Global Musics in Zambia

Excerpt from an interview with Webster Malama (WM), musician and chairman of Zambia Union of Musicians, made by Krister Malm (KM), November 3, 1997.

This transcribed verbal account provides a good insight into into developments in Zambian music during the past few decades.

Webster Malama presents himself (.wav format 550 kB).

KM: Can you tell us which of the global music styles are actually performed today by Zambian musicians?"

WM: Before I come to that, I think it's important that I give a bit of a background so you know where we are coming from. So when you talk about Zambian bands it's important that you know what's the history, what influenced the so called Zambian bands here.

Zambian music has gone through three stages of development. First and foremost we were under the British colonial rule. At that time Africans were not allowed to express themselves culturally. The Africans were only able to express themselves in their own home and to some extend in church. They were not really able to come out and express their true cultural feelings at that time. Africans could not come out and perform because of the political situation. That was the problem.

Then there was this struggle for liberation because of this oppression. Those people who were talented in music found an avenue through which they could express themselves culturally through the political parties. Because what the political parties used to do was when they organised a rally the rally was normally proceeded by cultural performances which incorporated things like traditional dancing, poetry and indigenous musical performance. Most of the active music performers started in the runup to the liberation.

Musicians were given an avenue by the liberation movements like UNIP. There was even some names like a band called UNIP Radio Band, which was playing songs that were inspiring the freedom fighters. Really that was the first stage we saw Zambian music being played on guitars. This music was being appreciated because first and foremost the message was touching everybody who was involved in the freedom struggle.

Now the second stage. Obviously after independence they could not continue talking about the need for independence because independence had been attained. So they had to shift from the liberation songs to something that would earn them a few coins. So the normal thing was now to borrow. We have 73 dialects in Zambia or 73 tribes if you want, and each one of these tribes have got a rich culture. So what the bands of the post- independence era did was to start promoting the Zambian culture through music by adapting traditional songs onto contemporary white music, because, you know, that was the easiest thing to do instead of break your head into composing something.

At that time there was a strong feeling of nationalism. From the 60s and through the 70s all the bands were playing this sort of music and by that time it was a bit of influence of jazz, some influence of pop. Some of them were incorporating some jazz beats, but singing them in the local language. We had also a lot of influence from South Africa by Spokes Mashano. Those who were going to work briefly in the mines of Johannesburg they came back with some other totally different influence. So they were also manifesting this influences in the sort of musical style they were playing.

The third stage in the evolution of Zambian music now. What happened was that in June 1975 our former president issued what is called the famous or infamous watershed speech, it depends on which side you. For me it was infamous because it changed the course of my life. One of the things this speech did was to introduce 20 months of compulsory military training for all school leavers. I was just about to finish my school. So it affected me a lot. So that's why I call it infamous. Famous, yes, because the president directed our national radio station to play 90% local and only 10% foreign music. It was a very big challenge to the Zambian musicians. The president said:

You wanted the policy. I have given you the policy. Now you create the works that are going to satisfy the local market.

And really that is when the musicians started to compose. They had to do it because the president had said I want local music to be played on the radio. Everybody had some idea. They were just running to the studios. Because, you know, if I recorded it was guaranteed that my song will be played on the radio, even if it's not so good because of the presidential directive. That is the time of the boom. What we call the start of the Zambian music revolution. A lot of bands now started to experiment to create our own indigenous beat that would be called Zambian music as opposed to play something rock 'n roll with Zambian lyrics. In 1975 going into the 80s there was a lot of music going on because the musicians were given a very heavy responsibility by the president. Bands that emerged from that directive were bands like The Witch, The Five Revolutions, singers like Kitelet Pongozi. But what is unfortunate is that over the years all these bands that were popular in the 70s and 80s have all died. Very few remain.

KM: Did ZNBC record a lot of bands?

WM: Certainly. In the seventies, that is when the TEAL Record Company opened a branch in Zambia. It coincided with the presidential directive meaning that all those musicians had a studio where they could go and record and they had a recording company where their music could be published. The major bands did their recordings from that time towards the eighties. The point I'm making is that that's when they really made the break. That even when they taught us that was just going into music that it was possible to record your song and have it played on our own radio and television. That inspired a lot of young people to go into music. So most of the active musicians you are talking to now were inspired by the musicians who started the revolution in 1970s as a result of the presidential directive. I am a product of that revolution. My first recording was in 1983, the second in 1985, the third one in 1988, the fourth in 1989. I recorded because I was inspired to compose and go into music by the bands I used to watch in the seventies. That was the last step of out development.

KM: When did this policy end?

WM: The policy ended more or less like in the eighties. By that time quite a lot of Zambian music had been recorded. If you go to the ZNBC part of the music that Mrs. Wood was recording and filing was the music I am talking about. That was really what brought the whole music scene up there. Because the record companies wanted to make a profit from Zambian music they even now took it further. They took Zambian music into the international market by releasing a compilation LP called "Shani"(?) which was featuring eight top Zambian artists on the U.K. scene. That was in 1988, Then in 1989 they released another compilation album which was also released on CD. This is the most popular one. It's called "Zambians". You can even get a copy at Kabulonga at Sounds.

That has been the major area of development so we now have bands who are trying to play typical Zambian music. The closest we've come is the Kalindula, a beat that originates from the Wapola province somewhere in the North. This is what has been adopted and accepted as Zambian music. I this sphere the household names are Amajenge, Julizia (?) and others. Apart from that there are now quite a number of bands who play what we call music that has been influenced by the foreign types of music, particularly the reggae. We have quite a number of bands who play reggae music but using the Zambian lyrics. Even reggae has gone through a lot of transformations. Now you have ragamuffin, ragga and so on. In Zambia we have bands that are strictly reggae bands. We have now artists and bands that are into ragamuffin. But all these people they do that sort of music using Zambian lyrics and talking about topical issues which affect the average Zambians. The names that come into mind are bands like Burning Youth, artists like St. Michael, and Daddy Zeamus, who is really like the godfather of ragamuffin in Zambia.

We have young people coming on the scene like Nasty D from the Copper Belt. They have a song called "Goodi Meali", which means "eating well", it's a lament about the fact that because of the economic situation you cannot eat well, and because he likes to eat well it has forced him into some criminal activity that landed him into trouble. It's one of the popular songs at the moment. That is what we have in terms of musicians and bands that have been influenced by reggae. The late Bob Marley had a very big influence on Zambia. So much that every year on May 11 the Zambian reggae fraternity organise what is called the Bob Marley memorial concert. Every year since 1983 they've been remembering Bob Marley in a big way in Zambia.

Then I also want to mention the fact that the Zambian music scene also changed tremendously towards the end of the eighties as result of what we call the sousterrain era, you know this disco from the late eighties, Kool and the Gang, The Whispers etc. There are also bands that have been greatly influenced by that sort of music. So even now when we have hip hop and so on there are bands who have remained typical disco bands and they play covers of the old, old disco songs from the eighties, you know like Stevie Wonder, Donna Summer and so on. We have bands that have remained in the old disco in spite of the fact that it has now changed into electronic disco.

We have musicians who were brought up in the sixties. They are very crazy about rock 'n roll. Some of them are still playing rock 'n roll up till now.

Just as we've got a small but very influential crowd of musicians that play jazz. They have got a club called the jazz club. There you can find this band of five called the Jazz Connection. That's where the jazz enthusiasts gather to listen to their sort of music. Of course the latest influence has been the rhythm and blues and hip hop. Quite a number of youngsters are into this sort of thing. Mainly between the ages of 14 up to about 28-29. Mostly youngsters that come from the well-to-do families because they are the ones that are exposed to what is happening in America through the videos and television channels like the M-net and CNN. The children in the townships they catch up late because they don't have access to these facilities.

Apart from that we have a sizable number of folk musicians, playing the traditional kind of music. But when you're talking about the mainstream of music in Zambia you're talking about Zambian contemporary bands who play anything with a rockish touch but use Zambian words and sometimes doing covers, copyrights of some popular songs. We have the kalindula bands, the reggae bands, the ragamuffin bands, a small group of disco bands, a small group of jazz bands, and now quite a big following of hip hop.

KM: You haven't mentioned the Zairian music that is quite popular here. Do you have any comment on that?

WM: Every musician who is in the business of music whether you like it or not you cannot call yourself a band or a singer if you not have some rumba on your repertoire. We are so close to Zaire. We share the border. People from Kongo-Kinshasa are able to come to Lusaka in a couple of hours. They have been coming to Zambia since the civil war in the sixties and some of them did not get back. What has happened that over the years especially from 1986 to 96 we have seen almost all of this big Zairian musicians you can mention starting from the godfather Franco himself. All these musicians have come to Zambia playing rumba at such a force that even when we tune into our radio station we get the impression you have tuned to Radio Kinshasa and not Radio Lusaka.

This influence has even got to the fans so when you go to a function the fans are demanding that the band should play one rumba song and so on. There are two things that are involved: the musicians want to survive so even if they don't want to go commercial they have to learn certain songs in order to be marketable. So my band also plays a bit of rumba. Because we play in an international club, our clientele is mainly the older people. They come from abroad and we don't want to get caught with our pants down if somebody request a rumba and say we can't play. Even though we don't like rumba we are able to play it because of the situation which is pathetic.

KM: What is the music you like?

WM: As an individual I like instrumental music of any type. I think I told you I have been in this business for over 15 years and that's a lot of noise that has got into my head. When I have a chance, when I'm at home, I don't listen to vocal songs. But because there is conflict of interest with my children, they have their own music they want to listen to. So most of the time I'm in the bedroom with a small walkman and I play instrumental music. I use the walkman so I'm not disturbing anybody and the others are not disturbing me. I don't play vocal music at home. I can be classical, jazz, traditional music...

KM: How big is your band?

WM: Our band is as big as the name: The Big Goat Six. I'm the singer in the band. I've been with this band for five years now. But you may like to know that this band is the oldest band in the Republic of Zambia and we have some of the oldest and most active musicians. Our band leader and bass player is turning 58 years old. He is the oldest active musician in Zambia. The government should really honor him for a long and distinguished service to the music industry.

KM: Is there anything else you think is important in this context?

WM: Yes. I normally mention some things that should be done to improve the music industry. We are not happy as musicians about the current state of affairs in the music industry. What has happened is that as much as we appreciate that the new government has got a liberalised policy which has attracted quite a number of investments, I'm sad to note that there has been no investment in the music industry. And this because of some unfavourable conditions which have been put in place by the government as regards to tax and also because of piracy. We feel very strongly as musicians that the government should attract investment in the music industry if they are serious in developing the cultural scene by creating a conducive atmosphere.

One of the major ways they can attract investments is by removing customs duty on artistic materials like musical instruments, equipment for recording studios etc. People who want to start recording studios, maybe they should start paying taxes until after two years. If they remove or reduce customs duty to some small level that would attract people to bring in a lot of equipment into the country. Then a lot of musicians will have access to these facilities and then they will practice a lot. Then they will be able to record their music at a cheaper price because the investor is allowed to set up a studio at a reasonable cost. Our appeal to the government is, please we need investment in the music industry. Our appeal is to investors outside Zambia, in Sweden, to come here and invest in the music industry.