recording – Chanters Lodge Livingstone

Roberto

From: Lusaka Times

Q & A session with Zambia’s Fast Raising Singer Roberto (above)

:Tell us about you recently released album “My name is…”
ROBERTO: Well “My Name Is…” has been in the making for over 3 years now, it is a very personal album to me, as it brings out stories of situations I have gone through and witnessed through the years.

: Do you feel you have grown as an artist since your first album?
ROBERTO: Most definitely, it’s important to learn from challenges in life, take both positive and negative criticism and be a better person; I have managed to produce and write the entire album alone except for two songs.

7:How did you get started as a DJ?
ROBERTO: Many think I started from Radio then went into music lol, I actually went for a radio interview on Radio Hot Fm while promoting my 1st album and I was on radio with Hope, so during the interview she was like, you actually sound good on radio and we took in some calls asking people if they wanted me to co-host her drive time show for a week, and a week later I got calls from radio stations all over and was offered a job at Qfm as I was at Hot Fm on a voluntary basis, so that’s how my radio career started

: Does being a DJ on Q FM bring about a conflict of interests, i.e. Are you tempted to promote your music more than other local artists?
ROBERTO: The only conflict I face is regarding my time schedule as I have at times reject certain offers because of one of the two jobs. I set a principle not to play my own music but help other artists promote their music, I love Zambian music and I feel I can help others; I’m already on radio so it would be unfair to promote my own music while doing my shows

Do you feel Zambian music gets enough air play as compared to international music?
ROBERTO: First of all I feel some stations are doing a great job promoting Zambian music, then again other stations are hesitant to promote our Music for reasons best known to themselves, others blame the monotony in the sound and content of music.

: Since you came on to the scene how has the Zambian music has industry improved?
ROBERTO: It surely has changed and grown in some areas, and I foresee a situation where Zambian music will dominate Africa, its unfortunate that we do not have much support from the outside market, but I have already seen the interest by many radio stations outside Zambia playing our music and so it is growing and improving

: One of my favorite songs of yours is “Operator” from your first album, I still have it on my playlist to this day. Do you have an all-time favorite song out of all that have been released?
ROBERTO: Wow!!! Operator will always be a classic in my world, I would say Operator as well but of-course with every album comes a song that just gets a little more repeats than the others, its crazy but fun lol

: How has the response been from the fans towards your new album, which song do you enjoy performing the most?
ROBERTO: Response has been terrific and so motivating, when I was putting this album together I had to challenge myself on every song so I could only imagine how everyone would receive the songs more especially the songs I did in English but the response is just motivation for me, I love performing SALAULA and GOOD WOMAN

:You are currently promoting your single “Good Woman”, tell us about the song.
ROBERTO: “Good Woman” is a personal Confession, its interesting as songs like “Love You More”, “Chawama” & “Good Woman” I wrote for my girlfriend after the many situations we would face in our relationship, what I talk about in the song are issues I went through or she complained about!

: Are you promoting your album internationally, how has been the response.
ROBERTO: Yes I am, I have been blessed enough to have a great team working with me to ensure we reach out to countries all over the world, the feedback we are getting is worth a million smiles, the radio stations and people have been so supportive. Zambians abroad have also been so helpful in spreading the word about my music, it’s been amazing!! I am truly thankful

: Besides music what other interests do you have?
ROBERTO: I am in love with directing and script writing videos & films, I studied computer programming so I have a huge passion for Computer programming, I also love graphic design.

: Is there anything your fans will be surprised to know about you .
ROBERTO: I don’t like tomatoes, I don’t eat cheese and I cant speak Bemba fluently yet I sing it

Any last words…….
ROBERTO: It would be unfair if i didnt say my many thanks to everyone who is supporting my music my works and the entire BrathaHood Music camp, Ozzy, Mandela, Manas & Young Riko. We owe our achievements to everyone taking time to support our works, our families and friends THANK YOU

22
OCT

Africa, entertainment, innovation, Lusaka, music, radioshow, recording, Zambia

Shyman!

Meet Michelo Siavwapa (above, with an unnamed fan in the background) aka ‘Shyman Shaizo’, one of Livingstone Zambia’s hottest music stars and Guest on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Souldchild Kaufela – that’s our regular Sunday night radio show airing at 20.30 hrs CAT on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station, and streaming live on the internet here or here. Each week we give away a dinner for two at the lodge during the show to the first person to text us telling us who’s singing our oldie of the week – just imagine that no-one knew Chris de Burgh sang ‘Lady In Red’ – so the prize went begging on this particular show!

“Why are you called Shyman?” Asked Milli Jam at the top of the show “are you shy”? The man denied it, saying that the name had happened ‘out of the blue’ and that he had ‘never been shy’. The fan behind giggled….Shyman told listeners that he was a Livingstone lad and it was only in 2005 that he had shifted to Lusaka in order to further his musical career. In 2008 this had resulted in the production and release of his only album to date. It had been a big success and he was very much hoping that his second album would be forthcoming before too long. He gave praise to musician Petersen whom he said had been a tremendous help to him in furthering his musical aspirations.

We featured two of Shyman’s tracks on the show – ‘Salary’ and ‘Iwe Na 1ne’ – the latter with Petersen and Ben Blazer, and it is clear that the man has a lot of talent. George who recently produced and recorded some super new jingles for our show and who is campaigning said “Richard, did you hear that the first track was called ‘Salary’ and did you know he was singing about people getting paid more money?” My reply? “Thanks for the jingles George!” Recently Milli Jam had Ne-Yo’s ‘Let Me Love You Until You Learn To Love Yourself’ as his pick of the week and we were delighted to report that it had debuted at number one on the UK pop charts that very day, so we played it again and patted ourselves on the back! We also featured Enrique with Sammy Adams ‘Finally Found You’ and Flo-Rida’s ‘I Cry’. This week Milli’s pick of the week was Liquid Deep’s ‘Still’.

Shyman told listeners that he was ‘very single’ (the fan behind giggled again) but father of a baby girl aged 1 year 5 months. He said he had played shows as far away as Mozambique and South Africa but his biggest crowds were in Namibia where Zambian music is very popular. He did not like football but wished there was volleyball in Livingstone, which he enjoyed. He was very proud to be involved in an empowering project with other musicians to teach and educate orphans. He had his first break as a musician as a youngster when he played trumpet in a Salvation Army band. He said his father had been the one to encourage him in the musical field.

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing ten years from now, Shyman replied ‘In Livingstone, Zambia making it big in music’! No doubt!

15
SEP

Africa, entertainment, livingstone, Lusaka, music, Namibia, radioshow, recording, Zambia

The Experience

‘The Experience’ is ‘The Chanters Lodge Experience with The Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela, and it’s our regular Sunday night radio show airing weekly from 20.30 to 21.30 hrs CAT on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. This week’s Guests, pictured above, were Peter and Jane Kohlhoff hailing from Sydney, Australia, briefly visiting Zambia for the first time and staying at Chanters Lodge. This loving married couple told listeners that they’d been married for 357 days and we took the opportunity to wish them ‘happy first anniversary’ in advance! Peter is a professional musician and Jane a psychologist – they told listeners that they both work freelance. Jane has her own psychology practice which operates one or two days a week and for the rest of the time she is involved with research. Peter plays bass guitar and double bass and has been involved in music since he was a teenager.

The music on our show was good. We opened with ‘Take Care’ by Drake featuring Rihanna, back to back with Justin Bieber’s latest smash ‘Boyfriend’. George chose B1’s ‘Perfecto’ currently a very popular track in Zambia together with ‘Chitemene System’ by B-Flow featuring Exile and JK. Milli Jam dropped Usher’s ‘Without You’ and ‘How We Roll’ by Loick Essien featuring Tanya Lacey. Our ‘oldie of the week’ was ‘Sweet Soul Sister’ by Train. We asked listeners to text us right away when they knew who was singing on the track – that’s if they wanted to win a dinner for two at Chanters Lodge. But no-one knew! I had predicted this! We gave the prize (off air) to our two hard working presenters, George and Milli Jam! My pick of the week was ‘Blackout’ by Breathe Carolina.

Peter and Jane explained that they’d arrived in Zambia the previous Thursday from South Africa and would be returning there as Jane would be attending a meeting for psychologists after their stay in Zambia. The day they’d arrived they’d taken the sunset cruise on Lady Livingstone which they’d loved. The following day they’d gone on a two day camping trip to Chobe National Park in Botswana. They’d been very lucky not only to see hundreds of elephants, common in Chobe, but also lion and leopard. They had seen lots of other species as well. Peter and Jane had returned to Zambia on the day of our show, and had been to see Victoria Falls which they had loved – ending with a sundowner at the Royal Livingstone Hotel. They told listeners that they were not so much into sport as lots of Australians but loved their music.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years from now, they hesitated and then Peter said ‘I do not know, but I am looking forward to it’! Peter and George spent time discussing music off air, and we hope their plans for some sort of collaboration bear fruit – Peter has played on over 150 recordings and should certainly be able to assist Soulchild in his ambitions!

18
APR

activities, Africa, Australia, Botswana, Chanters, entertainment, guests, music, radioshow, recording, victoriafalls, wildlife, Zambia

The Finnish Experience

I don’t remember having Finnish guests on the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela until last week’s show, so it was a pleasure to welcome Minttu Markannen (front left) and Susanna Mustonen (front right) who featured on the latest edition of our regular Sunday night radio programme on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. The girls were accompanied to the studio by Minttu’s mum Pivy (back right) and her friend Marita, all of whom were Guests at Chanters Lodge. It was a lovely happy Easter Sunday show with lively chat, great music, and of course the prize of a dinner for two at Chanters Lodge for the first person to text us telling us who was singing our ‘oldie of the week’. Milli Jam’s selection was Ne-Yo’s ‘So Sick’ and there was an immediate deluge of messages most of whom had the right answer, but no-one was faster than Felistus who won!

The girls told listeners that they came from Helsinki, the capital of Finland, and were both student nurses. They were currently working in Lilongwe, Malawi for a few months as part of a student exchange programme between Kamuzu Hospital in Lilongwe and the University of Helsinki, where they were both studying, in the final year of a three year degree course in nursing. The girls were very much enjoying their experience and told us there were huge differences between health care in Finland and Malawi, for example in Finnish hospitals roughly 6 nurses to less than 30 patients, in Malawi 5 nurses for 200+ patients!

The music on the show was great – we opened with Carly Jae Repson’s ‘Call Me Maybe’ a former number 1 in Canada, debuting at number 1 in the UK charts that very day. The guys dropped this track back to back with Nicki Minaj’s ‘Va Va Voom’ from her latest Roman Reloaded album – number 1 in the UK album charts – we are nothing if not right up to date on ‘The Experience’! George played Judy’s ‘Chikawama’ and Roberto’s ‘Osayenda’ for his Zambian tracks. Other tracks were by Micasa, a South African, with a number called ‘Heavenly Streets’, Sean Paul, and Labrinth featuring Emeli Sande.

Milli Jam wanted to know how the group had travelled from Malawi to Livingstone and the girls explained that Kenya Airways had cancelled their flights, consequently they’d been obliged to travel the whole way by coach but they’d been determined to come and see Victoria Falls! They told us the effort had been totally worthwhile as they had now seen the magnificent sight of the Falls in full flood – and gotten very wet in the process! They had a one day safari planned to Chobe in Botswana the next day. They were not sure how many other activities they would be able to fit in as they had to be back in Lilongwe by the following Thursday, and once again would have to travel the whole way back to Malawi by coach.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in 10 years time, the girls who are both single, had different replies. They said they wanted to be ‘excellent nurses’ but Minttu gave the impression she would still like to be studying, while Susanna said she hoped she would be nursing, married and have children.

We thought their African experience would stand them in good stead for the future!

12
APR

activities, Botswana, Chobe, entertainment, Finland, guests, health, Malawi, music, recording, victoriafalls, Zambia

Mr Vezzy

Thanks to George da Soulchild Kaufela, co-host of our regular Sunday night radio show on Zambezi 107.7 fm for this interesting piece:

‘Lvee’ or rather Mr Vezzy as he is know today has been around on the local Zambian music scene for a while now. The “no sweat no sweet” rapper had taken a break from the now very competitive music industry but last year saw him pick up a ‘Born ‘n Bred’ award in the category of Best Hip-Hop Video for his hit song “Ama Bad Boy”, which signalled his return to the industry. This year his new single hit airwaves a couple of weeks ago receiving massive airplay – the new single is called ‘Every Day (Nima Lota)’ produced by King James for So’ Good Ent.

On this song MrVezzy addresses his absence from the game and the name change from LV to MrVezzy he also touches on a wide range of current social issues such as the Liato case, the Chipolopolo AFCON dream as well as the rise of gossip sites like Kachepa360 and Tumfweko.

‘Every Day (Nima Lota)’ is the first track release from MrVezzy’s forthcoming album which features collaborations with some prominent international and local artists. The album is set for release in early March 2012 – very soon in fact!

2
MAR

Africa, awards, entertainment, music, recording, Zambia

CQ

George da Souldchild-Kaufela, co-host of our Sunday night radio show ‘The Experience’ on Zambezi 107.7 fm, upcoming singing star, as well as our valuable and regular blog contributor keeps an eye on the local Zambian music scene for us! Here’s his latest report on CQ and music piracy in Zambia!

“Fans of CQ may have to wait a while longer to get his new album because the ‘Waziba’ hit maker isn’t releasing one any time soon. CQ has revealed by interview from the USA that he’s not making a solo album because of piracy, but instead he will focus on making an album with OC. The album is being exclusively produced by OC, Mister of California and Wreckless from Florida. CQ’s latest song “Ndekeleni” with Exile is enjoying massive airplay on local radio stations and his Digital X produced JK featured “Multi Lover” tune is excellent, but he insists that he is not releasing any album soon.

“I don’t see myself releasing a solo album anytime soon, mainly because the system in Zambia is pathetic. We (musicians) invest too much and get too little out of albums, so I’d rather run with the new trend of just releasing singles. We get badly pirated after all the effort we put in, even going quiet for a year hoping that when the album is out it will make a lot of noise, only to find that pirates have poached maybe two songs and have then made what they call ‘Zed Compilation’. This gives an impression that your album only has two hot songs which I find unfair. So, as long as the system doesn’t change I’m not changing my mind”, he revealed.

The star who is tight lipped about the collaborative album he’s recording in the USA with OC said he’ll focus on doing shows as he makes more money from them than from making an album. CQ says that music is a big part of his career but he has other lucrative ventures that take up a lot of his time. He’s a print model for Black Rose and an actor who retains a permanent role as a barman in Kabanana. He also runs his own record label, Extra Large Entertainment, and is now looking in to opening a fashion clothing line to be called CQ Muzukulu.“

Wish him the best of luck!

15
JAN

Africa, entertainment, fashion, livingstone, music, radioshow, recording, usa, Zambia

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