With notable performances at the likes of Tomorrowland as well winning a DMAS award, he’s also the host of his own radio show on 5fm, one half of CINIMIN and has performed at festivals and clubs all over the world. He boasts a long and impressive list of artists that he’s opened for which include the likes Faithless, Robin Schulz, Fisher, Stimming, Cosmic Gate and Justin Martin, to name a few.
Kyle is a savant when it comes to understanding a crowd and provides a sensational listening and dance experience as he journey’s you through his sets. He is able to deliver a sound that ranges from classic house, all the way through to deep melodic tech house and underground sonic mastery. We know him as none other than the King of House.
Kyle, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to chat to us. Let’s dive straight into it. Who is the person that you would say had the most influence on your career to date?
“My dad, no questions asked. Everyone needs a mentor. Most peoples’ fathers will introduce their kids to sports or to creative work with their hands, camping, fishing, all of that. My Dad’s passion for music is unrivalled. My earliest memories are of Funky Disco playing in the house all day. Music was like an escape from the world for him. He, himself DJed before I was even born and his passion for music to this day hasn’t changed a bit.
Here is a pretty funny story of how I initially got my first DJ gigs that I used to do with my old man; When I was 12 years old, my dad and I used to DJ at my primary school “disco’s” together. There was a guy that had DJed there for years called Strolling Bones and I had begged and pleaded with the principal at the time, to be given a chance to DJ for all my friends. My dad and I were given the green light and ended up replacing him at all the school discos for years to come after that.”
Now that we know who your defining influence is in terms of your passion for music, who would you say is the person that got you where you are today in terms of the industry itself?
“This is such a tough question because there are so many people that I owe my thanks to and I want to say this without sounding arrogant or overly proud, but I really want to thank myself! The reason for this is because not a lot of people believed in me over the past 15 years. Many [people] kept on telling me that I should go back to my studies or that I wasn’t good enough to make it. For the longest time, I never received a fair slice of the pie. I fought tooth and nail to be where I am today. I had to mentor myself for a long time from my presenting style to my music choice and it really became about me inspiring myself. Linking back to your previous question, my Dad always taught me one thing – you should take a little bit of knowledge from each person that you meet and that’s exactly what I did. Whether it was promoters or other DJs I did just that, and through it all, formulated the Kyle Cassim that I am today. There were many walls and challenges that I faced and I had to traverse them to achieve what I did ”
Do you think 14 year old Kyle Cassim would recognise 32 year old Kyle Cassim?
“No I don’t think so…actually wait, I take that back. 14 year old Kyle would definitely recognise me and he would be super proud. When I was around 14, I already had this plan in place that I wanted to be an entertainer, a DJ and all these things. When I was in Grade 9 I was already bullshitting my own peers, telling them ‘Yeah, I DJ at Sutra’ and all these other places and parties so, at that age, I think I was kind of willing it into existence. 14 year old Kyle would not believe that I have played Tomorrowland, headlined H2O, played all the major festivals in South Africa and even have my own radio show. I guess you can sort of say that at that young age I was manifesting these things”.
Do you find that the DJing world is incredibly nepotistic?
“Yes, there is a lot of “nepotism”, I even do it myself, and I will tell you why; since I moved into being a promoter it has become of the utmost importance to look after your own brand. I have hosted festivals, roof-top shindigs as well as small parties at venues. So much like any other industry, you are going to hire the person that you know can get the job done. It actually isn’t nepotism as such, people are hired based on their work ethic and standards. The people that get gigs are the guys that are there on time and play incredible sets. From the outside, it would seem nepotistic, but you end up spending so much time with these other artists that you end up becoming friends and family.”
How would you differentiate your music production within Cinimin versus Kyle Cassim as a brand (DJ and radio presenter)?
“Cinimin and ‘Kyle Cassim’ I try to keep as 2 separate entities, largely because I don’t want people to get the wrong idea and think of them as 1 thing. The Kyle Cassim brand is more associated with being a personality, a presenter, promoter and curator, whereas Cinimin is a music production and performance. Cinimin also provides me with a different creative outlet that isn’t directly associated with what I am doing for radio or when I am DJing on my own. On that topic, in terms of music when I am at a gig, I play a lot more of an underground sound and if given the chance, I tend to play a very deep melodic, ‘techy’ sound when it’s only me. Cinimin, on the other hand, leans towards a very commercial, vocal, up-tempo rave sound. That music is made for radio and for the festivals like Ultra and Tomorrowland, ‘Kyle Cassim’ and that style of music, I picture more as being in a much smaller darker and grungier venue with people pulling those faces they pull when a drop is absolutely dirty. I have found it strange that through the years people associate me as a commercial DJ, the core of the music I play is definitely not commercial and it is far more underground.
“I don’t think there should ever be an argument about “commercial” and “underground” music; there is a special place for both. It’s not like underground leads and mainstream follows, they are essentially two parts that make up a whole”.
I somehow knew you were going to ask this question and it is such a difficult question to answer because it feels like there is no correct answer. I have defined and redefined it in my own mind and in interviews so many times. I think of it like this though, you need to ask yourself, ‘What am I making this song for?’ Do you want it to be a radio hit, or do you want to drop this song in that aforementioned dark and grimy venue with only 50 people there that are incredibly eclectic about their music tastes and partying habits. Often an underground song can become mainstream, just because it’s that good – and a lot of the time, underground music stays underground because it’s really bad. Solomun is the perfect example of an underground DJ that somehow keeps making commercial music, and it is no mistake, it’s because his tracks are THAT good. His music gets played on radio and in commercial venues yet Solomun is seen as the King of Underground. It boils down to the music just being that damn good. Also, to basically define underground to me as a DJ, it means playing things that people haven’t heard and to educate your audience on new things that could potentially resonate with them. That’s only my definition. A lot of people may disagree with me. At the end of the day with both mainstream and underground sets, I feel like you are curating a journey for your audience, and you want your audience to feel the same buzz and excitement that you are feeling presenting it to them. You want to feel that love and emotion through the music.
I don’t think there should ever be an argument about “commercial” and “underground” music; there is a special place for both. It’s not like underground leads and mainstream follows, they are essentially two parts that make up a whole.”
Sticking with music, who would you say are some of the producers and artists that you have enormous admiration for that have inspired you?
“In terms of producing, you don’t need to look any further than CIOZ, he sort of operates in the melodic-tech space. Biscits from the UK is also up there in the production game for me and then of course, there is Boogie Vice, who I have been a fan of for years. I am still a massive fan but now we are also close mates and I have had the opportunity to sit in the studio with him – when you sit in a studio with an artist, you get a much deeper level of admiration for the person because you see their work ethic, their flow and their creative genius.
When was it in your career that you knew that this was the job and life for you, and that it would be sustainable?
“Strangely enough I have never said that it would be sustainable, even today I wouldn’t say it’s sustainable and truth be told; I never followed this career path because I thought it would be sustainable. I followed it purely out of passion. I was speaking to my friend about this the other day. I never got into this game for the money or the fame but rather because I am passionate about performing, entertaining people and house music. Money is a by-product of all of the things that I do. I didn’t pursue this career to be rich or to be poor, I got into all of this because I know that it is always going to make me happy.”
If there is anything that you would like to teach people that want to follow in the footsteps of Kyle Cassim, what would you tell them?
“That’s a really great question, and one that I wouldn’t have been able to properly answer until 2015, when I met Idris Elba. I have always wanted to be a DJ, host my own TV show, be on radio, be an actor, a promoter and a bunch of other things…and a lot of the time I felt that was impossible and that you can’t be all these things, but then you look at Idris, he is all of those things and a few more. You need to always remember that you don’t need to only be one thing. It is pointless boxing yourself in, you have endless potential and you can do whatever it that you want to do, as long as you do it with passion. You can achieve anything that you set your heart to, the only thing that could be holding you back is yourself.”
Kyle, so we know that you have a lot of things on the go at the moment, please can you take us through all the things that we can look forward to in this second half of the year?
“I would love you to join me every Saturday on 5FM for my radio show from 19:00 to 22:00. I need to tell you that I pour my heart into this show every week. It is honestly my favourite thing to do, I feel like I give a bit of myself to the audience each week. In terms of Production, Cinimin is dropping some amazing stuff; we are collaborating with one of the most renowned house music vocalists, Kathy Brown, who is this really unbelievable diva-type, gospel sounding artist. We are writing the song as we speak, it is really sounding amazing and is going to be released with Sony Africa and then distributed throughout the world. We are also doing a collaboration with Kususa who is HUGE in the Afro-House scene…imagine, African spoken word with melodic driving house. We also have a couple other songs that are going to be released. While all of this is going on, I am writing 2 Youtube shows, one is with my brother but I can’t say too much about that at this point so stay tuned for that, and the other one is more of a music based show. Cassim’s Kitchen, my cooking show that I did previously, will also be relaunching. I am also working on myself a lot, training a lot and working on myself mentally and physically. I am excited for the things to come, and I hope that all of you are going to come on this awesome journey with me”.
Kyle was interviewed by Duncan Bayne for CEC.
