Music Review and Interview with Brian Robbo
Over the past 30 years, Nigeria’s modern-music scene has only grown more diverse and powerful. Today it redefines Africa’s creative landscape, bolstered by an organized hit-making structure, global distribution, and a new generation of artists. Nigerian musicians are signing with American labels, selling through Amazon and iTunes, and gaining seven-figure online video views.
Let us introduce Brian Robbo
Brian Robbo’s music and entertainment career has spanned over the years with utmost hard work and determination. Perhaps it’s his keen sense of melody and harmony, or maybe the way he delivers a lyric. No matter, Robbo and music are congruent, synonymous and certainly unbreakable.
As a recording engineer, video maker, songwriter and artist, he creates articulate songs for the modern day by sprinkling them with respect for the music of his youth (Reggae, Hip-Hop & Soul). Robbo’s singing career started at an early age. Born and raised in Nigeria, Robbo was often around people who were more musically oriented than him. At his early age, he worked around well-known Nigerian artists, including Eno Louise, Chris Mba, Felix liberty, Black rice and Majek Fashek.
His musical thirst soon led him on a journey to Europe, where he was able to explore all types of music genre. Also while in Europe (Germany), he worked and appeared on countless stage performances with notable German artists such as Ralle Rudnik, Guido Horn and Stefan Mross, just to name a few. At the same time, he continue writing and recording some of his own material.
In 2014, Brian released self-written, (part self-produced materials and a production by Ralle Rudnik) and sung EP/Singles by the name of “Angel Eyes” which was widely received and for that Robbo was invited to perform at 2014 Christmas event, in Lummen – Belgium.
Years before Robbo decided to add some honey to his career and make music; he strived for an education and worked hard over the years to improve his academics. His education includes a diploma in Audio Engineering from the Sae-Institute in Cologne, Germany. He also received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Marketing with a focus on music production and promotion from Middlesex University in London.
Life has been ups and down, and as you can learn from his Bio, his music career has been a long journey and it has become a journey of no going back.
His latest release title called: “Promised To Marry Vol. 2” and “Angel Eyes” are available online for both digital and (CDs)
‘Promise to Marry Me’
News from Nigeria often concentrates on corruption in politics, fighting with the Boko Haram militants in the north and unrest in the oil-producing Delta region – but Africa’s most populous nation has also quietly become a hotbed for the arts. Brian Robbo, hailing from Benin City, Edo-state, Nigeria brings you this hot new single “Promise to Marry Me”
By HBdidit – Exposed Vocals Music Reviewer and Breaking News Contributor.
A NYC fashion designer, music reviewer and lover of life!
Exclusive Interview:
Exposed Vocals: How did you hear about Exposed Vocals?
Brian Robbo: I heard about Exposed Vocals from the “Promotional tool for Independent Musicians and Songwriters”: Called “The Indie Bible”
Exposed Vocals: What made you decide to sign up?
Brian Robbo: Every platform has its pros and cons depending on your style of music. I decided to sign up, with “Exposed Vocals” because I believe through them, my music will be heard and be introduce to the right audiences. And the (second) main reason for my signing up was, because of the channel (The Indie Bible) through which I know them, that make me more believe that they (“Exposed Vocals”) will be more reliable compare to some other platforms that I have had till now, and for that reason, I was more convinced that, they (“Exposed Vocals”) could be the right platform for me to expose myself, compare to other platforms out there.
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up?
Brian Robbo: I grew up in Benin City, Edo-state, Nigeria.
Exposed Vocals: What made you decide to become an artist?
Brian Robbo: What made me to become an artist? Hmm, a good question: Well, There wasn’t a particular thing that made me to become an artist, rather just who I am! I have always had love for music! Although, there were many artists and songs that have inspired me through out my life and that continue to increase my love for music over the years. What made me to develop more interest in music and later build my readiness as an artist! Has lot to do with the environment I grow up and of the people I was surrounded with. I remembered growing up living with my older sister (Margaret), I believe I was around eight-nine years old back then. There was a guy whom I couldn’t remember his name anymore, whenever my sister has gone out to her business, this guy would let me in, into his room and he would leave me in there while he will go to work, in his room, he had different (Vinyl) albums of artists and bands like: Bob Marley & The Wailers, Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff and many more. So, I would sit back relax and listen to some of the albums. “The artist that really influenced me the most when I was growing up, was Kurtis Blow, whom I got the chance to meet (2014) later in Aachen, Germany”. Few years later, after I left my sister to my father’s house, I can still remember, i think I was around the age of fifteen – sixteen and that was when almost everyone you meet back then was listening to soul music, I would go and hide myself in one of the roadside record store and listen to Kurtis Blow (Raps) and try to rap along with the lyrics at the back of the (“Under fire” and “If I rule the world”) albums.
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name?
Brian Robbo: Actually, the name “Brian Robbo” is my real Name.
Exposed Vocals: What was your inspiration behind it?
Brian Robbo: Nothing behind it, it is just my name.
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
Brian Robbo: I find the online music sharing great, because it makes it easy to exchange ideas “musically” between peoples and get feedbacks. Yes, I have given my music away for free, it happens when I wanted to check whether people really like my music, I decided to lift my song from buy to free download and within few days of doing that, 20 people downloaded. You know, sometimes people don’t like to spend money, but almost everyone wants to have something for free.
Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
Brian Robbo: Don’t give up. Be true to what you do, if music is your passion, and if you have given time to find your voice and performance aesthetic, keep with it. Every artist will find its audience. Gather your audience from the ground up, by performing and approaching, even the smallest club and bars. Even if you have to perform for free, remember you are like a beggar, beggars don’t have much choice. So, the key or tips to succeed is approach, approach and approach those club and bar owners. But, have it in mind that, not everyone is going to like your creation, be smart enough to learn that quickly and be ready for different types of criticisms and move on, follow your heart and keep making your music.
Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?
Brian Robbo: Yes, of course. Almost every artist make mistakes during their performances, but how they handled it, is something different. But, i handle mine, by adding other flavor like dancing and energizing the audience with other words. And for that reason, I made a decision to always use instrumental (without my main voice) playback for my shows.
Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?
Brian Robbo: No, not touring yet.
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
Brian Robbo: For real, my songwriting inspirations come from three different sources, (a.) When I am busy working, (b.) During my sleep and (c.) When I am strolling. And I write about anything and everything, my life, my friends, ex-friends, historic things, love, hate, Insecurities, opportunities and the unknown. My usual songwriting processes always start from the chorus part and followed by the (beat) melody and harmony. Sometimes a series of chord plays over and over in my head and won’t stop until I record or write it down. Sometimes I wake up or am woken up humming a melody. It’s really an organic process. The idea manifests spontaneously and I know that I have to do something about it or I’ll lose it.
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
Brian Robbo: Yes! I do have a band (www.brianrobbo.com) website. Though being updated!
CLICK THE LINKS BELOW TO MY ONLINE PLATFORMS:
FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brian-Robbo/300350448060
TWITTER: http://www.twitter.com/BrianRobbo
INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/brian.robbo#
YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/Lb70tuB5BuM
MYSPACE; https://myspace.com/brianrobbo
CD BABY (For CDs order): https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/brianrobbo3
SOUNDCLOUD: http://www.soundcloud.com/brian-robbo
iTUNES: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/oh-girl-produced-bybrian/id895847394?i=895847406&ign-mpt=uo%3D4 AMAZON: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&fieldkeywords=Brian%20
Robbo The music is also on Spotify, Radio Airplay, Last fm and a bunch of others.
Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?
Brian Robbo: None that I know off. Well, I don’t know about you, but for me, all the songs that are on my mp3 player are there, because I liked them.
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
Brian Robbo: Take my mother and family out on vacation. Then, I would do my best to see how I can help out some of the unfortunates; Abused children, the disables and support any trusted Charity, Organization out there, that are yawing for help.
Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?
Brian Robbo: There is hope for a studio upgrade in the future. Right now, I am working with Logic Pro, but planned to add “Pro tools” in the nearest future.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
Brian Robbo: Hard to say, there are bunch of promotional tools out there, one need to check them out very well before getting involve. In my case gigs help a lot, make give away CDs, promote on facebook and other platforms.
Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?
Brian Robbo: Well, an arena full of 100,000 people won’t do any harm, right? Performing in a big stadium in the U.S. with artist and legends like Kurtis Blow, Ice cube and Dr. dre would be cool. They’re incredible musicians and great Performances and songwriters.
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
Brian Robbo: The new upcoming projects that I am working on are my new single Album tracks. One of the songs is about the situation in the world today; like the “I.S, BOKO HARAM” thing. And the other track is Afro style of music, which I hope to finish and release next year in Africa. Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing? Brian Robbo: I really don´ t know, maybe farming, because that is what I learned without having to pay for it, from my Father.
Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?
Brian Robbo: Yes! I think I was seventeen when I bought my first album and that was by an artist by the name; “Bunny Mack” (from Sierra Leone) titled: “ Let Me Love You”. What was going through my head back then was the wish to grow up and be seeing singing like the singer (Bunny Mack) some day, but sometimes in life things never turn to be as one wishes.
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
Brian Robbo: Not that easy, but its doable with mind on an unwavering focus. And i am always focused.
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2015?
Brian Robbo: I look forward traveling the world and spreading a positive message with my music. And maybe, collaborating with other artists that I admire and am inspired by. I look forward for the opportunities to be philanthropic as a result of my hard work. Last but not least, the new (single) upcoming projects that I am working on and I hope to make some tour afterwards, but still have to be worked out. Thanks and God bless! And may God lead the world.
My social networks:
Website: www.brianrobbo.com
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brian-Robbo/300350448060
SoundCloud: http://www.soundcloud.com/brian-robbo
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/BrianRobbo
Instagram : http://instagram.com/brian.robbo#
Buy Link:
