Known for his dynamic presence both as an MC and DJ, Inja has captivated audiences worldwide with his unique blend of high-energy performances and thought-provoking lyrics. From his early days in hip-hop to his innovative hybrid This Is Inja shows in the drum and bass scene, Inja has consistently pushed the boundaries of what it means to be a performer.
Inja has a long-standing relationship with Boomtown Fair, one of the UK's most eclectic and immersive festivals. Over the years, he has become a staple of the festival, known for his electrifying sets and spontaneous guest appearances. From his first performance with DJ Die on the Arcadia spider to his unforgettable This Is Inja set on the Origin stage, Boomtown has been a significant platform for Inja's artistic evolution. His ability to captivate massive crowds and create unforgettable moments has solidified his place as a festival favourite among fans and peers alike.
In this special EARMILK interview, we catch up with Inja and delve into the origins of his intriguing stage name, explore the creative evolution behind his hybrid DJ and MC performances, and uncover the personal philosophies that guide his artistry. We also take a journey back to his roots in music, discuss his memorable festival experiences, and learn how he maintains a positive and humble outlook in the ever-demanding music industry.
So, the first question I wanted to ask you is, your name is an acronym for ‘important never justifies anything’ where did the inspiration for the name come from?
Well, the name Inja originally comes from ingenuity, my friends used to call me that because it’s been said that I can be quick thinking with ideas at times, especially when it comes to the writing aspects of my life. They shortened it to Inja, because that was just easier. Then from there, I felt I needed to find an acronym that works for me and works for what I would like to put out. Bearing in mind, I am just a man, I have made mistakes. I have made every kind of mistake that every human does along the lines. So for me finding the acronym ‘importance never justifies anything’ is more of a reminder to myself, which at times I have forgotten. At times it has helped me remember who I am and what my purpose is here. It is to spread love. ‘Importance never justifies anything’ for me means my importance justifies nothing over any living being, organism in existence. But as I've said, I am just a man, I have made many mistakes.
Yeah, of course, it sounds like a reflective take on your part. And I think we can all resonate with that, nobody's perfect..
I am far from perfection and it’s something that I would never want to be. Because for me, the whole concept of perfection is the creative thought that gives you the idea that you want to perfect. In that moment is where you have perfection, because you have the big bang theory spark of an idea. In that moment you can see your perfect vision. To execute that vision to the best of your abilities, you then have to get rid of all sorts of perfection because to actually get to the end result, you're going to have to bend, twist and turn on the initial Big Bang Theory of the idea. That original spark of thought might not be what your finished execution becomes. It will give you something that you can be proud of, something that you will want to share with the world.
A good example is, you fall into a relationship and you think everything's going to be perfect. Then you get all the bumps, twists and turns. Perfection is something that I would never want to be near. But I do understand it. I'm not a perfectionist. I just want to get things done in the best possible way that I can, draw a line and then move forward.
As an MC and DJ, you have developed a performance niche of being able to do both simultaneously on stage. In a recent IG post Becky Hill called it ‘genius’ and I have witnessed the performances myself back at Boomtown and Glastonbury festival – where did the inspiration come from to create this hybrid show?
Yeah, that made me very happy. Oh my god. I know Becky, she is amazing. We love her. We love everything that she does, man. It meant a lot to me. Well, [This Is Inja] started when I went over to New Zealand and Australia to do a tour in 2021. The promoter said they could get me a different DJ in every town but I felt that wouldn’t make it cohesive. So I did it myself. My first half of the first set that I was doing, I was just pressing play and stop. Then halfway through, I was getting a bit comfortable with the CDJs and was starting to mix. I turned around to Benny L to ask him if it's good and if it’s in time, he said “Yes!”. So it started from there, initially playing all of my songs as some of the DJs I’ve worked with don’t play our songs often. It’s our job to make people happy but as a DJ as well it’s their job to also play what represents them. But it made me think, “wow!”, people really want to hear me sing my songs and so i've done 15 shows between New Zealand and Australia whilst learning how to use the CDJs, with no headphones and I have a vivid memory of the last show where A.M.C came up to me and was like “bro you’re actually doing all right with this you know!”. The tour definitely planted the seed for This Is Inja, it got great feedback so I told my agent I wanted to push this as it represents me, it’s something a bit different. I’ve evolved a lot more, I’m more comfortable with the CDJs so I can play not just my music but lots of good music that represents me.
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I also wanted to take it back to the very beginning, you were initially involved in hip-hop groups at the beginning of your career, what was your first introduction to D&B and what encouraged you to make the transition?
Well, actually drum and bass was my first introduction to loving music, I was MCing with one of my school friends. My first bar, if I remember rightly, was a rap song. It wasn’t MCing but we just loved music and I’d go round his house on a Saturday lunch time, steal some brandy from one of the local shops, he would mix and I would MC. Drum and bass led me to hip hop, because drum and bass for me was the first place where I heard British voices. Like, you've got the Reggae guys that are of Jamaican descent, but also have the London twang to them or the Birmingham twang, or the Manchester twang or the Nottingham twang to them. For me it was the first place where I really heard the British accent predominantly in music, then from there I found out about UK hip-hop like London Posse, Task Force, Skinnyman, Roots Manuva, Blak Twang, Fallacy, Phi Life Cypher, all of them guys that had a depth in their writing that really intrigued me. I love words, I've geeked out over words all my life and the way that those guys use words and grammar, it was ours, it was British, it was local and made me want to go down that route. I started off being an MC resident at a local night in Cambridge called Warning. Then I got more into hip-hop stuff and started doing hip-hop nights. Hip-hop is where I actually started to write music. Jungle and drum and bass was where I started to MC but hip-hop taught me how to actually write and become a better MC.
I wanted to ask about Boomtown since we are in festival season and I would say you’re a true Boomtown veteran – what has been your most memorable experience from the festival so far?
The very first time I played Boomtown I think would be around 2012 with DJ Die on the Arcadia spider when the whole place looked very different. I think we had 10,000 plus ravers around this spider. I will never ever forget it because it was one of the scariest experiences trying to run up and down the spider that has a little wire as a handrail on all of the legs and I’m trying not to fall off but also equally enjoying the whole set and loving life. We've got to give it up to DJ Die, lots of people don't realise that one of the reasons why I am who I am is because of him. He found me in a club where I got paired up with him, he asked me if I wanted to come and work with him and I was like “Hell yeah you're DJ Die!” So I started cruising around with him, which was amazing and my first ever Boomtown experience was with him.
Boomtown was actually one of the first places that let me do the first carnation of what I am now doing which I used to call Page To A Rave. It was in a place in Boomtown they used to call the Wandering Word where people could come up and read poetry. Late at night they would let me test out my thing where I would start reading poetry, then I would go into reggae, then hip-hop, grimy dubstep, all the way up through the BPMs, finishing on drum and bass. I would do that on my own just pressing play which they let me do for a few years. Then I met Kelvin and the Born On Road gang who knew I’d be there, they’d let me know what sets they’re doing and if I could come and run through. Then over the years I went from doing one or two sets to doing 12 sets in 3 and a half days. Definitely lost my voice by the last set! I’ve been doing as many sets as possible there which led to playing on the Origin stage for my This Is Inja set which was one of the best feelings in my life! By the time I was finished there were nearly 30,000 in the audience.
I think in 2022 on that really hot weekend I can remember every drum and bass set I went to, you would pop up and hop on the mic…I was thinking where did he get this energy from?!
I’m just friends with a lot of good people and they're like “yo Inj, you're here, jump in!” and I'm like “all right” because everyone knows my energy.
How do you keep your voice intact? Do you have any lemon and ginger on standby?
Well actually, on this subject, this part of the interview is going to be red letter quotes for all promoters and all events. For them all to recognise that if they have vocalists, rappers, MCs, whatever they class as a vocalist, PLEASE start stocking up on ginger, lemon and local honey for the vocalist, because we would really appreciate it, especially the ones that sometimes get a little overworked. We would really appreciate it if you all had hot lemon, honey and ginger ready for us before the set and after the sets. Oh my god, you'd get more out of us if you did that!
How does Boomtown stand out among other festivals? What keeps you coming back every year?
For me Boomtown stands out to other festivals because of the whole idea, ethos and the message behind it. Nothing can compare to it. How they present themselves among other festivals, how they evolve, how they move with the times and how they try to give a little reflection of society but the part of society that while we're on site we can actually backlash against it! But they make it fun, there’s just so much going on and so many different roads you can go down. It’s a different kind of festival experience.
How do you maintain a positive and humble outlook on life in the industry? Can you share any tips on how you manage mental wellness?
I feel maybe this has got a lot to do with the personal therapy that I'm going through currently but I’ve got a very good counsellor. I feel like everyone should find themselves a good counsellor because we all need it. Those who deny they do, probably need it a little bit more. I feel like because I have seen, gone through and felt so many different things in life I use my platform and my incarnation as Inja to try my very best to uplift people and to give them a brief moment away from the societal norms where they can let go and feel free even if it is just for a brief moment to let go of all your stresses. Remind them that they can let go of all their stresses and right now in this moment we are free. I think it's a very important thing to uplift people and give them that moment of joy. I want to try my best to do that because I know how hard things can get.
I think it’s refreshing to have someone like yourself in D&B that uses their voice to push massively important messages (“She Just Wanna Dance”), along with the fun, tongue and cheek songs like “Funktown Rhythm” and recently “Spray Tan”! I would love to know what is your favourite song from your catalogue and why?
The one that probably jumps out to me right now would be “Not Broken” or “Little Menace”. “Not Broken” because I’ve had many people try to break me and although I say I'm not broken, I am very broken but I’m willing to pick myself up and try and fix myself. Every time these things happen I have to start again and try and pick myself up. “Little Menace” because we're all fighting personal demons, we have to pick ourselves up because no one else is going to and it doesn't matter how many people you've got around helping you. You can take a horse to water but you can't make it drink and that’s all down to self, it's a my problem not a you problem. It's my problem that I have to fix.
I absolutely loved your Serum & Friends takeover with Spyda and Carasel on 1 Xtra! Does your performance approach change to MCing solo compared to sharing the stage with fellow MCs, you seem to bounce off each other – how does that process work or does it just come naturally?
My performance doesn't change, I just get more excited! It does give me something more to bounce off because when I'm on my own I’m just stuck in my own head with what I feel these frequencies deserve. When I'm with other people I'm still conscious of what the frequencies deserve but then because I love freestyling they'll say something, then I'll just come off the back of it. It’s a whole heap of fun and vibes so I feel like on my own it's lovely but it's very internal and when I'm with people it just becomes really exciting because we never know where we're going to go, I love that.
You’re also a very in demand collaborator! Is there anyone else left on your dream collaboration list and if so who and why?
This is a really easy answer for me. She goes by the name of Jenna G and I personally think she is one of the best singers this country has to offer. She has the best stage presence and is one of the best performers I’ve ever seen. I love her to the core, I've always wanted to work with her from admiring her as a fan to someone that's friends with her. Definitely check out the DJ Die remix of Netsky and Jenna G “Moving With You” and DJ Die, Jenna G “1000 Soul Songs”, she also fronts the Fabio & Grooverider Orchestra.
What other exciting releases and shows do you have coming up this year?
I’ve got a track coming up with Mandidextrous in August with Born On Road, always love Mandi, always love the vibes! Then I’ve collaborated with an amazing US DJ-producer called Blossom, that’s with Drum&Bass Arena. Then I’ve got one with Crossy at the end of September back on Born On Road. If I end up getting a set at Boomtown this year I will 100% be playing them out. I’m sure if I get booked you’ll see me running up on Origin at some point anyways fingers crossed!
Haha you could probably achieve a Guiness World Record with the amount of sets you’ve done there previously…
Well you know I have been known to reach double figures in a weekend of sets!
Finally, just a fun quick fire Q! Who would be your top 3 dinner party guests dead or alive?
Maya Angelou, Capleton and Tom Jones!
