recording – Chanters Lodge Livingstone

The Norwegian Experience 2015!

Meet Rakel Trondal and Robert Hovde (above) from Trondheim, Norway. Rakel and Robert were Guests on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz, our weekly Sunday night radio show airing on Zambezi 94.1 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. Robert is the Deputy Head Teacher at Saksvik Primary School and Rakel is a secondary school teacher at Hommelvik Secondary School in Norway. Both were staying at Chanters Lodge as part of a group of 17 educationalists from Norway on a visit to Zambia.

For both Robert and Rakel it was, they told our listeners, their first visit to both Africa and Zambia. “Is it what you expected?” wondered Milli Jam. “Far, far better!” Replied Rakel quickly. So far they had visited Chobe National Park in Botswana and had loved the wide range of animals they had seen ‘in the wild and not in a zoo”. They had experienced a real tropical thunderstorm during the night on that trip. They had plans for a visit to Victoria Falls during their stay and would be spending three nights in Mongu, Western Province.

“Mongu’s not usually on the tourist itinerary” commented Milli Jam. Our Norwegian guests explained that the purpose of their visit to Zambia was to make physical contact with the schools in Zambia with whom their schools in Norway were ‘twinned’. In Robert’s case his school is a friendship school with Zambezi Basic School in Livingstone and Rakel’s school is a friendship school with Holy Cross School in Mongu. They had brought letters and books to give to the students in the Zambian schools with love from their fellow students in Norway. They expected to collect similar from the Zambian schools to take back to Norway.

The music on the show was good as usual. We opened with tracks from DJ Fresh ft Ella Eyre and Ne-Yo. The guys dropped work from West African Wizkid as well as Zambia’s T-Sean ft Tyce. Other were from Chef ft Macky 2, Ed Sheeran and Ozzy. Ozzy’s ‘If Only’ was our oldie of the week and the prize we give to the first listener to text us the name of the artist on the track was quickly snapped up. Our pick of the week was Sam Hunt’s major country smash ‘Take Your Time’ We closed with 5AM from Calvin Harris ft Tinashe.

Rakel told us that she’s married with three children, two boys and a girl. Robert is also married and has a boy and a girl with ‘another one on the way’. Didn’t they wish that their families had travelled with them to Zambia. Of course they did but pointed out, rightly, that it was an expensive undertaking. Robert revealed that he’s a fan of Rosenberg FC in Norway and of Watford FC in UK. But, he told us ‘handball’s my game’. Rakel loves ballroom dancing and travel. She and her family had visited many countries in Europe in the past including Turkey, Spain and Germany. She is an ardent fan of U2 and is looking forward to attending their concert in Berlin later this year – a treat afforded by her husband.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years’ time, Robert hoped to still be involved in education, Rakel in education and in politics. We wished them the best of luck, thanked them for coming on the show, and for supporting Zambian schools as well as our lodge!

20
FEB

activities, Africa, Botswana, broadcasting, Chanters, children, Chobe, education, entertainment, football, livingstone, Mongu, music, Norway, recording, tourism, training, travel, wildlife, Zambia

The Tiko Siliwea Experience

“How long ago was the first time you were the Guest on our programme?” I asked our Guest, Tiko Siliwea, (above) at the top of the latest edition of our weekly radio show, The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz, airing at 20.30 hrs every Sunday night on Zambezi 94.1 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. “About six years’ ago” replied our Guest. These days Tiko is one very busy lady! Apart from being the mother of 5 children ranging in ages from 15 to 3 years old and the wife to her pastor husband Ken Siliwea, she herself is a pastor at the Lion of Judah Church in Livingstone. As if this was not enough, her third album of gospel music is about to be released on CD following on from the success of her first two CD’s. The new album is called ‘Sinilesewa’ (It’s My Time) and we played the hauntingly beautiful lead single ‘Kumisanga’ (‘to find you’) on the show. Tiko told listeners that she had written almost all the tracks on the album herself, and that the CD was due for release during the week ahead.

Tiko said that since her last appearance on our show she had obtained a degree in theology from North Western Theological School in USA and had become a pastor at Lion of Judah Church. The church operates from the premises of a former timber company Zambezi Saw Mills, located near the Railway Museum in Livingstone. Congregations vary in size from 250/300 people every Sunday and Tiko is mostly involved with the music and singing at church but also preaches from time to time – of course she has duties in counseling and other responsibilities of the ‘pastor’s wife’ too! She does also have a business specializing in wedding planning and gives singing lessons as well! Busy lady, as I said!

The music on the show was standard. We opened with our new theme TINA from Fuse ODG. We featured smash hits from Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars, and Philip George. We played Kiesza’s No Enemies back to back with Tiko’s track and also featured titles from Alicia Keys and Kachanana ft Joey B. Our oldie of the week was ‘One Way Or Another’ the 1D version and not the original Blondie record. The prize we give of a dinner for two with drinks at the lodge to the first person to text us the name of the artist on the track was quickly snapped up. My pick of the week was Ellie Goulding’s ‘Love Me Like You Do’ the first track released from the soundtrack of the much anticipated movie ’50 Shades Of Grey’.

Tiko told us that she had been brought up on the Copperbelt mostly by her dad, and had attended Fatima Girls Secondary School. She had originally come to Livingstone for a job with a now defunct company, before meeting Ken, then a manager with Indeco Estates and the rest is history, as they say! They had been married for 16 years. Jay gasped at that information! Gospel is her favourite music (naturally) and her favourite artist CC Wynans. Tiko loves swimming and tennis and her most loved tennis star is Serena Williams. She was proud of having sung at the Ngoma Awards ceremony in the past, and in 2013 for the closing ceremony of the United Nations World Tourism Organization general meeting held in Livingstone.

Asked where she would like to be and what she would like to be doing 10 years from now, this thoughtful, talented, hard working lady said she would like to be teaching in her own school of music and to be promoting Zambian music and musicians. We wished her well.

16
JAN

Africa, awards, broadcasting, copperbelt, education, entertainment, football, livingstone, music, radioshow, recording, religion, training, UNWTO2013, victoriafalls, Zambia

The JLove Experience!

Meet Joseph ‘JLove’ Kaleb, guest on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz. The Experience is the weekly radio show we sponsor every Sunday night on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s favourite local radio station. Joseph told Milli Jam ‘not to ask about his surname’ and that he was Nsenga by tribe from the Eastern Province of Zambia. “What about the Jlove?” I wondered. “Oh man!” He replied, “that’s my stage name!” He explained that he’s a singer and music producer, having already recorded and released an album entitled ‘The Mixed Emotions Of Mr J Love’. “Why that title?” Jay Hillz asked and JLove explained that he had lost his mum when he was quite young and the album reflected that sadness as well as the joy of living. His new album, due for release soon, would be called ‘Unleashing Point’. We got the message!

JLove told listeners that he’d lived a large part of his life in South Africa where his late dad had been a missionary. He said that he came from a very large family and that he had nine siblings of whom he was aware – he’s the ninth out of ten – he talked of three mums as well. Milli Jam (father of five) murmured “what is it about Africa Richard”? “Don’t bring me into this!” I replied. JLove said he had been at high school in Kimberley in RSA and had gone on to study IT in which he has a diploma and is a specialist. His production company in Johannesburg is called Sparrow Productions which he co-owns with brother Destiny and which was ‘inherited’ from a Will. K. Banda. JLove is the father of one little boy Jerome, aged 6 months. “What about marriage?” Wondered Milli Jam. “Don’t rush me man!” The reply.

The music on the show was good as usual featuring tracks from Labrinth, James Bay, Madonna, Take That and Ne-Yo, as well as African tracks from Manas ft More Money, T-Pain, Tio and Alice Chuma. Our oldie of the week was the Alice Chuma track and we gave away dinner for two to a lucky winner who texted us the answer to our simple question in good time.

JLove told us that he loves R&B and that his favourite Zambian artist is Maureen Lilanda. Internationally he favours Bow Wow and Buster Rhymes with whom he once shared the stage for a show in South Africa – “a really cool memory”, he said. He supports Bayern Munich in the German league but has no particular preference in English football clubs. He has played shows in many neighbouring African countries. He has accounts on both Facebook and Twitter – on Twitter he is @MRJLOVER. He writes his own music which is clearly what he loves to do, probably even more than producing or singing. His musical life started from church as a child.

Asked when he would be returning to South Africa JLove replied some time in the new year, and asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing ten years’ from now he said he would like to be a singing music mogul in Zambia. We had no doubt that this self assured, confident young musician/producer would fulfill his ambitions!

4
DEC

Africa, broadcasting, computers, entertainment, entrepreneurship, facebook, football, livingstone, music, radioshow, recording, rsa, Twitter, Zambia

The Louis Barabbas Experience

Meet Louis Barabbas (above), musician and Guest 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 airing for an hour live every Sunday night on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. Louis told listeners that he was currently on holiday in Zambia with his parents, who were in Zambia to participate in the 50th Anniversary of Independence celebrations taking place in the week ahead. He would be attending a state dinner in Lusaka with them on Independence Day itself. He explained that his grandfather had once been the town clerk of Kabwe! Milli Jam looked surprised. His mum, Pam, was also about to publish a book about Zambia titled ‘Remnants Of Empire’.

Louis, an English language graduate has been involved in the music industry in UK one way or another for about 12 years. He currently heads a band by the name of Louis Barabbas and the Bedlam Six. Given the name of the band I was somehow expecting Louis to be a great big hairy loud rocker not the rather shy thoughtful young man who kept us entertained on the show! Louis explained that the band, which is based in Manchester, had just finished a tour of Europe taking in Germany and Austria and would be on a break until May 2015. The boys had also just completed their second studio album called ‘Youth’ and Milli Jam was delighted to be given a copy. He and Jay assured Louis that tracks from the album would be featured on shows on 107.7 fm during the week ahead. Louis had also finished writing a solo album, yet to be recorded, which would be entitled ‘Gentle Songs Of Ceaseless Horror’……..

The music on our show was good as usual and featured tracks from Avicii, Taylor Swift and One Direction. Milli Jam and Jay chose tracks from Ten Walls and Ma-E, as well as Exile, Adele and the Masasu Band. My pick of the week was a new track from Noel Gallagher called ‘In The Heat Of The Moment’. As this played Louis wondered why he would come all the way from Manchester just to listen to a Manchester outfit in Livingstone. We closed with something rather different – Krishane ft Melissa Steel, with ‘Drunk and Incapable’! None of us were!

Louis told us that he plays guitar and harmonica and is also lead singer of the Bedlam Six. He heads a recording company – Debt Records – which has about eight artists in its’ stable and often operates as a type of co-operative with acts combining their skills to come up with the best results. Louis has a weekly radio show on local radio in Manchester. Surprisingly football wise he supports neither Man City or the other team in the city. Still single, Louis has a partner – a geologist by profession – with whom he’s been going steady for about ten years. Did he miss her? Yes. His own musical preferences tended towards film music and musicals. He is also involved in the Musicians Union in UK, working for a fairer deal for musicians in that country.

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing ten years’ from now Louis said he would like be making more music, travelling more and to be making more money. We agreed that this would suit all present in the studio!

23
OCT

Africa, broadcasting, copperbelt, entertainment, entrepreneurship, livingstone, Lusaka, management, marketing, money, music, radioshow, recording, travel, Zambia

Lewis Simango

There was drama at the start of the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George ‘Kaufela’ da Soulchild, our weekly Sunday night radio show on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station, as the studio was plunged into darkness by a power cut – not a particularly unusual occurrence in Livingstone. After some of us had been obliged to climb the six flights of stairs to get to work (no Zesco – no lifts), we were lucky that our Guest of the week – Lewis Simango (above) – is technically gifted and was well able to start up the studio’s stand by generator. We were lucky! Even so, the genset only operates the system and the transmission so for the first half of the show we did it in the dark!

Lewis told listeners that he is a part time presenter on 107.7 fm and a born again Christian. He has a show featuring gospel music every Sunday called 426. “Why that name?” I wondered. “Because the show airs from 14 – 18 hrs” Lewis replied. “Ah!” I said, feeling dull and knackered from climbing the stairs! Lewis explained that he mostly features gospel music on his show but that he also has a certain man of God from the church of ‘Lion of Judah’ who comes in to preach. “Do you think there’s too much religious broadcasting on this station?” Milli Jam asked. “Certainly not!” the unsurprising reply.

We don’t play gospel music on our show even though we also broadcast on Sundays. On this edition we featured tracks from Showtek, James Arthur, Zone Fam and Kaufela ft Mbototo. Milli Jam played Sean Paul and Bruno Mars. Our oldie of the week was Katie Melua’s ‘Closest Thing To Crazy’ but no-one won the prize. There was one forlorn text message saying ‘these oldies are so hard for us youth’! Seeing that the prize had been won for the previous three weeks running we disputed this! My pick of the week was Ne-Yo featuring Future with ‘Luxurious’. “Everyone’s featuring Future’ said George. We closed with Sean Paul’s hit ‘Turn It Up’.

Lewis made us laugh when Milli Jam asked what sport he liked and his reply was ‘wrestling’. “Ah!” said Milli Jam “and who’s your favourite wrestler?”. “Well” said Lewis “despite my religion it’s The Undertaker”! Lewis professed no interest in UK soccer. Our Guest said his greatest influence in terms of his show was Jo Austin, and that he had been with 107.7 for almost a year. He loved broadcasting and had joined the station as a result of starting early as a member of the station’s fan club. He also revealed that he is a musician himself, soon hoping to release his first album. He is also an events manager with Livingstone Lighthouse, and so he makes ends meet. He is a single man, Lozi by tribe, “pure Lozi” he said. He had been educated at David Livingstone High School and was undertaking further studies by distance learning.

As the show came to an end, Lewis rushed off the shut down the generator and switch back on to mains power – technical indeed!

31
OCT

Africa, broadcasting, education, electricity, entertainment, football, livingstone, media, radioshow, recording, religion, Zambia

Kaufela Close Up!

Milli Jam and I decided to turn the tables on one of our co-presenters on the latest edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild and put George (above) in the chair as the Guest! It was not the first time he’s featured but it had been a long time since we heard from him and we felt our newer listeners should get some insight into George, his past and his ambitions. It was fascinating stuff! ‘The Experience’ is our weekly Sunday night radio show airing on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station, for an hour from 20.30 hrs CAT.

Milli Jam wanted to know how long George had been with Zambezi fm and how he came to be employed in the first place. George told listeners that he’d served for between four and five years. He had been on holiday in Livingstone and had been making some guest appearances at one of Livingstone’s other radio stations when he received a call from the then general manager of Zambezi fm, Chanda Mfula, who had asked him to come and audition with Zambezi fm. He had been successful, following which he was sent to SkyFM, another Southern Province radio station, for further training. George had worked for an organization called Africa Innovations before this lucky break. I offered the opinion on air that I was not surprised that he had been quickly snapped up by Zambezi FM as he had a natural radio voice – and he has!

“How long have you been singing”? Milli Jam asked, and George told our listeners that he had first started rapping in secondary school, covering hits by the likes of Snoop Dogg and others. He had recorded his first single in 2003 with Leo Muntu and subsequently had recorded about 12 singles. He rated the best of these as his new one ‘Enter Enter’ as well as another called ‘Your Smile’. He rated his best live shows as ones that had happened on the Copperbelt, Sesheke and one he had played across in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

The music on or show was good. We dropped tracks from Conor Maynard and Miley Cyrus (who else) at the top of the show. Before he knew he would be appearing as the guest George had chosen work from Exile as well as Mr Vezzy. Milli Jam played numbers from Justin Timberlake and Katy Perry. Our oldie of the week was Alicia Keys’ ‘Sleeping With A Broken Heart’ and the prize we give to the first listener to text us the name of the performing artist was quickly snapped up by Raphael amongst a flood of contestants. My pick of the week was James Blunt’s ‘Heroes’ and we closed with a track from The Saturdays.

Milli Jam referred to George’s recent bungee jumping exploits and asked if he had been scared. George replied that he had not, but that his Granny had been very frightened when he had shown her the video of the jump! Asked why he supported Liverpool football club, our guest did not give a satisfactory reply but told us that his favourite player was Steven Gerrard. We asked him how he managed to get up so early every morning to host the breakfast show and he said ‘you get used to it’!. He revealed that he would soon become an uncle as his sister was expecting a baby. He thanked Father Cletus from Radio Mosi-o-Tunya for the guidance he had given him in his early years of broadcasting.

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing in 10 years’ time, George told listeners that he would like to be highly successful in broadcasting and music, and would like to own his own radio station. We wished him the best of luck and thanked him for his service to our show!

17
OCT

activities, Africa, charities, communications, copperbelt, entertainment, entrepreneurship, livingstone, music, radioshow, recording, victoriafalls, zambezi, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Roberto – ‘Good Woman’

Here’s a nice piece from George Kaufela, co-presenter of our weekly radio show on Zambezi 107.7 fm. George has a single on release with Roberto at the moment called ‘Took You’ and a great track it is too! George writes:

“Since he kick started his musical career in 1996, Robert Banda has been known in the entertainment industry as Roberto and is probably one of Zambia’s finest exports. Roberto is a striking force in Zambian entertainment as an artist, drive time radio presenter on Zambia’s Radio QFM, producer, script writer, qualified computer programmer and CEO of BrathaHood Music.

Roberto currently has his third studio album called ‘My Name Is…‘ on the market, released on 3rd September 2012 and in stores nationally in Zambia and other parts of Southern and Eastern Africa.
This album has a cocktail of diverse sounds, hosting collaborations which bring sounds from all over Africa. The artists who are featured represent countries such as Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Nigeria as well as Zambia itself. All the tracks were written and produced by Robert apart from ‘Mvela Mushe’ featuring Adora which was produced Maj Beats in Nambia.

This is a project which has been 3 years in the making and when asked to describe the album by one online blogger, Roberto said the album “is a very personal album to me, as it brings out stories of situations I have gone through and witnessed through the years.” So far in his career, Roberto has travelled widely across Africa and also managed to include a trip to Europe at the start of 2012. Roberto travelled to Uganda to collaborate with Allan Toniks, where together they produced a smash hit single ‘Swag Meter’.
Other countries that Roberto has visited for major performances are Botswana, South Africa, Rwanda, Nigeria and Kenya where he went under invitation for the MTV Base Awards in 2009 and 2010 respectively.

2012 saw Roberto Travel to London where he had a successful tour launching the third single from the album ‘Osanisiya So’ featuring Young Riko (Brathahood Music). ‘Salaula’ had been the most successful single until the fifth single ‘Good Woman’ was released on the same day as the album. ‘Good Woman’ has dominated East and Southern African stations with heavy rotation in Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Botswana. In Nigeria, Good Woman has peaked number one on The Beat 99.9FM and Rhythm radio stations. The song has also been aired in Canada, Jamaica, Australia, Czech Republic and Denmark.

‘Good Woman’ is a self confession song that has captured the hearts of music lovers across the globe and officially cemented Roberto as a fast rising African super star. All his fans eagerly await the release of the video to accompany the song which is taking the world by storm. Due to popular demand by Roberto’s worldwide fans, the ‘My Name Is…’ album will be available on sale online very soon. Upon the success of ‘Good Woman’, Roberto has now been tipped to perform with some of hip-hop and r and b’s greatest stars.”

21
JAN

Africa, entertainment, music, recording, Zambia

Brooklyn

Check Milli Jam – presenter of our weekly Sunday night radio show – getting up close and personal with our Guest on the most recent edition of the programme, Makazo Mwangala, better known as ‘Brooklyn’ – half of a rapping duo BK – Brooklyn and Kimorah – out of Windhoek, Namibia. The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela, airs on Zambezi 107.7 fm Livingstone’s leading local radio station every Sunday from 20.30 – 21.30. Streaming live on the internet too, it’s a great mixture of international and African music. Between tracks we chat to our Guest and later in the show give away a dinner for two at the lodge to the first person to text us telling us who’s the artist on our ‘oldie of the week’. On Brooklyn’s show the track was by the late great Zambian artist Smokey Haangala and we were inundated with text messages all giving us the right answer. Great stuff!

Brooklyn told listeners that she’s a third year journalism student at the Polytechnic of Namibia in Windhoek. She and her fellow student Kimorah came together in 2010 and have so far released seven singles and several videos. The girls play live at events like fashion shows, pageants and CD launches. Brooklyn is a Zambian but has been mostly brought up in Namibia where her dad is a meteorologist with Meteorological Services in Namibia. “Does he present the weather on TV?” I wondered. “No” replied Brooklyn “he writes what the presenters read on TV”. Did she miss Zambia? We wondered. She did, especially her family here. “Married?” Wondered George (predictably). “Very taken!” Was the reply. “Pass George the tissues!” I told Milli Jam.

We featured two of BK’s tracks – ‘Get Ready’ and ‘I Can’. Brooklyn explained that the single is called ‘Get Ready’ because the girls are telling everybody to be ready for them because they want to show their versatility and want to do something in a different style. ‘I Can’ is about “showing all the haters and people who want to bring us down that we can accomplish things.” She said. Brooklyn has a great voice, her inspiration is Nicki Minaj she told us, while Kimorah is inspired by Brandy. The girls wrote both songs themselves and the production on the recording is excellent. Other tracks we featured on the show were from Petersen and Manas locally, and internationally from Justice Collective, Dido featuring Kendrick Lamar, Tom Odell and The One Pound Fish Man (!)

Brooklyn told us that both she and Kimorah have jobs to help pay for their college education. Brooklyn is in charge of social media for a marketing company while her friend works for the ‘Namibian’ newspaper in that country. They had first met at the Polytechnic of Namibia where they were in the same class. “We just clicked. She liked what I liked. She listened to the same music as me and that’s where Kimorah told me about her interests in music,” said Brooklyn, adding that from there they got along like a house on fire. Asked when the girls were coming to perform in Zambia, Brooklyn said “keep your eyes wide open, there’s something in the works!”

Milli Jam closed with the usual question to our Guest – where would she like to be and what would she like to be doing ten years from now? Brooklyn replied that she would like to be “sitting on a large stack of money” and to have trillions of fans in an international market. “Get in!” We said.

27
DEC

Africa, Chanters, education, entertainment, fashion, livingstone, media, music, Namibia, radioshow, recording, Zambia

The Experience in Camouflage!

No, we were not in disguise on the latest edition of the ‘Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Kaufela’ but the two young men shown in the picture above, whose real names are Tobias Maliseni (left) and Chisenga Chashi are musicians who go by the name ‘Camouflage’. “How did you come up with that name?” Milli Jam wanted to know at the top of the show, and the boys said the name came about because of the different patterns to their music. They had been together for about 10 years having met at an audition at another radio station in Livingstone when they were schoolboys.

The boys explained that their third album (12 tracks) which will be entitled ‘Chimawama’ meaning ‘It’s Nice’ was scheduled for release in January 2013. We featured one track from the new album on the show – ‘Panga Ishobe’ meaning, apparently, ‘mind your own business’ – or words to that effect. Good track. We also featured their biggest hit ‘Yonse’ – “it’s a national anthem” said Cheeseman. ‘Cheeseman?’ I hear you query – Chisenga’s nickname! Tobias is ‘Toby Zambiano’! smh

Camouflage told listeners that life as young musicians in Zambia is pretty tough. They had in the past played shows with Amayenge, Danny and Burning Youth, all well known Zambian acts. They had also played outside Zambia in Tanzania. They described the biggest obstacles in their career as ‘piracy’ (illegal copying of tracks) and the poor receipts they receive from record producers. In fact they said that the music industry in Zambia is not yet ‘an industry’ as such but it still ‘just art’. They also felt that preference was always given to Lusaka artists on radio in Zambia and artists from Livingstone such as themselves got a ‘raw deal’. Some of the Zambian acts they admire are Nasty D, Danny and Mampi.

Apart from Camouflage’s great tracks we featured music from James Arthur, Rihanna, Sean Kingston and Miguel on the show. The oldie of the week was a Don Williams number (If Hollywood Don’t Need You, Honey I Still Do) and the prize we give away each week of a dinner for two at the lodge, to the first person to text us the name of the artist on the track, was quickly snapped up. Our pick of the week was a more recent country release ‘Goodbye In Your Eyes’ from the Zac Brown Band. We closed with Will.i.am and Britney Spears. Our show is known locally for its great musical mix! You can see why!

Chisenga told listeners that he’s the local chair of Zambia Association of Musicians and was doing his best to improve the lot of his members. Neither of the boys are married but Chisenga has a 10 year old daughter. He likes ragga and Manchester United while Tobias prefers reggae and Chelsea. ‘Oh’ we said. Tobias has a brother who is a presenter on Zambezi 107.7 fm. They were grateful to Contact Trust Youth Association and Kaufela who had both helped with the production of their first album.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years’ time, Toby said he would like to be an entrepreneur owning a record company and to have a hit single, while Chisenga said he hoped to have made Livingstone a better known place.

We are always happy to feature and promote local Livingstone and Zambian artists on our show.

20
DEC

Africa, Chanters, entertainment, livingstone, music, radioshow, recording, Tanzania, Zambia

Norwegian Students On ‘The Experience’

Meet the three delightful students we have staying at Chanters Lodge, Livingstone, Zambia for a few weeks, undertaking their practicals at Libala Basic School in Livingstone. All three are in their final year at University of Tromso in Norway, studying for a degree in teaching. From left to right in the picture above, Ellen Marie Steen, Bjorn Danielsen and Lillian Ballo as they appeared last Sunday on the latest edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient. That’s our regular Sunday night radio show airing on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. The show airs from 20.30 to 21.30 live, and sort of streams on the internet too!

These young, intelligent and energetic Norwegians told listeners that Tromso, where they are at University, is a very cold place in the winter situated as it is in the furthest north of Norway near the Arctic Circle. “How are you coping with this Livingstone heat?” Milli Jam, our programme host, wondered. “We are happy to have air-conditioning and a swimming pool at Chanters Lodge” they replied with feeling! “Are you enjoying the interaction with the Zambian children at your school?” Milli Jam wondered. “Very much” they said, adding that they found the Zambian children very well disciplined even though the school classes were much larger than those in Norway.

The music on the show was right up to date as usual, featuring at the top of the show the current UK number one ‘Beneath Your Beautiful’ from Labrinth and Emeli Sande, back to back with Tyler James – Single Tear. Tracks from Judy, B-Flow, Nicki Minaj, Justin Bieber and Bastille followed. We kept a promise to make our oldie of the week very easy on this show – we give away a dinner for two every week to the first person to text us telling us who’s singing on the track – and we dropped Lionel Richie and Diana Ross with ‘Endless Love’. The prize was won in a matter of seconds! We closed the show with Bruno Mars and Young Wild Girls.

Milli Jam wanted to know if the students had had any time for tourist activities and they replied that so far they had been working very hard, although they had been to see Victoria Falls and had taken a sunset cruise on the Zambezi. Later during their stay they intended to go white water rafting, on safari to Chobe in Botswana and to swim in Devil’s Pool on Livingstone Island. Bjorn was toying with the idea of bungee jumping, the girls were not! “Are you married?” Milli Jam wondered. Giggles. “No replied Ellen but I’m dating a music student in Norway”. “My boyfriend’s a builder” said Lillian. Bjorn told listeners that he was young, single and free! “Get in girls!” Milli Jam told our audience.

“What do you think of Zambian food” Milli Jam wondered, and to our surprise these Norwegian youngsters replied “we love eating crocodile meat!” “Eish!” said I. Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years’ time Lillian replied that she would like to be married with three children and a pop star! (Not so outlandish seeing she already has three singles released in Norway). Bjorn wanted to be happy, taking life one day at a time and enjoying an adventurous life. Ellen Marie said she was very bad at planning her life and felt that Bjorn’s ideas were excellent!

1
NOV

Africa, Botswana, Chanters, education, entertainment, food, guests, livingstone, Norway, radioshow, recording, travel, victoriafalls, Zambia

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