A Can of the Best: 340 ml

(259 reads) 340 ml is an effervescing concoction of reggae, jazz and gentle rock. It can rarely be contained within its cylindrical can; give it one minute, and it’ll judiciously burst, frothing over your fingers, and leaping over your lips. Its taste is ambrosial. Its sun-bleached evocations of the sand and the sea, of sun and stars perpetually suspended and shining, dispel all preoccupations with existence. You’ll sway and dream, mind taken in by the wondrous wonderland it paints - of the Tropicana, of coconut milk, of ever-stretching beaches and its smooth-jazzy silk.

Tiago, handsome guitarist figure with the Mozambican, Maputo-hailing quartet, is an outright pleasure to interview. In complete contrast to his monosyllabic contemporaries (to whom interviews stoke the flame of glossy PR rambling and self-delusional narcissism), the man is articulate and anecdotal. A jokesmith with a wonderful foreign timbre to his voice; a raconteur who can accurately capture the nature of his music and intentions without recourse to paradoxical, unintelligible, consumerist-inflected drivel.


Levi’s: Your music has a lovely, relaxed Tropical inflection to it. How has Mozambique influenced you in this regard?

I don’t think Mozambique, you know the way it is, influenced our music. We were more influenced by the fact that we grew up there in the ‘80s, which was a very special time. We were very separated from the world, music-wise, so as kids we couldn’t be very picky. We all listened to the same stuff. The Police – Greatest Hits; Bob Marley – Legend; AC/DC – Highway to Hell. Those were three tapes we listened to. That’s what influenced us to mix up styles. We’re a band that takes a bit from all types of music.

The only style of music that we all see eye-to-eye on is dub. Half of the band is very reggae influenced; the other side is more into afro-beat and rock. You can stretch dub music; the music is reggae, but it’s a lot more experimental. You can layer it with rock-type lengths; you can do a lot with it.

Levi’s: What has the South African response been to your music?

It’s been really, really good. When we started we were doing something very different. We managed to create a genre that fused all genres of music (we never really found a name) and had its own personality. In the beginning we had a quick rise in the space of two or three years, and I think one of the main reasons was we were doing something quite left-of-centre, but still with a pop sensibility.

Not everyone likes us, and I think we lost a lot of fans when we released ‘Moving’ and had a video on high rotation. It opened a lot of doors for us, but we had a lot of criticism too. People saying, “Oh, you guys sold out.” People always do that. When you get famous, you kind of lose your hardcore fans. The guys who are like, “Oh, it’s so nice… We like 340 ml and we’re among the only 100 people in the country who know them.” Then you sell 10 000 CDs, and those guys are the first to say, “Wait, I’m not sure if I like these guys.”

Levi’s: How is the new album (Sorry for the Delay) different from your previous material?

It’s based more on individual songs. The other album was based on where we come from; it was a concept album. In a way, this album is a lot more dysfunctional. Every song can stand on its own. It doesn’t need anything else. Musically, we go to more places than we have before. You can get an almost ‘Brit-rock’ feel, you get a bit of Jamaica, a bit of East Africa, a bit of West Africa, a bit of European Balkan music. We really went a little bit further. But it’s still not world music. It’s still within the realms of pop and loungey down-tempo styles.

Levi’s: What are the lyrical dimensions of the new album?

Lyrically, the first album was like “Ja, we’re 340 ml. We like smoking weed and drinking beer and spending time in the sun and surfing.” Whereas with this album, the lyrics have a stronger story behind them. We didn’t want to punish our listeners [with topics like] ‘End Colonialism’ and ‘We’re Against Free Trade’ and ‘Do This/Do That’. Everything is, kind of, a subliminal soundtrack to a message.

If you listen to the first single on the album, you’re going to think it’s another ‘Midnight’ song. But if you play close attention to the lyrics, you’ll find out it’s actually a satire on the Jo’burg nightclub scene, where you have all these first-year University girls who just want to go to these clubs and drink enough so they have the courage to kiss some boy. The album is very satirical, in terms of the lyrics. You might think we’re saying one thing, but if you pay attention, we’re actually saying the opposite.

Levi’s: Plans for the future/ Objectives?

We want to get back to where we were three years ago [in terms of touring]. I think with this album we want to tour South Africa as much as possible and do all the festivals and sell more records. We’re also looking at the prospect of going to Europe next year. We’re in the process of singing a deal with a French record label for ‘Sorry for the Delay’. So, that’s sort of our mission next year.

Levi’s: What’s the deal with the name?

The name just demonstrates the randomness of it all. When we got together, we didn’t even know what we were going to play. We were sitting down and like, “Okay, so what do we do now? Do we play rock, do we play reggae?” We went into one of those Battle of the Band things and we didn’t have a name. On the first leg of the tour we were called ‘Green Colour Effect’. We didn’t even expect to win that leg. On the next leg we were called ‘Fun with Electronics.’ In the semi-finals we were called ‘Pre-tuned System.’ When we got to the finals, we really needed a name and Roy opened the fridge and there was a carton of milk which said ‘Store for Two Years’ and a can of Coke which said ‘340 ml’. And he shouted, “How about Store for Two Years?” and we said, “Haha, fuck you!” He said “How about 340 ml?” and we were like, “Yeah, that could work. It’s a number.”

So, with that insight attended to, there really is little else to say other than, for my money, 340 ml is one of South Africa’s top notch musical acts: bold, experimental and arrantly entertaining.

Click click below to see Speakerbox's video of the 340ml album launch!

www.speakerbox.co.za/content/video.aspx?id=81