In 2022, Nathalie Wemambu hosted the first edition of the Indie Vibe House Party, an annual gathering of independent musical artists that exists to create a safe space, form unbreakable bonds, and foster mentorship. Artists gather in a warm, cosy space that feels like a second home, to showcase their craft through captivating, fully live performances, meet influential industry experts, and share their inspiring journeys.
Ahead of the third edition on August 24-26 2024, we spoke with Nathalie to learn about her journey in music and why she chose to start hosting these parties.
You’ll enjoy this one.
When did music start for you?
Let me tell you about when I was five. A couple of things happened in my life that made me realise I wanted to be in culture, specifically music.
Tell me some of those things
I have to talk about my first music teacher, Mr Adetiba. One day in school, after telling us we had music in our souls, he asked everyone what musical instruments they played. I went to a school where most of my classmates came from wealthy homes, so they’d taken music classes and could play one or more instruments. The most popular instruments to learn to play were the piano, the violin and the recorder.
When I said I couldn’t play an instrument, he asked me to pick one up and play it in class. I picked and played the local drum, and he was shocked at how good I was. I had never played drums before that day.
Next, he asked me to sing. When I sang, he was blown away again. So blown away he decided to become my personal trainer — for free. He taught me music theory and trained my voice every single day until I was 11 and left the school. I loved it.
He’d tell me things like, “You need to use your voice before it dies’”, and “Music will guide you till you die”.
I was obsessed. I went from singing in the primary school choir to performing in MUSON choir competitions in secondary school. Singing was my everything.
He also encouraged me to write songs and taught me to read and appreciate music, and how to play my ideas on a piano and recorder.
And the second thing…
In the area where I grew up, Nollywood activity began to pick up around the same time I started learning to sing. My godparents lived in a nice, gated estate next door to us. They had a nice big, beautiful house with a garden and were leaders in the estate.
This meant two things: if people needed to use any part of the estate to film music videos or movies, they had to get my godparents’ blessings. Their house was a prime set for many music videos and films. I was in their house a lot, so I saw everything and knew I needed to be a part of it.
Interestingly, Weird MC’s “Allen Avenue” was a major thing that made me think “I need to be a part of entertainment”. I connected to the song because I lived off Allen Avenue and it felt good to be represented. I wanted to create that feeling.
And so you sang
I knew all the songs, too. My godparents’ children had CDs for days, so music was always playing. My dad, a pilot, would also bring loads of foreign music CDs, so my catalogue was huge.
In secondary school, people began to approach me to help them — get this — sing for people they liked. I didn’t want to sing, so I just wrote the songs and got paid in food. The good thing about this period is that that’s when I began to see music as a business.
In SS2, just after my secondary school choir won MUSON Choral for category B choirs, I got home to the news I absolutely hated — my family was moving abroad.
You didn’t want to japa?
Nope. I didn’t want to move. Remember those music CDs my dad used to bring? I used to wonder and ask why they were not Nigerian. I wanted Nigerian music. I wanted to do Nigerian music in Nigeria.
As if moving wasn’t bad enough, my mum didn’t let me study music in my Dublin high school. Another step away from what I wanted. I fought it and we reached a compromise: they’d hire a private music teacher and vocal coach for me.
Then university came, and they didn’t let me study music. I studied law and French.
Tough
At the time, though, I was already online on Facebook and Twitter and in the Nigerian music space, befriending artists and producers and asking questions about how to start. A lot of the advice I got was to start from where I was.
I remember a 2011 conversation with Andre Blaze. He said to me, “Music is not just music”. He told me to learn a lot: about advertising, radio promotions, paying for time, and showing my value.
So what did you do?
I started working for artists. I did virtual PR, wrote articles and press releases, and did management and A & R, listening to new releases and giving feedback. My foundation in music means I know how good music sounds. But at the time, I didn’t know I was doing A & R. I was just doing it for the love of music and they weren’t paying me well. In fact, I did everything in music for the love of music until 10 years ago.
What happened 10 years ago?
We’ll get there.
Back to my career in music. At this point, I was learning a lot about the music industry in Nigeria from Ireland. In my line of work, I got Olaolu’s “Cosmic Love”; produced by my amazing mentor Bigfootinyourface; to chart on radio in Dublin and that got a lot of attention from Nigerian musicians. More of them began to reach out to me to put them on, and write about them for international exposure. It was really fulfilling.
After I finished university in 2014, I returned to Nigeria to do my Bar Part 1. I was finally where I needed to be. I got on music projects, met people, and even interned at a radio station in Abuja.
One day, I got sexually harassed while working on a promotional strategy that included working with new people.
I’d let a guy into my hotel room at night because we were working on a DJ mix, and things got ugly.
I was broken. I couldn’t tell anybody. I didn’t want to do music anymore. I stopped doing anything related to music.
That’s what happened 10 years ago.
I’m so sorry
After Bar Part 1, I decided to go to Paris to clear my head. When I was there, ThaSuspect; a musician and sound engineer, reached out. He was working with the legendary UK African DJ, DJ Edu, on a release and wanted me to write about it. You have to understand that DJ Edu was someone I’d seen a lot on TV, so it was a big deal for me. I didn’t even think I could do it.
But I did. And it was good. It was my biggest break until that point. After that, so many people reached out to me to write about their artists. I cashed out so much, but I still wasn’t happy.
When did things change?
In 2015, when Bigfootinyourface reached out to me to ask why he hadn’t heard from me in a while. He was in Madrid, so he asked me to come and see him. I played a song I’d recently made for him to hear, and his feedback was, “Wonderful voice, but why is it so sad?” Then I told him what happened and why I was leaving music for good, and he comforted me and gave me the best advice I could get.
What did he say?
He reminded me that music was my guiding light, my calling, and what I’d done since I was a kid. He told me I could create spaces where I never had to experience what I’d experienced again. In fact, I could become someone who protects people so they never experience what I did.
I cried that night. But that’s what brought me back.
That’s why I decided to become a safe space for artists with everything I do. It’s also why I decided to become an intellectual property lawyer — these sharks will suck your blood dry if nobody’s there for you.
In 2018, I began managing artists professionally and in 2020, I started 730 Multimedia, my music, film and advertising consultancy.
Is it an actual house party?
Indie Vibe House Party exists because of all of these. There’s a lot of desperation in the music industry, and in turn, there’s a lot of advantage-taking — in many ways. Indie Vibe House Party is the place where independent artists can come and meet other independent artists, learn from their journeys, and have a great time.
Yes. The goal has always been for it to be cosy — like my godparents’ house — a relaxed setting where people can share their talent with the world without fear of being judged, and have conversations. I don’t want people to feel trapped or constrained with us.
Hence, all our venues to date have been repurposed houses in serene neighbourhoods in Lagos where food and drinks are flowing and everyone is happy doing what they love.
At the first edition in 2022, Boy Spyce, Tega Star, BarelyAnyHook, Sydney, and Maka headlined the show.
Eiko; now known as Eikobaby, Kaey, KoldAF, Najae, Damien Eugene, Y1nka and Blackwood supported them. It was beautiful.
Y1nka and BarelyAnyHook cooked our party food as they are fabulous chefs. We were all so happy.
Viveeyan and Rooky; two of my front-facing clients also gave us pre-recorded performances.
Now I wish I was there
2023’s was bigger and better. The fabulous Pop Central TV partnered with us and gave us full use of their premises for the event. Members of their team at the time who had been at the maiden edition pitched us to their partnerships lead and they saw our vision and we are thankful for such monumental support.
Our brightest stars from 2022- Kold AF, Kaey, Sydney and Y1nka returned with new music to share. We also broadened our talent net to include my favourite city ever; Abuja.
Fun fact- Abuja gave me my first writing gig in the industry; reviewing “Everybody Loves Ice Prince” ahead of release day for a leading University-based entertainment company called YBMH.
We also had Reeplay and Slay the Goddess (Abuja), Kaliné, 86Sol, Reynbow and Cozy Kiyo.
And guess what?
Tell me
The Amazing Odumodublvck surprised us with his presence and a riveting live performance of joint records with Reeplay.
It was electric.
The results of the friendships built at editions are evident in the moves our tribe make now.
And this year?
We had an Indie Vibe House Party Pop-Up on my birthday this year — 7th of March, in partnership with The Corner Lagos.
We got to experience so many diverse talents including the multitalented EMK the Genie.
Here, I also hosted my first thing since I quit radio in 2018.
It was awesome to be surrounded by fabulous musicians and my friends from Law School and primary school who came out to watch acts who had been invited to perform.
We would usually have an August show right now but with the way the Nigerian and global economy has been in the last few months, indie music artistry has become noticeably harder to follow through.
Hence, we’ve chosen to run a recording and learning camp for invited independent musicians from the 24th to 26th of August inclusive.
Here we will bond, create and learn together.
How do artists get invited?
For recording artists, we want them to send their work to n.wemambu@yahoo.com. We’ll reach out to the artists we shortlist. For artists who just want to attend to socialise and network, they can send a DM to indievibehouseparty on Instagram.
Where do you see Indie Vibe House Party in five years?
When I started working in music in Ireland in 2010, the music scene here was quiet. There wasn’t so much going on. Now, it’s blossoming. There are acts from Nigeria, Africa and the rest of the world making their name here. I would love to experience music in Ireland and share this with the rest of the world.
So, on October 13, 2024, we’re having Indie Vibe House Party at The Sugar Club in Dublin!
Sweet
Tickets are already selling. We already have Wendy Godfrey and Kid Marley performing, and if other artists want to perform, they can send me a message and get on the setlist.
So to answer your question, Indie Vibe House Party is on track to becoming the one place one is sure to find the best independent musicians who are surrounded by a safe community that loves them, and the knowledge they need to succeed.
This is my primary aim in life.
