Encomium
Akin Tofowomo is the leader of the Shuga Band, a topmost live music band that performs for the high and mighty. With an impressive list of clientele that include Dr. Mike Adenuga, President Goodluck Jonathan, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief Alao Akala, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and the likes, the highly sought after band just released an album, a compilation of Christmas songs for the yuletide, Christmas Medley.
The king of gigs, in this interview with ENCOMIUM Weekly, spoke on his new project for the yuletide, what makes his band tick, why he plays at the biggest gigs for the high and mighty and much more.
Since you dropped a single sometime last year, we haven’t heard much from you. Tell us what you’ve been up to since?
There’s much about me because every weekend I’m playing a show somewhere. I’ve been busy because I play in shows every other weekend. A lot has been happening, we’ve been working.
As an artiste who made a name for himself with live performances, why the change now to recording?
There’s no change. A live performing artiste can decide to record. Are we not artistes. We can do live and we can also record when we have the time because the kind of recording we want to do also takes a lot of time.
But why are you trying your hands on recording now?
We just felt like we can also do this, this is what we want to do. We’re not about trending, we’re about quality. So we are not really interested in trending. Our focus is to put out something of great quality that people would love to have and listen to in their homes.
Tell us about the work then?
The compilation for the Christmas medley is a pot pouri of the kinds of Christmas I had as a child and the nostalgia in the sense that, growing up, I experienced Christmas in Akure, in Ondo, Port Harcourt, Calabar and Enugu. In all of these phases in my life, I’ve had different structures in the sense that my father was a judge, we had security men, cooks, gardeners and all these people experienced Christmas in different ways. It’s a period where you might decide to kill turkey, oga might decide to do cow and I might decide to do a ram. That is how Christmas appeals to different people in every part of the world. The African fusion in the medley is the understanding of how we celebrate Christmas in different ways at different levels.
Are the songs in the compilation from your different performances or are they fresh?
They are fresh. There are about six to seven songs and they are the normal Christmas songs you know, it’s just that the way we’re going to deliver them is different. The fusion, percussion and the way it’s sung make them stand out.
How do you plan to distribute this work?
Distribution is so old school. This is the new age. We have distribution models now. We have online or physical but we are doing both. We’ll take advantage of what obtains now, the world is global. So I can do a release in Lagos and have it everywhere in the world in less than one hour. That’s the new age of distribution. There are so many distribution models you can use, but we are looking at appealing to Nigerians here and in all parts of the world because Christmas is all over the world.
You are known to be close to the high and mighty, from the calibre of events you perform at…
(Cuts in) We’re close to quality
So how would you describe the experience working with this category of people?
The Bible says that your talent will make you stand before kings and princes, not before ordinary men. What I’m trying to tell you is that if you are good at what you do, and you trust God, He will make a way for you where there seems to be no way. God is our bedrock. So, in everything that we need to do, God makes a way. The links we have with the high and mighty is because of the quality we have and God on our side.
This year is fast coming to an end, what has been your most memorable show in the year?
The most memorable outing I had this year was singing with the less privileged children on Children’s Day. On the first of June, our children foundation hosted children from different homes in conjunction with the Nigerian British Association. I think that event was the most memorable for me because I saw people who don’t have joy. I saw people who don’t know how the next morning would be. I saw people who don’t have what I’m privileged to have now. That’s the most memorable one but I have done close to a 100 gigs this year. So every party has its unique factor that you remember about it.
Tell us more about the foundation?
The foundation is basically designed to help people with polio. I had polio as a child, so it’s my own way of giving back to a few people. I pick them on the streets, I stop, take their details and try to help. There was a day I saw someone that was trekking to Agege and he was well dressed, and I told him I can drop this walking stick and walk and I have the same problem with you. He said it’s a lie so I did it and he was surprised. In Nigeria, we are talking about eradicating polio, what about people that suffer polio? I am not concerned about eradicating polio, I’m concerned about those suffering from polio who can’t afford walking aid. Anybody can pay lip service and say they are eradicating polio but until we start putting some things in place in this country, everything you see is a joke.
When did you relationship with music start?
The relationship with music has always been there. It started majorly when I used to go on holidays to Obudu. Then my uncle had an office at Allen Avenue, Ikeja, round about. One day, I followed him to his office and they had a garden there, they had a band where he always hosted his friends during weekends. So the band didn’t show up and they were complaining about it. I said, ‘Uncle, I can sing o’.
Somebody said he will eat his shoe if I can sing one song and of course I knew how to sing. I went ahead and sang and the person had to eat his shoe. He put the shoe in his mouth, I don’t want to mention the person’s name because he’s a top person now. From then, I started rehearsing with the band and we performed together. I didn’t know that people get paid for performances, I thought it was just for love. It was one of the band members that told me one day that once he leaves, he’s going to perform at Sheraton and the pay was good. That was an eye opener for me. This was around 2000.
There was a time they went for an audition in a club and I went with them. We got the job. So we started playing there but I noticed that after each performance all I got was chicken and chips. The owner of the place, Uncle Segun Onabule now called me and asked where I was from? I told him then. He asked how much I was making from the band, I said nothing o. He was surprised. He told me he pays them, I now went to ask the guys that so they pay you guys and they said what they paid them was not much and I dint need it as a judge’s son. That was when I understood very well that you could get paid. Uncle Segun later pulled me out of the band, taught me all that I know.
What has been keeping the band going since, and how did you get the appellation “King of gigs”?
What has kept the band going has been the structure we have in place running an entertainment business professionally. We understand that what we are doing is serious business. It’s just like knowing that with your pen, you can make or mar.
We understand that the music we play is a reflection of who we are. People we play for are a reflection of us. How do we keep the momentum going? We are not jamming on radio, we are jamming on word of mouth. It means that if we have done very well for you, you are going to refer us to others. It means if we do 200 cards at a gig, 10 per cent of them will call us and that’s 20. So, if we do a 100 gigs in a year, it means that we probably did those 100 gigs from 10 shows.
We do a lot of analyses. I’m not concerned about buying a Bentley or having an aircraft, it is to have a business that will outlive me. I have an understanding of what is required of the business angle of entertainment.
Talking about structures, has there ever been anytime Akin is not on stage and the band play at a gig?
Not at all. That is because I’m the trade mark of the band. I’m the face of the band. So where I’m not present is not the band. What I’m saying is that at some point we’re going to leave the scene and be in the shadows.
What are the major challenges you have had to battle?
The basic challenges, human management, but because we have a management in place to make everything happen, I can go to sleep. It is the management that determines my own schedule, they send me my schedule via email. I look at it, save it on my phone and it’s easy for me. If I’m supposed to be at rehearsals by 12 and I come late, I pay. Everybody understands their role.
Do you think you would have succeeded if you had been a recording solo artiste?
Yes, I would succeed because I would follow the trend. I would do like everybody else is doing. I will look for somebody to sound like and make sure I get to the top.
– RASHEED ABUBAKAR AND DANIEL FAYEMI
