THE Zambian music industry can play a vital role in helping bringing down unemployment levels the country is facing ? not by selling CDs or DVDs but by encouraging and supporting live music performances.
Why do we need to promote live music?
For any band to play meaningful music to the satisfaction of a listener or a reveler, the band requires not less than five people to play the instruments: A drummer, a keyboard player, lead and bass guitarists, a rhythm guitarist and, in some instances, a percussionist (traditional drums) and saxophonist.
In some cases, the band might need more than one backing vocalist to aid the lead singer while others recruit more than one instrument player in case the main men fall ill or something happens to them.
If we take, for instance, 10 artistes in Lusaka with a live band each comprising five or six members then we are talking 60 people having something to do at the weekend and get something at the end of the month.
These past weekends, I have been visiting Kalahari Pub where the club has a policy of inviting only live bands to play music at the club and the response has been tremendous and encouraging.
I took some time to interview revelers at the joint who I thought were interested to spend time at Kalahari because of the ?Mbuzi? (goat meat) but I was amazed to hear that they followed the music that was being played and the fact that it was live.
Such clubs need to be supported by all means because they are putting more money in people?s pockets by engaging not only one-man shows but a team to entertain the treasured customers.
The Amayenge, Air Power Band, Green Labels, Sakala Brothers, Maiko Zulu, Danny Kaya and now Petersen Zagaze are good examples of bands that need our support as they also give employment to youths who have numerous talents of playing musical instruments.
The Sakala Brothers recently opened the arts centre funded by the French embassy and Alliance Francaise where youths are trained in music. The students are taught how to play different musical instruments while some are helped with voices.
Moses Sakala of the Sakala Brothers who is also the Arts Centre director said live music should be supported by all as it would greatly help in mitigating unemployment levels in the country.
?We are training musicians at the centre and we need a market where we can hand over those youths after they finish their courses,? he said.
Sakala is spot-on because Evelyn Hone also produces musicians every year and there is need to support the industry so that we can be able to move forward like the DR Congo, South Africa and other countries that have excelled because of music.
In Congo DR, music is big business with bands hiring more than 20 members to play various roles. It is even a joke to hear Zambian artistes complaining that Congolese musicians are given more money than them. I don?t share the Zambian artistes? sentiments when it comes to paying Congolese more than them.
I have never heard the Sakala Brothers complain of receiving less money than what they put on. The same applies to Danny and other bands.
If you are performing alone on stage why should a promoter pay you K20 million? I for one cannot pay that much to one person with his drunken colleagues miming to a song on stage.
The Congolese make sure that a band has a choreographer, kit manager and reserve members who are also qualified in case the main artistes fail to perform their duties due to unforeseen circumstances. By so doing there is a lot of competition in the music industry, with many firms using musicians to market their products.
Without sounding like I am just writing from nowhere, the Patriotic Front (PF) Government has showed commitment towards the arts in the country.
Apart from creating the Ministry of Arts, the Government in the 2013 national Budget removed duty on musical instruments to empower talented youths with equipment to use. What happens when they acquire those instruments? We want youths to use them to make money and earn a living.
?In order to strengthen our local heritage and culture, and support the growth and marketing of the domestic music and visual arts industry, I propose to remove customs duty on charcoal drawing sticks, palette knives, mixers, microphones and magnetic tape,? said the Minister of Finance Alexander Chikwanda during the Budget presentation on October 12, 2012.
The ball is in the hands of promoters, bar owners, patrons and music lovers to support music that will create employment for many unemployed youths out there.
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Source: http://www.times.co.zm/sunday/?p=11993
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