BOKA CAJE

"Originally from Brighton UK, I’m now out on the West Coast of Canada, producing, engineering, and mastering everything myself from my home studio.

I grew up in a really musical house. My dad is an avid jazz collector and a self-taught blues guitarist, and for a while, his best mate from school - the late jazz drummer Steve Harris (Pinski Zoo, Zaum) - was our tenant at my first home on Osborne Road. My dad got me into collecting records when I was only five; I’ve still got many of those old standards in a collection that’s never stopped growing.

My voice was always my main instrument until it broke. I’d learned piano as a kid, but I struggled with sheet music. I dabbled with drums, guitar, and bass too, but nothing really stuck. That changed at 15 when I got my first set of turntables. I spent my teens and 20s DJing house parties and clubs across Brighton and London—starting with Jungle, D&B, and Hip-Hop before moving into Funk and Soul.

Producing finally clicked for me around 2020 and then kicked into high gear after the passing of my good friend - and Brighton legend - Tom Smithies (aka Tommy Cockles), who was a talented drummer and sound engineer. Since then, I’ve been working on original compositions alongside a project remixing my father’s improv trio, ‘4thirtythree,’ from sessions they recorded between 2007 and 2016.

BOKA CAJE is actually an anagram of Jacob and Jake; it roughly translates to 'mouth cage,' which feels right—it's about rediscovering my voice and finally uncaging this musical journey."