Peter Mawanga and Trevor Bystrom have never been in the same room together. In fact, for the duration of their unlikely friendship, the two have never even been on the same continent. And yet, despite the ocean between them, the duo has managed to emerge from COVID-19 lockdowns with a collaborative EP as delightful as it is unexpected, one that fuses American and Malawian culture into an adventurous, inventive, and deeply moving testament to our shared humanity.
“Music is the universal language,” says Mawanga. “We live in a global village these days, and songs have no borders or boundaries.”
Mawanga & Bystrom is proof of that. Recorded remotely at Bystrom’s studio in Holmes Beach, Florida, and Mawanga’s studio in the East African nation of Malawi, the six-track EP is a celebration of connection and unity, mixing traditional Malawian rhythms and instruments—like the nsansi (thumb piano), visekese (shakers), and valimba (xylophone)—with contemporary American folk and rock music to craft a sound that’s at once foreign and familiar, joyful and meditative, playful and profound. The songs here are relentlessly optimistic, insistent on brighter days to come and the primacy of love, and the performances are buoyant to match, overflowing with intoxicating, effervescent energy. Mawanga and Bystrom split the writing and share the vocal duties on the collection, which is delivered in both English and Chichewa, and the two trade off verses as if they’ve been collaborating their entire lives, their voices blending with an instinctual ease that belies the great distance separating them. Neither would describe the process as easy, of course, but both will say without a doubt that it was more than worth the considerable effort to craft not only a remarkable record, but a lasting friendship.
Born and raised in Florida, Bystrom developed a passion for world music at an early age, falling in love first with the sounds of the Caribbean and later immersing himself in the work of a wide array of African artists. At sixteen, he began performing live and writing his own songs, blending folk, blues, rock, and soul with an eclectic palette of international influences and wrapping it all up in lyrics calling for peace, understanding, and equality.
Growing up on the other side of the world, Mawanga developed a similarly adventurous attitude towards music as he learned to sing and play guitar and keyboards through school clubs and church choir. In 2002, he released his debut album, City Life, to widespread acclaim, quickly becoming a nationwide sensation in Malawi, where he came to be known as “the voice of the voiceless.” Over the next two decades, Mawanga would go on to release several more albums, record and perform with a variety of international artists, and tour the US and Europe multiple times over, bringing his “Nyanja vibes” to the world and utilizing his talents for a myriad of charity and activism projects with children and refugees at home.
Today Glide is excited to premiere “Katiswe,” one of the standout tracks on the new album that finds the duo lyrically reckoning with the fragility of life and the hidden dangers lurking in the things we love the most, a theme that has become a common reality for many of us over the course of the pandemic. The song utilizes a swirling mix of acoustic and electric guitar, vibrant horns, and of course a kaleidoscope of percussion. The duo incorporates their own separate influences and the result is a high energy, worldly folk-funk that beckons you to dance. It is fascinating to hear how they found so much chemistry being in completely different corners of the world, but you would never know how much distance was between them in the way they harmonize and intermingle their instrumental talents.
“The pandemic has shown us that what we hold dear can also destroy us,” says Mawanga, with Bystrom adding, “This high energy groove keeps me up and moving from the second it starts to the second it ends. This song was a beast to mix in the studio.”
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