Paul Banda is now one of Malawi's top producers

"Under Banda, almost anything was impossible," says Paul.

"Gospel writers were forced to just stick to the bible. Those were terrible days."

Paul's more extrovert brother Lucius, now Malawi's most famous musician took over the Alleluya band in the early 1990s.

He began writing songs that were deliberately controversial.

He was also the first to introduce the reggae beat, taken up by so many of the young musicians who have followed him.

One day he was stopped at a bus stop and an official asked for his identity cards.

Paul Banda: "We are the voice of the voiceless"

He got upset, because he had his card at home and didn't see why he should carry it around. So he gathered everyone's cards and threw them in the air.

"I knew then that I wanted to fight Dr Banda's regime. And from then on people have called me Soldier."

Falling victim to Aids

Traditional music is also experiencing a new freedom of expression.

The highly inventive Kasambwe Brothers

Instead of the original mbiras and zithers, the Kasambwe brothers use guitar, home-made drums, and a wonderful percussion instrument fashioned from a cleft branch, a string of bottle tops and bicycle parts.

>"One of the pressing issues at the moment that is making us compose more songs is the death rate in our country," says one of the band members.

"The deadly disease AIDS is one of the big problems."

Lucius Banda : "Women were forced to dance for the president"

Many musicians have themselves died of AIDS.

Recently Malawi has also lost some of its finest performers from the older generation.

Enthusiasm for dance

One of the greats of Malawian music is Saleta Phiri.

Saleta Phiri sings of everyday issues

"My songs are songs that come from the village>" he explains.

"I am like a teacher advising people what to do and what not to do."

Phiri's popularity rests on his ability to talk about the stuff of everyday life, and because of a renewed enthusiasm for Malawi's own regional dance rhythms.

One of the key figures behind recent attempts to reinvigorate Malawian music is Martin Chilimampunga, controller of the national music station, Radio 2.

He is angry about the quantity of foreign music, especially reggae, being played on national radio.

"Why should we sound more Jamaican than the Jamaicans themselves?" he says.

Struggle in the villages

Lucius Banda: "I haven't changed"

Now many are getting picked for the weekly Top 20.

One track that has hogged the top spot in the charts for weeks is Ndatherapano by relative newcomer Geoffrey Zigomo.

As for Lucius Banda, he is now criticised for playing at many of the ruling United Democratic Front's big events.

Has the soldier abandoned his people?
>"I cannot go to each and every one and explain that I am the same Lucius, " he says.

"I have not been bought. I have not changed anything to be in good relations with the president."

But while things may be comfortable for a star such as Lucius, many in the villages are struggling as never before.

For Paul Banda, this is one reason why music is so important.

"Music in Malawi is everything. Without it, life is meaningless. Local musicians are surviving by playing music.

"We get a lot of feedback. Somebody says they've lost their husband and wish to die. But when they listen to the music, they find something to live for."