Common and rare species, why some musicians shun stage performances

Lilongwe and Blantyre can best be described as the hub of the growth of Malawi music in terms of live shows. Fans in these cities enjoy a number of spectacular live shows mainly from local bands.

There have been countless shows by musicians such as Lucius Banda and the Zembani Band, Skeffa Chimoto and the Real Sounds as well as reggae kings Black Missionaries.

Some of these musicians hold two to three shows in a week, which translates to 12 in a month.

But, while these and others briskly moving from one venue to another, there is a different crop of artists; those who rarely perform.

These artists are generally found on big stages like for music festivals or events organised by the corporate world.

Peter Mawanga, for example, is one artist who is seldom on stage. Yet, he is a musician recognised as a versatile performer.

The last time he performed on stage with his Amaravi Movement Band in Malawi was during the City of Stars Festival in September 2013. In January, he performed at the Celtic Connections in Scotland.

Perhaps what makes him and others as active as others?

“Music for me is a calling as well as a career. Because it’s a calling, I take my live stage as a platform for reaching out to people, sharing my feelings as well as an exhibition for my art and all this requires serious preparation.

“My relationship with my fans is that of two people in love. I always want to give the best to my audience I care about how they feel before and after my performance, hence when I plan a date with them I work for it so that it can be memorable. Their time and presence at my show is of high value. With this in mind, I rarely perform because I do not want to give people half baked stuff,” said Mawanga.

The artist said for him a performance takes a good team for it to fully happen.

“It requires a good event organiser or manager. An engineer plus a good PA system, a decent and friendly venue as well as a thoroughly prepared band. My band members come from all regions of this country and are all professionals in their own right and they work on advance bookings and appointments. Which means they can only perform when it’s worth their time and commitment to do so,” he explained.

Black Missionaries Band is the direct opposite of Mawanga. The band travels across Malawi holding countless shows every weekend.

But the band’s manager Ras Ray Harawa argues: “We are continuously on a show trail because of incessant pressure that comes from fans and those we do business with. There’s nothing we can do as our aim is to please the fans who to us, are the real Black Missionaries for they have made the band to grow to where it is.

“Our slogan is Ma Mlacks Satopa and no one can say that they were let down due to our poor performance as result of being on stage almost always”.

Harawa says most of the artists who are rarely on stage do not have immerse pressure from their fans.

“Most of the musicians who do not perform regularly are not wanted by people. It is only us, Lucius Banda and Skeffa Chomoto, we travel a lot but it is because of people because they always want us to perform. Remember, people are the driving force of our industry. If they want us, why not give them?” wonders Harawa.

However, he said the band has reduced the number of shows to two weeks a month to allow members also do other things.

While acknowledging that continuous musical shows have not done justice on music lovers, local music promoter who over the recent years has organised a number of shows, Abel Kumwenda shares Harawa’s sentiments.

“It is impossible to ignore some musicians when organising our shows. Some of these artists whatever the case are a darling to the fans and as such, we include them on our line-up. Remember we want money at the end of the day.

“However, there’s a change now because people complained of being given a raw deal in terms of musical performances. So for us, we have a limited number of shows this year. As for the musicians who opt to be silent, I will say their approach is not helping the growth of Malawi music. An artist being silent for about year is as good as history,” says Kumwenda