Get To Know Get To Know… Caleb Kunle

Hello and welcome back to DIY’s introducing feature, Get To Know… which aims to get you a little bit closer to the buzziest acts that have been catching our eye as of late, and working out what makes them tick.

While we may have shared our final ‘official’ Get To Know interview of the year last month (courtesy of the wonderful Brooke Combe), because it’s nearly Christmas, we decided to gift you a special surprise edition featuring Lagos-born, Laois-bred storyteller Caleb Kunle!

Having shared two singles earlier this year, Caleb is now to cap his year off with a special performance at SON Estrella Galicia’s final micro-festival of the year, taking place tonight over at Hackney’s Two Palms. Ahead of his performance, we got to know him a little better…

What’s your earliest musical memory?
Being born in Lagos, Nigeria there was a constant hum of music, from hits from The Everly brothers, Prince and early Afrobeats and, of course, songs from the African legend Fela Kuti, but remarkably my most first core memory of listening to music was hearing Black Eyed Peas’ ’Don’t Funk With My Heart’, the setting and sound really made an impression on my early teen mind and sparked an inspiration for me to express.

How did you find yourself first making music? How were some of your early inspirations?
To begin with, friends, a local youth club and a choir were the seeds I began with. Growing up in a rural village in the middle of Ireland I had very few friends. What was beautiful about the friendships i did have was a love for hip hop and collaborations, so as often as we could we would come back to mine after school where I would produce and record my friends and I on Windows Movie Maker. I also sang weekly in the church choir which greatly revealed the spiritual qualities of music. The local youth club encouraged me to write and submit songs to competitions of which i managed to win a few and I haven’t stopped since.

You call several different places home - Lagos, Laois and London - what is it about those different locations that inspires you? How do you think they’ve impacted your music so far?
Each city has a definable character. Lagos is vibrance! My roots there encourage my boldness and versatility. Laios and its remote solace was like a calming refuge, it was here I found my passion for nature and had the space to seek deeper meaning and expand my awareness into the unknown. London is where the magic happens, here I have found a home for my family, I have found a band who inspire and uplift me as well as many other communities and people I couldn’t do this without.