Jostin Makindu Nsiala Male - Music is the Soundtrack of your Life!

Nov 22

Nov 22 Jostin Makindu Nsiala Male - Music is the Soundtrack of your Life!

Jostin was introduced to music at the age of 4 in the year 2009. One of his teachers came to school with a guitar and Jostin remembered him playing Bob Marley and the Wailers’, Three Little Birds. In 2010 when he was five years old Jostin’s first instrument was the guitar. He started going to the guitar club during mid class and after school. Then later on it was steel pan, piano and the drums. He was first introduced to the steel pan at the age of seven when he was in year 3. He clearly remembers seeing the steelpan for the first time in his primary school and that’s when he met his music teacher, Dan Sadler. Dan taught him to play the steelpan for four years. He took them to many events like School-o- Rama which back in 2015, was known as Class -o Rama.

Jostin remembers hitting his first note, and he loved how unique the sound of the steelpan was. It left a lasting impression and also ignited a flame inside him to learn how to play the steelpan. As such he joined the steel band club and was looked upon as a valuable member. He started playing the steelpan in 2012 to 2016. He then took an eight-year gap unintentionally due to the fact that he realised as soon as he started secondary school, how rare an instrument the steelpan was to find and be a part of. He decided to return to steel pan at the beginning of 2023 after meeting Shareen Gray from Steel Pan Trust, in his secondary school when he was in sixth form. She was delighted to hear that Jostin used to play the steelpan and Dan Sadler was his tutor. She immediately shared her contact details with him.

His first and still his current steelband is Pan Nation Steel Orchestra. He did start learning a Panorama tune with Real Steel but I never took part due to an injury two weeks before UK National Steelband Panorama. His first time playing in the UK National Steelband Panorama competition was in 2023 with Pan Nation Steel Orchestra when he played the double seconds. Other than Pan Nation, Jostin would like to play with BP Renegades from Trinidad. He stated with a big smile that it would be a dream come through to play with BP Renegades with players who are on a whole different level, especially when it comes to Duvone Stewart’s music. He has participated in Steel Pan Trust’s, 2023 and 2024 Pan Clash Soloist’s competitions. He achieved 2nd Place last year and was victorious in the 2024 16- 24 category.

Jostin is happy to participate in any other available competitions and to date has not done any tours but would love to do so and represent Pan Nation. He stated the most challenging things he has done with steelpan is learning to play by ear (rote), improving his relative pitch, and also his technique when it comes to playing more than one pan. He found learning to play at a speed that he never played in ever but without having to play loud, he said that was the hardest thing ever.

The most inspirational moment in his life is knowing that God has taken him places that he never thought he would be in. In the past 2 years, he has become an arranger, pan player, musician and soloist after returning to the steelpan world. He realised that playing pan was the missing feeling that he felt ever since he left. That empty void that he always tried to fill in by exploring other hobbies that he could take serious as a career but it never worked out. Returning to steelpan has made him not just a better musician, but a better person overall. His self- realisation of being guided by a supreme power to somewhere that you would feel welcomed, safe and at peace has made him more confident and positive.

Jostin playing with Pan Nation Steel Orchestra

He is a member of Pan Nation Steel Orchestra’s Double Seconds section. He believes he is a good pan musician and a leading player in the section. Even though he is not a section leader he ensures that his section gets all the help and support they need when it comes to learning songs. Jostin stated that the most important qualities/ skills that an individual must possess to perform his role in the band is simply just giving it your all. Being dedicated and motivating not just yourself but others so that they can be better and do better. He emphasised that Pan Nation is not just a steelband but a family. Everyone is treated as family caring for each other.

His Real Steel’s panorama experience revealed to him, how tight their band was and how dedicated they all are to giving one hundred percent into not just pan but also the musical piece that comes with it. His advice to new players who would love to play the steelpan is that they need to be patient learning a new instrument and the technique that comes with it. Immerse yourself in listening to steel pan music which allows you the opportunity to understand the rhythms and genres. His favourite pan to play is the double seconds. It’s always been since he first started playing pan as a child. He likes to explore on it and find ways to improve whenever he can. Especially, when he is gigging with other players playing about with chords.

Jostin playing alongside wind instruments.

His inspiration in the steel pan world and musically, is Leon Foster Thomas. The Jazz world comes naturally as I have always listened to it. He saw Leon Foster Thomas at a concert playing jazz on his pan which lit him up with all Leon’s jazz kicks on pan which he found inspiring. Leon speaks to him regularly and advises what to work on as a musician and soloist to flow musically. Jostin would like to put his efforts into increasing the popularity of steel pan in the UK. Wherever he goes he always represents the steelpan, especially as a teacher who arranges in schools, igniting the feeling within the youth to play the steelpan is so heart -warming. He stated that recognition of the steelpan’s captivating and unique sounds is also significant in the cultural world. Constant exposure to its uncaptured audience is vital in recognising it as a musical instrument alongside conventional ones and not just a metal drum that is banged with sticks.

Jostin’s musical aspirations for the future, is to start making his own musical projects, to compose and play with musicians that he has admired for the longest while. To play in big concerts in a band of his own and to keep reaching new heights. Most importantly, to always be humble in his journey and to always put God first in everything that he does. To be the greatest musician that he could be.