HUKU
Interview by: Nyasha Murray | For Zimfest 2011
Last Friday afternoon I found myself sharing a beer at my local Wetherspoon’s Pub with budding DJ Dave Smallwood aka HeadyStepper to talk about electro-house music, playing at Ministry of Sound, stripping off, and the awakening of DJ HUKU… Harare-born and raised, Dave found his passion for DJ-ing and music amidst the lively ‘90s night club scene in Harare, with memories of places like Archipelagos, The Tube and Xscape that are heavily steeped in nostalgia.
I discover that one of Dave’s first jobs was actually as a topless waiter at the infamous Archie’s nightclub at the tender age of 17 making this interviewer a little hot under the collar! It’s this nostalgia that Dave aims to bring to Zimfest 2011, infusing afro-beat with remixes of cleverly sampled all time favourite Zimbabwean adverts, layered on top of progressive house all under the new name of DJ HUKU. He will combine this with exciting visual displays to create an atmosphere where he hopes we will all remember what it means to be Zimbabwean and African.
He says: "It has always been a big dream of mine to blend zimbabwean rhythms and vocals with driving house and electro synth and bass lines, Zimfest 2011 is the perfect place to launch this”
I was taken aback and inspired by Dave’s ambition, passion and determination to crack this hugely demanding and competitive industry. After only two years on the scene, Dave is clearly making a name for himself as a DJ, and is already a regular at Ministry of Sound as well as playing to crowds at well known hotspots Bootleg Social, The White House, Viva (Ibiza), Pasha, and Electronic Sessions. On the technical side Dave strives to produce top quality tunes by decompressing sound waves, this allows them to move more organically to create warmer, richer textures.
He has spent the last two months anticipating his set at Zimfest. This has been an involved process of listening, editing, re-mixing, and fine tuning, along with collaborating with select artists in Zimbabwe and South Africa, that is sure to get the crowds fired up this year. The sky is the limit for this promising DJ as he plans to release an album next year as well as launching his own Music Record Label – re:Wax. DJ HUKU is going to be releasing bootleg remix samples each week, get involved and tell us what you would like to hear on the big day. Visit www.djhuku.com for more…
