340ml (pronounced: ''three forty mil'') is an African musical group who originate from

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

Maputo Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...

, but are now based in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, South Africa. They have therefore jokingly been described by some as being "Jozambican". The band incorporates many different elements into their music including dub,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

ska Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...

, Afro-jazz and

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

. Their music has also been described by Jean Barker (a music critic on ) as "sounding better than a cold beer opening on a hot day."

History

The four band members arrived in

in the mid-1990s in order to pursue academic careers. Paulo Jorge Chibanga had intentions on becoming an architect, Rui Soeiro studied a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (BCom or B Com) is an undergraduate degree in commerce, accounting, mathematics, economics, and management-related subjects. The degree is mainly offered in Commonwealth nations. Structure Bachelor of Commerce The Bac ...

, Pedro Pinto's career choices lay in

Industrial Psychology Industrial and organizational psychology (I-O psychology) "focuses the lens of psychological science on a key aspect of human life, namely, their work lives. In general, the goals of I-O psychology are to better understand and optimize the effec ...

and Tiago Correia-Paulo pursued a career in Economics. Paulo branched out into a different area of design, with his Dubstars clothing label which is reportedly becoming very popular within Johannesburg. Rui started working on releasing music compilations called Dubvaults through the band's label 340ml Music. Pedro ventured into jewelry design and other crafts. Tiago worked as a designer and illustrator for many years and now is more involved in film and video directing and producing. Despite all these academic qualifications, the band has always focused on producing music, firstly in Maputo and then when Rui and Paulo joined a band which was led by their art teacher at St. Martin's School in Southern Johannesburg. The name of the band was ''Panic Orange''. In the late 1990s ''Panic Orange'' earned a semi-final spot in the annual Emerging Sounds competition, but the then

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band had begun to turn towards the genre of

Ska Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...

, and dropped its name, as well as its rock-playing member in the middle of the contest. All four band members had known each other while growing up in Maputo. Tiago and Pedro had played together in a

Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to Rage) was an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1991. It consisted of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim ...

-inspired

rap metal Rap metal is a fusion genre that combines hip hop music, hip hop with heavy metal music, heavy metal. It usually consists of heavy metal guitar riffs, funk metal elements, Rapping, rapped vocals and sometimes turntablism, turntables. History O ...

cover band as teenagers during the 1990s. 340ml, after many false starts, derived its final name from a measurement on a beverage can when it formalised in 2000. Their debut album, ''Moving'', was co-produced by the Jazzworx production team and incorporated parts of, amongst others, dub,

Brazilian music The music of Brazil encompasses various regional musical styles influenced by European, American, African and Amerindian forms. Brazilian music developed some unique and original styles such as forró, repente, coco de roda, axé, sertanejo ...

and

''Sorry for the Delay''

Four years after releasing their debut album, ''Moving'', 340ml released a second album entitled ''Sorry for the Delay''. The name of their second album is a result of the many delays the band experienced while producing it, mainly due to the fact that they had been victims of Johannesburg crime four times, twice having their cars filled with equipment stolen, and twice having their studios broken into and stripped down.

Discography

*''Moving'' (2004) *''Sorry for the Delay'' (2008) *''I Don't Know'' (2018)

References

{{Authority control Dub musical groups South African reggae musical groups South African ska groups Mozambican reggae musical groups Mozambican ska groups Musical groups established in 2000 Culture of Johannesburg