Ask Me About Psych Rock in Zambia

ASK ME ABOUT PSYCH ROCK

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70 71 says quietly. EAF=%OGJC=J$JG;CKL9J Though born in a rural AFKA<=L@=;GHH=J:=DL village, Kabwe came to Lusaka “We looked like demons, when he was 10, a member of Though it is now one of the hey?” Kabwe says, reliving the ma^Ûklm`^g^kZmbhgh_nk[Zgbs^] phke]lihhk^lm\hngmkb^l%Zm decades-old memory. He is now SZf[bZgl'Bgma^^Zker*2/)l% bg]^i^g]^g\^bg*2/-SZf[bZ a Pentecostal pastor in a remote he participated in the “Cha-cha- aZ]:_kb\Zll^\hg]ab`a^lm@=I% border town, and has made the cha” campaign against the British which was driven by high copper 16-hour minibus journey to the (so named because, for once, ikb\^l'SZf[bZlbg]nlmkbZe capital, Lusaka, to meet me. “The SZf[bZglphne]\Zeema^mng^"' heartland, the Copperbelt, grew things we were doing, that kind as workers streamed in looking of life,” he says, his voice equal L@=QO@AHH=<MK$@= for better lives. This modernized parts wonder and self-reproach. J=E=E:=JK&:MLO=O=J= region was the cradle of “The picture changes.” SZfkh\d'Mh]Zr%khn`aermak^^& A leonine 65-year-old with FGL9DGF=O=O=J=E9FQ& jnZkm^klh_ma^\hngmkrl_hk^b`g a remarkably unlined face, exchange today comes from DZ[p^leb_^lmhkrZgmb&\hehgbZe He helped set up roadblocks mining. _k^^]hfÛ`am^k%fbg^&phkd^k% and guard a safehouse used  Bgmahl^]Zrl%^o^krhg^ kh\dlmZk%Zg]ÛgZeer%ZfZgh_ by liberation leader Kenneth looked to the days when ma^Ehk]iZkZee^elSZf[bZl Kaunda, who became president SZf[bZphne]chbgma^kZgdl short, turbulent history. Kabwe is when independence came. h_ma^=^o^ehi^]Phke]' an icon of sorts, one of the few At night, Kabwe patrolled the Telephones and airplanes survivors from the incendiary ahnl^li^kbf^m^k%pb^e]bg`Z shortened distances between *20)l SZfkh\d l\^g^'Bglibk^] pickaxe handle studded with six- north and south, facilitating by Western stars like the Rolling inch nails. The colonial authorities the spread of both Marxist Stones and Jimi Hendrix, young arrested him, and he spent six philosophy and the music of SZf[bZgl`kZ[[^]`nbmZklZg] months in prison. “They whipped =^^iInkie^'Mhrhng`i^hie^ turned up the volume on their us,” he remembers. “But we were like Kabwe, modernity sounded amps. “We were so crazy,” he ghmZehg^p^p^k^fZgr' ebd^Fb\dCZ``^kllgZke'

72  BgbmbZeer%DZ[p^phkd^]bg the mining industry to support his music. He played in a variety of bands until, in 1973, he formed Amanaz, an acronym for “Ask Me :[hnmGb\^:kmblmlbgSZf[bZ ' Amanaz played Beatles and Black Sabbath covers and began writing originals that _nl^]ma^P^lml]kbobg`[^Zml and psychedelic guitars with indigenous rhythms. Errol Hickey, ma^_hkf^k\aZbki^klhgh_EnlZdZl Radio Phoenix station, says the SZfkh\d^kl pZgm^]mhikho^ma^r could do it in the African way.”  Ma^[Zg]llhe^Ze[nf%Africa, \Zf^hnmbg*20.'Bm_^Zmnk^] songs about love, beer–drinking, as well as pan-African anthems. An elegiac tune called “Kale,” sung in Nyanja, one of 72 different languages spoken in SZf[bZ%mkZ\^]ma^\hgmbg^gmlZk\ from slavery to independence. :fZgZsl_Zf^`k^p3ma^rieZr^] packed clubs and opened a stadium show for British Afro-rock stars Osibisa. [hk]^k'SZf[bZ%pab\ala^em^k^] =^libm^ma^L\hkibhgla^ei% ALKFGLL@=CAF< Lhnma:_kb\ZgZg]Sbf[Z[p^Zg DZ[p^]b]gmÛg]Zgr^f^kZe]l% guerrillas, suffered under curfews and the band soon fell apart. G>DA>=AK@GMD<:= and blackouts, its power stations By this time, he was having [hf[^][rma^ZiZkma^b]Zkfrl second thoughts about his life. J=BGA;AF?FGO& commandos. Meanwhile, disco He recorded a gospel album in  :mma^l\^g^la^b`am% was ascendant and musical 1979 and was going to church Amanaz brought a bit of Haight- ibkZ\rpZl[^\hfbg`kZfiZgm'Bm regularly, but now he enrolled Ashbury to conservative Lusaka. had never been easy to be a full- in Bible college. Kabwe married Each band member had his own time rock musician. Now it was ablpb_^%@kZ\^%bg*21-%Zg] mZbehk%pahhnmÛmm^]abfbg[hhml% almost impossible. became a small businessman, bells, and big, gaudy belts. selling parts for and repairing Ma^k^p^k^`khnib^llhf^mbf^l copiers, typewriters, and the girlfriends of important C9:O=KGD

R9EJG;CJAKAF? Kabwe never expected to join his heroes in the rock pantheon, but maZml^qZ\merpaZmlaZii^gbg` now, at least in a small way. Thanks to Now-Again, a Los Angeles-based label that reissues little-known funk, soul, and psychedelia recordings, Africa blZoZbeZ[e^_hkma^Ûklmmbf^bg the West. Music bloggers have picked up on the album, and no wonder, says label owner Eothen Alapatt, who has put out ehg`&ehlmSZfkh\dZe[nfl_khfZ number of bands. 75 Alapatt was struck, he says, [rma^`khnilZ[bebmrmhaZg]e^ Velvet Underground-esque laments and charging hard rock lhg`lpbma^jnZe_Z\bebmr' Bml`hm that je ne se quois that elevates it [^rhg]bmlehpÛ]^ebmrk^\hk]bg`%  a^lZrl' Bml\^kmZbgerhg^h_ma^ [^lmSZfkh\dk^\hk]l%Zg]hg^ of my top ten personal favorite records, regardless of genre.” On the sidewalk outside a public library in Lusaka, furtive men buy and sell black-market gems. They are hustling like Kabwe has hustled his entire life. And maybe they will succeed. Kabwe has come to believe that anything is possible. After he cut his hair and started going to church, he tells me, an old acquaintance stopped him, shocked at the transformation. Kabwe laughs Zmma^f^fhkr' Ma^k^lZehmh_ change in life.”

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