Faith Mussa promotes Malawi in Spain
Musician Faith Mussa on Wednesday evening used the JMI Global Conference platform in Spain to market Malawi’s culture to the world.
During his 35-minute set,Mussa showed the world how rich the Malawian culture is as he placed his faith in traditional instruments such as badza, popularly known as the African trumpet and commonly used in Ntchisi District.
Apart from his guitar, the Mdidi hit-maker also used a drum, normally associated with the Chewa gulewamkulu dance. The artist thrived on fusing traditional and modern beats and the output was catchy.
Mussa did a number of his popular compositions and his focus and passion on his craft on the evening was almost faultless. The audience was a mixture of locals and other international guests from the music sector and business executives.
Speaking in an interview from Spain, the artist said his presentation involved the use of technology combined with not just any music instruments, but traditional ones. He said that made his music attract a lot of interest from patrons and described the experience as worthwhile.
Meanwhile, the artist is billed to join an ethno music group comprising artists from different cultural backgrounds. They are set to perform at the same venue today and Mussa will do two songs one of them with artists from Finland and Iraq.
“This is a great learning experience for an artist, who is an enthusiast of traditional music such as me,” he said.
Apart from the music performances, the Malawian artist is also attending music business workshops which focus on promotion of music, events, raising money for projects, registration strategies and marketing your content.
Mussa said: “The lessons that we are getting are very important. After Covid-19, a lot of things changed and artists are facing various problems.As artists we need to ensure that we are well equipped to survive this terrain and that our art survives.”
The artist said they have also been exposed to music agents responsible for booking artists for bigger festivals and knowing of which countries are supporting certain types of music as world music is appreciated differently in different areas.
“Knowing where to present your content can help your music tremendously,” he said.
The JMI Global is a space used to discover young talent from around the world. The event aims at reflecting, discovering, learning and exploring measures being taken within the international youth music community.
The event also featured other musicians from Belgium, Finland, Norway, Spain and France. The event is happening under the theme ‘Rhythms of Resilience’.
