Steve Hochman on April 14th, 2016

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Yakala “Coco” Ngambali and Nsituvuidi “Theo” Nzonza of the band Mbongwana Star would have you believe that you’ll experience the same thing seeing them at Coachella (the next two Fridays) or at the Roxy (on Saturday) as you would if you went to see them play at home. That may be hard to swallow, as home is Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the band members came together under the roughest of conditions, several of them physically disabled and living in crushing poverty in a nation long torn by civil war.

But anyone who saw the performance at the El Rey in 2012 by Staff Benda Bilili, the celebrated band from whose ashes Mbongwana Star rose, could buy that claim. The thing is, not many people did see that show. For whatever reason, the word didn’t get out and there couldn’t have been more than a few dozen in the audience. No matter in terms of the performance, as the group — most of the members in wheelchairs or on crutches — gave a performance of boundless energy and fire, its mix of Congolese rumba and modern sounds on various guitars and percussion instruments as bracing and engaging a sound as you’ll find.

“We give it our all whether it is a big festival or small venue,” says Coco, answering a few questions along with Theo with French-English translation help from tour manager Maya Barsacq, amid a grueling schedule of long flights and intense rehearsals in preparation for these shows.

Coco and Theo were both members of Staff Benda Bilili, which came together among homeless musicians in Kinshasa, most of them handicapped due to polio and other conditions, more or less living on the grounds of a derelict zoo. The made music on instruments scavenged from trash or fashioned from whatever could be found. Even their wheelchairs were quasi-“Mad Max” contraptions made from mismatched junkyard salvage. The group was “discovered” by Belgian producer Vincent Kenis, with two sensational albums coming from that relationship. And the compelling story was told in the 2010 documentary “Benda Bilili!,” which received a European premiere and award at Cannes that year.

When tensions in the band and with management boiled over, though, Coco and Theo left in 2013, ending the group. The pair then assembled a new band with several new-generation Congo musicians and veteran Irish-born producer Liam Farrell (aka Dr. L).

The band, which debuted to international acclaim with last year’s “From Kinshasa” album, moves the sound forward with elements of Euro-electronica mixing with the Congolese styles. It didn’t come naturally at first.

“The sound of the group developed through the meeting of the minds of our rhythms with a European-American rock sound and rhythms,” Theo says. “At first it wasn’t a smooth process, but slowly we felt that this was being integrated nicely, and so we created this fusion of African rumba-rock.”

But for all the changes, the spirit is the same, especially live.

“The show is in the moment for what energy comes out,” Coco says. “We give it everything. Due to language there is more intimacy at home in Kinshasa. But the energy is the same no matter where we perform.”

If they can transform a stage in Europe of the U.S. into Kinshasa, perhaps even more significantly, they’ve helped transform things in Kinshasa. And beyond.

“Because a couple of us are handicapped, it inspired many handicapped people in Kinshasa and Belgian Congo to do music and get out there and share part of our culture,” Coco says. “So much so that eve in Europe we have met handicapped people that felt moved and inspired to do music as well.”

It’s all about inspiring growth and opportunities, Theo adds.

“Our sound and our [community] projects build more opportunities locally in Kinshasa, and leave a new legacy for future musicians and for handicapped children and adults. Our music is about change and openness.”

||| Live: Mbongwana Star perform at Coachella on Friday and April 22. The headline the Roxy on Saturday night (tickets).