Opening up a Can of Worms on local music scene
Renowned East Coast music collective Can of Worms have given themselves the best possible chance of appearing at an international music competition.
The band, known for their diverse and original songs, which have drawn a keen following in and around East London, have been together for about a year and recently made it through to the national selection stage of the AfriMusic Song Contest 2020 — the biggest competition of its kind in Africa.
The overall winner of the contest will win an all-expenses paid trip to the Netherlands later this year to perform at Eurovision Village, the central Eurovision song contest hub.
Twenty-four countries and 113 songs are represented in the national selections. Only the top scoring song from each country will progress to the finals.
Scores are made up of a public vote and the judges’ final vote.
Can of Worms comprises April Bosazza (sax, clarinet, flute), Chido Nyamande aka Black Ibah (vocalist), Dalena Mostert (violin and keys), Jaco Engelbrecht (guitar and mandolin), James Mallinson (bass) and founder Steve Meise (drummer/djembe). Their nationalities are South African, Zimbabwean and British, with Afrikaans, Shona and English backgrounds.
Bosazza explained that the band entered its new single, Titambe, into the AfriMusic Song Contest.
“The contest rules dictate that you have to represent the country in which your singer is a citizen so the contest adjudicators advised that we should represent Zimbabwe, where our lead vocalist, Chido, is from,” she said.
“This is actually a great fit because the majority of the lyrics are in Shona, Chido’s mother tongue. The song is a funky, upbeat, Afro-pop tune that always gets the audience on their feet in live performances. Titambe means ‘lets dance’ in Shona.”
Can of Worms have made their reputation on a unique sound that draws from the wide range of experiences and musical trainings within the group, including Afro-pop, dub, reggae, rock and even classical music.
“Our creative process is all inclusive; someone might come up with a great riff or a lyric or musical idea and then we work as a whole group to realise the eventual song. I think this is what makes the sound different and authentically Can of Worms,” Bosazza said.
As the AfriMusic Song Contest is run on digital platforms, it means the band does not have to leave East London. National selections close on March 20 and the final voting stages are from April 10 to 25 with the overall winner announced on April 27.
“We’re all really excited about it — we love making music together and we really believe in our music. It’s a great confidence booster to get recognition at this level. I think we’re all a bit nervous too because it would mean so much to get through the national selections and into the finals. Imagine performing at Eurovision! It’s the stuff our dreams are made of,” said Bosazza.
People can vote for Can of Worms by logging onto www.afrimusicsongcontest.com/southernafricacontestants, finding them under Zimbabwe and clicking on “vote”. Votes are verified by e-mail. “You will get a link in your email which you will need to follow, and then click on vote again. These links are also available on our social media pages (Facebook and Instagram): @ canofwormssa. You can vote up to 24 times per day, via e-mail ... so spend your votes wisely,” Bosazza said.