Dj Kampire: I am a self-taught electronic DJ

Like most DJs in the region, Bahana is self-taught, using a controller and a laptop with Virtual DJ, she has relentlessly stirred Uganda's electronic music scene to become more ambitious and fiercely soar heights.

“I am mostly self-taught but I owe a lot to other DJs who were cool enough to share tips with me. Growing up my dad listened to a lot of Soukous, Rumba and Kwaito on TV and radio so I found myself surrounded by music,”.Bahana said.” I'm Ugandan but i lived in Zambia for 16 years. Experiencing both countries gave me a pan African appreciation for African music.”

Today, she is employing her cross cultural childhood experience in her sets, representing a truly new kind of musical experience which gives her electronic music an African taste. She believes the uniqueness of her sets paved way for her to begin performing solo in Uganda before crossing borders and eventually begin touring outside the continent.

“When I have a performance, my goal is to first make people dance regardless of their cultural background or age,” Bahana said. “My sets nod towards a shared musical history that my generation, the youth, experienced in the time before the internet made things much more accessible. Other than East African classical sounds I also feature artists such as Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Golden Sounds, Etat Major and Yeli fuzzo.”

The disk jockey has always been musical but only took up Djing three years ago and she is not shy to admit that being a part of Femme electronic, a platform for female DJs created by Uganda’s DJ Rachael to address the severe gender imbalance in the electronic music scene and Nyege Nyege, a recording studio, record label and annual festival which provides a platform for East Africa's ripening electronic music scene, and fostering a cultural dialogue with the rest of the world, really gave her career a kick.

While Bahana notes that the number of Djs producing electronic music in Kampala has mounted to meet the demands from the consumers, a majority of whom are the youth, she says there are fewer women who are being mentored in the Djing career.

“I firmly believe that women’s position in electronic music is unequal to that of men, and I wish to showcase women and East African artists whose work often falls outside of mainstream genres but still create an irresistible tempo on the dance floor,” she said.” But there are lots of other really cool underground producers and DJs in Kampala and beyond like Catu Diosis, Slikbak and Faizal Mostrixx who are making fantastic music.”

Earlier this year, DJ Rachael who is also East Africa’s first female disk Jockey, gave a talk at the TEDxEuston in the UK on the future of electronic music in East Africa. She revealed that as much as the electronic music scene in East Africa was slowly picking up, women were still underrepresented and she said this was attributed to sexist stereotypes perpetuated in the music scene.

Dj Rachael said she hopes the platforms available will encourage more women to take up interest in the genre. Such platforms include Boutiq Electroniq parties which usually happen monthly and run alongside the Nyege Nyege Festival and regular club events such as Kenya Nights' Sip and Dip, The social and Kalabash which play music from across Africa such as Kuduro, balani, coupe-decale and Soukous.

Bahana agrees with Rachael but notes that the few women who have taken up this genre have redefined themselves to become a force to reckon with.

When asked about how she sees the future of electronic music in Uganda, Dj Kampire responds with a teeming hope for what is to come: “You will only see a growth in the diversity of musical output coming out of Uganda and more appreciation for traditional genres that don't get mainstream attention in Uganda and globally. You will also see more women."

Bahana is currently on her European tour which begun on 15 June at the Sonar festival in Barcelona. She has since performed in Toulouse, Athens, Brussels, Den Bosch, Amsterdam, Lyon, Kelbum, London, Newcastle and Edinburg. She has two more shows in London and Marrakech on the 20 and 29 July respectively before returning to Uganda for the Nyege Nyege Festival in Jinja on 8 September.

To listen to Dj Kampire click here.