What’s up with TY, what’s he been up to since Project Fame?
Before project Fame, TY had a life and he still has a life which is producing really. So I’m still in the studio producing, I’m still in the studio working, I’m working with people. I’ve been involved in a lot of projects lately, working in the studio basically. Even though now I’m a bit more picky in terms of who I work with because I’ve come to realise, from years of experience, that you need to work with the right team: the right people and because of the industry we are in, people think that Music is a cheap way out. Everybody wants to do music, even if you are not talented, because you think music is easy. I’ve gotten to that point where before I actually go into the studio to record or do anything with you, I have to be sure of the kind of stuff you have before I put my own input into it. Well, that automatically means doing less work.
But they say you’ve always been picky?
Yes, I’ve always been picky, to be honest with you. There was a bigger bracket before, now it’s a smaller bracket and I think for people like us who God has been able to favour in the sense that we have some form of experience in the industry, we should be able to set good examples for other people to follow to be able to let them know that if you want to do music its serious business, if you want to do music, it takes 100%, you can’t give 90% and expect to get the best from it. Most especially because, In Nigeria, our industry is still forming, there is no structure so you have to do everything yourself. You have to work extra hard to make sure you become successful. So I think it’s just me trying to set an example to let people know that if you have to do music, you must be really talented. You can fool everybody, but don’t fool yourself.
Why were you picked to be a Project Fame judge?
Honestly, I don’t know. First and foremost it’s god’s favour, to be honest with you. Then secondly, I think they also looked at jobs I’ve done and other things. I really don’t know.
So you weren’t told?
I was told. I had a conversation through my friend with some of the organisers. It was just a conversation and I didn’t think it was going to be anything. And in life, someone will always recommend you. Darey recommended me. He was like”Ha, try my producer; he’s a young guy, quite good, experienced music player” and all of that. And by the time we had the conversation, it went well even though it was just a conversation, I didn’t think…it was several after the conversation that they actually called me. And when they called me, I was just the judge for the Abuja auditions. That was just for two days; a Saturday and a Sunday. We did that, they now called me back and said…and that was the most interesting part for me, they called me back and said they viewed the tapes of the auditions that we did in Abuja and, they reviewed the tapes and they like the way I judged. They liked the things I said. In fact it was like a panel. Most people didn’t know me facially, ypu know the name more than you know the face. Some of the people who were part of the panel just said “Who is that guy? Who is that guy? I like that guy?” and so it was because of that they said “come do Lagos”. After I did Lagos, they called me again and said “come and be the final Judge”. So I’m grateful to God, it’s not about hardwork alone. I’m grateful for God’s blessings.
We first heard you on Sheun’s ‘Imagine’…
There’s been a journey even before ‘Imagine’ but I won’t go into all of that. Between then and now, its been an experience for me in the sense that I learn everyday, as a producer, I learn how to work with people, being a Producer; you have to learn. I t goes beyond knowing how to produce, you also have to learn how to manage people because you work with all sorts of people. You have to be able to manage them, you have to be able to read moods because as a Producer, my work is to bring out the best in you. That’s one of my priorities, and make sure that you deliver what I think is good enough. So for you to be able to do that, I have to put you in the right mood. I have to make sure that you’re comfortable enough with me. You know so many artistes are shy, some of them are scared, some of them are unsure of what will happen. For some of them, it’s their first experience. So as a Producer, I have to be able to read all of those moods and make you as comfortable as I can make you for you to be able to deliver. It’s been a learning process for me. There are times when I want to produce and I just sit at the console and I’m blank. Do you get? Something just inspires. Something just comes up. It might just be the voice of the singer, It might just be something he sings or something. Something just triggers the whole inspiration and everything just comes up like that. So it’s still a journey and I’m still in the journey. I’m stll learning everyday. I’m still in that phase where I’m trying to add value to whatever I do to make sure it comes out better.
At what point in you life did you realise you were good at Production?
Even till now, I don’t think I’m good. I just think I pa y a lot of attention to details when it comes to production. I think I put in my best, that, I can assure you. Any job I decide to do, I put in my best. I try to do it until I get it right. I think for me, it’s the jobs I do that will speak for me. I’m not such that will blow my trumpet. I don’t know how to do it. It’s as bad as when people come to the studio and they are like “what are some of the songs you’ve done? I now start asking some of my guys in the studio like Gospel, whay do you wanna play? Once thay ask me that question, I just go blank like ‘okay, what do I play?’Am I even sure this person will like this song or all of that. And I think another thing that has kept me on is because music is a way of expression for me, I just play around. I’ve heard comments from artistes that I’ve worked with and they say “but they’ve worked with other Producers, but the way I work is different” you know, I don’t work like serious work, I play a lot, I just play around. I work with ease, especially when I’m being inspired, you know, I just work with ease and that’s how it has been for me.
What’s your relationship with Naeto c like?
Naeto is my friend. Even before me being his Producer, there’s been that relationship of us being friends.
What about Cerious Music?
Cerious Music is supposed to be production between Naeto and I, where Naeto can do the writing, I do the production but its not been very effective because Naeto has gone back to school and I’m doing my own thing too. Even before the whole Cerious Music thing, I had my own production thing that I do. We’ve not been able to solidify arrangements even legally, even in terms of contracts and all of that but I’m open to all of that. I’ve done jobs with other people that it’s not me that gets the job directly but it comes and we do it together. I have a wider knowledge about production. Production is not just making beats. I tell people”I’m not a beat maker”. If you want to produce, come to me. If you want to just make beats, then well, people will always come to you like “beat? Beat? Beat? “No, I’m a producer. Producers pay attention to every detail: Your vocal delivery, your vocal dexterity, your tone, are you singing on a perfect pitch? Your pronounciation, your diction, expressions and emotions. All of that is put together in production. Writing and all sorts and one person can’t do all of this. Well, one person can but sometimes it’s always good to get ideas from other people, so I’ve always been one to work with people.
How did you and Naeto c come up with the concept for ‘Kini big deal?’
‘Kini big deal?’ is just one of those tracks…in fact we recorded ‘Kini big deal?’ when his album was almost ready. Naeto has over 30 recorded songs, and what was he doing? He was just preparing for an album and his album has less than 20 tracks, but he has lots of songs. On my own, I’ve produced close to 20 songs for Naeto. Naeto is a very hardworking guy. He always wants to improve on whatever he’s done before. So ‘Kini big deal?’ was just one of those tracks that we decided let’s just do something, lets do something. I came up with the beat first. ‘Kini big deal?’ was funny because for the first time, I was in the studio for like 4 hours and there was no inspiration for ‘Kini big deal?’, there was no inspiration at al. I had several things done, several things I was just doing, I’d delete, l’d do, I’d delete. It just wasn’t sounding right. I felt bad because it had never happened to me before. I now told naeto, I said “let’s go out”. We went out. Darey was having a birthday party in his house, like a barbeque party, so we just went, ate some roasted meat and came back. By the time we came back, in less than 30 minutes, ‘Kini big deal?’, the first 8 bars was ready and when I heard the first 8 bars, I was like “Yes, this is ready”. After the beat, we now wrote the song on it, I took the chorus, he did the rap, took part of the chorus as well and it just came out nice. I think, for ‘Kini big deal?’, it’s just a song that came at the right time. It was new, it was fresh, the sound was new, it was different from every other thing we’ve had in the market and in the industry. It was new and people accepted it. That’s what makes a hit song really. If you look, listen to Soulja boy…that song, I just don’t understand. I just feel that song came at the right time and people accepted it. So I think ‘Kini big deal?’ is one of those songs that came at the right time and people just accepted it because it was new and fresh.
Are there any essential ingredients to a TY-Mix beat?
I love melodies a lot, I love playing around with melodies, I just want it to sound sweet. I’m not one of those producers who would make a scanty beat, I like my beats full, I like melodies. I like full music. It depends on the concept of the song. Some songs, you can leave them scanty but something else will make up for it. Either the vocals will make up for it or something or some sound effect. I think my productions don’t sound alike because I’ve heard people say it. My productions don’t sound alike at all, but the thing is, there’s just one thing you’ll know for a TY-Mix production: Melody. I just like it to sound sweet.
Do we get to see you sing?
Not any time soon. I sing, but I sing in the background. I sing in the studio. I don’t see myself coming out with an album anytime soon, the best I can do now is probably bringing artistes together and have like a mixtape or an album where you just have different artistes on them. That I will do at some point but I’m not too sure about going to sing right now.
What’s the most rewarding thing about being a Producer?
Listening to your song or when other people listen to your song and like it. When they listen to your idea and like it because producing a song all starts with an idea. When someone brings a song to you, you just listen to the song and everything sounds bare and blank. When you now start, you start with the high hats or you start with the kicks, you start very scantily but by the time you are done it sounds like proper music. So when you see people listen to those ideas and like it. It feels good. When they say “Ha, I like that sound” and you remember what happened when you played that sound, you remember what brought about that sound. It feels good when people appreciate what you’ve created. I think that’s the highest point.
Tell us how you became a Producer
Play play! (laughs). It was from play play. It was out of boredom really. I love music. Production for me was just one of those things you know how to do. For instance, I know how to play the drums. I started by playing the drums. I know how to play the piano. It’s just one of those things I wanted to know how to do and I just started learning how to produce. It was later on I got encouraged to just pay more attention to it, which I did and began to now decide “funny enough, you can have it as a career”
Did you understudy anybody?
Yes now! I was under the tutelage and mentorship of Daniel Jones, then in Trinity Music studios. I was there for a while. He was the one who taught me the tricks of production. Because I read in a book a long time ago that if you want to have a mentor, it’s better and more effective when you have a mentor you can relate with, you can speak to, you can talk to, you can see. So for my own side, I didn’t have this idea of having mentors abroad. Timberland is my mentor, Neptunes is my mentor or Darkchild or something. I just liked what they did like their productions. I’d just be like “men! This is another Darkchild production, this is really nice, what he’s done with Brandy is really nice, I like it, but I didn’t look at him as that figure to be like. Meanwhile Daniel Jones was just it for me because I could talk to him every time. He could correct me at every point in time. When I record, when I mix a song, I’ll go and play it for him like “oya o! Guy listen to this, what do you think? He’ll tell me “No, the vocals is too loud, reduce the vocals. By the way, he’s the one that gave me the name TY-Mix, he’s the one that started calling me TY-Mix. He’ll say “The vocals is too loud, the kick is lost in the mix, this one that one, the highs, can you cut down on the highs? The equalization is just too flat”. From the onset, he was my mentor and that really helped our relationship. Discussing as young people, he really helped me to be focused because he’s a very focused guy.
What do you think about the Vocoder?
One thing I tell people is this: Music is dynamic; you have to follow the trends and the times. Even if you look at fashion. It’s like it moves in a circle. During the days of my Dad, what they were wearing was Bell bottom pants, after a while you started having straight pants, straight jeans, the leggings and all ofthat, straight cut jeans. Later on bell bottoms started coming back. Let me give you an example, earlier in those days what they had were slim ties: that’s what they used to wear, before you knew it, the big fat ties started coming out and now we’re back to the slim ties. Its fashion, it moves. The same thing with music, the sounds we hear now are not the sounds we used to hear 5, 6 years ago. Even in terms of tones, I’m not talking about vocal effects, I’m talking about tones: sounds that you hear. So my take on this Vocoder thing is – Its what’s in vogue right now. There’s nothing wrong with it. It doesn’t mean that everyone who uses the Vocoder effect can’t sing. Like I tell people, I have a very strong feeling in my heart that T-pain can sing. I think that guy can sing because there’s something about the vocoder effect. What it does is that it messes around with your frequencies and adds a bit of harmonics to those frequencies and adds some extra frequencies to those frequencies and it’s like garbage in, garbage out. If what you have been able to record is not nice enough for that Vocoder effect to work on, it won’t sound nice. At the same time, because of the fact that everybody uses it, it makes our production sound the same because it’s difficult for you to select – This is a T-pain voice, this is an Akon voice. Everybody sounds alike now.
Is the Vocoder effect something you would use?
I use it, not for all of my production but where necessary. It now depends on how much of it you use. To be honest, because we don’t have institutions here to train people how to sing. Each time you go to a studio to record, you are supposed to put your voice back in tune because, you see, our voice we use it for different things, we use it to talk, we use it to laugh, we use it to cry, shout and scream and we lose certain clarity and precision when we use our voice for other things other than singing. Abroad they do it: If an artiste like Beyonce wants to go into the studio to record, before that time, maybe a month before, she goes into vocal lessons to get her voice back in tune for singing. She goes through some exercise, avoids some eating. You know when they go on tour they talk less. Someone like Cece Winans, she doesn’t talk when they go on tour. Because they are keeping that voice for singing, once they finish they don’t talk anyhow, it’s just somewhere quiet they are taking their coach, their vocal class lessons and they make sure their voice is back in tune. So it now depends on how much of it you use. From experience, I’ve found out that you can use the Vocoder and people won’t even know that you used it. I’m talking about good singers.
How did you make the transition from being an Abuja Producer to being a National producer?
I don’t know. I think the work just speaks for itself.
Was there a particular song you made that caused that?
I would have said ‘Adara’ but the truth is that before people started associating me with ‘Adara’ it was like one year after ‘Adara’ became a hit. So when people ask me and start talking about ‘Adara’ in 2009, ‘Adara’ was recorded in 2005 or 2006. So it’s now that people know about ‘Adara’. I would have said ‘Adara’, but when ‘Adara’ was hot, I wasn’t. Really, I can’t pinpoint but I know little drops of effort have been able to push me to that level and people too. People who believe in me, people who think I can do it, who spread the word. I have good people around me. Friends, loved ones, business partners, people who just believe in what I do.
Tell us about ET-Quake Multimedia
ET-Quake is a studio owned by my friend and I. Emeka is a Sound Engineer. He is one of the best hands we have in town. Emeka handled the ‘Jam Festival (Abuja ’09) and you can agree that the sound was good. Emeka is top notch. While me I’m in the studio. I do the studio thing. ET, we do production, jingles, audio recordings, radio programs. We also sell equipment. We build studios for people like acoustics configuration. We’re into live sound, trainings, installations, purchases. Basically, that’s what we do. We also consult for churches, organizations etc. You have problem with your sound, you don’t know what to do, we just consult and let you know how to do it. We’ve been on officially for about five years.
Are there any songs out there that are so good that you wish you made them?
There are songs out there that are good but I don’t think I’ve got to that point where I’ve heard a song I wish I made it. I don’t think so. I would just listen to a song and say “wow, this is good. What was this guy thinking” that’s what comes to my mind. Like “ha! What was this guy thinking? He must have taken the right pills”. One of the guys I respect in Nigeria that has some sort of dynamics in his production is Don jazzy. He’s very dynamic and the guy I respect is Cobhams. That guy is too sound, there’s nothing to say than say he’s sound. So when I hear production from them, I’m like “ah ah! These guys na wa o! how do they think? How do they reason?” Do you understand?
People probably say the same thing about you
Well, I’ve heard that before, someone called me and asked me that do I smoke? I said “No”, he said so how was I thinking when I made ‘Kini big deal?’ I’m like “It’s just a medium of expression”. So when I listen to a song that I like, that usually comes to my mind and I’m like “That’s deep”.
You probably hear beats different from the average listener, so what are the things you look out for in great beats or great production?
First, it must sound very musical and it must obey the music rules. That’s one thing, then how well or how effective. I just look at it from a creative point of view, I’ll look at it like “What was this guy thinking when he did that? That’s a nice chord, there’s nothing nicer that would have been in that space. Then I’ll listen to all the small small little details like the count, the measure, then arrangement. Then maybe there’s a sound that comes after every twelve bars. You know, I’ll be like the next twelve bars, I’ll be waiting for that sound then if the sound comes I’ll be like “ok, I expected that”. It’s like a game in my mind. When I listen to a song, there are so many voices talking in my mind. This one is saying “listen to the Thumbs”, this one is saying “listen to the high-hats, oh it will soon come back again” So I just listen to the song generally. Most times I listen to the song, not to criticize, but to appreciate the Producer and the Singer.
How much of sampling do you do?
I don’t know how to sample. Everything I do, I play. I don’t know how to sample.
What genre of music brings out your creativity best?
That’s funny, I don’t know. Music is a form of expression like I said. It depends on how well the tones are able to interprete whatever the artiste is saying and how well the artiste is able to convey that emotion in his song. I was watching a TV program and someone was saying that as musicians we are emotions conveyors. All we do is carry emotions. You listen to a song, you don’t know the person’s face but from the song you can tell that this person was in pain when he was singing the song. This person wasn’t too excited: You can understand the message of the song. Asa does that a lot, you listen to her voice and the way she sings, you can tell what’s on her mind. It’s like a narrator. It’s like someone who’s doing poetry. Like a Poet. When you hear a Poet read out those lines, he reads it out with some emotions. That’s the way music is as well. We have to be able to carry emotions. I’ve done all sorts, when I was learning to produce; I didn’t learn just a genre. There are certain Producers who are best at just Hip Hop. Right now, most of the songs bringing me out may be rap songs but I’m not a Hip Hop Producer. I produce all sorts of music. I’ve done African, I’ve done Rnb, I’ve done Soul, I’ve done Rock, I’ve done Jazz. I just express myself.
Do you have any plans to handle scores of movies anytime soon?
Yes o! I’m waiting for the opportunity. When the opportunity comes because it’s an area I’ve not explored and it’s because in Nigeria, how many people score their movies? So I want to do it the way it is done. I want to do it properly, probably work with some people abroad and see how they do it and probably be in the same process or be part of the process. It is an interesting part; It’s very very interesting and very demanding. I will love to face that challenge. I will like to go through that experience. I will really like it.
You took some time off work, a couple of years ago, to attend Music school.
I always do that, there’s no year I’m not reading something or doing a course or something. I just always do it. It helps you to improve yourself in life generally. How much you know determines what you become in life. How much of what you know and you’re able to apply what you know determines what you’ll be in life. So I feel Education is a lifetime thing, everyday life is an experience of learning. So I always do something even if it’s not music wise. I always just find something to do.
Can you remember the first song you ever produced?
No. (laughs) No, I can’t remember.
In the US, big singles or hit songs are usually followed by remixes, but that doesn’t seem to happen here, what do you think is responsible for that?
Just like I said earlier on, we don’t have an industry yet that has a structure. How many A& R’s do we have? And these are ideas that people just sit down and cook up to sell that song and give it longevity. There are a few scanty, sparsely done remixes but it’s not the in-thing. Here in Nigeria everybody is trying to make a name for himself not to ride on another person’s shine. Even for those who do this. They say “look at this one, he wants to rhyme, why can’t he go and record his own song?” People will say that. Everybody is just struggling, trying to make a name for him or herself, but I think we’ll get to that point. Even abroad they didn’t start immediately. They didn’t start the way they are now. A few years from now we’ll get to that point where the industry moves on, you’ll have lots of collabos. We can have like six different versions of a particular song even with the same beat. We can just have different people express themselves on the same song. So we’re going to get to that point.
Outside of TY-Mix, who is Tayo Ibitoye?
Tayo Ibitoye is just a normal guy, even TY-Mix is a normal guy, hardworking. I grew up in Abuja, I was born in Ibadan, from Ibadan we moved to Kaduna, then Abuja. I’ve been in Abuja for about 16 years. I’m just an average guy trying to survive.
What effect has TY-Mix had on Tayo?
There is more pressure on Tayo from fame. I’ve been able to separate TY-Mix from Tayo. Tayo is very reserved, a homely kind of person. I stay at home, do my thing. I like my space but TY-Mix has to do certain things because of the business. I’m able to manage both.
How do you tell when you’re who, TY-Mix or Tayo?
The truth of the matter is that I’m just me. As TY-Mix and Tayo, I’m just me. I don’t have a problem managing myself. Just accept me the way I am. I’m just me. It’s just that people know me as TY-mix and as Tayo. The only difference is that Tayo is not a Producer, TY-Mix is a producer. I’m not one of multiple personalities.
What would you do if you had 24 hours to live?
I’ll make up with god and make sure that that heaven, we don’t miss it. Then I wanted to say be nice to people but the truth of the matter is even if you have 200 years to live and you’re not nice to people it doesn’t make sense. People are very important. There’s this old Sunny Ade song where he says “Eniyan ni aso iyin mi ti mo fi n bora” what it means is that “people are my cloth of glory that I use to cover myself”. People are very important and it doesn’t cost you anything to be nice to them. So if I have 24 hours, I don’t think I would do anything differently from what I’m doing now, honestly.
You won’t make one last beat?
I won’t be under any pressure to do anything, 24 hours? Trust me, I won’t. Infact, I might not even go out. I won’t be under any pressure.
How much work did you do on Dare’s album?
I think I recorded, maybe, 60 to 70 percent of the album.
What are your favourite work tools?
I use Nuendo, Reason, I like reason because of the interface. It’s very friendly and flexible. I like a lot of fresh sounds: Synths, VSTs, hypersonics, the global sounds. Sometimes I add some live instruments like Guitars, Percussions. Sometimes I make certain sounds with my mouth and just record it. I just do anything that comes. Sometimes I might just record the vocals. Record a certain vocal and maybe add some delay to it or reverse it or change the polarity or just do something. Add a flange effect to it, make it sound different and you’ll be looking for the sound, “where did you get it from?” and I really don’t know.
How important do you think it is for a producer to play live instruments?
It’s very important; personally that’s what I think. Even though some people are unable to manipulate their way around and find their way around without knowing how to play any live instrument. At least you should know how to play, you might not know how to play all that but at least have an idea of an instrument, probably a guitar or the piano or something. It helps you, it helps your expression more because something you’re not even thinking, you just play something and it sounds right and you just record it.
Are there any Abuja artistes you’ve worked with recently that you think will be big?
5 mics is going to be big, you guys should watch out for him. Uchie-African Rockstar is going to be big. He is working on his second album. There’s some guy called-I know him as Angel-but he’s got another name, yeah! Magneto. He’ll blow up.
Do you coach upcoming Producers?
Sure, in my studio, I have 3 people already; Gospel, Mans and Ife. We work together.
Do you think the kind of music we make today is as timeless as was made in the 70’s?
No, not at all. Infact, those that are going to be timeless are going to be, on a scale of 1 to 10, maybe 4 or 3.
What do you think is responsible?
Because we do more of dance songs, once the beat is danceable. Nigerians don’t listen to music. They don’t listen to a song like okay, you just want to listen to a song. You just want to be encouraged by a song. You want to be in a particular mood because of that song. Nigerians don’t do that and because of that once the beat is fast and you can say any kind of junk that people can sing to when they’re high on alcohol. These kind of things, they come and go, they are like summer hits. They come and go. We have less career artistes, even the career artistes are being frustrated because there is no money because there is no system to encourage career artistes.
Is there any reason you wouldn’t work with an artiste, maybe obscene content, superficial lyrics? Something other than poor vocals?
Yes, I’m particular about content because as a young person I think we’re going to be future leaders and whatever we do will affect the next generation because with time, our father’s generation will die off and our children will rely on us, our examples. So there are certain things I wouldn’t do, certain artistes I wouldn’t work with if I think your content is not encouraging, if I feel that your content doesn’t make sense, those kind of jobs I will turn down. Your music has to be relevant. I tell people, for your song to even fit into the system now it has to be relevant. Your message has to be relevant. I don’t have any problem with doing love songs because love is what we all go through everyday. It’s an emotion that we all experience. Let’s talk about life. Let’s talk about what you and I face as young people, as ‘omo boy’.
What projects are you working on presently?
I’m working on Inyanya’s album, then trying to conclude Dare’s album as well. Then, some other independent artistes as well.
What have been your biggest challenges so far as a Producer and as a person?
Well, I think one of the things is when artistes come to you as a Producer and they think you’re a magic maker. Some people who come and you know they are not talented at all and they will beg you and eventually you look like you are wicked or being mean.
How do you tell them that you can’t work with them?
I just try to tell them the truth. I’ll just say “Guy, we can’t do this because of this”, okay what I always tell them is that you’re not ready, you’re not prepared. I’ll either tell them that they need to go for vocal lessons or for some form of training that you need to find out how this is being done. I find a way to be diplomatic.
Any last words for your fans?
I don’t have fans, just ‘Thank you guys for being there’ without you there’s no TY-Mix. You guys are the ones who make things happen. It’s like a King without a Kingdom. It’s just a name, what makes you a King is your authority, your Kingdom.
.JPG)
.jpg)
