Street Roots • April 22-28, 2016
SOUNDS, from page 12
about
What is focused on (in mainstream
Western music) are the superficial aspects
of personalities. It becomes personality
driven because the music itself is so
indistinguishable. The only way it can be
sold is through these false distinctions, the
personalities.
I think it’s a trap for audiences and
performers alike. I’m not anti anything. I
certainly can understand the comfort that
people might have in hearing something
familiar and the reality is that certain
recordings have accompanied people almost
their entire lives.
The repetition is unhealthy,
neurologically. Diversity is healthy. It’s not a
political or philosophical stance, it’s just a
literal, nutritional reality that variety is good
for you.
S.Z.: Tell me what got you in the door of the
Zomba Prison in Malawi, Africa.
LB.: The signs were positive that they
would approve the project, but they would
not guarantee it without meeting us in
person. We went there and it was all kind of
a formality.
The commissioner of the prison at the
time said that he also wanted me to teach
some classes for the prisoners and the
guards as a part of being theie. I was not
only willing to do that, I wanted to. It was a
win, win.
It led to a deepening of the experience
and of the prison and quite literally, it was
the key to getting inside the male side of
the prison - where the male musicians play
is in a separate, privileged area.
S.Z.: Ibwr Zomba Prison Project album
was nominated for a Grammy in 2016. Tell me
how does that happen for an album, mostly
sung in the local Chichewa language by
inmates in a Malawian prison!
LB.: The world (music) category has
become very predictable. It’s democratic,
and it’s secret ballot, but it is driven by
these big names, most of whom put out a
record every year.
Between this little pool of people that are
stars in the world music category, you pretty
much know it’s going to be those names
every year. And it was, and Zomba Prison
was mixed in with them.
S.Z.: Pm assuming if they are in prison,
that they have been charged with quite serious
crimes.
■LB.: Yes and no. (Zomba) is the
maximum prison for Malawi. There’re
actually 33 prisons (in Malawi) of differing
sorts.
There are people there that have
committed very serious crimes. There are
also people there who are awaiting trial or
on appeal who may or may not be innocent
That is quite troubling.
There really is no good way to incarcerate
another human being. There are a lot of
systems and a lot of attempts. It certainly is
necessitated by people who are sadistic,
which make a small percentage of even the
criminal population. Aside from those
individuals, you really have to look at it and
ask, “Is this the best we can do?”
Given that Malawi is the world’s poorest
country, I’m not so sure that their
conditions would be radically worse than
what you saw in Oregon.
S.Z.: Was there anything else unique that
struck you during the recording of the album?
LB.: Half of the songs on the record
came from the women, who have nothing.
They have no instruments, they have no
support. And they really were convinced
that they were not singers, as far as solo
singers, or songwriters and over half of the
songs on the record, come from them. The
thing that has been so frustrating is that the
media has almost completely ignored them.
Completely ignored, deleted their
contribution to the record.
Press that has gone there to visit, has not
been gone to the women’s side. Partially
because the prison has supported that.
They want the band to be the story, but in
fact, the band was not nominated, the
record was nominated. A record made by 60
people in Zomba Prison, many of whom are
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no longer there and have been transferred
or released, and one of whom tragically died
in the prison. She was only 36 years old
when we recorded.
When people go there and they interview
and take photos of these people, it has
nothing to do with the record. It’s very
troubling, but also revealing to the levels of
patrimony and racism that is there. I had a
guy send me a picture who said he wanted
to do a project with the band. He had two
photos taken and he is standing with all of
these prisoners, and not one of them had
anything to do with the record.
S.Z.: The song, “Women Today Take Care
of Business,” goes: “While women are in salon
doing their hair/their husbands are asleep/
While women are in the market selling onions
and things/their husbands are sleeping. While
men are awake, all they know is to play bawo.”
It is great to have a male Malawian singer/
songwriter who is commenting on this.aspect
of his society. It really speaks to global society
as well. Let’s face it, women are doing a lot of
the work globally.
I.B.: Right I think those are some of the
best lyrics on the record. Those were
written by one of the non-songwriters who
wrote the song specifically for the project
with much encouragement
It was one of the last songs we recorded.
He was very reluctant to even try to write a
song and he wrote the best song, lyrically.
Not just because of the politics, I just think
his writing is more literate and detailed.
He’s also, revealingly, one of the youngest
people in the project. He was in his early
20s at the time, so I think he was sitting
there in prison. It gives you a lot of time to
think about things. He had regret and that
was his perspective. Hopefully, for him, he’s
going to be released in the next couple of
years. Hopefully he will be able to learn that
insight and translate it to action when he is
released. I think he will.
suzanne@streetroots. org
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