Zimbabwe's First Mbira Punk Band

If David Attenborough was asked to turn a phrase he may have somberly informed listeners that the word Chikwata is Shona for "team" and that 263 is Zimbabwe's country code. He would have pointed out that this fierce species consists of Hector on distorted mbira, Blessing on drums, Tomas on punk guitar and Ray on bass. Then he would have wandered off in search of his slippers and you can now sit back, relax and read about Zimbabwe's one and only mbira-pink band. Mbira: The mbira, also known as the thumb piano, has been an important instrument in Sub-Saharan Africa and has played a part in African culture for 800 years. Many versions of the mbira exist, from the smallest six note models of the Kalahari Bushmen, to the sophisticated 33 note instrument found in Zimbabwe. Punk: Punk is a rock music genre that developed in the 1970s in the west. It eventually split into several other sub genres but the basis of it was fast, hard edged music, typically with short songs, stripped down instrumentation, sometimes anti- establishment and often boisterous lyrics. Mbira-punk: A fusion of traditional Zimbabwean sounds and modern, funky twangs and pop music beats. View my complete profile