Trans masc • Spiritualist • Sound Designer • Neurodivergent 
BA in Music Performance ‘16
Master of Divinity + Black Church studies ‘22

My music speaks to Black folx because it’s time for us go home to Afrika; we’ve been enslaved on this land far too long & it’s time go! 

i grew up in the Black church so I was indoctrinated into xtianity’s plantation. Coming into my queerness was the unraveling of all that anti-Blackness & the realization that our Ancestors have been communicating to us through music of the Black church. From praise breaks to preaching intonations, messages of freedom, memory & instruction were hidden within sounds…
Music is Spirit.

Undergrad taught me that performance was the key to musicianship; keep perfect posture, know your scales, know your classical foundations, practice all day, etc. but reality says, it’s the energy of the people, the imperfect pitches, the communication behind the music, the tones of unspoken truths. All of america’s music comes from Black folx, yet america sounds nothing like us…
Music is reflective.

Music helps the body to remember by creating or unlocking associations thru repetition. anglos learned this when they invaded Afrika & purposefully broke our associations in order to enslave us, & replaced our ideas of music with their own — laws forbidding it, music theory & notation, tuning, the quality of instruments & who has access to them, whitewashing lyrics & history, vaudeville, media, grammys…Music is memory. 

With my music you’ll hear layers of stories, familiar sounds, messages from Ancestors & Spirit, Black queer wisdom from the past, present & future, & more. If you’re ready to break some generational cycles, then come meditate, dance, chant, elevate your mind, & put your new knowledge into action!

Music is storytelling & Black is the story that I choose to tell.

Simila is a Musician/Producer/Dj from Nairobi, Kenya. He fuses ethnic sounds from his Luhya tribe of western Kenya, creating a vibrant afro charged electronic sound. He is also a multi instrumentalist, specialising on playing ethnic vibes, from omutibo to Benga.
He goes around Kenya to record indigenous sounds and music, for preservation and posterity, under the project Music From East Africa. He is also working to create a Kenyan Dance Music style from experimenting with Benga Music, an upbeat dance style from postcolonial Kenya.

He draws his inspiration from African icons like Ayub Ogada, Hugh Masekela, Fela Kuti, Bi Kidude and many more!

For more info, contact sidneysimila@gmail.com.

Followers of Maponga Joshua III