WEBVTT - Folake Olowofoyeku 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:02.400 But when I think about it, I would always just 0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:05.120 find all the flyers for like given the basketball team. 0:00:05.120 --> 0:00:07.080 That's how I got on. I found a flyer and 0:00:07.120 --> 0:00:09.959 I was like, oh yeah, I'm in America, Land of opportunity. 0:00:10.039 --> 0:00:19.479 I want to try everything. Hi, my name is Flaki 0:00:19.520 --> 0:00:22.000 Alo for you, and I'm the African Sunder. 0:00:28.400 --> 0:00:32.920 Hello, and good day to you my favorite listeners. As 0:00:32.960 --> 0:00:36.239 you may know, this is Off the Beat and I 0:00:36.240 --> 0:00:40.360 am your host, Brian Baumgartner. Today I bring to you 0:00:40.720 --> 0:00:46.360 an incredibly talented actor and musician, Palakee Alua for Yuku. 0:00:47.040 --> 0:00:51.240 She is the star of the very good show Bob 0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:56.320 Hart's Abi Sholah, which bittersweetly had its series finale just 0:00:56.520 --> 0:00:59.800 last week. It's always hard to say goodbye to a 0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:03.120 show as a viewer like me. I know, I'm bummed 0:01:03.160 --> 0:01:06.440 it's gone, but it is definitely harder as an actor 0:01:06.600 --> 0:01:09.679 or a crew member who has made a show a 0:01:09.720 --> 0:01:14.040 part of their daily life for so long. But onward 0:01:14.440 --> 0:01:18.319 an upward for Flake, who has appeared in shows like 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:23.319 Law and Order, Modern Family, Transparent, Westworld, and will no 0:01:23.480 --> 0:01:28.000 doubt be back at something very very soon. She's even 0:01:28.040 --> 0:01:31.119 had a second life, maybe even a cooler life. As 0:01:31.280 --> 0:01:36.559 a musician and DJ. Her first love is music. She's 0:01:36.560 --> 0:01:40.479 even played bass with David Bowie himself. Tell me that's 0:01:40.520 --> 0:01:43.520 not cool. That is cool, and so I feel cool 0:01:43.680 --> 0:01:46.520 just having her here in the studio with me. I've 0:01:46.560 --> 0:01:50.000 loved getting to hear her fascinating story about her life 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:54.880 and two cultures born in Nigeria, her fantastic career, and 0:01:54.960 --> 0:01:59.960 her plans for after Bob loves Abisho La. Now, sit back, 0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:06.200 relax and enjoy my conversation with f lacke Alua Fayuku, 0:02:10.120 --> 0:02:17.640 Bubble and squeak. I love it, Bubble and Squeakna, Bubble 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:21.440 and squeak. I cook get every moment lift over from 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:22.919 the ninety bore. 0:02:33.040 --> 0:02:35.160 Him. 0:02:35.600 --> 0:02:38.040 I'm so good. It is so good to see you. 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:41.720 I am such a big fan of yours. I really 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:45.640 appreciate you coming on. Oh, thank you so much. You 0:02:45.760 --> 0:02:48.880 have a big show that is about to end. I 0:02:48.919 --> 0:02:52.920 want to hear. I want tears, I want emotion. I 0:02:52.960 --> 0:02:56.239 want to talk about that in a little bit. But gosh, 0:02:56.240 --> 0:03:00.320 your history is so fascinating, and I hear you shoot 0:03:00.360 --> 0:03:03.200 the rock like I do. You were going to become 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:06.639 a lawyer like maybe I was for a while and 0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:10.120 then you got into this business. But I want to 0:03:10.160 --> 0:03:14.280 go back. You were born and raised in Nigeria. 0:03:14.280 --> 0:03:19.000 Yes, yeah, Legos, Nigeria where Legos Legos. 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:21.880 Yes, yeah. And your dad was a. 0:03:21.760 --> 0:03:24.840 Politician then and a lawyer as well. 0:03:24.919 --> 0:03:26.000 And a lawyer as well. 0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:27.680 Yeah, and a minister. 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:34.040 And you were one of twenty kids. Now this is 0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:36.920 a very full household, plucky. I'm not going to lie 0:03:36.960 --> 0:03:40.200 to you. This sounds like like a lot. What was 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:42.880 it like growing up in that in that environment? 0:03:43.560 --> 0:03:46.280 Well, I'm the last born, so by the time I 0:03:46.440 --> 0:03:49.600 was coming of age and stuff, most everyone had already left. 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:54.200 I have nieces and grand nieces and nephews that are 0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:56.320 the same age or some opos of me. 0:03:56.960 --> 0:04:00.320 Oh wow, So if you were the last ad a 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:04.680 bunch of them they were they were gone. Yeah. How many? 0:04:04.720 --> 0:04:08.119 How many siblings did you actually like grow up with 0:04:08.400 --> 0:04:08.840 in the house? 0:04:08.920 --> 0:04:09.440 One? 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:10.920 One? Oh? Just one? 0:04:11.320 --> 0:04:13.360 Yeah, and my cousin and then I had a couple 0:04:13.480 --> 0:04:15.960 a couple of other like a brother and sister who 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:18.400 came in and out, but they were mostly in college 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:18.960 by then. 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:22.960 Okay, what was it like having such a great family 0:04:23.000 --> 0:04:25.839 and specifically, what what do you how do you feel 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:29.440 like that helped you even though so many were out 0:04:29.480 --> 0:04:31.960 of the house in your time growing up. 0:04:32.720 --> 0:04:38.240 Well, my upbringing certainly is responsible for the independence and 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:42.080 the resourcefulness that helped me get through being in America 0:04:42.120 --> 0:04:46.600 by myself and I'm figuring out the entertainment by myself 0:04:47.360 --> 0:04:51.000 independence because by that age, you know, the parents have 0:04:51.120 --> 0:04:53.159 been there and done that with the kids, so they're 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:58.520 just like, yeah, you go do whatever you want. So 0:04:58.680 --> 0:05:01.560 I could. I could pretty much whatever I want from 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:04.599 very early on. But I was a good kid, so 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:07.440 they were lucky maybe because I had so much space 0:05:07.480 --> 0:05:09.080 to do whatever I wanted. I didn't really want to 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:13.080 do anything. But independence and resourcefulness is something that my 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:17.880 upbringing and tenacity and strength. That's what my upbringing in 0:05:17.960 --> 0:05:21.039 stood in me so that I could thrive. Really I have. 0:05:22.160 --> 0:05:27.560 Yeah, I mean that's my grandparents. My grandfather was one 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:31.560 of eleven in the southeastern United States, so you know, 0:05:31.640 --> 0:05:35.400 we had a large family, but not I don't know, 0:05:35.480 --> 0:05:38.520 maybe not so dissimilar from you, because you know, you 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:40.760 didn't have twenty in the house at one time. 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:44.120 That uh, that seems we're all eleven of you in 0:05:44.120 --> 0:05:44.800 the house at once. 0:05:45.360 --> 0:05:48.960 No, So they were just more like I say, I'm 0:05:49.000 --> 0:05:52.839 everybody in like Georgia and North Florida, I'm related to 0:05:52.880 --> 0:05:56.839 probably someone because there are just so many offshoots from 0:05:56.880 --> 0:05:59.760 from that. But again, in my house, it was just 0:05:59.800 --> 0:06:01.640 me my sister, so there were just two of us. 0:06:01.680 --> 0:06:05.760 So it was this combination of really large sort of 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:12.280 extended family, you know, relatives around, but you know, not 0:06:12.279 --> 0:06:14.920 not so much on the day to day. And I 0:06:15.080 --> 0:06:17.920 find that fascinating because you think, like one of twenty, 0:06:18.040 --> 0:06:21.520 you've got nineteen other eyes to look after you. But 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:26.719 how would you say. It's like, nah, go ahead, we've 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:29.640 been we've been there, we've done that. Go ahead. 0:06:30.279 --> 0:06:33.600 Yeah, that wasn't my experience. My experience was actually completely 0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:34.359 opposite from that. 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:38.279 Yeah. I read that you spent some time in London 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:42.320 growing up, So when did you When did you move there? 0:06:43.240 --> 0:06:46.000 Well, I never really moved to England, although I considered 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:48.159 moving to England before I moved to Lee, And the 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:55.440 quote was like, get your asked back, Daly. There was 0:06:55.440 --> 0:06:57.919 this transition period before I moved to la where I 0:06:58.000 --> 0:07:00.960 went trying to figure out where I wanted to do next. 0:07:01.320 --> 0:07:05.640 Actually in that same transition period again about roal fly 0:07:05.720 --> 0:07:09.159 ten years after. But during that transition period. I went 0:07:09.240 --> 0:07:13.360 to Atlanta, I went to England, I went back to Nigeria, 0:07:14.440 --> 0:07:17.080 and I came to LA to check it out. And 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:18.720 the reason I was leaving in New York was to 0:07:18.720 --> 0:07:23.400 get away from the code mostly okay, and I just 0:07:23.440 --> 0:07:27.040 needed a better standard of living in January. But I 0:07:27.160 --> 0:07:30.720 never actually lived in England. We vacationed there every summer 0:07:30.800 --> 0:07:33.720 growing up as a child, Okay. My father had a 0:07:33.720 --> 0:07:37.160 presence there and we studied there London Spit of Economics, 0:07:37.360 --> 0:07:39.160 and so I did a couple of my siblings as well, 0:07:39.240 --> 0:07:42.320 so we had a presence there and family there as well. 0:07:42.480 --> 0:07:45.000 So we will visit every summer. And that was my 0:07:45.040 --> 0:07:46.520 time in England, Okay. 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:49.720 But it sounds like even just with that much time, 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:54.600 I mean, spending that much time in England and you've 0:07:54.640 --> 0:07:58.880 got Nigeria. Eventually you go to City College of New York. 0:07:59.760 --> 0:08:04.640 As as a young person, you're exposed to a tons 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:10.280 of experience culturally, travel, different people's Do you feel like 0:08:10.400 --> 0:08:15.040 that gave you something that you use in your work 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:17.320 now or give you a broad base? 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:23.840 Definitely, especially for this role, because there's this understanding of culture. 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:28.200 As you rightfully said that I became exposed to from 0:08:28.680 --> 0:08:32.280 very early on, coupled with the fact that in Nigeria, 0:08:32.440 --> 0:08:37.160 we get our content from everywhere. Okay, so we got 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:42.239 content from Like I grew up watching Spanish Nobela's subtitle 0:08:42.400 --> 0:08:45.560 subtitled when I was on boarding school like all the girls, 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:47.839 I was in an old girls school for one another 0:08:48.000 --> 0:08:51.120 exposed to All the girls are gathered by the living 0:08:51.200 --> 0:08:54.120 room at eight o'clock so we could watch Maria de 0:08:54.160 --> 0:08:58.319 Los Angeles and we were so into it. So I 0:08:58.360 --> 0:08:59.719 grew up with that. We grew up on a lot 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:04.840 of Irish music and Irish content as well, stuff from France, 0:09:05.679 --> 0:09:08.040 from the Middle East. We got stuff from everywhere. And 0:09:08.080 --> 0:09:10.000 then not to talk about the fact that Nigeria is 0:09:10.040 --> 0:09:13.559 also very diverse in itself. A mayoga, but we have 0:09:14.240 --> 0:09:18.840 over three hundred ethnic groups. Yeah, and we're exposed to that. 0:09:18.920 --> 0:09:20.960 And I grew up in a space and different religions 0:09:20.960 --> 0:09:24.600 as well, mostly Christian and Muslim in Islam. But there 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:28.040 was always tolerance in my world as far as I 0:09:28.120 --> 0:09:32.160 was exposed to culturally, there was upheaval in other areas, 0:09:32.360 --> 0:09:35.760 but as far as being different in the sense that 0:09:35.800 --> 0:09:38.760 you had a different tradition and culture and language, that 0:09:38.920 --> 0:09:42.600 was well accepted where I was growing up, and then 0:09:43.480 --> 0:09:48.640 I've been able to borrow from all this exposure and 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:52.280 that has fed my acting work here in America because 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:57.360 even the portrayal of Afishala, there's an element there is 0:09:57.679 --> 0:10:01.840 almost like a Western sensitivity that you have to have 0:10:01.960 --> 0:10:08.680 to the timing as well, that's very different from Nigerian time, right, 0:10:08.880 --> 0:10:14.320 very different. The melodies are so different, and I think 0:10:14.360 --> 0:10:18.200 they're both funny, and it became an interesting thing for 0:10:18.320 --> 0:10:22.200 me trying to balance both worlds. It's like, how do 0:10:22.280 --> 0:10:26.320 I maintain the comedy of the sitcom world of America 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:32.680 but still borrow from the Nigerian comedy, which makes sense 0:10:32.720 --> 0:10:35.120 because Abishalla is Nigerian born in the ring is just 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:35.440 like me. 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:40.760 Right, Was it was that tough for you or because 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:44.000 of your experience that you had, Do you feel like 0:10:44.040 --> 0:10:45.880 you already had an understanding? 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:48.800 I had an understanding because I called, I got called. 0:10:48.880 --> 0:10:51.520 I started getting called in a lot. I mean my 0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:54.679 entire life, In my entire acting life, I've played a 0:10:54.760 --> 0:11:01.360 variation of Abela. I've played a more a caricature. When 0:11:01.360 --> 0:11:04.240 I did a stage play of the Tale of Martin Chuzzleworth, 0:11:05.520 --> 0:11:09.040 I've played her more modern when I did Cabaret and 0:11:09.080 --> 0:11:12.840 I played Sally Bowles uh and more sexy obviously. And 0:11:12.880 --> 0:11:15.439 then I had like roles of Modern Family where I 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:19.679 played Nigerian and that was a different version of her, 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:22.280 another version where I played the nurse. So I've explored 0:11:22.280 --> 0:11:24.760 I got to explore her in different ways before I 0:11:24.840 --> 0:11:27.520 actually came to the table to play at the Chelan. 0:11:28.200 --> 0:11:31.000 And what was your initial question? 0:11:31.080 --> 0:11:35.320 I told you for that, well, asking about you know, 0:11:35.520 --> 0:11:42.120 how how accustomed you were to Okay, yeah, to the 0:11:42.600 --> 0:11:45.160 And I'll tell you why I asked not to like 0:11:45.960 --> 0:11:49.560 drop names or whatever. But you know, Ricky Gervais and 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:53.320 Stephen Merchant, who obviously created the Office in the UK. 0:11:54.280 --> 0:11:57.960 Stephen has said that the greatest mistake, or I'm sorry, 0:11:57.960 --> 0:12:02.320 the best thing that they ever did was stay away 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:06.920 from the American Office because they they felt like so 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:10.320 many shows that have been brought from the UK to 0:12:10.520 --> 0:12:16.560 America that the British didn't really understand American culture well 0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:21.000 enough to have the comedy directly translate. Knew that there 0:12:21.120 --> 0:12:25.079 was exactly to your point, different rhythms, different different sound. 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:29.400 Facial expressions as well, and different levels the levels of 0:12:29.480 --> 0:12:38.679 Nigeria on the most mundane day is far far suproceeds okay, Okay. 0:12:39.040 --> 0:12:41.520 There was a lot of like balancing that had to 0:12:42.120 --> 0:12:47.040 be embedded into Abela. I think my experience in America 0:12:47.040 --> 0:12:48.959 and my experience in all the other parts of the 0:12:49.440 --> 0:12:52.640 world that I've lived in helped prepare me because as 0:12:52.679 --> 0:12:55.839 I went into audition after audition, paying all these different 0:12:55.920 --> 0:12:59.840 variations of AA, I got to understand what the castler 0:13:00.480 --> 0:13:05.640 wanted from me, and I was able to mold this 0:13:05.880 --> 0:13:09.040 character to fit those things, and I started booking so 0:13:09.120 --> 0:13:12.360 many jobs for that reason. Got to portraying an Africa 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:16.560 I did. I did also have to study, though. I 0:13:16.600 --> 0:13:20.720 remember speaking with Chuck and our associate producer as well 0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:24.280 as one of our directors, be Beth mccathy, as well 0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:29.600 as Pat Doak and Chuck Royy separately speaking to them 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:36.720 about what sitcoms I should go study, okay best for 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:39.079 the best performances. 0:13:38.400 --> 0:13:41.280 And they said, I remember when. 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:44.240 Well, this conversation kind of reached like the level of 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:47.720 new understanding for me when mister Norman Layer passed away 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:51.679 and we were having conversation about him on set because 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:53.360 we had people whould work with him on our set 0:13:53.559 --> 0:13:56.400 who got their start working with him, and so they 0:13:56.559 --> 0:14:00.559 gave me like I got like on the job futeage 0:14:01.679 --> 0:14:05.880 on what it meant and what this phenomenal creator stood 0:14:05.960 --> 0:14:09.520 for and the timing that he was able to incorporate 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:11.720 into his shows to make it so magical. Some of 0:14:11.720 --> 0:14:13.679 the shows I went back to watch where I Love 0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:19.600 Lucy at Doort recommended that Everybody Loves Raymond, and then 0:14:19.760 --> 0:14:21.680 I went back and watched some of Mike and Molly 0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:26.000 as well. But I'd say my biggest influences would have 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:30.680 been I Love Lucy and Everybody Loves ray Interesting. 0:14:31.520 --> 0:14:36.440 Yeah, you're one of twenty. You're in Nigeria, you're spending 0:14:36.440 --> 0:14:40.480 summers in London. Two part question with a B and 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:44.040 C under each. No, I'm just kidding. You decide you're 0:14:44.040 --> 0:14:48.280 going to come to America, New York, specifically a City 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:51.320 College of New York to go to school. You end 0:14:51.400 --> 0:14:57.200 up playing Division three basketball. Nice? That were you coming 0:14:57.280 --> 0:15:00.880 to New York? Why New York? And is it true 0:15:00.920 --> 0:15:02.880 you just you were going to become a lawyer. 0:15:03.720 --> 0:15:05.360 Yeah, the plan was I was going to go to 0:15:05.440 --> 0:15:09.160 law school in Nigeria. I just finished my A levels 0:15:09.200 --> 0:15:11.920 in Nigeria, so I was I just turned about I 0:15:11.960 --> 0:15:14.640 just I was about to turn eighteen. You know, getting 0:15:14.640 --> 0:15:17.120 a visa is such a big deal in Nigeria. It's 0:15:17.160 --> 0:15:19.840 like a whole process that's a wake up five o'clock. 0:15:19.960 --> 0:15:21.600 I think it's changed now. Back then you have to 0:15:21.640 --> 0:15:23.280 wake up at like four o'clock in the morning to 0:15:23.280 --> 0:15:25.880 get in the line for by five am, and you 0:15:25.880 --> 0:15:29.120 wouldn't get seen until like nine or something crazy like that. Right, 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:34.400 kind of like the days of background work I've been 0:15:34.960 --> 0:15:37.840 I've been getting prepared back in the day with that. 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:42.320 Yeah, although we do have something called the DMV here 0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:46.360 in the United States is over oh. 0:15:46.240 --> 0:15:48.960 Yeah, yeah, yeah, no no, no, no, no, no no, 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:52.440 Actually your DMV's here, child's play. They give you somewhere 0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:57.480 to sit, okay, fair, no, no no. In Nigeria, it's 0:15:57.560 --> 0:16:00.360 like it's a jungle. It's a jungle out there, a 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:04.360 beautiful jungle. I love my people. So I the plan 0:16:04.520 --> 0:16:07.600 was to come see my sister for holiday and then 0:16:07.640 --> 0:16:12.720 come back to Nigeria and become a lawyer. But things 0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:15.960 worked out in a way where my results, my original 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:19.880 with my actual results weren't released, kind of like fraudulent 0:16:20.000 --> 0:16:23.760 one was, and it was obvious that that it was 0:16:23.880 --> 0:16:27.240 fraudulent because of the score. And I remember telling my 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:30.320 mom like, fuck it, I'm not going to school anymore 0:16:30.600 --> 0:16:33.160 it and I think that terrified her, and she was like, Okay, 0:16:33.160 --> 0:16:35.480 you're in America. Just see if you can find something there. 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:38.120 And I found something there, and I went to the map. 0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:39.880 I went to the subway map, and I looked at 0:16:40.160 --> 0:16:43.360 Long Island, where my sister lived, and I looked at 0:16:43.360 --> 0:16:47.120 the map of Manhattan, and I was like, what school 0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:51.360 is furthest away from Long Island. So I can complain 0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:56.680 about the commute because I would take I would walk 0:16:56.720 --> 0:17:00.000 to the bus station. First of all, for a little while, 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:03.040 I could afford the love Adam Rover. After a while, 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:05.560 I couldn't afford it. And so I'll take a bus 0:17:05.640 --> 0:17:09.720 from Long Island to Jamaica Queens. From Jamaica, I'll transfer 0:17:09.800 --> 0:17:12.440 to the Blue Line, get on the Express as soon 0:17:12.480 --> 0:17:14.520 as I could get off on one twenty fifth Street 0:17:14.520 --> 0:17:17.520 in Harlem. They could bust from there to the City 0:17:17.520 --> 0:17:19.080 College in New York. That was like a two hour 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:22.120 treat each way. And I was like, yes, yes, this 0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:25.840 is exactly what I need. So I think into my 0:17:25.960 --> 0:17:29.119 first year, I head up my mom and I was like, 0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:31.920 this commute is too much. I gotta I gotta move 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:33.160 out closer to school. 0:17:35.359 --> 0:17:42.080 No, I see, I see. 0:17:42.480 --> 0:17:46.440 I found this this one, this bedroom in someone's apartment 0:17:47.400 --> 0:17:50.600 for like two hundred bucks a month and it was 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:54.840 like perfect, right across from school. And I'll go get 0:17:54.880 --> 0:17:58.600 like Chinese food for five bucks during lunch and like 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:01.280 portion that out so that be my meal for the day. 0:18:02.640 --> 0:18:06.360 Wow, but you loved it. Those are the good old days. 0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:09.360 Those were the good old days, man, those those were 0:18:09.400 --> 0:18:12.680 the funnest days. I had some of the happiest times 0:18:12.680 --> 0:18:13.640 of my life in New York. 0:18:14.400 --> 0:18:18.320 Oh yeah, no it is. It will eat you up 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:21.560 and spit you out, and at the same time you're 0:18:21.640 --> 0:18:25.080 enjoying it a lot of time. It's very strange. 0:18:24.960 --> 0:18:27.480 Yeah, it's really cool. I plan on spending more time 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:27.920 right now. 0:18:46.320 --> 0:18:51.600 And so when did you start thinking, hm hmm, maybe 0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:55.439 I'll start auditioning for some things, or like, were you 0:18:55.560 --> 0:18:59.960 finding a passion in it? Did someone suggests you do it? How? 0:19:00.160 --> 0:19:01.639 How did that transition happen? 0:19:02.080 --> 0:19:04.560 I actually need to speak with this guy I was 0:19:04.680 --> 0:19:07.640 dating during that time, so I can get a lot 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:10.800 more clarity about how that worked, because he just made 0:19:10.800 --> 0:19:14.560 a comment on my Instagram about how he remembers when 0:19:14.600 --> 0:19:17.160 I was teaching myself how to play the guitar, so 0:19:17.240 --> 0:19:19.199 he was like he was in my life at a 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:22.280 very pivotal time. I remember speaking to him about it 0:19:22.400 --> 0:19:24.320 years ago and he said, oh yeah, I think he 0:19:24.480 --> 0:19:29.480 just saw a flyer in school and dislike the decafeteria 0:19:29.640 --> 0:19:31.960 something and he went to a tryout, and that's where 0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:34.040 I remember it from. I remember from the tryouts. I 0:19:34.080 --> 0:19:37.280 don't remember what led me to the tryouts, but when 0:19:37.280 --> 0:19:39.760 I think about it, I would always just find all 0:19:39.760 --> 0:19:42.280 the flyers for like even the basketball team. That's how 0:19:42.280 --> 0:19:44.159 I got on. I found a flyer and I was like, 0:19:44.160 --> 0:19:47.200 oh yeah, I'm in America, Land of opportunity. I want 0:19:47.200 --> 0:19:52.000 to try everything. And so that's how I got into acting. 0:19:52.080 --> 0:19:54.840 I found a flyer and I auditioned and it came 0:19:54.960 --> 0:19:57.960 very easy. I wasn't precious about acting the way I 0:19:58.119 --> 0:20:01.720 was about music, so I wasn't like overthinking the whole process. 0:20:02.600 --> 0:20:04.680 I flourished. I mean, it was one of the best 0:20:04.760 --> 0:20:08.119 spaces for me creatively to get my foundation with a 0:20:08.200 --> 0:20:10.600 department of City College of New York because we had 0:20:10.640 --> 0:20:13.960 access to Aaron Davis Hall. We just we had great. 0:20:14.000 --> 0:20:17.760 We had great professors to Gray David Will, Alfred Preiser, 0:20:17.880 --> 0:20:21.000 we had great professors. 0:20:20.080 --> 0:20:23.440 You have mentioned. Now, you know, I certainly didn't want 0:20:23.440 --> 0:20:28.160 to bury the lead here about music. Was music sort 0:20:28.160 --> 0:20:31.480 of your first love? I mean, it feels like you 0:20:31.560 --> 0:20:36.280 have two very very legitimate careers. Now, was music something 0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:38.520 that you started doing much earlier? 0:20:39.520 --> 0:20:42.880 Music is something I always wanted to start doing at 0:20:42.920 --> 0:20:44.920 any point in my life, and it was the thing 0:20:44.920 --> 0:20:47.360 I knew I always wanted to do. And I kind 0:20:47.359 --> 0:20:50.439 of have a tragic story with music. I'm hoping for 0:20:50.640 --> 0:20:55.080 for better days. Okay, let's see how it goes. 0:20:55.520 --> 0:20:57.080 What's what's the tragic story? 0:20:58.720 --> 0:21:00.760 It's just I'm always I always knew I wanted to 0:21:00.800 --> 0:21:05.280 be a musician, but I was specifically held away from it. 0:21:05.280 --> 0:21:07.240 It was it was almost like a trigger print in 0:21:07.920 --> 0:21:11.080 my family. So the idea of me being a musician, 0:21:11.160 --> 0:21:16.120 it was ridicled, was talk down on, was laughed at. 0:21:16.960 --> 0:21:19.360 There was no there was no outlet in any way. 0:21:19.440 --> 0:21:22.600 So it's not like the sort of structure where like 0:21:22.640 --> 0:21:25.280 you have in America, we have access to people where 0:21:25.320 --> 0:21:28.639 you can learn it. It was very isolated creatively for 0:21:28.800 --> 0:21:31.879 me and Nigeria. I didn't get it at outlet until 0:21:31.880 --> 0:21:33.960 I was eighteen, and all the trauma and that's when 0:21:33.960 --> 0:21:35.560 I moved to America and I was on my own. 0:21:35.880 --> 0:21:39.760 But all the traumas that I had from from the 0:21:39.800 --> 0:21:44.359 previous years discipline against music, it affected me and still 0:21:44.400 --> 0:21:45.200 does to this day. 0:21:47.160 --> 0:21:51.240 What about moving in to beginning to do acting, did 0:21:51.280 --> 0:21:52.879 you find support for that? 0:21:53.760 --> 0:21:56.080 No? I didn't find support for that, but I didn't 0:21:56.080 --> 0:22:01.120 find the strict hell no. Yeah, and that journey started 0:22:01.200 --> 0:22:03.560 when I was now on my own in America, so 0:22:03.640 --> 0:22:05.480 no one you really knew what I was up to. 0:22:06.000 --> 0:22:10.119 And so my my mom came to visit and I 0:22:10.160 --> 0:22:12.240 invited her to a show and she's like, oh shit, 0:22:12.320 --> 0:22:15.040 that's good. And right into a fashion show, she's like, 0:22:15.080 --> 0:22:17.480 oh my god. Right into a basketball game, she's like, 0:22:17.480 --> 0:22:22.239 oh my god, why don't you play professionally? Yeah. So, 0:22:22.520 --> 0:22:24.920 once I was out of New York, I was able 0:22:24.960 --> 0:22:28.080 to just delve into what I wanted to without scrutiny. 0:22:28.520 --> 0:22:32.000 But the trauma for music specifically something I still gott with. 0:22:34.840 --> 0:22:39.040 Did you start doing film and television first out of 0:22:39.440 --> 0:22:41.640 college or what was the theater your love? 0:22:42.200 --> 0:22:45.760 Well, it was musical theater that made me stay okay. 0:22:45.960 --> 0:22:49.960 That was my introduction to theater, musical theater, which makes 0:22:50.000 --> 0:22:53.600 sense because I got to do to still like delve 0:22:53.600 --> 0:22:56.480 into music. I remember during the time I got into 0:22:56.480 --> 0:22:59.600 the theater department, they were working on their version of Care, 0:23:00.440 --> 0:23:02.520 which is now one of my favorite musicals, and it's 0:23:02.600 --> 0:23:05.320 just such a magical experience in the summertime in New 0:23:05.400 --> 0:23:12.159 York singing in the train. Uh it was beautiful. Yeah. So, 0:23:12.480 --> 0:23:15.359 and then eventually and then I played in the Whiz, 0:23:15.440 --> 0:23:18.520 and then I eventually played Sally Bowls and cabaret. But 0:23:18.880 --> 0:23:22.680 musical theater is what kept me in theater is what 0:23:22.880 --> 0:23:26.520 like it was almost like it was all aligned. I 0:23:26.560 --> 0:23:28.760 wanted to do music, but my outlet was going to 0:23:28.800 --> 0:23:30.760 be theater. But then I happened to go to theater 0:23:30.840 --> 0:23:33.679 and it's musical theater. And it's like, oh shit. But 0:23:33.760 --> 0:23:36.520 if I if I had a chance to do it again, 0:23:36.560 --> 0:23:37.840 I would do it a little different. 0:23:38.520 --> 0:23:40.840 What would you do different? Uh? 0:23:40.880 --> 0:23:43.560 Well, in terms of what I studied, I started studying 0:23:43.600 --> 0:23:46.920 economics as a way to kind of finesse finess through 0:23:47.080 --> 0:23:50.000 through family. I then started with a minor in theater 0:23:50.760 --> 0:23:53.520 and then eventually graduated with the major in theater. But 0:23:53.600 --> 0:23:56.919 what I would have done. I would have studied sonic 0:23:57.040 --> 0:24:02.840 arts with a minor in theater. That's what I had then. Okay, yeah, 0:24:03.440 --> 0:24:05.800 I eventually went on to study audio engineering, but I 0:24:05.800 --> 0:24:08.560 would have started that whole process in college. 0:24:09.359 --> 0:24:16.399 Fascinating. Yeah, you mentioned you got a degree in audio engineering. Yeah, 0:24:16.560 --> 0:24:21.240 what is it about electronic music specifically that feeds you? 0:24:22.119 --> 0:24:24.760 Electronic music is not really I wouldn't say that's what 0:24:26.000 --> 0:24:29.679 feeds me specifically. I started out doing electronic music. My 0:24:29.720 --> 0:24:33.359