Moving through generations

Society got a chance to meet veteran musician Overton Chimombo and understand him as one of the significant artists since the 1970s. Our reporter Mayamiko Seyani talked to him about Malawian music and more.

Malawian music has revolved through the years. With the changes that have taken place in the industry and the environment in which it operates, new challenges and opportunities emerge.

But to address the challenges and recognise the opportunities, there is need to look at the rear view mirror and see where the country is coming from and see how it can move forward.

Overton Chimombo is an artist who has been in music since 70s and has seen it all happen.

Chimombo recalls starting a band with his brothers during his school days before joining Robert Fumulani at Chileka after learning of a vacancy in Likhubula River Jazz Band in 1979.

“We heard of a vacancy at the band after some of the band members had left Fumulani, so we went to Chileka and auditioned,” says Chimombo.

He confesses that he was unlucky at the auditions as he was the only one who did not make it among the group.

“Back then, I liked rock music and it was different from the kind of music Fumulani was doing, but I was recalled after two weeks,” he says.

That was the beginning of the journey which would see Chimombo releasing nine albums and two sound tracks for award-winning Shemu Joyah’s Seasons of a Life and Michael Usi’s Dr Manga among his numerous achievements.

Where artists, commentators and other players in the industry find many problems, Chimombo opts to see the glass as half full rather than half empty by citing positive developments that have arisen throughout the decades he has been an active musician.

The veteran musician told Society that during the past decades, the market was not flooded with studios as is the case now. He said that it was really difficult for one to record music which was recorded at MBC studios only.

“One had to be really good to record because it was live recording and it needed a lot of rehearsing and one needed to know instruments,” he recalls.

Chimombo, however, did not mince words about “a dark spot on a white cloth” as he notes that while that the influx of recording studios has brought ease in recording of music, some studios lack the expertise.

But he appreciates the patronage in music shows, saying Malawians are supporting music and praised the emergence of music labels over the past decades ago.

Some of the things have not changed, and according to Chimombo, one of them is that the corporate world is not doing enough to promote music in the country.

“In other countries, companies sponsor music generously. Why can’t the private sector sponsor music the same way they sponsor football?” questioned the greying guitarist and vocalist whose biggest hit to date remains Auponda.

Ther Ndirande-based musician, who has mentored and tutored a wide range of music talent, notes that the absence of a cultural policy is one of the biggest setbacks the music industry faces.

“Since multiparty democracy, we have just been told the policy is at ministerial level and regimes have come and gone but the song never changes,” he says.

Chimombo said without the policy, there is no way Malawian music can scale international heights as there is no coordination of activities.

The musician, who became a born again in 2010, took on the role of a counsellor as he extended a word of advice to artists, saying they need to be disciplined.

“One can excel in music without using drugs, abusing alcohol or womanising. I understand being on the spotlight exposes them to a certain lifestyle, but they should be able to resist the temptations,” he says.

Chimombo is preparing to release his tenth album. He also runs Scan Media Communications, which records jingles, adverts, designs wedding cards and reproduces music.

“I also manage Luso Records which will start operating as a full record label next year,” says Chimombo.