"So the lights were off and I had to draw in the dark. And I remember being so upset because I painted [my grandmother] with purple skin because I couldn't tell the difference between purple and brown in the dark. She was still so happy and I remember she kept it."
Tuesday 4 June 2024, Canterbury High Street, United Kingdom
Who are we talking to? Tayo
Who is the interviewer? Hyla
❀。• *₊°。❀°。• *₊°。❀°⋆.ೃ࿔*:･❀
HYLA: So when we last talked, your passion for music it's always been with you from like going to church and your family. So talk about, like how your parents and community nurtured that creativity.
TAYO: So, yeah, my parents put me in—me, my older brother, my younger sister, in a music school from the ages of like six to I think we left when I was 11. So my brother would have been 13 and my sister would have been nine or something. And then they put us in those music schools and we learned. My brother learned the violin, I learned the viola, and my sister learned the cello. We were also in church, we’d sing in church and do music in church, things like that, choirs. Eventually I wanted to learn the piano. So my mom put me and my brother in piano lessons, but I was the only one that kept on with that.
HYLA: Yeah, you mentioned that you think you're the most creative of your siblings. Why?
TAYO: We all collectively stopped going to music school because, one, it was really expensive and also I think we just lost interest. It was fun, but we kind of lost interest past the orchestras because we played in orchestras and also had individual lessons and we all gathered that we only like the orchestras. We weren't fans of the instrument by itself. After, me and my brother got put in piano lessons. My sister, for example, didn't pick up anything else and it was only me and him that had the lessons, but only I carried on after those first initial foundation years and I was the only one that taught myself instruments after that. So, yeah, I think I'm the most creative.
HYLA: Yeah, which instruments have you taught yourself?
TAYO: The guitar. I bought an electric guitar a couple of years ago now, and so I taught myself the electric and the acoustic. And I bought a saxophone which I'm teaching myself. I'm in the process of teaching myself. It's not going as quick as a guitar. The guitar was relatively easy, but the saxophone, I think it's because it's completely different. I'm used to string instruments and to the piano, but the saxophone is a completely different category, so I think it's a lot harder.
HYLA: When did you realise your passion for music?
TAYO: I don't know when I realised it, but I think it grew over lockdown. It grew over both. I think mostly the first lockdown, but both lockdowns, especially because I found apps. There was like an app that you could create collages of voices so I'd spend my time thinking of songs and creating harmonies over those songs. Lockdown just allowed me to, allowed me to obsess over and focus over these, over my creativity however long I wanted throughout the day. Because in lockdown, we were all kind of separated in our own rooms so I was able to just lock myself in and do as I wanted, which I enjoyed. It's quite tough because a lot of people didn't like lockdown, but I think it benefited me for the rest of my life.
"A Nara Smith grandmother! (Laughs) Yeah, that’s what I want to be."
HYLA: Yeah and in lockdown you didn't only do music, you did other things as well.
TAYO: Right, painting and crochet and knitting and sewing things and baking, I don't know. During lockdown all of my creative energy was just allowed to be directed how I wanted it. I developed more of an interest in painting over lockdown. Especially because studying it in GCSE, before I dropped it, it kind of made my passion dwindle, especially because I thought I wasn't very good compared to other people in the class. But looking back, I was just exploring different techniques in different ways and different mediums, and lockdown helped me develop those.
HYLA: Is that what you struggle with, like comparing yourself to others? Or what's other things that you struggle with when it comes to your creativity?
TAYO: Yeah, as you said, I think it's comparison and also it's feeling less than. And also, even though, objectively, I'm good at what I do, it's different, like internally, and it's different with internal struggles and things like that. So, even though I know that the work I produce is good, like a criticism I have about myself is that I don't really create stuff. Like I say, I'm more artistic than creative, especially in terms of art, like I'm good at copying things, but I'm not very good at making my own things up. That's the same for music as well.
HYLA: From scratch?
TAYO: From scratch. Same for music as well. I'm really good at reading music and learning music, but when it comes to improvising in jazz, I'm not good. And I know people that are better and it makes me want to stop.
HYLA: Why do you think it's hard for you to be like spontaneous?
TAYO: I don't know. I think I'm too in my head. There's too much, there's too much noise and I can't focus on just letting myself just be. I'm too focused on knowing every step I'm gonna take rather than just walking.
"There's too much, there's too much noise and I can't focus on just letting myself just be. I'm too focused on knowing every step I'm gonna take rather than just walking."
HYLA: I understand that you want to see a full plan of everything. So we talked about how you had a performance the other day. Talk about how it felt to perform like with the Big Band? How did it feel to perform with them and what songs did you sing?
TAYO: It was very scary, like they all know. Every time after I perform people mention how I need to just embrace it and stop being so like clearly anxious on stage. It's a struggle, I don't know. I feel like the one I did on Friday was, and other people said, it was one that I clearly enjoyed myself the most and I wasn't, as you know, rigid on stage. But, no, I enjoyed that one the most.
I especially because, I forgot to mention earlier, but some of the songs that the orchestra— because it was Big Band and it was Orchestra—I was singing with them for some songs and they were playing their own songs. Some of the songs that the orchestra played were the same songs that me and my brother played when we were back in our music school. So,I really enjoyed it. That was my favorite show I've ever been in. The specific ones they played were the Pirates of the Caribbean and they played a couple of James Bond ones. And back in the day, me and my brother were in, we played with a medley, a Pirates of the Caribbean medley and a Frank Sinatra medley so playing those songs or listening to those songs being played. It was quite nostalgic. I enjoyed it. But I sang, “Nobody Does It Better,” When I Fall In Love,” “What A Wonderful World,” and “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” from La La Land. I feel like there was another one. I still can’t remember it.
HYLA: What's something you haven't done yet that you would like to do?
TAYO: It’s getting married (laughs). It is such an annoying answer, but I really want to get married and be a, what's it called? What's that lady, again?
HYLA: A grandmother?
TAYO: A Nara Smith grandmother! (Laughs) Yeah, that’s what I want to be.
HYLA: Talk about your grandmother. Like your family says that you're like her. How are you like her?
TAYO: Yeah, like my mum, she wanted my middle name to be named after her, which is “Grace.” Because she says that we're similar in the sense that we're both very creative in different mediums. She played the guitar, she'd be in like choirs, she was very good at baking and cooking and also she could draw. So my mum would say that I was very similar to her in that sense and like we got along, me and my grandma, because, like I think she liked the fact that I was like her and I think my mum likes the fact that I’m like her.
And I remember when I went to Nigeria, I drew a picture of her, but because the generator turned off. So the lights were off and I had to draw in the dark. And I remember being so upset because I painted her with purple skin because I couldn't tell the difference between purple and brown in the dark. She was still so happy and I remember she kept it.
HYLA: Is it still in her house?
TAYO: Yeah well, I think so, I don't know.
HYLA: That’s a beautiful story. Then your mom also said something about your hands, like being a gift from God because you're so talented. What was that quote?
TAYO: She says that my gifts are in my hands and that is a gift given from God. You know my talents are in my hands. It's given from God.
HYLA: How does it feel to think about your future? Is it scary?
TAYO: Yeah, I don't know. It's just because I tend to overthink little things and I psych myself out a lot and I don't know. I think looking into the future is just too much for me to deal with, especially with things like even though uni is not finishing soon. First year felt like yesterday, but it's already gone basically. So how quick would the turnaround be from first year to third year? (makes noise of disgust) No. I don't want to think about working or childish things like no more summer holidays. Yeah, it's gonna be a big change, and I just rather not think about it.
HYLA: Last question, I'll do something fun, what songs have you been listening to lately?
TAYO: “His Eyes on the Sparrow” by Lauryn Hill and Tanya Blount—they sang it in Sister Act, briefly.
HYLA: Why that song?
TAYO: It’s a nice ballady hymn and it's also Lauryn Hill. What's another song I've been listening to? “Dragonball Durag” by Thundercat. My housemate, he's a very cool boy, as much as I don't tell him that (laughs). And he listens to that song a lot. And then one day I walked into the kitchen, I was like, “What's that?” And then he told me and it’s been on my playlist recently.
❀。• *₊°。❀°。• *₊°。❀°⋆.ೃ࿔*:･❀
Photographers: Dante Richardson & Paolo
Photo editor: Dante Richardson
Photoshoot Assistants: Hyla Etame, Vanessa Mbeko, & Jolanda Oruni
Interview editor: Hyla Etame
