Spare Dog Records

This year has been a bit of a tough one. Gasper’s summer tour was cancelled and work on the upcoming album has been delayed – but it made me spend some time on backing up and archiving old videos, recordings and pictures from Malawi. And I came across this little gem of Gasper recording vocals for the track Mwana Jeni on the 2015 album Abale Ndikuwuzeni. Enjoy!

It’s with a heavy heart that we must inform you that Gasper Nali’s Netherlands / Belgium / Malaysia tour for June-July 2020 has now officially been cancelled. Of course things had been looking bleak for a while, but with the Dutch government finally declaring all larger events outlawed until September, there’s no chance for it to happen this year.

With a number of excellent bookings now gone, we’re hoping for festivals and booking agents to come together and do a straight one year postponement with the same line-ups where possible, so that Gasper will have a chance to do this tour next year instead.

In light of this new situation, we’ll be planning some other exciting (yet social distancing-friendly) new project ideas for those of you who need another fix of Malawian music ASAP. We’ll keep you posted here on this web site and on our Facebook page. Tionana mtsogolo for now.

P.S. If you need Gasper’s music straight away, go to our Bandcamp page and check it out.

Malawian musician Gasper Nali playing his homemade instrument, the Babatoni. pic.twitter.com/DeOBWwEDDF

— Dust-to-Digital (@dusttodigital) February 2, 2020

22/6 Africa Oyé - Liverpool 22/6 Neuadd Ogwen - Bethesda 23/6 SOLAS Festival - Errol 26/6 The Canteen - Bristol 27/6 - TBA - 28/6 - TBA - 29/6 Glastonbury - Shangri-La 30/6 Glastonbury - The Common

If you’ve wondered why it’s been a bit quiet from us lately, it’s all because of this brand new rock’n’roller demanding a lot of attention! Fear not, we’ll soon get this new member of the crew up to speed, and we’ve got some really exciting announcements in the near future. Stay tuned!

http://www.sparedogrecords.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Lojenzo-1.mp3

  Lonjezo (Chichewa language, meaning ‘Promise’) is a brand new single from Malawi soul giant Danny Kalima, in a kind of chill local pop music style, with a great tropical vibe. Listen to the song right here, click on the cover image to download the track, or better still – go to our shop and pay some money for it, if you want to support the music!

This song was recorded in Lilongwe by DJ Sley – we’re expecting a music video to show up very soon. ENJOY!

  ZOONA MALAWI

available Nov 2, 2018

      Gasper Nali’s second album, Zoona Malawi (roughly translates to ‘It’s true, Malawi’), is a return to simplicity. While his debut album had a band arrangement of instruments, this time it’s only Gasper.

Recorded on a beach in his hometown of Nkhata Bay, only meters from Lake Malawi, Gasper plays six songs from beginning to end – and that’s it. No additional instruments, no overdubs. Just Gasper’s voice, his huge Babatoni bass guitar and his cow skin kick drum. And that characteristic droning rhythm and hypnotic melodies. And if you listen carefully, the faint sound of the surf in the background. It took three tries to get the recording happening, due to the frequent power cuts in the area and some sporadic end-of-rain-season rain.

Zoona Malawi is released on Nov 2nd, 2018, by Spare Dog Records (UK) together with Mississippi Records (US) and Sing A Song Fighter (SWE) on vinyl and digital.

Pronunciation: The oo in ‘Zoona’ sounds like in ‘More’ or ‘For’ – not like in Zoom.

THANK YOU everyone who came along to Gasper Nali’s fantastic July-August 2018 tour of the Netherlands, Scandinavia & the UK. Here’s a few memories from the shows – can you see yourself in the crowds?

    If you’re looking for Gasper’s music – find it here: Bandcamp iTunes Spotify

  Tour Venues & Festivals

Utrecht, NL – Sofar Sounds Amsterdam, NL – Over Het IJ Festival Lichtenvoorde, NL – Zwarte Cross Festival Nijmegen, NL – Valkhof Festival

Stockholm/Ekerö – Rosenhill Oslo, NO – Kafé Hærverk Brådal, SWE – Algotfestivalen Malmö, SWE – Malmö Sommarscen

Charlton Park, UK – WOMAD UK Festival Kendal, UK – Kendal Calling Festival Bristol, UK – The Canteen Hampshire, UK – BoomTown Fair Hampshire, UK – BoomTown Fair Swansea, UK – The Welfare Cornwall, UK – Mt Pleasant Eco Park London, UK – Campfire Club London, UK – Africa Centre Margate, UK – Tom Thumb Theatre Northants, UK – Shambala Festival Northants, UK – Greenbelt Festival Maidstone, UK – Shemomedjamo Festival

We can’t believe how well Gasper Nali’s first ever international tour is going! We’re only half way through, but man is there a buzz about the whole thing!

Check this tiny compilation video out and you’ll see what we mean:

    There’s a slightly longer version of the video here if your really into it!

    And last but not least: If you’ve got a chance, make sure to catch Gasper playing at any of the following dates!

  11/07 Utrecht, NL – Sofar Sounds 14/07 Amsterdam, NL – Over Het IJ Festival 15/07 Lichtenvoorde, NL – Zwarte Cross Festival 15/07 Nijmegen, NL – Valkhof Festival

18/07 Stockholm/Ekerö – Rosenhill 19/07 Oslo, NO – Kafé Hærverk 20/07 Brådal, SWE – Algotfestivalen 21/07 Malmö, SWE – Malmö Sommarscen

27/07 Charlton Park, UK – WOMAD UK Festival 28/07 Kendal, UK – Kendal Calling Festival 07/08 Bristol, UK – The Canteen 08/08 Hampshire, UK – BoomTown Fair 09/08 Hampshire, UK – BoomTown Fair 10/08 Swansea, UK – The Welfare 16/08 Cornwall, UK – Mt Pleasant Eco Park 17/08 London, UK – Campfire Club 18/08 Margate, UK – Tom Thumb Theatre 24/08 Northants, UK – Shambala Festival 25/08 Northants, UK – Greenbelt Festival 26/08 Kent, UK – Shemomedjamo Festival

The tour dates (so far) are here! Netherlands, Scandinavia & the UK – from 11th July to 26th August. Including WOMAD, Zwarte Cross, Malmö Sommarscen, Shambala, BoomTown and many many more. Check out the poster below: