Sarz Is Protecting His Inner Child At All Costs

Although a self-taught perfectionist, the Sarz that sits across the table from me, with multiple decades of experience, finds determination in both failure and resilience. Part of this came in his recent expansion to DJing. “I started in 2019, I think after I released ‘Sarz Is Not Your Mate’,” he confirms. That six-track long collection of intrepid productions helps to demonstrate a gallantly intricate Sarz archetype — one that highlights his prowess as a canny architect of sound and rhythm. Take ‘Spiritual Riddim’ for example, with the hand-drums adornment of the song’s luminous strings slowly building across the bassline, crafting an balanced environment for the listener, perfect in pace. Many of Sarz’s songs exist in this medium, marching at perfect speed across ear-drums. He reveals, at this point, he had yet to learn DJing as a practice formally. “Spinall taught me,” he laughs. “I got booked for Gidi Festival so I had to learn.” Brutal lessons from the fellow Lagosian followed, where he was told multiple times that it would be impossible to learn in time. “Spinall told me to return the booking fee.” In three weeks, he learned enough to deliver — with the help of DJ Obi also — playing a trial session at one of Obi’s residencies for the cannabis celebration 420.

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Loving the adrenaline that came from the pressure, he took on more bookings, but the toughest challenge came in an early pandemic Big Brother Nigeria booking. “I had my set ready, everything in-hand well in advance this time,” he chuckles, once again, his posture facing more forward as he narrates to me. “I couldn’t get any technical support at the party but nothing was working, I think there was a power outage.” Once restored, the speakers gave out on Sarz, with his set unable to be heard at full potential. The show’s team, who were playing background music in the meantime, and broadcasting live to millions of Nigerians nationwide, unknowingly manipulated the producer’s set, leading viewers to believe that the music playing was his set, leading to clusters of complaints across social media. “That’s my worst experience for sure DJing, because it wasn’t even my fault.” Pausing, and leaning into production for much of the pandemic, Sarz returned to the decks earlier this year, including playing in Ibiza, making his Boiler Room debut, and stepping up to play Mixmag’s Lab LDN next week for a live Cover Mix recording. His ability to traverse the realms of Afrobeats, amapiano, Afro house and Nigerian pop means Sarz has more than cemented his arrival at his second vocation. “I know I can do this, and I know I can do it better than loads out there,” he says, his nurtured and culturally-binding confidence rising to the surface once more.

In his career, Sarz has let the music do the talking from behind the scenes. After more than a decade in the shadows, he’s more than ready to step into the light, cognisant of the new-found visibility that comes from being outside of the studio, crafting partygoers’ experiences night after night. “I’m in a new world,” he says, ignoring a phone-call that briefly tempts his attention. “It opens me up. For the first time, I’m beginning to see fans that love me, not for the byproduct of what I produced. They bought tickets to see me, I’m now the star, that’s interesting.” He pauses, once again, contemplating his final utterance with me before we depart. “Let’s see just how far I can go with this now.”

Sarz’s debut album ‘Protect Sarz At All Costs’ is coming soon

Sarz plays Mixmag’s The Lab LDN on Wednesday, September 25, sign up for guestlist here

Nicolas-Tyrell Scott is a freelance music and culture journalist, writer, critic and podcast host, follow him on Twitter