Six years after his debut album Soul Catcher Olu finally resurfaced this year with his sophomore set Beautiful Place, that shows us that beautiful music makes a beautiful place even more worthwhile. And I hope you enjoy the following interview with Olu on this, er, beautiful blog.
Q: You’ve been off the scene for some years. Please tell me why have you parted company with Gee Street and what did you do since 1999?
Olu: Well, Gee Street dissolved and their parent company, V2 Records took over. They wanted me to do another record with them but I wasn’t impressed with their marketing/promotional abilities, and I wanted to find a label that was stronger in those areas. Since 1999, I’ve been living life. For a while I looked for a new label and couldn’t find the right fit. So I finally put it out on my own label.
Q: Who or what has influenced you and your music style in this six years hiatus?
Olu: I guess the streets of New York have had a lot of influence on my album “Beautiful Place”. Aside from seeing the world I’ve also spent a lot of time in the city. Seeing Harlem go from a semi-dangerous place with flavor and excitement, to a safe, bland neighborhood with a McDonald’s on every corner. It’s kind of a shame, they tear down historic buildings to build car dealerships and parking lots. I guess my longing for the real Harlem influenced this record a lot.
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2005/2/7 at 14:43
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