Not so much an experience more of a party, is what I’d say about this week’s edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the DJMJ Ingredient ft Soulchild! The show airs at 20.00 hrs every Sunday evening on
107.7 fm Zambezi Radio, Livingstone’s best loved local radio station. Why? Well the two young ladies pictured above, Dorothy Spencer (right) and Maddy Rayner from Varndean College in Brighton, Sussex, UK made it seem like a party, bright, talkative, pretty and vivacious as they were! Also in the picture is Alrik Green a lecturer from Varndean. Not in the photo, but very much in the studio was Cerys Green, Alrik’s young daughter – “it’s pronounced Kerris Richard it’s Welsh”, she told me after I’d repeatedly mispronounced it! Sorry Cerys!

Alrik and wife Jane, as well as Cerys and her young brother Jake (the latter was very cheesed off not being allowed to come to the studio) were staying in accommodation reserved at Chanters Lodge for their week long visit to Livingstone, the Varndean students were accommodated at Jolly Boys, the best of Livingstone’s two back packer lodges. “Do you have messages for any listeners?” I asked Maddy and Dorothy early on in the show “we’ll do it together” they laughed and proceeded to alternately read out a long list of names. “Are they all staying at Jolly Boys?” I asked surprised, “then maybe it should be The Jolly Boys Experience with the Chanters Lodge Ingredient this week!” “They’re not all staying there” laughed the girls “but some are and others are people we’ve met since we’ve been in Zambia”.

“What are you doing in Zambia?” DJMJ Milli Jam wanted to know. The girls and Alrik explained they’d been involved in a Kaloko Trust (a Brighton based trust) project near Luansobe, south of Ndola on the Copperbelt, building toilets at Kwesha Primary School as well as making chairs and tables for the same school. Had they enjoyed it? Yes! Had they thought the trip worthwhile? Yes! “And how were you received by the Zambian population and the students at the school?” I asked “wonderfully well!” They all agreed! “And what have you been doing since you came to Livingstone?” George Soulchild asked “You should know” they said to him “we’ve been partying and we’ve seen you at one of the clubs we went to!” Fits of laughter! “Did you enjoy your safari to Chobe National Park?” Milli Jam asked the girls – they had and had been lucky to see both lion and leopard. “We went to the crocodile park and I held a crocodile” chipped in little Cerys. “Great stuff!” We said!

The music was good. Two local tracks, actually the same two as we’d played last week. “Why?” I wanted to know. “They’re hot!” I was told. ‘Nafuti Nafuti’ by Baska Baska (‘again and again’) and Mampi’s ‘High on Me’. As usual we played the UK number one of the week – ‘I Gotta Feeling’ by the Black Eyed Peas, back to back with ‘Candy’ by Paolo Nutini, my track of the moment! ‘Remedy’ from ‘Little Boots’ is high in the charts right now but it was new to the girls, so too was ‘Thinkin’ & Linkin” by Liquid Danger, a Zambian rap artist. Now that did surprise the assembled company – more about that next week! DJMJ loves Ne-Yo so it was no great surprise to hear ‘Round and Round’ and when we featured ‘The Climb’ by Miley Cyrus, Maddy looked at me shocked! “But I love this track!” She exclaimed! Yes Maddy! “Sport, football?” DJMJ wanted to know but disappointingly there wasn’t a Gunner amongst ’em “Liverpool, Man U and Chelsea” only George Soulchild(Liverpool) looked slightly happy. “Why don’t you support Brighton’s local team?” I wanted to know. “Ooooh! They’re our second favourites” they all said looking sheepish, as opposed to gullish! (geddit?)

We ended with the usual questions about future plans. Maddy wanted to travel and intended to start soon. Dorothy wasn’t quite sure but thought she might go straight to University. They both said they’d like to be married 10 years from now and actually named names of young British celebrities as potential partners, not famous enough for me to have heard of or to remember for that matter! Alrik still hoped to be married to Jane, but said he wasn’t sure where he’d be in 10 years time, but he was sure that if you’d asked him that question 10 years ago, he wouldn’t have answered that he’d be appearing live on local radio in Livingstone, Zambia. Nice one!

What about Cerys, would she like to be married 10 years from now? ‘DEFINITELY NOT!’ was her emphatic reply. Right on Cerys!