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The
revival of the band is led by its 71-year old lead vocalist
Emmanuel "Jagari" Chanda, who wants to make the little known
Zamrock music genre famous in the rest of the world.
Interest for Zamrock rose in the 2010s in the West, thanks to
the internet and crate-digging producers as Los Angeles-based
Now-Again Records re-released several albums of WITCH and other
Zamrock artists.
"It created interest and curiosity in people, especially in
America and Europe," Chanda said at an old studio in the capital
Lusaka.
Following their comeback, WITCH - which stands for We Intend To
Cause Havoc - are now introducing their new album "Zango" with
concerts in the United States and Europe.
Chanda says the band was largely influenced by music radio and
sought to play contemporary Western music at the time, which
came out like a Zambian version of rock-n-roll.
"It's a fusion of traditional music, African music, funk, blues,
jazz - it's a fusion of many genres," Chanda said.
Zamrock had all but died by mid-1980s amid an economic downturn
and political turmoil in their country, with the HIV/AIDS
pandemic also leaving its mark.
The band moved to Zimbabwe and then to Botswana, where it
disbanded in 1985. Chanda left while the band was still in
Zimbabwe to first become a teacher, and then a gemstone miner,
with hopes of making it big in the music industry nearly lost.
In 2019, Chanda got the band back together with former
keyboardist Patrick Mwondela and a few European musicians.
Music producer Michael Linyama, who helped record "Zango", could
not hide his excitement.
"It's like a dream come true...I have always wanted our music to
be heard out there," he said.
Chanda hopes to make enough money from the new-found fame to one
day open a music school and a world-class recording studio in
Zambia.
"Can this thing grow to a level where when someone comes to
Zambia, says where can I listen to Zamrock? Do you still have
bands that are still playing Zamrock? That's the kind of legacy
that I would like to leave," he said.
(Reporting by Chris Mfula in Lusaka and Catherine Schenck in
Johannesburg; Additional reporting by Matt McKnight in Seattle;
Editing by Bhargav Acharya and Angus MacSwan)
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