London party animal Mira Calix comes from Durban, but is too busy recording digital music to come home to roost Greg Bowes Electronic music is undeniably a domain where the -boys and their toys+ ethos reigns and to hear of women producing dynamite digital sound is rare. The latest prodigy from the world+s best-known and most consistent electronic music label, Warp, is Mira Calix, who is not only female but also happens to come from Durban. The febrile and obscure One on One album, which was released earlier this year and which should be available locally soon, is the work of Chantal Passamonte, whose mother worked for Durban+s mighty Eighties+ publicity machine and who left these sunny shores for London in the early Nineties as a promising photographer. Instead she found work in Ambient Soho, a notorious music store that became one of the cruxes of the country+s escalating electronica scene. Passamonte started DJing, aided by access to a pair of turntables that belonged to her South London housemate Strictly Kev of Ninja Tune+s DJ Food. She then hosted the Telepathic Fish parties where the music policy encompassed everything from early jungle and electro to spaced-out funk and more left-field sounds. These well-received events led to gigs in the United States and all over Europe and an offer to join Warp as the label+s press officer. I asked her via e-mail how it came about that a girl from Durbs has a difficult, but decidedly interesting, record out on electronica+s premier imprint. -Slowly, slowly. I just started playing around with analog equipment and really enjoyed myself, and as I had money I bought bits of gear and got into it. Making music makes me happy,+ she replied. Her first effort as Mira Calix – the name chosen simply because it sounded good – was the 1996 single Ilanga soon followed by Pin Skeeling, while her wittily-titled Umchanga Locks track was one of the highlights of Warp+s celebratory 100th release, the WAP100 compilation. Eventually she decided to quit her day job to record a full-length album for the label. Using pretty standard equipment – -computer, synths, drum machine, the usual suspects+ – Calix+s music bears some resemblance to label mates Autechre – not surprising considering she+s married to one of their members, Sean Booth. But it also takes cues from strung-out, avant-garde guitar bands like My Bloody Valentine, while its dense, industrial beats echo the golden days of her Telepathic Fish parties where the likes of Mixmaster Morris and Richard -Aphex Twin+ James spun the tunes. Although she admits that she+s -blessed with a dodgy memory+ she does remember -a mostly happy and warm existence+ in South Africa and still constantly refers to it as home. One of the album+s few audible vocals is -Take me to the sunshine+ and according to her press release she misses, -All the space – the fact that you can drive for a day in Africa without seeing another car. The trees, the sunsets, the mad storms that blow up on hot afternoons.+ So, does she come back here often? -Nope,+ she says. -The last time was in +97 and since then my mum and a lot of my close friends have moved away, so I haven+t had a good excuse, although I+d love to. I just wish I could holiday there a bit more than I have.+
In closing I ask her whether she+s familiar with kwaito. She says she is, although she admits she+s not familiar enough to comfortably comment on it. Is there any other South African music that turns her on? -Yes,+ she replies. -Ladysmith Black Mambazo. I saw them a lot when I lived in South Africa and now they seem to play a lot over here. Everytime I hear them I feel like I+m home and I like that.+