GM.: Is there a difference
between being a club dj and
being a radio personality/dj?
DJ Banks: There’s a very, very big
difference. I think that one major
difference is being a radio dj;
your focus is mainly on
interacting and talking to the
people. You have got your music
set out for you. You’ve been told
already what you have to playit’s like a script. But being a club
dj, you have to be creative. You
have to be creative with song
selection, reading the crowd and
what people like. That’s basically
it, the major difference.
GM.: Who is inspires you?
DJ V: Wow! You know the
concept of Shumbatafari is a
professional, international brand
that whenever Banks gets called
to Madagascar, or Amsterdam or
Budapest, he’s going to play you
see now. Let’s just say Banks has
his own music genre, when I turn
on the radio without even
finishing the song automatically
I’ll know that it’s Banks, because
he has his own style of music.
The speed of the song, or the way
he samples his beats, that’s DJ
Banks. Shumbatafari style is that
we don’t copy other people
although we have people that we
look up to for standard of play or
the people that take us to the
next level. They are trendsetters
for everyone; anyone can have his
own style.
DJ Banks: Yeah before I started I
used to envy two guys based in
SA, DJ Reddy D, and then the
American dj, DJ Sleek, I play his
extended version and now I’m
doing my own, but that’s one guy
I like his sound.
DJ V: As for me on that aspect I
like DJ Euphonik, Chrisen, and I
could take Kent. There is this guy
who’s coming up in SA, his name
is DJ Crystal. He has a unique
sound. Although my style of
playing is totally different to
theirs. I have learnt songs that
are appealing to you as a
Zimbabwean, not take their style
as other djs. So I mix, well we all
do that, get a local blend. I think
that we were the first djs to be
mixing local songs in our sets
with people dancing because
local dancehall was seen as
something that was out but then
I heard Banks playing,
‘Takaipa,takaipa’ and everyone was
jumping and you know it just
changed the vibe at Rugby bar.
GM.: What is the market like
for club djs? What could be
done to improve it?
DJ Banks: I don’t know. It seems
that the crowd, I’ll talk more of
Harare because that’s what I
know. They are moving to
outdoor venues. They don’t want
to be closed up, they are more
about outdoor-open events e.g.
Rugby Bar, paHuku-people want
air.
So I don’t know maybe it’s because
there are not that much took at-to
look forward to in terms of clubs.
There are quite a few that are top
notch that you can enjoy yourself
freely with no havoc, good
infrastructure, they are very few. So
maybe if there are few that pop-up;
that improves the club scene.
GM.: You play on our local radio
stations. What is it like? Is there a
difference between radio and the
live scene?
DJ V: There is a big difference.
Playing on radio is for listening.
There are some songs that you
cannot play on air that you can play
on a live set and there are those that
you can play on radio. Radio reaches
out to many people like many things
are involved when playing on radio
such as censorship, timing and stuff.
So imagine that you’re playing in a
closed room and there’s no one
dancing in that room except you
nodding your head and some boring
host who is busy writing his notes.
But there is another guy in a kombi
planning his night, right there and
he is blasting his speakers and there
is a granny who is sitted by the
radio.
DJ Banks: (Laughing) wondering
what the hell? You can’t control the
crowd.
DJ V: You are playing to a bigger
crowd. But what you can do now,
you have to blend your music to suit
everyone and everyone can
appreciate what you are doing at
that particular moment.
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