Q&A with Perth duo Otiuh |
|
Hi Otiuh, thanks for taking time out for this interview. For readers who aren’t familiar with Otiuh, tell us a bit about yourselves - Cesare and Jahmeil. How did you two link up? And when did you start making music?
Cesare: Jahmeil and myself have known each for about 10 years now through high school. That’s a little crazy to say hah! We linked up and started talking about music in 2015, and started making it about a year after that.
I love your musical style - it’s a bit Hip Hop, a bit R&B with a different flavour. Who are some of your inspirations - musical or not?
Cesare: Thank you! Our influences range from early east coast hip hop acts like A Tribe Called Quest & De La Soul, to Childish Gambino & Anderson Paak.
Jahmeil: From my writing side my influences include Run The Jewels, Outkast, The Arctic Monkeys & Earl Sweatshirt.
You both rap and Cesare you sing on Otiuh’s latest single One For Me too, what is the process when writing music?
Cesare: It varies, but it’s always a back and forth process. Sometimes I start with a beat and a verse and send it through to Jahmeil who adds to it, sometimes it’s the other way round. Interestingly not too much writing happens when we’re both in the room, we both like our space.
Jahmeil: Sometimes I write to instrumentals I find elsewhere on the internet and take the 16 to record at Cesare’s home studio. He can then create a beat around it which is a cool mix up. Hooks come into play at any point in this process, and we workshop them together.
Otiuh is technically a three-piece band, with you two at the forefront, what is the music production process?
Cesare: Most ideas start with me creating a certain vibe with samples & synths. Once I feel that it’s an idea worth expanding on, I get our band mate Will Johnson over to my little home studio to add extra instrumentation. He’s the kind of guy that you can plug in over a song and will be able to improvise a guitar riff. More often than not he’s found his way onto our songs and is becoming an important part of our production.
Jahmeil: That’s true for production. In a live setting we’re a 5 piece these days, adding live guitar, bass & percussion.
Cesare: Jahmeil and myself have known each for about 10 years now through high school. That’s a little crazy to say hah! We linked up and started talking about music in 2015, and started making it about a year after that.
I love your musical style - it’s a bit Hip Hop, a bit R&B with a different flavour. Who are some of your inspirations - musical or not?
Cesare: Thank you! Our influences range from early east coast hip hop acts like A Tribe Called Quest & De La Soul, to Childish Gambino & Anderson Paak.
Jahmeil: From my writing side my influences include Run The Jewels, Outkast, The Arctic Monkeys & Earl Sweatshirt.
You both rap and Cesare you sing on Otiuh’s latest single One For Me too, what is the process when writing music?
Cesare: It varies, but it’s always a back and forth process. Sometimes I start with a beat and a verse and send it through to Jahmeil who adds to it, sometimes it’s the other way round. Interestingly not too much writing happens when we’re both in the room, we both like our space.
Jahmeil: Sometimes I write to instrumentals I find elsewhere on the internet and take the 16 to record at Cesare’s home studio. He can then create a beat around it which is a cool mix up. Hooks come into play at any point in this process, and we workshop them together.
Otiuh is technically a three-piece band, with you two at the forefront, what is the music production process?
Cesare: Most ideas start with me creating a certain vibe with samples & synths. Once I feel that it’s an idea worth expanding on, I get our band mate Will Johnson over to my little home studio to add extra instrumentation. He’s the kind of guy that you can plug in over a song and will be able to improvise a guitar riff. More often than not he’s found his way onto our songs and is becoming an important part of our production.
Jahmeil: That’s true for production. In a live setting we’re a 5 piece these days, adding live guitar, bass & percussion.
The songs touch on a broad range of topics with a quirky / playful take, you have an EP La Festa coming out this year, what are some of the themes and topics on the EP?
Jahmeil: The topics on this EP include; night life, relationships (or things that aren’t relationships), travelling and even work life.
And where do you pull that inspiration from? I know with One For Me Cesare you were inspired by not buying into the use of dating apps, which is prevalent with millennials.
Cesare: All from lived experience I guess. Funnily enough it was the opposite – I met my partner on a dating app! I was just happy to delete it after that. It’s a new age out here folks.
Jahmeil: With the frequency of performances and just being in our early 20's, we tend to see a bit of the night life. Relationships are an important thing to most people, so they’re bound to come up in our writing. I try to get across that taking time to enjoy your youth and controlling your perspective is important for mental health.
You are going on a national tour this year, what can fans expect from the show?
Cesare: We hope we still are! Hopefully later in the summer.
Jahmeil: A circus. We want to make sure the crowd enjoys the show as much as we do.
What else does Otiuh have planned for 2020 and beyond?
Jahmeil: We’re looking at putting out some more visuals to go with this project, and then a couple more before the years out.
Thanks again for your time. Peace.
Cesare: Thank you Rappfox!
Check out Otiuh on Spotify, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Soundcloud.
Jahmeil: The topics on this EP include; night life, relationships (or things that aren’t relationships), travelling and even work life.
And where do you pull that inspiration from? I know with One For Me Cesare you were inspired by not buying into the use of dating apps, which is prevalent with millennials.
Cesare: All from lived experience I guess. Funnily enough it was the opposite – I met my partner on a dating app! I was just happy to delete it after that. It’s a new age out here folks.
Jahmeil: With the frequency of performances and just being in our early 20's, we tend to see a bit of the night life. Relationships are an important thing to most people, so they’re bound to come up in our writing. I try to get across that taking time to enjoy your youth and controlling your perspective is important for mental health.
You are going on a national tour this year, what can fans expect from the show?
Cesare: We hope we still are! Hopefully later in the summer.
Jahmeil: A circus. We want to make sure the crowd enjoys the show as much as we do.
What else does Otiuh have planned for 2020 and beyond?
Jahmeil: We’re looking at putting out some more visuals to go with this project, and then a couple more before the years out.
Thanks again for your time. Peace.
Cesare: Thank you Rappfox!
Check out Otiuh on Spotify, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Soundcloud.