Volunteers are... the Very Best

vinspired Lake of Stars Festival hung out with producer, promoter, remixer and DJ, Johan Karlberg: the Swedish half of Radioclit. We found a spot in his hectic schedule to chat over fruit juice (it was detox day). He’s a cool guy with some wise words. We talked about volunteering, the festival and about The Very Best, Radioclit’s project with Esau Mwamwaya a Malawian artist.

On vinspired encouraging young people to volunteer:
I think its super good you know... I mean I wouldn’t say I do a lot of volunteering. I don’t have so much time, but I think volunteering is great you know. A much better place could be built on a lot of volunteering...I would love to do more of these things.

Not just the youth, artists should volunteer too:
I think that the bigger profile you get the more impact and the more sponsor’s funding and help you can get behind you to do something really good. You can go from a grassroots level to I don’t know where and that’s amazing. It’s definitely not impossible. It’d be great to use the profile that you have and use it in a good way.


We asked him how Radioclit started:
Basically we started doing remixes after doing club nights and internet radio shows and stuff. These days it’s actually more of a proper production team I guess, a DJ Team. Esau Mwamwaya and our project together as the Very Best, that’s been the main project for Radioclit for the past couple of years.

And how he met Esau Mwamwaya:
We met Esau when he was running a second hand junk shop on our street right outside our studio. Etienne bought a bike and invited him to his housewarming party where I met him. I invited him to the studio, because I thought he could do percussion and turns out he was a like a normal drummer for his church and stuff. He just started singing on one of the songs I played him. So that’s how the whole thing started. That was three years ago.

How they found out about vinspired Lake of Stars
Right around the time we met Esau around half a year into working with him, maybe 8 months. I can’t remember how it happened, but I heard about there being a festival in Malawi and I somehow found Will and contacted him. That year they really didn’t have the budget to bring us out there. Last year [2008] Esau was back in Malawi at that point and the record label in America that we signed to at that time paid for me to go to do a video for one of the tracks. Therefore I had the chance to play the festival as well.

They liked it so much they’re coming again
It’s an amazing festival there’s no way we’re not going to want to go again. Last year was one of the first the Very Best shows we’d ever done... It was a bit messy but it was great... But this year will be better. We’re just coming back with force we’ve got a camera team with all these different things coming with us.

Finally he has a lot of respect for the whole vinspired Lake of Stars team. We like this guy.
The fact that Will and these guys have been putting in so much work for these years making this happen. On basically no budget and really just keep struggling and pulling through with it, makes it really amazing.


Radioclit’s and Esau Mwamwaya as “the Very Best” will be playing at this year’s Lake of Stars Festival. Their album is out now on (legal!!) Download and in record shops from October 16th. Check it out, it sounds heavy.

http://www.myspace.com/theverybestmyspace - for the free download mixtape.



If you're 16-25 and would like to volunteer, find opportunities on vinspired.com

Words by: Zen Jelenje
Photos by: DwikoArie (http://www.dwikoarie.blogspot.com/)

Volunteers are... the Very Best

vinspired Lake of Stars Festival hung out with producer, promoter, remixer and DJ, Johan Karlberg: the Swedish half of Radioclit. We found a spot in his hectic schedule to chat over fruit juice (it was detox day). He’s a cool guy with some wise words. We talked about volunteering, the festival and about The Very Best, Radioclit’s project with Esau Mwamwaya a Malawian artist.

On vinspired encouraging young people to volunteer:
I think its super good you know... I mean I wouldn’t say I do a lot of volunteering. I don’t have so much time, but I think volunteering is great you know. A much better place could be built on a lot of volunteering...I would love to do more of these things.

Not just the youth, artists should volunteer too:
I think that the bigger profile you get the more impact and the more sponsor’s funding and help you can get behind you to do something really good. You can go from a grassroots level to I don’t know where and that’s amazing. It’s definitely not impossible. It’d be great to use the profile that you have and use it in a good way.


We asked him how Radioclit started:
Basically we started doing remixes after doing club nights and internet radio shows and stuff. These days it’s actually more of a proper production team I guess, a DJ Team. Esau Mwamwaya and our project together as the Very Best, that’s been the main project for Radioclit for the past couple of years.

And how he met Esau Mwamwaya:
We met Esau when he was running a second hand junk shop on our street right outside our studio. Etienne bought a bike and invited him to his housewarming party where I met him. I invited him to the studio, because I thought he could do percussion and turns out he was a like a normal drummer for his church and stuff. He just started singing on one of the songs I played him. So that’s how the whole thing started. That was three years ago.

How they found out about vinspired Lake of Stars
Right around the time we met Esau around half a year into working with him, maybe 8 months. I can’t remember how it happened, but I heard about there being a festival in Malawi and I somehow found Will and contacted him. That year they really didn’t have the budget to bring us out there. Last year [2008] Esau was back in Malawi at that point and the record label in America that we signed to at that time paid for me to go to do a video for one of the tracks. Therefore I had the chance to play the festival as well.

They liked it so much they’re coming again
It’s an amazing festival there’s no way we’re not going to want to go again. Last year was one of the first the Very Best shows we’d ever done... It was a bit messy but it was great... But this year will be better. We’re just coming back with force we’ve got a camera team with all these different things coming with us.

Finally he has a lot of respect for the whole vinspired Lake of Stars team. We like this guy.
The fact that Will and these guys have been putting in so much work for these years making this happen. On basically no budget and really just keep struggling and pulling through with it, makes it really amazing.


Radioclit’s and Esau Mwamwaya as “the Very Best” will be playing at this year’s Lake of Stars Festival. Their album is out now on (legal!!) Download and in record shops from October 16th. Check it out, it sounds heavy.

http://www.myspace.com/theverybestmyspace - for the free download mixtape.



If you're 16-25 and would like to volunteer, find opportunities on vinspired.com

Words by: Zen Jelenje
Photos by: DwikoArie (http://www.dwikoarie.blogspot.com/)

Cut It Loose @ Hidden, Saturday 12th September

vinspired Lake of Stars presents ‘Cut It Loose’ the freshest new night to hit the block.Putting its own stamp on the club scene, the night is ‘cutting loose’ a musical mash up of up-and-coming talent, fusing electro vibes with an eclectic mix of music with a variety of DJ’s and MC’s spitting over their own bubbly beats.

The event is taking place at Hidden in Vauxhall, an incredible venue tucked away under a railway arch by the Thames, giving you the chance to party away the end of the summer in an iconic setting and throw some shapes under the clubs mesmerizing LED lighting.

'Cut It Loose' is set to make serious ripples within London’s clubbing community. Make sure you get down and experience an electrifying new vibe in an unbelievable setting.

All the night’s proceeds will go towards supporting vinspired Lake of Stars and their charitable work.vinspired Lake of Stars is an award winning music festival that takes place in the warm heart of Africa on the palm fringed shores of Lake Malawi. The event promotes Malawian music and tourism while raising funds for charity.2009 festival headliners include The Macccabees, SWAY, Joe Goddard (Hot Chip), Radioclit plus many more…

See www.lakeofstars.org for more info.

Sound perfect? I think so.

To appreciate the slammin’ beats at low prices email:matt@lakeofstars.org for £5 guestlist.

Cut It Loose @ Hidden, Saturday 12th September

vinspired Lake of Stars presents ‘Cut It Loose’ the freshest new night to hit the block.Putting its own stamp on the club scene, the night is ‘cutting loose’ a musical mash up of up-and-coming talent, fusing electro vibes with an eclectic mix of music with a variety of DJ’s and MC’s spitting over their own bubbly beats.

The event is taking place at Hidden in Vauxhall, an incredible venue tucked away under a railway arch by the Thames, giving you the chance to party away the end of the summer in an iconic setting and throw some shapes under the clubs mesmerizing LED lighting.

'Cut It Loose' is set to make serious ripples within London’s clubbing community. Make sure you get down and experience an electrifying new vibe in an unbelievable setting.

All the night’s proceeds will go towards supporting vinspired Lake of Stars and their charitable work.vinspired Lake of Stars is an award winning music festival that takes place in the warm heart of Africa on the palm fringed shores of Lake Malawi. The event promotes Malawian music and tourism while raising funds for charity.2009 festival headliners include The Macccabees, SWAY, Joe Goddard (Hot Chip), Radioclit plus many more…

See www.lakeofstars.org for more info.

Sound perfect? I think so.

To appreciate the slammin’ beats at low prices email:matt@lakeofstars.org for £5 guestlist.

A Frank chat with Disco&Mercy

I ventured to Westfield shopping centre not for the clothes but instead to chat to two of vinspired Lake of Stars festival friends, Disco&Mercy. Timeout’s on the up DJ’s were playing a supporting gig for Frankmusik. I joined them just as they were soaking up the screams of hundreds of teenage girls as we watched Frank get on with his set. It was the perfect opportunity to ask them what they thought about this years festival and seeing as I had a camera I thought I’d take some snaps as well.

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Headliner: Frankmusik

A Frank chat with Disco&Mercy

I ventured to Westfield shopping centre not for the clothes but instead to chat to two of vinspired Lake of Stars festival friends, Disco&Mercy. Timeout’s on the up DJ’s were playing a supporting gig for Frankmusik. I joined them just as they were soaking up the screams of hundreds of teenage girls as we watched Frank get on with his set. It was the perfect opportunity to ask them what they thought about this years festival and seeing as I had a camera I thought I’d take some snaps as well.

.

Headliner: Frankmusik

From Congo to Kenya Pt. 2

As a follow-up to my earlier post From Congo to Kenya Pt. 1, here are some melodies courtesy of the Congolese diaspora in East Africa. Like that post, this one is focused on the early 1980s. In 1985, President Daniel Arap Moi ordered the expulsion of foreign workers, including musicians, from Kenya, and the Congolese/Zairean musical community there scattered to the four winds.

For some time I had wondered who possessed the soulful voice that featured on so many 45s issued during the '80s in Kenya by such disparate groups as the Kenya Blue Stars and Bana Ngenge. Was it the same person? Along comes Alistair Johnson to clear up the puzzle in his article Congolese/Zaïrean Musicians in East Africa. Turns out the mystery voice is Moreno Batamba (nee Batamba Wenda Morris), who was born in Kisangani in 1955 and joined Orchestre Maquis Sasa in 1971. In 1974 he hooked up with Fataki Lokassa and a number of other Congolese exiles in Uganda to form Bana Ngnege, which seems to have undergone a number of permutations and name changes over the years. Although Alistair writes that Bana Ngenge broke up in 1976, a group called Bana Ngenge Stars Popote, featuring Fataki Lokassa, released this record in Kenya (Universal Sounds USD 005) in the early '80s. Moreno is relegated to supporting vocals:

Bana Ngenge Stars Popote - Dunia Imelaniwa Pts. 1 & 2

After serving stints with Orchestra Shika-Shika, Les Noirs (both featured in From Congo to Kenya Pt. 1) and Orchestre Virunga, Moreno started Moja One in Nairobi in 1980 and recorded "Dunia si Yako si Yangu" (CBS/ACP 702) around 1983:

Moreno & Moja One - Dunia si Yako si Yangu Pts. 1 & 2

Finally Moreno shows up as part of the pop/disco trio the Kenya Blue Stars, along with Margaret Safari & Sheila (pictured at the top of this post), who recorded this infectious little ditty (CBS/ACP 1201) in 1984:

Kenya Blue Stars - Shufa Pts. 1 & 2

Along with Jimmy Monimambo and Frantal Tabu (about whom more below), one of Moreno's colleagues in Shika-Shika was Lovy Mokolo Longomba, whose high-pitched voice was a perfect counterpoint to Moreno's. His father was Vicky Longomba, a founding member of OK Jazz, and his brother Awilo Longomba, is one of the biggest stars of contemporary Congo music. Lovy moved from Kinshasa to Nairobi in 1978 and joined Les Kinois, a predecessor of Orchestra Virunga. His sojourn there lasted only three months, after which he left for stints with Boma Liwanza and Super Mazembe. While a part of Orchestra Shika-Shika, he also helmed his own band, which recorded under the names Orchestre Super Lovy and Bana Likasi. Sadly, Lovy Longomba died in an auto accident in Tanzania in 1996. Here he is on Editions Lovy 01:

Orchestre Super Lovy - Elee Pts. 1 & 2

Frantal Tabu (picture below), like Moreno Batamba, hails from Kisangani, and also played a role in Orchestra Shika-Shika, as well as Boma Liwanza and other bands. He formed Orchestra Vundumuna in 1984, which also featured Ugandan Sammy Kasule on vocals. Here is a recording Frantal Tabu made with Orchestre Malekesa du Zaire on the Editions du Hudson label (EDH 01):

Frantal Tabu & Orchestre Malekesa du Zaire - Asali Pts. 1 & 2



Finally, here are a couple of sides in the style made famous by Verckys & Orchestre Veve, from a group I know nothing about. I don't know for sure that Python Mas's group Zaire Success was based in East Africa, although the name gives a clue (groups that were actually based in Congo/Zaire didn't usually include "Zaire" in the name), and this 45 (sides A & B of Africa AFR 7-36) was pressed in Kenya:

Python Mas & Orchestre Zaire Success - Sofia Motema

Python Mas & Orchestre Zaire Success - Mado

For more about these artists and many more I refer you once again to Alistair Johnson's essential article Congolese/Zaïrean Musicians in East Africa.