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After some time of translating and editing, we’re happy to present the first instalment of a series of interviews with no other than Gasper Nali, the one-man-afro-roots-band with the one-string home-made Babatoni bass guitar.

The series is dubbed ‘Gasper Nali on…’ and will cover his music, his instrument and his background etc, chopped up in bite-sized chunks for your convenience. Here’s the first ‘episode’ where Gasper is talking about the Babatoni and how he plays it:

We will release another video each week for this series until the 7th December 2015 when Gasper will finally release his international debut album, ‘Abale Ndikuwuzeni’.

For more info on Gasper please click here

Gasper Nali is finally releasing a full album. For those of you who just couldn’t get enough of him playing his one-stringed home-made Babatoni bass guitar on the very catchy single ‘A Bale Ndikuwuzeni’ – here’s a full nine tracks that will keep you going until next summer. On the 7th of December, Spare Dog Records will release these 45 minutes of moving rhythms, thick sounds, unforgettable melodies and words of wisdom and warning…

We can’t wait to share this with the world!

Sorry for not being in touch for a while! When the Lake Of Stars music festival was over, we packed up our house in Nkhata Bay (for this time) and caught the plane to Addis Ababa for a long stop-over (there’s some great music happening over there too) before finally making it to the UK. Spare Dog Records will be working from here for the next couple of months (enjoying fast internet, craft beer and hot showers and releasing a few great albums) and return to Malawi for new studio sessions in January.

I’m sure we’ll be more in tune with the Great Internet from this continent…

Today we lost a friend. Penny – Queen of Dogs in the North. Strong, independent and good natured – but wouldn’t take crap from anyone. I’ll always remember her curled up around my feet as I’m at my desk, working on stuff in the studio.

No Spare Dog could ever take your place.

Rest in Peace.

Few people I’ve worked with are as talented and as dedicated to his/her work as Davie ‘Street Rat’ Luhanga. In urban Malawi, he’s a household name due to years of putting up great live shows and always being on top of his game – now he has relocated to Edinburgh, UK, with his wife and child, and needs to reinvent his career on this new continent!

Today we are proud to say that we’re making a big jump in that direction; Today is the day for Street Rat’s international debut album ‘Born in the Ghetto’!

If you want to see Street Rat in Action – here’s the Official Music Video from the track ‘Singing Mood’:

Click here for more info on Street Rat
Click here for more info on the Album

Here’s the 2015 studio recording of ‘Abale Ndikuwuzeni’ accompanied by images of Gasper in the studio and around the lake shores of Nkhata Bay.

If you haven’t heard the 2015 studio recording of this song yet, you can listen and watch Gasper in action in this new video.

Congratulations Danny Kalima!

All Africa Music Awards (Afrima), have just released the nominees for this years awards – and our very own Danny Kalima is nominated in the category ‘Best artist or group in African RnB & Soul’. This is no small feat as there has been over 2500 entries for this year’s edition! Danny is the only Malawian artist to have been selected for the 2015 nominations and Spare Dog Records are very proud of him!

The final decision is up to the academy*, so all we can do now is visit www.afrima.org to check out Danny’s competition for winning the award on the ceremony held in Lagos, Nigeria on the 15th November. Have a look at the Music Video that got him there:

*STOP PRESS! Afrima has changed the decision-making process for Danny’s category and now the decision will be based on public voting (50%) as well as the academy panel (50%) – let’s all vote now! You can vote here

And if you really like Danny’s music – why not buy it on iTunes?

The Moods Malawi is a different kind of beast from previous releases. Much more electronic than what you’ve been used to hearing from Spare Dog Records. They blend the modern with afro-beats and heavy reggae, with hard hitting lyrics and irresistible hooks.

Each member of the trio brings his own flavour to the mix: Daddy Mbuzi brings the African dance music, Verbal Able Rasta delivers those Reggae vibes, and Chapsman of the ‘Tonga Heritage’ makes sure it is all firmly rooted in the Malawian soil.

We’ve finished recording a few great tracks and the final version of the first music video has been rendered – the release date is still to be set, but we’re sure this will rock both Malawi and the rest of the world! – Stay tuned for more info.