Simi Pwol, popularly known as Simss The Dj is a one of the leading female Nigerian DJs, Artiste and Producer. Her love for music and dedication to her craft has helped her to build a unique brand for herself. In this interview with SEGUN ADEBAYO, she shares with us her hobbies, challenges, growth and plan for the year.
What exactly has impacted your career so far?
My love of music so far. And the fact that I know that I can be doing so much more. And how do I know that? I listen to music and watch artists (and DJs) from different parts of the world.
Seeing the creativity behind these artists and the different ways they handle the music business; that definitely inspires me and to a very great extent shows me the direction to go. I believe in originality and authenticity but at the same time I’m very aware that music inspires music and it’s not a crime to draw inspiration from people who have been great before me. So that’s what I do to stay true to myself while being inspired. There’s a lot going on in my career that one would say should dictate the trajectory but no, it’s the music that tells me where to go.
What challenges have you gone through?
I’ve had challenges with funding my career myself, especially at the very early stages in my career. From saving up to get equipment to trying to work on projects and promote them etcetera. It’s not been easy but I’ve been able to pull through every time. I was under a management agency at a point and even they weren’t effectively funding my projects. And I had to tell myself that I wasn’t going to rely on them so I just kept on doing what I had to do.
Asides funding, I’ve definitely been used, been cheated, been underestimated as well but I’ve learned to move past those things. They’re all part of the learning process.
On the 17th of September 2022 I hosted my own concert. It was called Unwind: The Rave and In order to achieve success. I put together a team of professionals and people I had worked with before who I knew were capable. We planned for about 4/5 months and Unwind came to life beautifully. We had over 1200 attendees that day and it was a huge success. I can’t think of any female DJ that has done that in the last couple of years. And all I can be is grateful; grateful that I never gave up and I never allowed myself to be put down. And that God has helped me be great. I have continued working with a team of brilliant executives to further grow my career and the journey has been great so far. 2022 was great and we have high hopes (as well as plans) for 2023. We’re going international this year for sure and by the grace of God.
What do you do asides DJing?
Since the late parts of last year I have been putting in a lot of work into becoming an all-round Musician. I take music very seriously so I have taken music classes, dance classes and music Production classes as well. My goal is to be able to create and perform my own music. So you could say I’m also a music producer and artist. Because I have a good ear, a lot of my artist friends and sometimes my music executive friends have called me over for music listening sessions where we get to make changes to the music or decide what tracks would be on an artist’s project etc. I definitely have a lot of other hobbies like learning foreign languages, cooking and trying out new dishes at restaurants.
Do you think you’re misunderstood?
I wouldn’t say I’m misunderstood. I would say that people don’t see me for who I truly am and all that I can truly be. They don’t know all of the effort and hard work I’ve put into my skill; all the extent I’ve gone to to learn and perfect these skills. But I don’t blame them, maybe I didn’t put it out there enough. Because I’m not your regular DJ. I’m a lot more than that. I’m an all-round musician. And I’m going to show the world that.
What keeps you going?
My love for music. I have always loved music from a very young age and I know that it can take me places. And my team as well, having a team that sees my vision reciprocates my energy keeps me going.
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