Music
From 340ml to 340million
How the end of one of South Africa’s favourite groups led to the birth of an exciting new project
If South Africa’s first post-millennium decade had a soundtrack, the laid-back & dubby sounds of 340ml would feature heavily. Although all members hail from Mozambique, 340ml was birthed in Johannesburg out of a rock band that featured drummer Paulo Chibanga & bassist Rui Soeiro alongside their high school art teacher. Later guitarist Tiago Correia-Paulo and vocalist/Melodica player Pedro Pinto joined the group and the sound began to change which led to the departure of the art teacher and the remaining for starting their own project focusing on fusing their various influences including dub, reggae, samba, jazz, afro-jazz, ska & metal.
Practicing in a tiny, abandoned pool room at their university residence, the four of them started playing small gigs before entering a battle of the bands, an event which would ultimately decide their name. “We didn’t win the final, we were in second, but a very kind journalist wrote a really nice article saying that we were the band that deserved to win because we had the most original sound and we should look out for 340ml and put the name in bold and we were like oh shit, now we’re stuck with this stupid name” laughs Tiago Correia-Paulo.
I think everyone became complacent, we weren’t really taking things to the next level
With the group having disbanded in mid-2012, Tiago explains that it felt like they had reached a plateau as a group and no one was hungry to push further. “I think everyone became complacent, we weren’t really taking things to the next level. Most of the band members were happy that we’d reached that plateau and they felt comfortable to go and do other things and venture into other directions like business and just like a lot of family stuff. I felt that as a musician and as a band we were slowly losing a lot of our relevance and a lot of our edge.“
Although 340ml was no longer, all the members remained in the music industry in one way or another. Rui focused on the label 340ml Music, Paulo started his own music festival and manages bands, and while Pedro focused on setting up an artisanal workshop, he also did musical projects with Tiago, who himself got more involved in film scoring and studio work.
I started bringing some of the old 340ml songs in and rearranging them into electronic versions. Something more upbeat, dancey and contemporary.
During this time Tiago’s passion for writing music hadn’t diminished and he started producing and DJing under the alias of A Million Things. “It became this side-project that I do in my studio when I have a few days off and I’m feeling creative. Eventually, I started bringing some of the old 340ml songs in and rearranging them into electronic versions. Something more upbeat, dancey and contemporary.” Playing the 340ml to Pedro led to him suggesting a possible future collaboration, while doing the same to Rui, who was also DJing at the time, led to Rui and Tiago playing a set under the moniker 340ml Soundsystem, which turned out to be a fateful show. “A guy from a festival saw it, really liked it and said he would like to book 340ml Soundsystem. We did a couple of shows and that same guy eventually asked us to bring Pedro on board.”
340million
© Supplied
That show with Pedro sparked something in the three of them that they had been missing. “We did it and it felt really nice, it felt like being in a band again. It was really exciting to spend a week with the guys and rehearse. We didn’t like the name, but we wanted to keep some kind of 340ml link, so we combined The Million Things with 340ml and it just became 340million.”
It’s important to note 340million aren’t a touring or recording band. “Something that we agreed on is that we’re going to work on a project basis. This could be a year from now, but once we said cool, the budget’s right, timing’s right, everyone’s available, we feel like doing it, we take 10 days and do [it]. This is also why all the shows are different. The shows will never be the same.”
Whenever we sit for a week or 10 days to prepare a new show we end up writing one or two new songs. So basically half of the show now is new songs.
340million do revisit old 340ml material, adding an upbeat, electronic twist, but there is also brand new material. “Whenever we sit for a week or 10 days to prepare a new show we end up writing one or two new songs. So basically half of the show now is new songs.” Apart from the addition of an electronic sound that is influenced by the likes of Hot Chip and LCD Soundsystem what makes a 340 Million show special is that half of it is visual which Tiago attributes to his background in film scoring. “Throughout the years you kind of learn the power of the fusion between sound and image and how one helps the other. Something as simple as the drummer ending on a crash and at the same time a white light that flashes, the ears and the brain play some kind of trick, so that the cymbal hit is a lot more powerful.”
With a show that will feature two drummers, backing singers and synced visuals alongside Pedro, Tiago and Rui, it promises to be an audio-visual spectacle infused with hints of nostalgia and a return to Joburg. “We’ve been wanting to do a gig in Joburg for the longest time. After the first 340million show we said we should take this to Joburg, because Joburg is our home. As much as we’re from Mozambique, we feel like Joburg was our cradle, that’s where every song was written. Every song was tested in front of a Joburg audience. We still feel like people from Joburg have an emotional attachment to 340ml and what 340ml was and what it became and what it represented. So I think there’s a really great alignment of energies and it’s going to be a really great show.”
340million will be performing at Red Bull Music Festival in Jozi between 3 and 8 April. Get your tickets here.