As we prepare ourselves for the release of Osunlade In The House, The Independent's Marcus Barnes takes a look back at the life of one of the music industry's most fascinating characters...
As a youngster Osunlade’s weekly allowance was “two records per week at the local record store” in his hometown of St. Louis Missouri. With this kind of encouragement, a love and passion for music was instilled from an early age. A hunger for jazz, soul and funk was fed by these regular visits to the record store – and has helped shape his musical output throughout his career. Even now his huge record collection has been spread across the globe from Canada to his home in Greece. His unwavering passion for music means he often has to stop himself from perusing the shelves of record shops when he’s on the road, knowing he is bound to go on a spree. This unquenchable thirst for music has been evident and unrelenting since his early years.
After discovering the piano at the age of seven, his multi-faceted musical journey really began, a journey which has helped him to spread his love and passion for music around the globe. After he was made head of the school band, for whom he played trumpet, he went on to start creating his own music. After purchasing a Korg Poly 61 keyboard his interest in electronic music was awoken and he continued to make his own productions, all the while supported by his parents who he says knew their son was special and let him make his own way in life from the off. With this kind of freedom, he could only have become the person he is today – content, open-minded, humble and incessantly creative.
His professional journey began in 1987, aged seventeen, when he caught the ear of choreographer/performer Toni “Mickey” Basil during a visit to Hollywood. Mickey offered him a key role in the development of musical pieces for several projects, famously including the children’s television series Sesame Street and a movie score no less. Mickey encouraged him to move to Los Angeles and begin making his first few tentative steps on the path to becoming the revered musician he is today.
A few years after the move he produced the very first album for the then independent Interscope Records. The artist was Gerardo, a long time friend and aspiring actor/dancer. One of the tracks on the album, Rico Suave, became one of the very first Latin pop songs.
With a multi-platinum album and four gold singles under his belt, opportunities to master his craft came flooding in. He secured work with artists including Jazzy Jeff, Roy Ayers and Patti Labelle and many more during this period, building a strong reputation in the process. However, as can often happen, the industry began to chip away at his passion – with a constant demand to keep up with trends and make music that was ‘like Teddy Riley’ while never fully getting the recognition he deserved for his production work, it was time for a new direction.
So, ten years and over twenty albums after it all began, Osunlade took two years off from everything feeling he no longer had a musical soul. Following this period he made two life-changing decisions. The first was to no longer work under the influences of corporate ideals and demands and the other was to choose the spiritual path, immersing himself in religion. This led him to Ifa, a naturalist ancestral culture based on nature, deriving from the Yoruba tribes of Africa and practiced by the slaves during the Diaspora to America. He is now a member of the Ifa priesthood, and has actually performed while wearing the white robes of Ifa priests.
This second occured in 1999, when he moved to New York and took a leap of faith and initiated what is now his dream come true - his own label, Yoruba Records. Now recognised as one of the most important dance music labels in the world, Yoruba Records is a place for Osunlade to release his own grooves, and to bring through fresh talent. While he’d been producing music for others, Osunlade had been quietly working on his own house productions, the proximity of St Louis to Chicago meaning he wasn’t very far from the root source of house music during his youth. When he finally played some of these tracks to Tommy Musto of the legendary New York label Northcott Productions, Tommy suggested he release them through his own label and Yoruba was born. The first release, Native Tongue, setting out Osunlade’s stall perfectly, fusing African beats with the house sound.
Despite the initial risks involved, the label grew and, buoyed by this success he released his debut album on the much-respected Soul Jazz Records label, in 2001. Entitled Paradigm, it was one of the biggest house albums that year and led to him being dubbed the ‘messiah of ancestral house music’.
In the years since he has continued to produce house music with depth and spirituality, yet is still accessible and loved by DJs and dance music fans around the globe. And it is there where his success lies; making authentic Afro-centric dance music that touches the soul conveying ancient rhythms through a modern vehicle. Osunlade’s conviction in his work is clear to hear, there’s no imitation here – just a man whose spiritual beliefs and appreciation of his ancestral history emanates from his musical productions.
In tandem with his passion for music, Osunlade has also explored his love of art and photography. He is staunch is he belief that music should be package with beautifully crafted works of art, the cover on a piece of vinyl just as important, if not more so, than the music inside. This relays back to his youth, spending time at the record shop and being impressed with the cover art on various records. This in turn led to a collaboration with artist Scott Marr on his self-declared ‘last ever house album’, Pyrography. Marr’s stunning artwork complimenting the rich selection of Yoruba-inspired house grooves on Osunlade’s long-player.
The album was full of that Yoruba soul flavour, warm, organic and full of life, as only Osunlade can deliver. From that album came one of last year’s biggest tracks, the anthemic Envision. The track was written for a friend who he says everyone knew was ‘wearing a mask’, though he couldn’t see it himself. After hearing it played at the Detroit Electronic Music Festival in 2009, Dixon asked him if he could sign the record to his Innervisions imprint. Two years later Ame took charge of the remix and created one of 2011’s most ubiquitous tracks. Played by DJs the world over it became one of the anthems of the summer in Ibiza and in many clubs around the globe.
After over a decade of being involved in making house, last year Osunlade announced that he would not be making any more house music and decided to return to where it all started – jazz, soul and funk. Enjoying the freedom afforded by performing live with his seven-piece band more than DJing, he is now only playing house on very special occasions, which makes his recent mix for Defected In The House even more special.
Last year Osunlade also unveiled a book based on his photography from the ‘life-changing’ Burning Man festival. Welcome Home is a collection of some of the photos he has taken while at the event, which takes place once a year in the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada. He has visited Burning Man for six consecutive years proclaiming that each year he has left a better person. In fact, to share the experience with others, he sponsors two people to go with him to the festival every year, to show them just how life-changing the temporary community can be. And this year he’s taking his mother!
Nowadays, Osunalde resides thousands of miles away from his birthplace on an island in Greece where the population is just 9,000. There he enjoys the space and time to really ‘be’ the person that he is, away from the trappings of modern city life – the daily grind, commuting, the fast-pace of life that can distract one from their inner happiness. From his house he can see three other islands, he cooks, watches movies and spends time creating new masterpieces in the studio. It’s a life that many would envy, but one which he has worked hard to achieve.
On the island he stays locked away in his home, working on two new LPs. One of which contains music he describes as ‘ambient funk’ – yet another new direction for the musician, who has constantly evolved throughout his life. While he focuses on the new material he also maintains Yoruba Records with a flurry of new releases on the cards for 2012 and heads out on the road with his live band.
Happy and content, yet still keen to feed his hunger for music, Osunalde may have ‘quit’ the house scene but his legacy will continue through his forthcoming productions for many years to come, of that we can be sure.
Words: Marcus Barnes
Osunlade In The House is out 16th April - listen & pre-order
