Danny ‘Sirius’ Kalima is a 27 year-old Malawian musician and singer extraordinaire. A voice like no other.
Winner of the 2015 MUMA Awards (Malawi Music Awards) for best RnB, and nominated in the category of ‘Best RnB & Soul’ in the All Africa Music Award (Afrima 2015), held in Lagos, Nigeria.
Danny lives in the Netherlands since 2016 and is working hard to reinvent his career on this new continent. He even showcased his talent in the 2016 iteration of the TV-show The Voice of Holland (!) over the course of three episodes to great acclaim.
Danny started his musical journey back in 2002 in the local church in Lilongwe, Malawi. Soon forming his first band, a gospel singing duet, he went onto record an EP that was released nationally.
Moving forward, Sirius founded a five-piece band called ‘Konkalazi’ with which he still performs – a band playing what they call Afro-Funk-Infusion. Konkalazi won the Central/Eastern African music competition ‘Music Crossroads’ in 2011 and following that went on a European tour. They also have performed in front of the Malawian President and the ambassadors of the United States and Norway.
“Danny and I met at an impromptu show set up by a few friends of mine. We had to scramble a few musicians together at short notice – Josh, Leonard, me and Neil – who had this guy from Lilongwe with him, called Dan. We had a few tunes and a day of rehearsals and that night we were on stage together.”
Besides Konkalazi, Danny also performs as a solo artist – in Malawi, he goes under the name Sirius. As Sirius, he can be freer to explore other musical styles and lyrical themes. Here, he can continue working towards finding new cultural expressions and ideas.
The newly released album ‘The Young Shall Grow’ is his international debut, and is a deeply personal record, with subject matters revolving around his upbringing, relationships and love. Feelings of loss and loneliness are turned into songs that we can all relate to.
“When we did the first trial studio recording, I remember Danny’s voice being so much louder than Neil’s acoustic guitar – even in the guitar microphone.. His voice impressed me a lot. With a bit of singing help from Neil and the Swahili guy and a girl from France, we got three tracks together in an afternoon.”
Dusty City – Official Music Video
Interview with Danny Kalima