Music Talk : Music Industry Interviews, Advice and tips for DJs & Producers · Grahame Farmer

Music Talk 082 - Elijah chats Yellow Squares & Instagram

·1 hr 38 min·5 clips

Elijah calls DJing 'not a career' and says the one-percent outcome warps expectations.

Graham opens by introducing Elijah as someone he has been keen to get on stream. Elijah shows up with the easy live-room energy the show runs on. He talks about his daily notes on sustainable artist creation, electronic music, grime, rap, web3, community, social media, and whatever else catches his eye. Graham says he has been enjoying those posts and the way they land visually as well as verbally. Elijah is framed not just as a DJ and producer, but as an artist, manager, and co-founder of the Butters label. The conversation moves quickly, like the show usually does. A lot of the appeal comes from Graham treating the chat like a real room rather than a formal interview. Elijah says that some artists feel obvious to him because he can see where they are headed before they fully break. He is careful to say that this is not about claiming he caused anything. What matters, in his view, is spotting people doing the right things early. They agree that shouting someone out is mainly about liking their work and backing what they are doing. Elijah pushes the idea further. Some artists succeed because they are not only making different music. They are using a different distribution system, a different way of communicating, and a different way of presenting themselves. The whole package is new, not just the sound. He breaks that down into music, distribution, point of view, face, and location. The Amapiano example makes that clearest. Graham and Elijah talk about South African house music, rappers, singers, different moods, long songs, and YouTube sets where the camera moves through parties and the footage becomes part of the identity. Elijah’s point is that these layers stack up. The music, the visuals, the length, the language, and the setting all help the scene travel. Near the end, Elijah admits that the industry is inefficient and a lot of time gets wasted. He says he could do more if things were simpler. He also says he wants more projects, more music, and more parties. Graham closes warmly, clearly glad to have had the conversation, and the whole thing leaves the sense of someone thinking hard about how modern music careers actually work.

As heard by us

A grounded conversation about how artists build presence and momentum by changing the package.

Elijah's Yellow Squares sits at the center of this conversation, and that focus helps. The discussion is strongest when it stays practical: how artists build presence, shape point of view, and create momentum by doing things differently.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Play this if you want a smart, quick conversation about how an artist voice travels online.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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