Kelvin Kachingwe
1 August 2008
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AFTER completing his Grade 12 education at Petauke Secondary School in 1992, Matthew Tembo started doing a lot of music with his friends in the neighbourhood of Kaunda Square, Lusaka, which used to boast of a lot of musicians and groups.
Among the groups were VAM and musicians like Daddy Zemus, who was to later transform the complexion of local music in later years with his Zamragga music that set the tempo for the renaissance.
"There was just a lot of music going on in Kaunda Square. We used to listen to a lot of reggae, and I think that's how I got into reggae as well. But of course, my interest in music started while in secondary school where I used to take part in variety shows although at that time. I didn't think I would end up as a professional musician," the 30-something year-old dread-locked musician, says.
Two years after completing his secondary school, he went to study accountancy and bookkeeping at the Lusaka Polytechnic for a year.
But unknown to the uncle he was staying with, Matthew had also applied to study music at the Evelyn Hone College of Applied Arts and Commerce, where he was selected.
This act infuriated his uncle who with immediately stopped supporting him in terms of school requirements. But Matthew was unperturbed and sponsored himself for the three years he was in college.
"This was another big thing for me, being at Evelyn Hone that time. The Zambia Association of Musicians had a resource centre where all these big groups including the B-Sharp, Ackim Simukonda, Daddy Zemus, Zai Zai, Twice and Steve Locks all used to come. Even Nasty D, when he first came to Lusaka, he came to the resource centre.
"There was a tree there, I think it is still there. We used to call it the Wisdom Tree, this is another place where we used to meet and share ideas. I think this was good for music and the students as well," he says.
After completing his music studies at the Evelyn Hone in 1997, he went to work in Chipata as a teacher of music at Chipata Day. At that time, there was no music as a subject in the whole of Eastern Province and as such, he was the first to introduce it.
While in Eastern province, he helped to start a band called Irie Brethrens, which together with another group from Gonda Barracks played a lot of music in the Eastern Province.
At the same time, he met a man called Mitchell Billiouw who had pieces of music equipment and a studio.
Matthew worked there part-time as studio engineer until 2001. The late Omart (Robert Mapara) also used to work there. At that time, Matthew had even ventured into Malawi for live shows.
But the big break probably came in 2001 when he went to play music in Holland for six months with a band called Step Forward, which was backing him.
With this band, he recorded an album called Save My Soul which has popular songs like Kumalya Ndimu and Nella, which he says is very popular in Europe.
Following that, he came back towards the end of 2001 after being offered a place at Groningen Conservatory, which is more or less a college or university where they teach music.
However, a friend, Jan, who was supposed to help with his visa and other matters had cancer and died, thereby disturbing his plans. Still, he continued doing music here at home.
However, since then, he has been going to Europe every year for performances. In 2003, he played in Copenhagen, Denmark at the Rhythmic Conservatories, which is like the best university for music in Denmark, and where the best study.
"This changed my perception of music, I saw how these guys have respect for their music, whether it is classic or whatever. They have all the time for it, and the government puts money in it because it is their culture. It is a big thing to just be ignored.
"So when I came back in 2004, I asked myself what I was doing, whether I was helping with our music. At that point, I decided that my music was going to change although I didn't know how.
"But one day, I was moving in Kaunda Square when I saw a young boy playing marimba (xylophone-like instrument), and that is when I started learning how to play the marimba, and now it is my main instrument in music," he says.
In fact, the first marimba that Matthew had was bought from Brian Chengala, considered the best when it comes to playing the marimba or silimba and generally in blending traditional instruments with modern music.
But in terms of learning how to play, Matthew has basically taught himself although listening to music like that of Zanji Roots has also helped him.
"Sometime back, I used to play at Tongabezi in Livingstone where the school organised a workshop, there I learnt how to make the marimba and tune it for myself. So, I do make my own marimba now.
"What has also helped me is the music of Thomas Mapfumo, which some girl introduced me to, although it is more of the mbira. It has still helped in widening my knowledge of music, and playing the keyboard as well.
"But I also play the mbalule which is three drums, I also play the bwita which is a friction drum. I have these, so it is easy to learn them," says Matthew who, during live shows, always plays either the marimba or the keyboard.
With his love for traditional instruments, Matthew has been organising for two years now, what he calls Singing Our Own Songs show, which is meant to encourage the use of traditional instruments in the music.
The first of this event was held at the Brown Frog last year and featured Matthew himself, Brian Chengala and the B-Sharp.
The second one was a few months ago at the Alliance Francaise in Lusaka where the same musicians plus the Mwale Sisters of Mau, Muky and Peja were added. These past two shows have proved a major success.
But Matthew, who also got a lot of inspiration from Burning Spear as he was growing up, has other projects to his credit.
In Chipata, he recorded Be Humble with Omart, which proved popular in Eastern Province, then followed it up with Life, known for the track Awelela Mabunu, which he recorded in Blantyre before releasing Nuyopa, with his band Karibu, now renamed Dark Black.
After that, he did Vikonda Moyo where former President Kaunda featured on a song called Niyopa. Kaunda, who has also recorded with Rikki Illilonga and is known for using the guitar to galvanise a nationalist spirit, got interested in Matthew Tembo's music after watching him perform at Lusaka Playhouse during independence celebrations.
Kaunda then invited Matthew over to his place. After a few discussions, the result was a track, Niyopa.
The album was launched at Suwilanji Gardens with Kaunda playing live his favourite guitar.
Matthew's current project is titled, Anthen, an 11-track album that is set to be released some time next month. The album, which he says people will identify with, is set to be released in the United Kingdom, Europe, parts of the United States and Australia by a company called Urban Sedated.
"This is an album that I would encourage people to get once it's out. It has songs like Seven Hours, Ndiyandi Chikolo, which means I want to go to school, Next Year, Nandunge, meaning they're criminals and Kujombo, meaning From My Boot."
But that is not the end of Matthew Tembo's career. There is a still a lot to come from him.
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