MATHUMELA FINALLY TAKES OFF

A word is a seed and if planted in a young mind, time waters it to germinate into greater things.  Lawrence Khwisa—popularly known as Lulu—heard the word Mathumela when he was nine during a visit to his ancestral home in Ntcheu.

“Almost every relation I was introduced to spoke that word to me. My grandfather told me it’s a Ngoni word which meant ‘courage’,” recalled Lulu during an interview with Society.

The word, he continues, became an indelible scar in his subconscious. So strong it was that when he first formed a band while in secondary school, the word spewed out of his subconscious and became the name of the band.

The band, full of youthful passions, even participated in the Music Crossroads Competition. But it was still in its infancy—just speeding wild on a runway.

As he cruised and cruised on the runway with his Mathumela Band, the wisdom of the word gave him hope and energy to carry on when he failed to take-off to greater heights.

“I started playing in various bands not for fame. But to drink deep from the waters of music and understand how to manage a band,” he says.

The result was the revitalisation of Mathumela Band in 2009.  That time, he thought, the band would take off. But, as before, it did not.

“We had brilliant artists in the fold. Ernest Ikwanga [now with Mafilika] was one of them. But we faced a serious coordination challenge. The band had members from Blantyre and Lilongwe.  We could barely practise. As a result, we failed to make a great impact,” he says.

Yet again, the courage embedded in the Ngoni word, Mathumela, gave him wings to fly over hills of adversary.  He did not give up. In fact, he kept crawling to doors of giants such as Paul and Lucius Banda to understand how they built and maintained Alleluya and Zembani Banda, respectively.

In 2012, Lulu regrouped Mathumela again. He mostly conscripted members from Kawale in Lilongwe. Energised by the presence of revered saxophonist Dan Sibale, vocalists Rico and Oscar, Mathumela began to blossom.  When other talented youths such as Cross K, Ricco, Cuthbert, Roja, Ndatsalapati, Frank and Patrick joined the group, all was set for band to take off.

“These past two years have been phenomenal for us. We spent the best part of 2012 practising. Since then we have moved, steadily, from being a band that awaits hiring to an established one that hold its own shows,” says Lulu.

He adds: “We have learnt so much from the time we were being hired. We have developed confidence.”

Gift Mauluka, a Blantyre resident, saw Mathumela Banda perform at Mibawa Café in his city in February this year.

“What is interesting about them is that they are young and are giving the public the true measure of music. In this age where if you have a voice then you click a computer, create a beat and produce a song, it is not easy to have such a group of talented young people making music from musical instrumentals. These boys are the future of Malawi’s music,” he said.

So, has the band finally take off?

Lulu’s optimism appears to be built of a sterner stuff. He argues the band has its own musical equipment and a studio.

“What is even important is not necessarily the fact that most of us have experience in playing and managing the equipment. Rather, we all live in the same location which makes it easier for us to coordinate to practise.

“In fact, we are currently working on an album. It is still in the kitchen so I cannot disclose much. But be assured—with Ricco and Oscar on the vocalist—that Mathumela is coming,” he says.

Arguably, as the band takes-off, the fear of turbulence in the skies is almost   without expression. Even worse, being a band full of youthful minds, the challenge of management quickly comes into play.

Lulu, while acknowledging the challenge, argues that when people come together with shared vision, challenges become minimal.

“There will always be some in a group who fail to appreciate the shared visions. They fail to see what others are seeing. But I believe we are a band of friends that open up to each other.  And I believe we all share the vision of building Mathumela into an international band in the world,” he says.

Lulu adds that though there have been many bands that took off with pomp only to crash into oblivion, the lessons he learnt from giants like Paul and Lucius is enough to see the band through.

“What I have noted is that in a band operates like a football team. You need extensive training and again when you have a performance you need to be together. In togetherness, I mean before any performance you need to be in a camp. I believe in a camp you develop a spirit of solidarity and again you share a vision. When you are in a camp there is no way you have one of you coming on the stage drunk. This is what we are doing in Mathumela,” he says.

Lulu called on Malawians to support the band so that it grows into an international musical outfit.