The Sunday News
Nyasha Majoni
The late former bassist and lead guitarist of the iconic Zig Zag Band, George Chirwa, might have left an indelible mark in the music industry — strumming the guitar in night clubs and various stadia as his ensemble churned hit-after-hit but his 23-year-old son, Stanford believes there is need to revive the celebrated chigiyo brand in the Midlands province.
Speaking to this reporter in an exclusive interview, Stanford who is known in music circles as Stouch LBR revealed that he was saddened by the fact that the chigiyo music genre was faced with possible extinction and with the help of his brother Slick, a music producer based in Cape Town, South Africa and other colleagues from the dormitory Redcliff town, they are on the verge of releasing their debut album, Chigiyo Revitalised, which comprises of the original chigiyo beats fused with rap and dancehall lyrics.
“We are determined to upgrade chigiyo music to modern standards so that it appeals to the modern generation of music enthusiasts. Naturally, I am a hip hop artiste but at the same time I feel it’s my duty to revive the legacy left by my father and other departed founding fathers of Zig Zag band,” said the soft-spoken Stouch LBR during a no-holds-barred interview with this publication at Sound Cheq studios in Redcliff.
Stouch is working with an equally competitive Sammy Joe, a producer based in the teeming steel manufacturing town. Amongst a host of other songs to look out for in the forthcoming album are remixes of the yesteryear chigiyo hits which include a love song Sarah, Dzirombi, the anthemic Gomo RaMasare and Hombiro.
The budding artiste however, bemoaned the lack of publicity facing most artistes who are domiciled in towns out of Harare and Bulawayo. Stouch says there is also need for the artistes to unite for a noble cause and get rid of the underdog tag stacked against them.
“We are sick and tired of the fact that most promoters are shunning artistes who are based out of the two major cities in the country. There is a whole lot of raw, untapped talent here but the fact that you are based in the so-called small towns, you find out that it surely needs maximum effort to get to the top. There is abundant talent here and talk of the late Tongai Moyo for instance and you will surely know that it’s no joke at all when we say that this province is oozing with abundant music talent,” he said.
