Simba Bianchi mixing up the Irish scene 

This week I caught up with Tunde Esho, aka Simba Bianchi, who has been a very important figure in the Irish music scene this last decade. Simba is a mixing and mastering engineer who has been a key figure in the rise of many of the biggest names here. He’s been involved in projects by Offica, Travis & Elzzz, Soule, Hare Squead, Jafaris, Selló, Jazzy, Belters Only and many more besides. He’s also spearheaded his own Jungle Beam Studio. More recently, his “Simba’s Den” platform has aimed to showcase the next generation of talent here. I started off our chat by asking Simba what project he is most proud of so far?

“Sellotape has to be up there because I had to mix it twice,” he tells me, referring to the debut mixtape by Selló, who many of you will be familiar with from my column over the last few years. “Long story short, I miced it the first time and was going to send it off in the morning, but the studio got broken into overnight so I lost the files. Any creative would tell you, trying to recreate creative choices the second time is one of the most difficult things to do, but I got my head down and ’til this day, I love the way it sounds as a project.”

Selló is one of those truly special talents in Ireland, who has the charisma to really make a mark, and alongside producer AyoMax, he’s helped bring a really unique Dublin sound to the hip-hop and drill scene.

It’s no surprise really that Simba has been involved with many of the scene’s most successful artists, from Selló and Offica to Travis & Elzzz. I asked Simba who is coming next? Who are you most excited about?

“There are two people actually. An artist called Fay’d and a female artist called Celine, I think with the right guidance they can really move the needle.” he said.

I’ve played a lot of Celine jams on my show these last 12 months and she’s definitely a star in the making, while Fay’d is another who we will all be getting familiar with soon.

Simba’s Den is a platform that aims to cultivate such young talent and it’s great to see that Simba sees the bigger picture with regard to youth culture and groups that may be more marginalised from the the music business.

“I’m really focused on Simba’s Den at the moment, because it’s a great way for me to platform new artists, and also bring established artists to the ears of listeners that might not have heard about them before.

“I’m also looking to do a lot more stuff outside the studio, outreach work in helping youths discover their talents,” he said.

We spoke about this at length and I asked Simba about the importance of the music community in Ireland in our aims to give the next generation a better future and more options.

“It’s extremely important,” he tells me. “I think it’s vital for everyone in the music community right now to remember that we are laying foundations for the next generation. The harder we work now, the easier I believe it will be for the next generation to come from. I look at people that started when I started and really pushed the culture forward, people like Phil (Hare Squead’s manager), Prod Solo, Patrick Okon, Lia Lieghio, Phil & Annette Udell and so much more who laid a great foundation for the music community as a whole.”

Finally, a question which I’ve been pondering myself a lot over the last few years. Do you think Ireland is ready to go head to head with British and other markets? Simba is better placed than most to answer this and he’s optimistic: “I think we have a handful of artists that are ready to do that or have done that in the past.

“To get Ireland as a whole ready, I believe we need better infrastructure, more people in the back-end making things happen. We’ve come a long way from where we were when I started, but I believe we still need to keep pushing and sort a few things before we can go head-to- head with other established markets. We are a tiny island with a lot of talent that just needs the right cultivation”

I agree 100%, and I’m thankful the likes of Simba are at the cutting edge helping get things moving!