Malawi People & African Culture: From Mouse Boys to Music Stars

Malawi is widely known as “the Warm Heart of Africa”. If you have ever met a Malawian, you will have experienced their fabled warmth. In addition to their glittering smiles, Malawians have a deep love for both eating and singing. In a beautiful story, a chance encounter catapulted a group of Malawians to world music stardom.

Mbewa, African culture by Charlie Hartono

Mbewa – Mice on a stick

Mbewa is the name used by the Chewa of Malawi to describe rats, mice, shrews, and bush squirrels, any small rodent really. For those in the know, Mbewa also refers to a roadside delicacy that is readily available in the dry winter months. Travelling between Zomba and Lilongwe, on Malawi’s main highway, you will notice Malawians, flagging down motorists to sell one of Malawi’s favourite delicacies. Sticks, made of mpani or bamboo, are split down the middle to hold mice, which are lightly roasted over an open fire. Mbewa, or mouse on a stick, is usually eaten with salt and paprika. While Mbewa is popular amongst Malawians, only the most adventurous tourists are up for even a small bite.

Zondiwe Alfred Nelson Joseph Womad 2013 by Mark A Bennet

Music in Malawi Culture

Malawians are a musical people. From the Bantu migrations in the 10th century to missionary and colonial influences in the 19th and 20th centuries, Malawian culture has a knack of absorbing and transforming musical influences. Independent since 1964, you could say that Malawian grooves have been shaped by their history.

Originally, music in Malawi was part of their oral tradition. Nthano, for example, is an acapella tradition of storytelling that intersperses narrative with music refrains. In Malawi, there are songs for everything – songs for planting, songs for harvesting, wedding songs, herding songs, drinking songs, songs for children, and songs to mark the passing of time. ‍

The music scene today is a smorgasbord of traditional Malawian roots, applied enthusiastically from genres like gospel, reggae, R&B, and hip hop. When travelling in Malawi, if you listen carefully, you will notice music everywhere.

So what has Mbewa got to do with Malawi’s musical culture?

Malawi mouse boys in NYC

The Travelling International Music Producers

Ian Brennan is a GRAMMY-nominated music producer based in San Francisco, California. His life mission is to give a platform to talented musicians who would not have access to recording equipment or markets in more developed countries. He travels the world, to out-of-the-way countries like Malawi, in search of these hidden gems.

In 2011, Brennan was travelling through Malawi with a portable recording studio when he noticed a young Mbewa seller, sitting on the side of the road strumming on a homemade guitar. He asked the young man, Alfred Gavana if he would sing him a song. What happened next was a powerful yet understated musical epiphany. “He played so quietly it was almost inaudible,” says Brennan. But then, as he reached the chorus, a group of 20-odd children burst into song with the most beautiful multi-part harmony. Alfred’s song was, clearly, a local hit, and Brennan was so impressed that he asked Alfred if he could come back and record him with his friends. That week, Brennan set up his impromptu recording studio and recorded Alfred and his band. Brennan returned to the States and produced his recordings into an album for the band Friends.

The Malawi Mouse Boys

Alfred and Nelson - guitar and vocals, Zondiwe – the lead singer, and percussionist Joseph, grew up together, singing in church. They make all their own instruments from scrap sheet metal, plastic water coolers, and discarded bicycle parts, and write all their own songs and lyrics. Their homemade instruments are basic and lack the refinement of sound that you get from commercially made instruments made in Europe, and Asia. However, when you listen to the Malawi Mouse Boys, says Brennan, the instruments are secondary. These young men grew up together, learned to listen together, learnt to sing together, and now make music together. When you listen to them sing, there is such unity in their voices, an understanding of one another that transcends merely playing together, and here lies the beauty and charm of their music.

Mouse boys recording with Ian Brennan by CBS News

When Brennan recorded them for the first time in 2011, there was no expectation on their part, as foreigners had been interested in their music in the past but had never returned. You can imagine their surprise when Brennan came back with some profits from the recording. Brennan also orchestrated the opportunity for the Malawi Mouse Boys to take Chichewa to an international stage.

With Brennan’s help, the Malawi Mouse Boys released their first album, He Is #1, in 2013. This was the first album ever released in the Chichewa language outside of Malawi. Since the release of He is #1, the Malawi Mouse Boys had the opportunity to play in front of 10,000 people at the WOMAD Festival in England. It was their first time leaving Malawi, and their first time on an aeroplane. Since then, they have toured Australia, New Zealand, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, performing at WOMAD in Adelaide in 2015.

"Maybe we can say it's a plan of God, because to us, to reach where we are now, using these local instruments, it's not a joke. In our country in Malawi, we have got many people who are using electric guitars and instruments, but they didn't reach America." Zondiwe Nekwankwe lead singer

Mbewa kebabs, Malawi people by CBS News

The Malawi Mouse Boys Today

Despite their international exposure, The Malawi Mouse Boys do not make enough of their music to support them. Having recorded 3 albums since 2013, and toured the world, the Malawi Mouse Boys still live a hard life, catching mice in fields and preparing Mbewa to sell to passing motorists on the highway.

He is no1, Malawi Mouse Boys

Malawian Musical Culture

Malawi’s amazing musical culture can be found in several fantastic bands. On the listening platform Spotify, you find the likes of the Malawi Mouse Boys, Giddess Chalamanda – a Malawi music legend, The Madalitso Band – a high-energy duo who have performed around the world, Namadingo – whose songs talk to the many struggles faced by Malawians, Afro-pop sensation Ritaa, and the GRAMMY-nominated and incredibly moving Zomba Prison Project – recorded in one of Malawis most overpopulated prisons.

Lake Malawi, Malawi culture

If you find yourself visiting Malawi on a safari to Majete or Lake Malawi, keep your ears tuned to the rhythm of the country, and look out for one of Africa’s coolest music festivals, set to resume in 2024, The Lake of Stars.