Kampire: “I was right – people want to hear this music on the dancefloor”

Feted Nyege Nyege DJ and producer Kampire winds the clock back to two early stints behind the decks that set her on her way

I never planned on being a DJ. I was working in the arts in Uganda and got involved with the first Nyege Nyege festival, in production, and was like, “How do I go to more of these?” A month later, Derek Debru, the founder, said “Oh, you should DJ at one of our parties,” because we were at a birthday and I was controlling the playlist, as I tend to do. 

I had no idea how to DJ. I just threw some tracks on to VirtualDJ that I thought would go down on a dancefloor; early Buraka Som Sistema and some throwback Kenyan benga soukous, not the typical music you’d hear in Kampala. I didn’t know how to mix; I was just fading in and out. But the response was so warm I thought, “I should keep doing this!”

Because I grew up in Zambia, my references are a bit broader. Kenyan music, Congolese music, South African Kwaito – they’re all references for me. And I was right: people want to hear this music on the dancefloor.

Nyege Nyege has always pushed to see more women behind the decks. Myself, Catu Diosis and Turkana were part of a group that made up almost all the line-ups at Nyege parties between the festivals. Nyege Nyege has always been about the urge to dance; that’s where the name came from. Those parties brought this weird music together with the physical experience of being pulled by an invisible force to the dancefloor. 

The first festival I played was in 2016. I felt the pressure – it’s your home festival, so you’re expected to know the audience and what they want to hear – but everything flowed. I closed with Zangalewa by Golden Sounds, a song from my childhood. It ended in a singalong; one of those transcendent moments. I was almost in tears because it made me feel so connected to everybody.

After that, I started getting booked internationally. It was a launchpad, but also this magical moment – that high you’re always trying to recapture. I’m always chasing it.

Kampire Presents: A Dancefloor in Ndola is out now on Strut