The Sunday News
Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter
DJEMBE Monks on Friday released the visuals for the song, Rainmaker, with the video earning nominations at the South African Indie Film Festival and The Lift Off Sessions in Pinewood Studios in Los Angeles, United States.
The video, shot in the Karoo Desert in Mzansi, was produced by Obscura Films, a creative collaboration between Zimbabwean director and producer Kalai Barlow and cinematographer Richard Watson.
Billed as a “visual manifestation of Djembe Monks combination of ethnic and electronic sound and is motivated by the group’s passion for dance”, Sunshine finds the Monks, rightfully held as one of Bulawayo’s premiere live acts, in full flow as they once again showcase that over the top theatrics are not a necessity in the craft of song making.
The song is “rooted in traditional Zimbabwean mythology and folklore and interwoven with contemporary element.
This experimental, movement piece takes us on the journey of the calling of the ‘iwosana’ (a chosen medium) who is a communicator for the god Mwali and the ancestors,” group said in a press release.
The drum, as is usually the case in Djembe Monks songs, dominates, with the group’s in-house producer, Khotso, leaving his fingerprints all over track. It a joint that recalls the sights and sounds of Africa, the continent where the drum is still a language on its own.
“It is who we are. We in Africa have our sunshine, rivers and trees. That’s where we get our sounds from. Every culture, every little bit of humanity has something that they take pride in and we communicate through the drum. So, if we lose the drum then we lose who we are,” said the group’s percussionist Emmanuel “Manni” Nkomo.
While some house acts might struggle to make videos that can match the energy and creativity of their live act, Djembe Monks managed to dance around this problem by blending an upbeat dance house tune with socially relevant visual storytelling.
The concept of the video touches on the global water crisis and draws inspiration from a traditional rain-dance performed by the Kalanga people in Zimbabwe and neighbouring countries.
“We aimed to capture the Djembe Monks organic, live performance energy while conveying a narrative inspired by an ancient Zimbabwean tradition and exploring its relevance in the modern world” said Kalai Barlow, the producer director.
Under the stewardship of Barlow and Watson, the makers of the video, Obscura Films, recently achieved the 2020 ‘National Arts Merit Award’ for their compelling Music Video ‘Sunshine City’ and nominated for another video in the same category.
Their stated philosophy is “grounded in the idea that story-telling has the power to inspire and motivate change. We aim to use our craft as a vehicle to translate and share the stories of those who have moved us in an effort to contribute to the uplifting talented Artists”.
