Stephanie McCourt

This, from UKZambians caught my eye – following in the footsteps of the likes of Anna Mwale, Samantha Mumba and Emile Sande!

“A new emerging talent is about to make waves on the music scene. Soul singer Stephanie McCourt (above) has signed with the UK record company, Unstoppable Music Group. The label is headed by music executive Ben Wynter, who has previously worked with some of the world’s biggest artists, including Destiny’s Child, Nas and Mariah Carey. Stephanie, whose mother is Zambian and father Irish, has been singing since she can remember and says ‘Zambian music is the most beautiful music to me, it has real heart and soul.’

At the age of 9, Stephanie’s parents enrolled her with legendary vocal coach Tona de Brett, who has also trained the vocal pipes of Lily Allen, Dido and Duffy to name a few. Like most aspiring artists, she had a hard time finding someone that would recognise her talents and spent years drifting in and out of bands, working with various producers and trying to find out who she was, creatively.

That all changed when she met music producer EFX, owner of the London based, Hot Money Studios. The beat-maker who has created tracks for Esmee Denters, Jay Sean and Wiley,  introduced Stephanie to Wynter, who instantly saw potential in the young songstress and signed her to his label.

On how her Zambian heritage has influenced her, Stephanie says :

“Zambian culture has had a heavy influence on me. From traditional foods like wild mushrooms and okra yum yum to Rumba music. My mother is from Ndola and in the past I have flown over many times to visit family. I have seen both contrasting parts of Zambia, from the shanty towns, to the Victoria Falls. Livingstone is one of my favourite places on earth, the Falls and wild life took my breath away. My most memorable moment when visiting Zambia and that is still very close to my heart, was when I went to bury my grand-dad. It was my first experience of a traditional Zambian funeral and though extremely heart breaking, it was during this time I got to hear the local choirs which moved me deeply. There were no instruments, just pure voices singing harmony, it was blissful.“

Stephanie’s next step is completing her EP due for release this Spring 2014. She will also be hitting the London music circuit,  performing at numerous venues leading up to its release. On her future the singer says;  ‘Failure isn’t an option, I’m born to sing and now I’m unstoppable so its destiny, things have to work out.’

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The Young Australian Experience!

Meet Emma Arians (above right) and Ciana Wills, young Australians, and Guests on the most recent edition of The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay-Hillz. ‘The Experience’ is our weekly radio show which goes out live on air every Sunday on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. The programme is a lively mixture of music and chat – especially lively on this edition with these two pretty, bubbly Aussies! Milli Jam wanted to know if this was the girls’ first visit to Zambia, they replied that for Emma it was, but that it was Ciana’s second time to come to the country. Ciana’s first visit had been some seven years’ ago on a family trip with her parents and brother. The girls told listeners that they had spent the first week of their visit at Chanters Lodge, the second week they were based at Jollyboys, Livingstone’s famous backpackers’ hostel. They said they loved Zambia calling it ‘safe and friendly’.

The ladies informed us that they were both from Melbourne, Australia, and both working. Emma for Village Cinemas and Ciana for Menzies Aviation. Emma is trained in tourism management and Ciana in childrens’ services. Ciana revealed that all her family work at Melbourne Airport including her brother, her mum works for Singapore Airlines as well as her dad who is a Customs and Excise Agent. Both the girls said they had boyfriends back in Melbourne, both in the building industry which made me wonder whether they had an eye on being built a house ‘later’. The girls did not deny it! Ciana and Emma told us they had met when they were kids playing for the same girls’ soccer team. Both girls had previously travelled to USA and Europe.

The music on the show was up to date featuring new singles from Zambia’s own Samantha Mumba, as well as Haim, Pharrell Williams and Tiesto. We also featured Zone Fam’s ‘Lobola’ stopping to explain to these Australian girls that lobola was the price a potential husband would have to pay their parents for their hand in marriage – if they were Zambian! They laughed and said they would speak to their respective dads! Tracks from Ne-Yo and John Legend followed. My pick of the week was a track from Pharrell’s new album featuring Daft Punk. Jay chose the oldie of the week – and stumped the audience first time up as no-one won the prize!

The girls said they had been very busy since they’d arrived in Livingstone. They had much enjoyed the lion encounter and had loved the walk with cheetahs. One of the highlights had been lunch on Livingstone Island and the girls had posted pictures on Facebook of themselves very close to the edge of Victoria Falls, scaring their parents back in Australia! They had quad biked too, and had much enjoyed a visit to Lubasi Orphanage that day. They were looking forward to a gorge swing and an abseil later in the week.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years’ from now, Emma said she hoped to still be with her boyfriend Ben and travelling. Ciana meanwhile wanted to be a kindergarten teacher, still with boyfriend Dave and to have children of her own.

It was a lively show with lots of laughs!

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Music Industry v Music Business

George Mukwita, (above) former co-host of our weekly radio show, now at college in Lusaka, sent through this interesting piece for the blog:

“These days the worldwide recording business seems mainly to exist to promote tours for the artists. Every artist and music producer who is in the business knows that the big money now is mainly in concerts, and not in record or CD sales. Every newly produced song/video is targeted at a certain audience for whom the artist hopes to perform while on tour – the songs and videos promote the artist’s material, mainly for concerts and not album sales. Why? Because there is so much free stuff on the internet these days, illegal downloads have left music stores and outlets in limbo as physical CD sales continue to drop drastically the world over.

In fact these days a lot of artists/musicians choose to personally leak their own music as a marketing strategy – what are they marketing? Certainly not CD sales or iTunes sales – because the music has been released for free, (in music language leaked for free). The objective therefore can be seen to draw as much attention as possible to the track and artist, to popularize their music, create hype and automatically push demand for shows/concerts.

I say this strategy works very well if you are JayZ, Beyonce, U2, One Direction or the like, but my point is that it’s only a selected few that can pull this off. Every other artist and their promoters – especially in developing countries like Zambia – must make it a point to push their work harder on radio, local TV and now very much on the internet. Success in most cases is as a result of a careful and calculated risk mostly undertaken by the promoter and less by the artist.

It’s not always the the most talented artists that headline the biggest concerts or most concerts but often it’s the hard working artist with the best promoter, hence the expression “hard work sometimes beats talent”. Artists and their promoters must go out of their way not to do different things but to do things differently, until even other promoters start calling for shows/concerts starring their artists. Everything starts out in the studio, where producer and artist blend to create sounds that are hopefully appealing to the target market – catchy songs always work! Once this is done, promoters must quickly create a hype, push the songs on TV, the internet and radio as well as organizing newspaper interviews and TV appearances, building a demand for concerts. Every artist dreams of performing at a sold out concert with people singing along to every song!

If you listen carefully to the new music today you may agree with me that it’s recorded in a certain way to make it easier for fans at a concert, whether hearing the music for the first time or not, to sing and dance along to it. Most young urban African artists describe this whole process as “The Music Business” – something 78% of Zambian artists are familiar with but not practicing, as they are still stuck in ‘the music industry’ hoping to make money from selling CD’s – it won’t happen!

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Trym & Torkel Fjortoft Guest On The Experience!

Meet Torkel (left) and Trym Fjortoft, Norwegian brothers on their first visit to Africa therefore also Zambia, and guests on the most recent edition of The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay-Hillz. The Experience is our weekly Sunday night radio show, airing from 20.30 – 21.30 hrs (CAT) live on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. You can listen on line too with the right app.

Torkel and Trym told listeners that although they hail from Tromsoe in the far north of Norway, inside the Arctic Circle, they are currently living in Oslo, the capital of Norway. Trym, the older of the two brothers, explained that having finished a degree course in international relations at the University of Oslo, he is currently working at a youth information centre in Oslo, but hopes to return to university soon to study for a Masters Degree. Torkel is still at Oslo University also studying international relations, specifically American history and politics. “Do you like Oslo?” Milli Jam wondered. “Oslo’s great!” replied the boys in unison!

Torkel and Trym told listeners that they were in Zambia with several other members of their family. Their grandfather, also on the trip, was in Livingstone as part of a group of educationalists visiting student teachers on practicals at various primary schools in the area. The boys had grabbed the opportunity to visit Zambia. “Is Zambia what you expected?” We asked. These tall, handsome young Norwegians said that it was everything they expected and more, they said that Zambian people were amongst the nicest and friendliest people they had ever met. (Not at all an uncommon observation amongst visitors to this country).

The brothers went on to explain that they had been very busy since arriving in the country a week ago. They had visited Mongu in Western Province, where they had been given Lozi names and sampled Zambian food, as well as Chobe NP in Botswana where they had seen a lot of game but unfortunately no big cats. They described Victoria Falls as totally amazing and said they had not realised the Falls were ‘so big and so magnificent’. We nodded knowingly and sagely!

The boys, especially Torkel, a self confessed ‘chart junky’ when it comes to music, loved the tracks we played on the show. We opened, as usual, with Avicii’s ‘Hey Brother’ followed by the latest from Sam Smith. We followed this with A Great Big World’s ‘Say Something’ featuring Christina Aguilera, as well as the latest from Zambia’s Franciar. Milli Jam chose tracks from Shakira and Zambia’s Petersen. Our oldie of the week was Baby Love by The Supremes, but local network problems meant that listeners texting in to try to win the prize we give each week to the first person to text us the name of the artist on the oldie, went unwon. My pick of the week was a new track from Guy Sebastian and we closed with an effort from John Martin.

When asked about sport the boys bemoaned the fact that Norway’s medal haul in the just ended Sochi Winter Olympics had been far below national expectations, plus the fact that Ole Gunnar Solskjær recently appointed Norwegian manager of Wales’s Cardiff City, had made a poor start to his new job.

On the social scene “Do you go clubbing?” Milli Jam wondered, and the boys said that both Oslo and Tromsoe had great clubs. Trym and Torkel then started to discuss why they had not found time to go clubbing in Livingstone, and seemed to decide that this was exactly what they would do after they’d been out to dinner at Olga’s, right after the show!

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years’ from now, they both said they were involved in music and wanted to be pop stars. On a more serious note Trym said he would be very happy to be in Zambia but felt it more likely that he would have finished studying and would possibly be teaching, as that profession ran in the family. Torkel the younger brother was insistent that he would be making money ‘doing music’.

Great guests, great presentation, great music, good show!

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Zambia – Visas Can Now Be Pais By Credit Card!

The Zambian Ministry of Finance and National Planning has announced, for ease of payment of VISA and other fees, these payments can be done via bankcards with immediate effect at the following Zambia airports:

1. Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in Lusaka
2. Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International Airport in Livingstone
3. Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport in Ndola

The following bank cards will be accepted:

• VISA
• MasterCard
• Maestro and
• American Express

This is a major improvement for everybody travelling into Zambia.

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Another Norwegian Experience!

In the six and a half years that our regular Sunday night local radio show has been on air we’ve had lots of Norwegian guests on the programme. The Chanters Lodge Experience goes out live every Sunday between 20.30 and 21.30 hrs (CAT) on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. So, last Sunday we were delighted to welcome three more Norwegian ladies on to the show (left to right above) Ingrid Krogstad, Kristin Alfer and Kristel Linset. All wives, all mums, all Norwegian, all from Trondheim or near Trondheim, all educationalists and all staying at Chanters Lodge! Trondheim is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway, with a population of 181,513. It is the third most populous municipality in Norway, the ladies told us.

Ingrid and Kristel are primary school principals, while Kristin is an education adviser. The ladies were all visiting Zambia as part of their co-operation with several primary schools in the Livingstone area, where they have Norwegian student teachers undergoing practical teaching as part of their college courses. The ladies had brought letters from their Norwegian pupils for their Zambian counterparts and would go back with letters from Zambian children for Norwegian children. Kristin told listeners it was her fourth visit to Zambia but for Ingrid and Kristel it was their first time to be in the country. The ladies also mentioned that in May this year it was hoped to take a group of six Zambian student teachers to Norway for practical experience.

The show was different for us, to the extent that it was the first time for many years our show had not been co-hosted by George da Soulchild Kaufela, who, regular readers will know, had hosted his last show the previous Sunday before heading off to college in Lusaka. We were delighted to welcome Jay Hillz to the show as Milli Jam’s new co-host, thus the title becomes The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz. The guys chose great music. We opened with a track from Zedd, back to back with a new single from Canadian Nelly Furtado. Jay rocked us with Rihanna’s ‘What Now’ and a Zambian track from Tyce – ‘Kazizi’. Milli Jam dropped Ne-Yo’s ‘Bigger Than This’ while his Zambian choice was by B1 with Sokola Bonzo. Our oldie of the week was a Nicky Minaj track and the prize we offer each week to the first person to text us the name of the performing artist on the oldie, was quickly snapped up.

The ladies explained to listeners that as well as having student teachers on practicals in Livingstone, there were others in Mongu. Kristel and Ingrid would be leaving for Mongu in Western Province with other members of the group the following Wednesday and they were looking forward to seeing a different part of Zambia. They had much enjoyed a two day one night safari to Chobe NP in Botswana, from which they had returned the same day as our show went on air. They were only slightly disappointed that they had not seen any big cats. The ladies were looking forward to seeing Victoria Falls and maybe doing some of the other activities available in the Livingstone area during their visit.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years’ from now, Ingrid said she would like to be retired. Kristel wanted still to be healthy and a school principal while Kristin wanted still to be working, with her successful family doing fine. Were their husbands missing them at home? We wondered. They laughed and said “seeing we left home on Valentine’s Day, they probably are!” It was a pleasure to host these lively, funny, bright Norwegian mums on our show!

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The Last Kaufela Experience!

The latest edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela (the two guys featured in the photograph above, George is on the left), was rather sad – and not just because Liverpool had thrashed Arsenal 5-1 the day before – something that made Milli Jam and I sad but George ecstatic! No, it was sad because it was in fact George Mukwita’s (aka Soulchild aka Kaufela) last show, for the time being anyway.

George was therefore the Guest on, as well as the co-host of, the programme. Fired because of his Liverpool affiliations? Not a bit of it! As he explained to listeners he has been accepted on a three year course at the Co-operative College in Lusaka to study for a diploma in Agric-Business Management. “So you’re going to be a farmer?” I speculated, but George replied that he was more interested in the business management aspect of the course which would include accounting, marketing and economics amongst other subjects.

“What’s brought this on?” Asked a glum Milli Jam who has co-hosted our show with George since 2009. George replied that he felt it was time for him to further his education, seeing that it was not really safe for a young Zambian man to rely on radio presentation and music to make a good living in years ahead – he wanted more strings to his bow. George told us that initially he was being helped through college by his aunt, but that he hoped to secure part time work, possibly on radio in Lusaka, to help with the substantial college expense. He also hoped to be able to play some shows to raise funds – George is an accomplished musician amongst his many other talents. He would be a boarder at the mixed gender college.

We played one of George’s tracks on the show – ‘Took You’ by Roberto featuring Kaufela, back to back with Chiko Wise ft B1 with ‘Kumwanda’. We opened the show with ‘Dibby Dibby Sound’ by DJ Fresh vs Jay Fay featuring Ms Dynamite back to back with the latest from The 1975. Tracks from Beyonce featuring Jay Z, and Toni Braxton with Babyface also graced the show. The prize of a dinner for two with drinks that we offer to the first person to text us telling us the artist on our oldie of the week, went unwon for the second week running, prompting someone to text asking us to play another track so that there could be a winner. We declined. They didn’t know Paolo Nutini sang Candy, so that was that!

George told listeners that he would be leaving Livingstone the following day and that he had already co-hosted his last breakfast show on 107.7 fm. He said there was so much he would miss about Livingstone including friends and colleagues and of course co-hosting the Chanters Lodge Experience. We said we would only reveal George’s replacement on the programme the following Sunday. George thanked all the listeners as well as the owner of the station Swithin Haangala for ‘helping him grow’ as a broadcaster and presenter. He had been in Livingstone for nine years and had loved it!

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing ten years from now, George said he wanted to be alive and breathing, opening doors for himself and others. We thanked him for his inspiration and hard work on our show and wished him all the best for the future. Then we sat down and cried because Arsenal had lost 5-1 to Liverpool!!

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Bananas!

This from Self Help Africa caught my eye:

Christine Mwale predicts that the income of women in her village can double when they become full-time suppliers to the new Banana Enterprise Project being supported by Self Help Africa in Nyimba, Zambia. Established by Self Help Africa in collaboration with Nyimba District Farmers Association, the project will buy banana from 600 women farmers with small plantations in the area.

Fruit will be dried and processed at the Farmers Association run plant, and sell dried chips to a Lusaka-based firm that sells Zambian fruit produce to supermarkets across the country. And better still, the suppliers earnings could be further enhanced as owner- shareholders in the enterprise, that has been supported with funding under Self Help Africa’s Mtukula Innovation Fund.

Christine is a lead trainer in one of 16 producer groups that have been established locally to supply to the plant. As such she arranges and hosts training sessions and demonstrations on her own plantation, and is available as a first point of contact for growers in her locality.

The new drying facility in Nyimba is designed to add-value to the banana that is grown in the locality, and also increases shelf life and marketability of the crop for women farmers. “At present we sell to traders who market our bananas from a trading post at the local bus depot, but this market is limited, and many bananas spoil in the heat before they are sold”, Christine says.

Banana production is widespread in Nyimba, and is a farm activity traditionally undertaken by women in the community.

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The Much Travelled Experience!

We were happy to welcome the much travelled Malcolm Lindsay (above) as our guest on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela, our weekly Sunday night radio show, airing at 20.30 hrs CAT and offering an hour of good local and international music, as well as chat with our Guest. We also give listeners the chance to win dinner for two with drinks at the lodge, if someone can text us within a minute telling us who’s the artist on our ‘oldie of the week’. On this edition no-one won. “Oh well, there’s always next week!” I said.

Malcolm told listeners that he was in Livingstone for a short holiday and that he was a South African, based south of Durban. As a project manager for oil pipe line installation, maintenance and repairs he travels a lot in his work and had recently returned from Queensland, Australia expecting to go back there again for another tour of duty soon. He estimated that he had lived, worked or visited more than 40 countries in his life time and told us that Italy was one of his favourites, he loved the landscape, food and the excitable but friendly people. He also talked well of his time in Indonesia where he preferred to work rather than in the Middle East. Malcolm told listeners that he had been married twice but was currently single.

Whilst in Livingstone Malcolm had enjoyed a two day one night safari to Chobe NP in Botswana and had much enjoyed the wonderful array of bird life on the river banks and wildlife in the park. He intended to take a microlight flight over the Falls before he left early the following week and he said he had much enjoyed staying at Chanters Lodge.

The music on the show was good. We opened with Katy B’s ‘Crying For No Reason’ back to back with the latest from Gorgon City featuring MNEK. George picked local tracks from F Jay featuring Urban Hype and Hamoba featuring Ty2. Milli Jam dropped tracks from Drake and Jennifer Lopez. My pick of the week was a new track from Toni Braxton and Babyface – ‘Roller Coaster’. We closed with Emily Sande’s ‘Untouchable’.

Malcolm told listeners that his favourite type of music is country and his favourite star – Willie Nelson. His love of this genre stemmed from the time he lived in USA. Sports wise, being South African, it was no surprise to hear that his favourite sport is rugby, and coming from Durban his favourite team The Sharks, apart of course from the Springboks. As Malcolm is involved with gas pipelines we asked him about fracking – the process of obtaining natural gas from shale, and he told us that they had found gas in both Mozambique and Angola, so there was a strong possibility of it also being found in Zambia.

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing 10 years from now, our affable and interesting guest said he would like to be retired, living in his house on the South African Wild Coast with a plentiful supply of fresh crayfish. His pimped 4×4 (either a Ford or Mazda) would be parked in the garage ready for him to take off to explore Africa any time he felt like it! We laughed and thanked him for guesting on our show!

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