340ml’s Timeless Legacy Lives On

The tour began with two shows in Maputo, where the band's enduring chemistry was immediately apparent as years of shared musical history shone through their performance. From there, the tour expanded to include Johannesburg and Cape Town, reconnecting with audiences who had followed their journey from inception.

"There was that soccer team vibe. People in Maputo came and were pushing us," says Tiago Correia-Paulo, the band's guitarist. "If we hadn't done those two shows in Maputo, we would have been eaten alive [by other locations]."

Emerging in the early 2000s, 340ml started as a backup band for hip-hop acts before releasing their debut album, Moving (2003), followed by Sorry For The Delay (2008). By the early 2010s, the quartet decided to part ways as members grew increasingly impatient with life on the road and sought to explore other creative and commercial opportunities.

Their return was triumphant at the Komdraai Creativity and Impact Hub, located just outside Johannesburg. When the familiar refrain "likolokoti tse makiloeng 340" ("cans that are marked 340") blared through the speakers, nearly four thousand fans responded in unison.

Getting the Band Back Together

"We kind of decided not to end the band. We just stopped taking shows, and we stopped recording songs. And we slowly faded out. We kept on hanging out, seeing each other all the time," says Correia-Paulo.

There was always talk of doing something as a band again, but the conditions had to be right. The last time they'd played together before this was in Johannesburg in 2018, but that formation lacked two of the group's members. Paulo Jorge Chibanga is 340ml's energetic and charismatic drummer, Rui Miguel Soeiro is the enigmatic bassist, and Pedro da Silva Pinto is the philosophical vocalist and songwriter who plays harmonica onstage. Together, they make a dub-based sound that borrows from marrabenta, punk, hip-hop, bossa nova, and beyond.

340ml owe this mash-mash of rhythms to their time in the Johannesburg underground scene during a time when names likeSimphiwe Dana,Tumi Molekane (also known asStogie T), Kwani Experience, and others were establishing themselves in the South African music industry.

In 2024, the multidisciplinary creative company Ratanang Agency approached them with an irresistible production deal. All they needed to do was focus on playing a great show. "It was nice to get back in the room with all the guys. Initially, it was touch-and-go in terms of 'you do this, you do that.' But then, a couple of days later, it felt like no year had passed. It felt like we were right in the same place, obviously a little bit older." At the show, Correia-Paulo told the audience that they were expecting "a vibe" but were overwhelmed by the turn-out. Chibanga, the drummer, says that the reception was "unbelievable."

Music That Unites South Africa and Mozambique

"The music we did proves to be timeless, and I think it will continue to be timeless — for the lyrical and music content. If you go back to what Pedro says in those lyrics, he's addressing today. Before, it was a little bit, I wouldn't say, alien, but the clever ones got it. Today, it has started making much more sense," says the drummer.

He continues, "We represent the unity between South Africa and Mozambique through the years. Most of the underground workers from South Africa are Mozambicans; there's a love story between Graça Machel and Madiba. 340ml as a band brought blacks and whites together. Aside from the music, this is what we did for South Africa. In a very simplified way, because we were not South Africans, people felt comfortable attending these events. This band, in one go, managed to bring people together. And that's what we also saw at the gigs: multi-colored situations."

Thandiswa Mazwai joined them for a performance of "Make It Happen" that segued into her song, "Ingoma." The way she commanded the stage, shared stories and humbled herself before the musicians and singing crowd proved she was a class act. Stogie T joined for "Movimento" and stayed to perform Tumi and the Volume's "Floor," creating a mini-reunion. Correia-Paulo and Chibanga were also part of The Volume.