Musician Danny ‘Sirius’ Kalima on Malawi

Malawi’s music scene is growing quickly, thanks to the internet, and the fact that almost every person owns a mobile phone now. People are starting to believe in themselves, and believe they can do something for the country. Malawi has some great musicians, but some people don’t think that music is a career to be taken seriously, which isn’t true. Most performances take place in pubs, but music also plays a big role at school and in churches.

Singing is my life. As a child I would listen to gospel music from South Africa, while my uncles listened to hip hop and reggae, so I was influenced by all of these. Most of my music comes from real life or sometimes I use old poems.

There’s so much to see in Lilongwe, where I was born. The forests around the city are filled with wildlife and then there’s the recently built, beautiful parliament building. But visitors should make sure they catch some live music. The Living Room Café has candlelit acoustic performances every Tuesday night. On Thursdays and Sundays it has jazz and rock bands. The Chameleon Bar, near the Presidential Palace, is another great jazz venue. The owner is a great musician himself.

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The Lake of Stars festival has been huge for Malawi and takes place every September. People from all walks of life come, and the artists are from many different countries. For an artist, it’s a great opportunity to connect with other musicians, and it’s just a great honour to perform there. The special thing about Malawian music is that there’s a huge range of traditional music which sounds amazing when combined with other types. A growing number of artists, like myself, are mixing blues with traditional music. I also love going to the Blantyre Arts Festival in October. There’s lots of music, but there are also comedians, poets and art and photography exhibitions.

Malawi is spectacular – it has mountains, Lake Malawi, the Great Rift Valley, amazing wildlife and lots of national parks. Blantyre is a small, friendly city in the south, where there are stunning mountains and many tea and tobacco plantations.

My favourite spot is Nkhata Bay, 230 miles north of the capital Lilongwe. The beaches are very wide, and there’s always something happening – live music, weddings, parties or village meetings. It’s a great place to meet the locals and see fishermen selling their catch or artists selling their work.

My favourite dish is nsima and fried chicken – that’s what most people eat in Malawi, and in many other central African countries. Nsima is also known as pap or gali and is made from cornflour. You can find it in every local restaurant. One of the best places to eat it in is the Kande Beach Café, in Nkhata Bay. It’s right on the lake. Nothing beats sitting there and looking out over Lake Malawi.

As a child I’d go out in the evening with my friends to dance and sing. We sang songs about our childhood and about food, animals, God and love. We would listen to gospel music from South Africa, while my uncles liked hip hop and reggae. Friends from my village loved dancing to traditional music, so I was influenced by all of these things.

Malawian people are very friendly. They tend to be happy with the little they have – all they need is some land to grow food on and they’re content. The country has so many tribes and they all speak their own language, but the national language is Chichewa.

I hope Malawians continue to fight corruption, and that our music and culture will be shared with the rest of the planet. I hope Malawi will be successful in business. I’d love to see modern cities and more roads, and electricity for the whole country. I also want to see more freedom of expression and more power for the people – not just for greedy, rich politicians. I hope that we’ll have better medical care and better education in schools.