform for The Queen of Great Britain as part of the Methodist Schools in concert at the Westminster Hall in London.
After taking a hiatus from pursuing a career in music and acting, to focus on motherhood higher education, Elaka begun the process of attending auditions for music, theatre and acting, while writing songs and searching for a studio to record her music. A self-confessed geek and workaholic, Elaka utilized all her skills to build Effycom Productions which later developed into The Effycom Group; a Branding, Marketing, Events, PR, Management and Consultancy Company that she has since utilized to represent herself as a recording artist and actress. This resulted in various opportunities in the industry which included receiving two BEFFTA Award nominations in 2010 and 2011 winning the 2010 Award under Best Event Promoter, in 2012 awarded Promoter of The Year at the UKZAMBIANS Excellence Awards. More opportunities came her way that enabled her to work alongside some great individuals and organizations such as MTV, BBC1xtra, KISS100 SBTV and Channel AKA just to name a few. She coordinated and project managed the Channel AKA Christmas shows two years in a row, and was part of the coordinating team of the 1st ever Wrigley's and Sony Sponsored SBTV Christmas party in 2011. In that period of time she also worked for Baby Girl Music and Major Music, Just Bounce Records, and Urban Development behind the scenes and as a recording artist, as well as briefly for Coda Music Agency.
As Elaka continued to work on her singing, and acting, she joined The Urban Development Vocal Collective, started going for Stage Combat classes for 3 years in rapier and dagger, quarterstaff, unarmed combat and the short sword. It was during this period of time that she was contacted to model, and was practically pushed into the role of presenter. Her involvement in the entertainment industry has put her in a privileged position that has provided her the opportunity to be selected as a BEFFTA Awards member in 2011, scouted and cast in the UK independent movie Find Her Keep Her, presented for the BEFFTA TV show, and Positive Runway event in 2011, as well as modeling in a number of fashion shows including the Uganda Fashion week. As a musical artist Elaka has been fortunate enough to perform at various Zambian independence shows in London on the same stage as artists like Danny, JK, K'million, Petersen, Ozzy and many more. She has also had the privilege of performing at various UK shows, on the same stage as some of UK's biggest acts such as Tinchy Stryder, Sway, Chipmunk, Omar, Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet), Duncan James (Blue), Brenda Edwards (X-Factor & Chicago), just to name a few. Elaka has also co-written UN unreleased song with Labrinth as part of the Urban Development Vocal Collective prior to his record deal with SYCO Entertainment. For her debut single, Elaka was fortunate to team up with Dr. Gary Hutchins PHD. a platinum and gold selling Musician and Producer who has worked with legends such as Bob Marley, Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli, Shirley Bassey, Michael Bublé and many more. Elaka released her debut single titled 'My Africa' Ft Samson Marley on June 25th in 2012 which was received with rave reviews earning it a spot on the playlist of tracks in the Big Brother Africa Stargame of 2012 alongside her promo single titled 'Baby Girl'.
Elaka later contacted a fellow musical artist Abiz for an online entertainment show titled "The Matryoshka Show" a candid show created by Elaka as she was inspired from watching various footage she has captured in the years whilst spending time and working with friends. The show also serves as a means of encouraging people to learn to laugh at themselves, and not take life too seriously. The Matryoshka show is a quirky upbeat candid camera show that showcases the eccentricity of the two ladies. It gave supporters of Elaka a clearer perspective to her artistry, or as she likes to put it "The method to her madness" - quoted on how she comes up with so many different ideas. The YouTube show had only one episode produced, and is pending a relaunch due to ongoing requests for a reboot.
As 2016 rolled in, Elaka begun making plans to re-enter the entertainment industry as a recording artist and actress and auditioning for shows, and adverts, and writing music once again. Made In Chelsea was one of the first roles back in the industry, although only as an extra, and later in late 2018 received a call asking her to be a panelist on The Sporah Show, which she became lead host and producer for the later of her duration on the show.
