Artist
Amanaz
Kitwe, Zambia • Formed 1973
Amanaz is a music group from Kitwe, Zambia, active since 1973. Their discography on Gatefold includes 1 record.
1
Albums tracked
16
In collections
1973
Since
Biography
Amanaz was formed in 1973 in Kitwe, Zambia. Their songs are in both English and their native language Bemba. Musically, they go in the same direction as Blo, The Witch and Question Mark, but stoned with amazing fuzz guitar all over which sounds like an African version of early Cream.
The Arc of Amanaz
The pivots — what forced Amanaz to reinvent.
The Malachite Sessions
In 1975, the band walked into the studio to cut their only full-length with a sound defined by isolation and high-gain distortion. They blended the political weight of the independence era with the skeletal rhythms of folk music, resulting in a dark, fuzzy masterpiece. You can hear the lack of high-end polish in the mix, giving the drums a thudding, immediate presence that feels like it’s being played right in the room. It was a one-shot deal before the band dissolved into the background of a collapsing national industry.
The Long Silence and Resurgence
After decades of being nothing but a rumor and a few warped LPs in Lusaka, the band's legacy was revived by Western crate-diggers and labels like Now-Again. Keith Kabwe eventually resurfaced, finding out that a record he made in his youth had become a holy grail for psych collectors worldwide. This late-stage recognition turned a forgotten local act into global icons of African rock, proving that the grit of those 1975 sessions was too heavy to stay buried. It shifted the narrative from Amanaz being a 'lost' band to being the pillars of an entire genre.
Influences
- Jimi Hendrix — Isaac Mpofu has cited Hendrix as the primary blueprint for the heavy fuzz and feedback used throughout the Africa LP. You hear it in the wah-drenched solos on 'Amanaz' and the aggressive, distorted lead lines that cut through the rhythm section. It's the sound of a Zambian guitarist translating Woodstock for a Lusaka audience.
- James Brown — The rhythmic architecture of the band is built entirely on the funk syncopation Brown exported to Africa in the late 60s. The interlocking guitar stabs on 'Making the Scene' are a direct lift of the J.B.'s groove vocabulary. It provides the danceable backbone that keeps the psych-rock from drifting into space.
- The Rolling Stones — Keith Kabwe pointed to the Stones as a major influence on their vocal delivery and stage swagger. The loose, almost conversational singing style on 'Sunday Morning' mirrors the Jagger-esque nonchalance of the early 70s. It gave the band a rock-and-roll attitude that separated them from more traditional folk groups.
- Deep Purple — The band was known to cover 'Black Night' in their early live sets before they had enough original material for a record. That heavy, driving proto-metal riffing is baked into the DNA of their darker tracks. It explains why their version of rock is so much more menacing than the sunshine-pop of their peers.
- The Beatles — Amanaz covered 'I'm Down' during their formative years, absorbing the melodic sensibilities of the Fab Four. You can hear this in the surprisingly catchy vocal harmonies that pop up behind the wall of distortion. Even at their grittiest, they never lost the knack for a solid pop hook.
Discography
Their records — most-collected first.
Related artists
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