A Definite Tune
Accumulation of a sound style and experiences — musical, technological, political, and cultural — shaping your musical views.
My work is very much autobiographical in nature. This has meant that I’ve drawn from personal experiences, my surroundings, close observation of others as well as myself, for inspiration. Not only this, I have paid close attention to some of my legendary musical forebears the likes of which include; John Coltrane, Haruna Ishola, Miles Davis, Fela Kuti, Fatai Rolling Dollar, Al Green, Thelonius Monk and many more.
Having lived in Europe, Africa and the United States has also helped to broaden my world and musical view and given me a broad palette of colours and experiences to draw upon .
Perhaps we can look at “Ijo” to examine the band’s instrumentation and afro-expressive tools.
The track “Ijo” was written in collaboration with DJ Producer and close associate, Alix Alvarez. Alix was actually instrumental in getting me to sing in Yoruba, which I successfully did on our very first collaboration, “Irinajo” though it was not without challenge. Our follow up collaboration yielded the dance floor classic, “Ijo”, which was much easier for me to pull off.
a heartfelt exhortation to move with reckless abandon
“Ijo” was shot at the old Mayflower Hotel in the working class surburb of Mushin, Lagos. I literally stumbled upon the spot whilst location searching and carrying out research for Elders Corner — an ongoing documentary series project.
Ijo means Dance in Yoruba and was befittingly recorded the actual day Michael Jackson’s death was announced publicly. I wanted to showcase the myriad dance styles prevalent among the youth back in Nigeria. The idea to shoot it as an open audition for dancers was actually suggested by a close family member. Thus I called upon a few characters to enact a few of the popular moves known to folks back home.
Myself and popular TV host Yinka Davies acted as judges and had each competitor dance their pants off as it were to impress us all.
Given the tonal complexity and wit found in the Yoruba language, my choice of words and the manner in which I sing them takes careful consideration. I find I have to initially conceive of the idea for the song in English and then begin to wrestle with it in Yoruba. Alix comes from an electronic/Deep House background and given this music is quite often groove based. I find it much easier and a great deal more fun to sing in Yoruba given the rhythmic and tonal nature of the language.
I’d just returned from a trip to Bahia, Brazil when I finalized “Children of the Sun”. The initial idea for the song came to me whilst in Lagos filming a series of workshops for the “Borntroway” project. I felt a strong need to say something to inspire the coming generation.
I brought back with me from Bahia, a bunch of percussion instruments including a Cuica which I had such fun playing and recording. The rhythm is essentially what the Brazilian called ‘Baiao’, but to my Nigerian ears it sounds just like an ‘Apala’ groove.
Involvement in post-production. Influence of your background in mechanical engineering, industrial design and your interest in high production values.
To me music is a science. The breaking down of repeated rhythmic patterns into finite pockets of time is definitely mathematical. Listening to a musician like say, Thelonius Monk with his unique sense of timing proves such.
My engineering degree always served me well particularly with regards to analytical thinking, timing, quantizing, swing and more. I’m also a geek, so my fascination with technology and its use in music and film can be somewhat attributed to my background in engineering and design.
I’m also a perfectionist which can be a drag sometimes but that said, it has also ensured that I pay close attention to sonic detail when recording and mixing.
Band’s expressive direction; a consequence of converging styles, forms or the band’s open but structured approach to improvisation.
It’s a bit of both really. My early childhood was spent listening to my father’s incredible collection of records which included all the Motown greats alongside the Fela classics, Sunny Ade, Ebenezer Obey and more.
My love for Jazz music and my subsequent interest in its improvisational nature came much later.
Playing genre mix from Afro-beat, Salsa, Ndombolo, Soukous, Lingala, Zouk, Soul, Juju and Rumba that exhibit Afro-fusion characteristics. What do we look for in order to, viscerally, experience their cross-over impact.
Afrobeat, Zouk, Salsa and others are mostly rhythmic in nature. The drum is a very powerful instrument and its vibrations and tone will always propel the human body to motion, hence their cross-over appeal.
It will be a curious read for non-musicians and other musicians to have your take on how the combination of richly woven Afro-centric ideas, traditional instruments with advancing music technology, are having an effect on the band’s outlook.
One of my main goals as a musician is to continually share with, engage and inform listeners about the richness and diversity of my culture. Which is why I continually strive to showcase my ethnicity with my musical work. I’ve been able to pull this off through the careful selection of traditional instruments, my approach to rhythm, singing in Yoruba and paying close attention to the content and context of my lyrics and more. Thus far, listeners have been highly appreciative of the work which leads me to believe I’m on the right path.
Technology has made it far easier to make music at a much more affordable cost to many. That said, it hasn’t necessarily made better musicians of us all. I’m careful with the use of technology and quite often find myself pulling back from it particularly when it comes to laying down grooves. I much prefer and am drawn to a certain looseness of rhythm as it lends a more natural and organic feel to things. Notwithstanding I embrace the power and ease which technology has brought into helping to facilitate things.
How the story behind the band’s music video begin to take on socio-political ideas. Interest in progressively pushing at the boundaries of the band’s stylistic expression.
I find that I can’t help but be political or social when discussing, showcasing or singing about Nigeria, it’s people, culture and more. Visually I find ‘us’ to be endlessly fascinating and try to highlight this whenever I shoot my videos.
The way we carry ourselves, the way we talk, dress, look, move and more. I’m always seeking new ways to present my ideas and by collaborating with others I’ve found it much easier to push creative envelopes.
To be continued with ‘Elder’s Corner’, a documentary work in progress
Two snapshots for the road — ‘Lagos Walk-through’ and ‘Elders Corner’:
Siji’s atmospheric perspective…
Rationale behind ‘Elder’s Corner’ Project
RESPONSE by Siji
