Mudaland Funk - It’s a Beautiful Noise

When the band members of Kwani Experience enter a room you notice a visible change in the atmosphere. They have a calm, but strong presence that captures the cigar lounges on Sunday nights. The easy jazz they play is an array of noises that blend to form a harmonious but different sound, and just when you think you’ve got a feel for the music, it changes. Vocals alternate between the sweet voice of Nosisi and the harsher rap of Petros. An oxymoron in living form, their music tells a story of a diverse South Africa, harmonising to form a sound that is music to our ears.

The eight-member group comprises Nosisi Ngakane, lead vocalist; Petros Sekele, lead lyricist and vocalist; Jumbo Dazana, saxophonist; Bafana Nhlapo, industrial percussionist and vocalist; Frank Magongwa on bass; Madite Moalusi, drummer; Gontse Makhene, percussionist; and Mahlatsi Riba on piano and keyboard. Their first CD, The Birth of the Mudaland Funk, was released in June last year. “Mudaland Funk is what we call our style of music. People can decide on their own what that is. For us it is a mixture of poetry, funk, jazz and just about everything. It’s who we are that is represented in the music. Kwani comes from the Zulu word kwa-ini meaning ‘what?’. It’s a question and we answer it in our music,” explains Nosisi.

The band started out in November 2003 and their careers took off when they won the 2004 Totally Jazzed showcase contest. They were selected for their innovation, fresh ideas and concepts.

Gontse admits that it is a bit of a fuss and a fight getting the communication right to get all eight members together at the same time. “We practise three times in two weeks. Most of the time we just get together and jam and the new stuff comes out of that. We come up with all our own stuff and are all very in sync, so it doesn’t take very long. The one will start with a certain tune and the rest will just fall in and develop it further,” he elaborates.

Since their big break they have performed all over the country, including the international jazz festivals held in Johannesburg and Cape Town. However, Newtown in Johannesburg remains the main hub for their performances.

The majority of Kwani Experience met each other while still in school in Soweto, which is where most of them still live. “Soweto has a vibe of its own which is present in our music because it is present in us. What makes us click is the fact that we are not all from the same ethnic group. Some are Tswana, some Zulu and some Xhosa, but artistically we are one. It could be considered a weakness, as there are often differences of opinion between different ethnic groups, but we use it to our advantage; it brings out different sounds. Our music has no restrictions and our differences empower all of us,” says Gontse.

The band speaks words of encouragement to the youth and they have been involved with television advertisements encouraging the population to vote in the elections. The band members are all in their twenties, yet their lyrics show maturity beyond their years. Their music consists of day-to-day experiences and the preservation of cultures, with words of wisdom given to us by our elders. The main genres identifiable in the music are African folk, African contemporary, hip-hop, soul, jazz and funk. On stage, Kwani Experience is visually and musically interactive, blending both rehearsed and impromptu acts.

“We have a very social theme; we speak about what we see, so politics does very much come into play. The music is a passion that burns in all of us; it’s our dream job. Through the music we are trying to change the mindset of the youth to help them out of their stereotypical way of thinking. Our aim is to bridge the old with the new, which clarifies why we mix an old sound like jazz with the younger sound of rap. We are old souls in young bodies and it is this that comes out in our music,” explains Mahlatsi.

If there is one thing that Kwani Experience is trying to tell the nation, then it is that with freedom comes responsibility. They believe that although the country is better than what it was ten years ago, it is still not up to standard.

“There is still too much segregation and racism. We have equal rights but nothing is equal. People must start doing things for themselves and not just expect everything to come their way because they were previously disadvantaged. We need more education, and people must know that school is not just for the young,” says Nosisi.

Playing music is a full time job for all the band members. They all agree that in ten years time they still want to be doing the same thing, but with the confidence of knowing that they have mastered their art. Let’s hope that in ten years’ time their message would also have been assimilated by their audiences – it’s powerful stuff!