Lilongwe based acoustic duo, Madalitso Band on Friday, 24 July released a new song and video titled “Sitimamenya”.
The song features a Ukrainian Electro-Indie band Tik Tu and it has also been produced by Shpytal Records in Ukraine.
The video features Hear Us Children Dancers from music crossroads.
“Sitimamenya” video was shot and directed by Satellite Entertainment in Lilongwe.
In just 3 hours after “Sitimamenya” was released, it had 600 streams on YouTube and 150 downloads on Malawi-music.com.
“Its a good start. Let’s see how it goes over the next week,” Madalitso Band manager Neil Nayar says.
Commenting on the song, he said: “Lyrically, it’s just saying how kids can learn better from words than by beatings. But, the other concept is about 2 bands working together from other sides of the world. Sharing culture. Finding a common groove in different music. Coming together.”
He added: “We always promise the joyous sounds of Malawi banjo music. We always promise to be creative lyrically and musically. And we promise to keep spreading the good message and to change peoples lives in a positive way through music.”
The Band manager Neil Nayar travelled around West Africa with his guitar, meeting and living with musicians he would meet. He further went to Spain with no money, playing at cafes while people threw coins into a hat so he could buy food.
He then became a volunteer at Music Crossroads Malawi where his dream of nurturing grassroot talents came true before opening Grittah’s Camp arts venue in Chilinde.
Nayar now manages the Mtandire based acoustic duo, Madalitso Band. In 2017, he managed to get Madalitso Band perform at a major festival in Zanzibar. In 2018/2019, the band went on a Europe tour and performed on BBC’s Focus on Africa.
Watch “Sitimamenya” video on YouTube https://youtu.be/zSxb8z7RfsA
By Harold Kapindu
