Although Etcetera is a musician, he is more known for his commentaries on societal issues than in music. His confrontational approach has brought him at loggerheads with top Nigerian entertainers. The singer tells ORUKPE NELSON why he left music and his philosophy.

Why did you leave music?

I am still a musician; there was no time I left music. It is just that after my last album in 2010, I said to myself that I needed to take five years break away from music. No matter what you say or think of me I urge you to listen to my songs and you will agree with me that it takes a lot of work to put together my kind of lyrics.

You just don’t pick things together and put them down; you have to be a deep thinker and you must be a good reader. Producing two albums in the space of three years and having 30 songs on both albums was not easy. So, I took a break and ventured into other things.

What do you do now?

I write; I have a blog, I am a columnist with Punch Newspaper and I am also an on-air personality at Top FM. My programme is ‘Etcetera Live’ and I talk about the ills in the society. These are among things I wanted to try my hands on and I am doing them right now. But the five years is elapsed, so I feel it is time for me to put out some songs.

Don’t you think a comeback into active music could be difficult now considering the apparent stiff competition?

The album of Sade Adu before the present album was done in the 90s and it took her many years to drop another album. The bottom line is that when you have a good material you will have a fan base that is based on discipleship. If you notice novelist don’t write every time; they have gaps in-between their books.

You could only rush music if you do music that has no depth. For me, I put out songs based on inspiration. I don’t just wake up and go to the studio. So, I need to take my time for me to achieve a certain standard. If at the end of the day I put out materials and they inspire people, I won’t have a problem with my comeback. People will always appreciate good music.

What kind of music should we expect from you now?

For people who have supported me and stood by me till this point and people who have been waiting for my songs, I would drop some materials shortly. I am recording new materials because it is been a while I did music and for those people who have been there all the while I was away.

I get mails, messages, phone calls on a daily basis and it is really humbling to know that people are still there waiting to hear my music. I won’t disclose the details of when I intend to drop songs, but it is very soon. One certain thing is that my new songs won’t be far from what I am known for.

But we have artistes whose style is similar to yours and they have been consistent. Is there anything you want to do differently now?

What is the similarity between me and those artistes? I do alternative music; I cannot really pinpoint any artiste who does what I do. If you listen to my songs well you will understand what I do better. There is no similarity between me and anybody in the entertainment industry.

How did you come about music?

It was by chance. It started from the church. I was in a catholic youth’s organisation and the church approved that we could start buying musical instruments. We were not allowed to play contemporary instruments those days, but a lot of people complained to the archbishop and he agreed.

We then acquired instruments and called musicians to come perform. They came around that Sunday we were expected to showcase the instruments, but refused to play. They saw the calibre of people who were there and they demanded more money.

We didn’t agree to that and they left us alone. It was a big embarrassment, but members of the association decided to learn how to play the instruments ourselves to avoid such episode again. I picked the piano, I started learning from the basics and it actually felt good.

Once I decided that was what I wanted to do I said to myself that I must do it well. So, I went to the Musical School of Nigeria (MUSON), Onikan in Lagos, to learn the rudiments of music. I thought that there was nowhere I could get the best knowledge of music than the MUSON.

How was life as a boy?

I grew up in a prison barracks and I would say it was fun and I learnt a lot. My father was a chief warder of the Maximum prison, Kirikiri, Lagos. I mingled with criminals and many of them told me their stories. I learnt from them and it made me to always stay away from trouble.

I saw people who from their explanations didn’t commit crimes they were tried for and were jailed. When I heard their sympathetic stories I felt the decadence in the system personally. When you lived or grew up in the midst of all the things I went through, your orientation about life must change and you will grow up a wise man. I saw many things and the ways prisoners were treated.

Is there any similarity between your writings and music?

I see them in the same direction. Music is words in form of songs, while writing is just using your pen to put things down. With music, I sing the words and people listen to them, but people read what I write in papers or online. Also, my programme on Top Radio is the same with my music and what I write. It is just about how you bring them together to make them work for you.

So, the three things are basically the same thing. What I write requires thinking just like you think of what to sing. You get inspired some times to write about some things and you also get inspired to sing about things. Would you agree that you have become more popular as a commentator than a musician? If you say because I haven’t done any song for the past five years people know me more for my writings, maybe you should wait until I drop some songs very soon.

I cannot go into that agreement being more popular for my writings than my music because they are both arts. For me, I love writing in as much as I love singing. If you’ve never heard my song, but you’ve read my article and you know me for that, it is fantastic. I am happy that people know me for something, either for my writings or music.

Were you encouraged by your parents to do music?

My parents were indifferent, though I lost my mother before I started doing music. My dad was indifferent; he is the kind of person who allows you to do what you love to do in as much as you are happy doing it. We are nine children; I am the seventh child. I came from a large family and the same mother gave birth to us. My name at birth is Uche Pascal Ejikeme.

When did you realise you could write?

Don’t forget that I write my songs too. The things most people see now in my writings they would probably have seen it in my songs. The same way I write my articles is the same way I write my music. My music is basically poetry, so I have been writing long ago.

It is just because I am recently a columnist with a newspaper and I run a blog people felt I had started music before writing. I am not the kind of artiste who goes to the studio and hear a beat before I sing; I write my songs and take them for recordings.

I write my songs and it takes time to put them together because you have to sit down and make corrections to arrive at a song. And I would still need to go over them to make sure they are perfect. I started my column in Punch last year June; I think it is about a year now.

How do you feel knowing that people follow your comments?

It feels good to know that people get inspired by what you write, but I am not writing to get fame or to go about collecting feedback. I know that people read them. While some people get inspired by them, some are not pleased with what I write or put out.

But that is what you get from people; people will have different opinions about what you do. You have to understand this; you have to tolerate and you have to learn how to accept what people feel about certain things because what I write is my opinion too.

How do you feel when entertainers criticise you for some articles and call you a failed musician?

Nobody can tarnish my image. Like I said, I write what I feel, it is my opinion and I respect the opinions of others too. Whatever they say about me is what they feel at that point in time; it is their ideologies and I have to live with that. I cannot change the fact that people must react to certain things. But whether you do good or bad, it would always generate reactions from people. I don’t get worried about things like that. I don’t have any issue with anyone; I just say things the way I see them.

Are we siblings for MI to say we started music together? I don’t have to react to what everyone says. If you step out of this building right now and you give five beggars the same amount of money, one of them could grumble and say stuffs about you. Every action of yours brings reactions, so who am I to object to whatever people say?

Would you call yourself a success?

Of course, I am fulfilled. But there are still some things in life you want to do as a young man. I still want to achieve greater things, though I am okay and I feel I am doing well for myself. If death comes now, so be it.

Are you satisfied with the entertainment industry?

There is no industry. We only have few people who are trying to make something out of nothing. Before you call something an industry there must be a structure in place. But in this case we have nothing like that.

How would you make it an industry if you were in a position of power?

People have to benefit from their effort; musicians have to make money with their intellectual property. I would make it mandatory for all radio stations to pay for works they use because the same radio stations collect money from advertisers and brands. So, they should pay for the contents they are using to entertain people. Radio stations don’t play music for free alone; they still collect money for songs to enjoy airplay most cases. This doesn’t make any sense to me. If you must use somebody’s property you have to pay and this applies to the clubs, bars, airlines and other entities. There must be a structure for the money to get to the artistes and it has to be transparent and open to all.

Are there other benefits from the industry?

Entertainment industry is so big that it can generate a lot for the economy. The fact that parents now want their children to do music shows the growth of the industry. Those days, most parents never wanted their kids to go into entertainment.

As a matter of fact music has taken a lot of people off the street. People who saw themselves as nothing are now inspiring people with their music. If not for music only God knows where they would be. So, I expect government to put in structure for people to benefit from their sweat or labour because I don’t think Alaba market (a popular market in Lagos where they sell electronics) is bigger than the government or the country.

A DJ wakes up in the morning and makes compilation of other people’s songs without even reaching them. Bloggers too put songs on their webs without seeking permission and would ask people to download for free. Do we even remember that artistes don’t make these songs for free?