DJ duo Sicaria Sound reveals how they transformed their lifelong passion from a hobby into a career regardless of the hardships they faced as they became young adults.
I met the duo before a gig on Friday the 29th of November where they happily told me about their tough past and the non-linear path they took to get where they are now.
The two met at university at the back of a lecture hall where Ndeko had taken Imbratura’s usual seat which created an awkward atmosphere at the time they admitted – however, they both seemed to look back at this memory with smiles and laughter. As they got to know each other, they found out they had so much in common, especially their music taste.
The two’s friendship became stronger after Imbratura was diagnosed with Celiac disease (a long-term autoimmune disorder) that had unknowingly been affecting her life but Ndeko was there to support her throughout her sickness. This helped them uncover a huge revelation about the way they wanted to live after she had to take 6 months off from university.
Imbratura said: “During the time I had taken off, I realised I’d lost so many years of my life to this illness so I just wanted to start living in the moment and start doing things I enjoyed.” Ndeko nodded as her
DJ partner spoke, seemingly agreeing with her ideology.
This new ideology for both of them leads them down a non-linear path to becoming DJs. They both started volunteering in radio balancing it with the last year of their degree. Working in radio led them to the discovery that they were far more interested in the DJing aspect of music and through contacts they made whilst volunteering they began getting booked for smaller gigs where they gained enough popularity to reach the success they are at today.
However, this does not mean they did not run into hardships in the new environment they found themselves in.
Ndeko said: “The industry was heavily male-dominated so there was a toxic way of thinking where females were not allowed to be bad as it gave people a reason to attack you. We got through this toxic way of thinking by remaining confident, not listening to anyone’s negativity, and working hard to prove that us girls can do it just as good as the guys in the industry.” They then looked at each other and grinned to show the confidence they shared between them.
To conclude, Sicaria Sound is a huge inspiration for those who are too scared to turn their passion into a career as they confidently show how it can work for anyone regardless of what they’re going through as long as they persevere through their problems.
