Blantyre...

Blantyre...what a pretty name...

Always thought "Blantyre" would make a nice name for someone. Or for a home, "Welcome to House Blantyre." Anyway, I digress.

Its been a while since we saw a literal piece on the blog and my best friend encouraged me to "dig into these emotions" so I'm digging in.

My band and I traveled to Blantyre, Malawi at the beginning of October for the Blantyre Arts Festival. I found out later that it was meant to have begun with a carnival, but we missed that part. The trip down was CRAZY! We went by road because we thought we were heroes. Going in was much better than coming back but it was long and hot and by the time we got to the border all our juice from the Food Lovers Market was tea. :(

The first day there was like a reverse culture shock to be honest. But there is something serene about the quaint little town of Blantyre and the people were so friendly. We were picked up by the organisers of the fest and taken to the cultural center where everything was taking place. Met a kind old journalist who told us stories about old Zambian musicians like The Mulemena Boys and left us in awe of the legacy we had gone to represent. It felt like pressure.

A few hours, a horrid lunch and a thunderstorm later, the guys and Mwila went to watch the first performances. I couldn't handle it. So I stayed in bed whatsapping my bestie about random things till he forced me to sleep. The mosquitoes made it quite the adventure though so for the two nights we were there I slept with my headsets on.

On Saturday we woke up late, walked to the little mall to buy airtime and jelly babies and then went to the center for our first attempt at a sound check. Didn't work out, so we went back to eat and then attempted it again a couple hours later. The food was different to say the least. By the time it was 5pm we were all bathed and suited up and had a lil vocal rehearsal in the room which you can see on instagram if you follow @lalozie :)

The thatched circle where the stage was was filled up with people and lil kids sitting in the front row, all smiling and excited and singing along. When we got there the lights went out but when they came back on, a pretty German lady called Selina was on stage singing pretty interesting covers of popular songs by John Legend and Alicia Keys amongst others. When she was done, a really cool dance troupe had us cheering for four minutes before it was our turn to go on.

We did. The boys as usual starting things off with an amazing intro. Then it was my turn to sing. And boy did I sing my socks off. I still feel proud just thinking about it. We swayed and danced and had our little dance routines and the crowd went crazy! Best performance ever really! Only because the room was filled with so much love.

Highlights of the night were our acapella rendition of Bob Marley's "Waiting In Vain" which saw everyone in the band singing and my first attempt at scatting which went pretty well and also our show closer, "Nikakuona (When I See You)" which got us yells for an encore and had me in tears as the audience sang along and waved their hands in the chorus. Amazing moments that I would love to experience again.

Two encores and a stage rush later we were on our way to our rooms, feeling happy and blessed and humbled and motivated to keep doing bigger and better things.

I'm already looking forward to next year and all the opportunities it brings.

The band is called Black Note and is available for bookings by calling +260965221996. We will be Live at Alliance Francaise on the 2nd of November from 7pm. Don't miss it!!!  

#TitaniumSolid

#Kilimanjaro

Miss Mahogany.

He....

He is trapped in a life of drudgery.

There are moments when he has glimpses of what he loves. Moments of brilliance when all the pieces fall together in perfect synergy. Moments of clarity, when his focus and passion are renewed by little victories, little hurdles stepped over, minor hills climbed and conquered and in those moments he smiles to himself because he got through the day, or the hour or the meeting in one piece and he did well.

But he feels trapped.

Because more often than not the days all flow by the same. He wakes up, takes a shower, packs his laptop bag and his banana and drives to work in the traffic that aggravates him but is a part of the city he lives in. He dusts off his suit and sits at his desk. Puts his headsets on and zones out to the numbers in front of him and the music that lives inside his head. The occasional text, the occasional phone call and a few clients later, he moves on to the next part of his day that is the same as that part of his day the day before. And its boring and demoralising except for those moments of brilliance.

He has alot going for him. 

Nobody really knows it yet, but then again, nobody really knows him. He is quiet. Funny but reserved. Always impeccably dressed and well spoken. Always sincere even when his mind is a billion miles away, calculation a trade or planning a vacation. And he doesn't get alot of those. His time has not been his own for a while now. Even when he sleeps he does not rest because his sleep is quotad. Soon he will have to wake up to be the WonderKid. Solving problems, being the scapegoat, but always being exceptional at being who he is, because he is brilliant but even he doesn't know how much so.

He has few friends. They do not really understand him. And he accepts that. Because the most interesting things in life are puzzles and he prefers his own company anyway. He has women in his life. They love him in degrees and like him in amounts. Some are his mothers, others are his friends, yet others are undefined dalliances. He is only in love with one.

But even she doesn't know it.

She lives on the periphery of his world. Essential to his existence but always at a distance because that is his way and because she understands that, they live in quiet, comfortable "side-by-sideness" even when they haven't seen each other for days on end. And she loves him. Dearly. She just doesn't know quite how to. Thing about it is he would do anything for her, but he doesn't know it either because she will never ask. But no matter what happens between them, living without each other has never been the option.  

And so he wakes up every day. Searching for something. Because he knows something is missing. But he never finds it before he goes to bed and he will wake up tomorrow still looking for it.

He is trapped in drudgery.

But he remains cheerful. Never saying an unkind word. Never rude or impolite. Selfish in his own ways but only to preserve himself and his sanity. And nobody can withold that from him. He loves many things but he no longer has the time for them because if he is to become somebody he has to put in the hours.

He has a lot to be proud of. And people are proud of him. A work in progress. He has grown in alot of ways. Some inexplicable. Others tangible. And his aesthetic has changed. He is no longer a boy. He has transformed and is on the verge of something. Wings unfurling, muscles churning, speed rushing through him, propelling him towards his destiny.

But he remains on the verge. Waiting. Trapped in drudgery. Waiting for release, for something to change, for something new.

He doesn't know why he is here. But he is. And for another day he will keep going, his passion fuelled by those glimpses of brilliance, his resolve strengthened by sheer force of faith.

Faith in Possibility.