Custodian Interview: DJ Spinall

After a successful industry night last week in Lagos, celebrating his Smirnoff Ambassador deal, I had the opportunity to represent culture custodian and briefly interview DJ Spinall. He is known to mix many genres from pop, electronic, to our famous Afrobeats very smoothly. Below is the transcript of the chat that prevailed:

HI DJ Spinall, Thanks for agreeing to have this interview with me. Getting started, how did your interest in Dj’ing come about?

Hello Gbemiga, thank you for having me on this platform. My interest in DJ’ing sprung upon in my secondary days, when I was the social prefect. The few times we were lucky to throw a party, and DJ’s were invited, I was that guy who stood by the DJ eagerly watching! I fell in love with what they were doing and decided to learn it.

In your initial work with decks, was it solely as a hobby?

Yes, It was just a hobby I did while I had free time between school, and errands.

Aside from the passion of music, where there any musicians or DJ’s that you were really fond off that aided you in pursuing this as a career?

DJ JIMMY JATT, 2Face Idibia,Sound Sultan, just to name a few. These three were the legends in their crafts, so I started extensively listening to their discography before I practiced mixing their sounds.

Can you please describe your first main event, and the atmosphere and aura that was received?

My first major event in Nigeria was DJ’ing at Civic Center on a Saturday night. I was supposed to DJ for 2 hours, but I ended up DJ’ing for 4 hours because the audience didn’t want me to go! I loved the experience.

To becoming arguably one of the best DJ’s in Africa, what challenges have you faced along the way?

Wow, where do I even begin? I have had many doubters along the way. Critics, and haters will always be present, discouraging me all the time. Also, at the time when I was legitimately serious about DJ’ing, I was miles behind people like Jimmy Jatt. However, the main challenge is pleasing and convincing your audience that you can do the job very well for the night.

How did the name ‘The  CAP’ come about?

TheCAP came about from me wearing traditional caps to promote African Culture through out the world. However, the full meaning is TheCrazyAzzParty because from testimonies of my fans they say Every DJ SPINALL gig is always crazy.

Can you describe your experience being Wande Coal’s official DJ for a period of a time?

Wande Coal is no doubt a very talented artist and one of Africa’s finest. It has been a pleasant honor working with him.

With the ever booming Afrobeats genre, have you tried to diversify your sound by incorporating pop music? It could be interesting if mixed well.

No doubt, my audience can attest to it. It’s been a fun experience incorporating the two genres.

Channel O has been a big step in your career being their official DJ- what have you gained from that exposure?

Working with Channel O Africa has been a highlight reel in my career. I’ve loved my time working with them. They have given me the opportunity to cut across a larger audience all over Africa.

DJ’ing is seen to be very cool and fun. What are not so fun parts about DJ’ing?

Honestly, the hardest part for me is DJ’ing to different races of people and impressing them every time. The technical set up aspect of getting the best sound output is very tedious.

Many youths are certainly interested in pursuing it was a career, what advice can you give the youths?

If you are legitimately interested in it, do your research first then go for it! But don’t only get involved because you want to pop off on the social scene. There is a lot of hard work in the process and must stay focused always.

Nationwide DJ Spinall, thank you for your time. Me, and many other Africans are looking forward to witnessing more of your accomplishments to come.

Thank you Gbemiga & the rest of the Culture Custodian team.