CALIX is a 26-year-old Anambra State-bred EDM act who moved to Lagos at the age of 14. Calix’s journey with electronic music started as an undergraduate of the North American University in Benin Republic.
He told Netng that the desire to stand out with his music and be different from the rest fueled his discovery of electronic music and is part of what still drives him now.
How did you start making Electronic Dance Music, and when was the first time you heard EDM?
“I started DJing at university around 2015. So when I started, I was going around DJing for people for free gigs but then it got boring. Every DJ was playing the same thing. No one was innovating new styles or bringing new things to the table. You have like five different DJs in one night and everyone is playing the same stuff. So I started researching and learning, looking for new stuff to make myself different. While I was on break in my second year, I went to Abuja to see my sister. I was listening to the radio, it was DJ TTB that was on. He played one song, I can’t remember the name of the song, but it was an EDM song. I was like, what is this? It sounds so different. I didn’t know what it was but I loved it. I had Shazam on my phone so I checked it. I think it was a Diplo song, I can’t remember the details but like that was the moment I decided this thing is kinda crazy. I want to know what it’s all about. That’s how I found Major Lazer, DJ Snake, all those people. I started diving into the culture, listening to music.”
Did you find it difficult to change your sound to what you now wanted?
“It was difficult. Back then when I started, when I was playing at events, people were looking at me like ‘what is this dude playing? but then, I already feel like I achieved what I wanted to achieve, which was to be different. But I just kept on going, you know I had to adapt. I had to make my set like a blend. I would have 70% afrobeat and 30% idiom, just to sound different from the next DJ and to keep it interesting.”
What drives you to keep on pushing?
“I was doing this between 2015/2016. I left school in 2016 and went to work for my uncle. While I worked, I didn’t have time to officially DJ but I made remixes and put them on SoundCloud. So in 2017, I met this guy called A. And and it was like magic, we clicked. I never met anyone who has eyes into EDM as I was. Even in University, all the DJs would look at me funny because of my sound. We had our first gig at BarBar Lagos.
In 2018, we formed a group called the Village Sound System of four DJ’s which consisted of Sensei Lo, me, A and Isimo. So if you listen to us play, it’s just like an experience. We’re taking you through a journey of sound. We don’t care about trends, we just want to give people an experience which is what DJing should be about. It’s not just about giving you the bangers, because anyone can do that, anyone can play music. But the journey through sound is something rare to find.
So when we met in 2017, I know that this was it. This was what I wanted to do. And I just kept on doing more remixes.”
How much can you say you’ve accomplished so far with EDM?
“Between 2018 and now, I’ve done about three official remixes. So yeah I have one coming out soon for Chike. Yeah. (Chuckles) This is exclusive I’m telling you now. So yeah, for Chike’s Dance of the Booless with one of my guys.
So I have this little family, it’s called Nocturnal Music, a bunch of upcoming producers who do EDM music in Nigeria. So I’m actually glad because when I was coming up, there was no one to motivate me. So I’m glad. We re about 20 different artists and yeah we are planning to release an album in August. We’re already putting the songs together now. So that’s what’s keeping me going. Seeing people that have the same dream as me. I want to go to Ultra play one day. I want to go to Tomorrowland and play one day. Even though I’m Nigeria and Afrobeat is what’s in now.”
What do you think can take electronic music to that next level recognition?
“I feel like you should have room for any kind of music. We shouldn’t feel like Afrobeat is what it’s all about. EDM is House music and House music is EDM. House music started in Chicago in the 1970s by black people. So I always hate when people say EDM is white people’s music. So I don’t want to hear people say. Black people shouldn’t do EDM.
Music should be universal regardless of what culture or colour, and I feel like the Nigerian music industry needs to be more open to all types of music. Most Nigerian hit songs have a lot of EDM influences. Sara’s EP ‘Sarz is not your mate’ has a lot of EDM influences. Nikola is doing house music which is black people stuff.
People need to stop the whole ‘EDM for white people, it is not for black people’ thing. Stop looking at music as for certain people. This thing is universal. And I feel like we need to come together as an industry. Radio stations need to start opening up, playing music from Sigag Lauren, from me, from Sensei Lo, from Weird Tyler. These are guys that are seeing towards the future. And let’s not lie, there’s a lot of money in this. Afrobeat is everywhere and it’s oversaturated people doing it. But EDM is fresh, and it’s a lot of money. People are packing 30,000 in their shows. Shout-out to those artists letting us do remixes, and putting us on shows like Gidi Fest. Is it Gidi Fest? Yeah, Gidi Fest.
Honestly, dance started in Africa. And what is electronic music? It’s dance. House is dance, dubstep is dance. We need to stop letting these ideologies cloud our judgement, that electronic music isn’t for black people, and we have to start looking at things from the bigger picture.
We need to start having festivals that will bring Nigerian DJs and foreign DJs, and will merge everything. We need to start having these shows as artists, not just backups. We need to start treating DJs as artists. We also make music, it’s an experience, so we need to start being treated as artists.”
