2005 – Charlene Yared West

Emeson, a self- taught songwriter, is singer, composer and producer of Gone, which is taken from the album Audiocentricities, to be released later this year. Swerving from the well-trodden path of the norm, Emeson creates a sound that is uniquely Bittersoul, offering people an alternative, with a completely different style of delivery. Born in the UK, Emeson of Nigerian parentage was raised in Manchester, Nottingham and Nigeria. From listening to eight-track cartridges in his father ’ s Volkswagen hatchback, to DJing in the UK, Greece, Holland, Turkey and Spain, Emeson ’ s personal influences stem from the lyrical genius of SteelyDan, the strings of Gene Page, the sheer audacity of George Clinton, the angst of Bobby Caldwell, with an admiration for Jill Scott, Maxwell, Omar and Liz Fields. Says emeson, “ Whatever you do, do it well, because life ’ s a stage with no rehearsal! ” By Charlene Yared Produced, lyrics, music and vocals by Emeson Recorded and mixed by Eddie Emeson Nwolie at Lab Soulphonica © 2005

profile…
emeson… The music, the man…
It’s always been about the music for emeson…. Right back to the edges of Manchester, the boulevards and avenues of Lenton, Nottingham, the journey to Nigeria right through to the South of Londinium.

”Playing, making, creating…it’s always been the same for me” says emeson. “I try and get the song to come out exactly the way I feel it in my mind.” “When it comes to making a song – there are no rules. I don’t want to restrict my creativity so I don’t always follow a certain structure, for me it’s okay to deviate.” emeson says.“I like to gauge what people think of my music. I would like them to notice that my style of delivery is different – and that my approach doesn’t necessarily fit a norm’

The fruition of endeavour came about after meeting kindred spirit, Uzo Madu from which the releases of ‘Is This The World We Live In?’ and ‘Awake’ came on Gangster Records. Being a part of Lifesize honed his writing and vocal skills and led to his contributing to the singles ‘Awake’ and ‘Is This the World We Live’ with Uzo Madu and Steve Jerome. ”We always wrote from the heart and of our perceptions. All our experiences, hopes and dreams helped to make us what we are and what we stood for” Listening to those songs makes me wonder what much has changed in the world, but within it all there must be the ingredient of hope…. It’s essential” says emeson. Whilst the tenure of the label was short-lived, the love of music was not and emeson continued to write and compose material, scoring for short films such as ‘A Look To Kill’ (dir. Obinna Nwosu), and ‘Madam and The Census Man’ (dir. Hash Brown). The tracks Lenton Park and Son of Nemesis featured on the Bacardi Internet site.

”I feel am offering an alternative – a swerve from the well-trodden path of the norm, with a very different style of delivery. It is also different because of the content matter. I do not lay it all out at once, I like the build up, giving the listener something to imagine, as opposed to letting it all out without any escalation.” He says.

A considerable record collection and a musical background, partly explains his expansive taste in music. It leads to an admiration for past, present and future genius. “I admire people who’ve followed their own path, without fear, regardless of their artistic field” Deejaying has taken emeson around the world, allowing him to experience beautiful moments and amazing people.

”I’m not a tourist when I’m away, I like to get involved, in as much as time and business will allow.” The instrumental tracks ‘Star of Atlantis’ and ‘Ixia’ taken from the ‘Audiocentricities ‘ set were borne of time spent on the beaches of the island in Greece.

Inspiration for his lyrics comes from his own personal experiences, past, present and dreams of the future. His early memories of music include hanging out with his father, Emeka, playing eight-track cartridges in his dad’s Volkswagen Hatchback and cruising along the streets on summer days, listening to music as varied as Jimmy Cliff, the Upsetters, Pioneers and James Brown right through to Don Williams, The Beatles and Miles Davis.

Bittersoul – The Lab Soulphonica Sessions, self-financed and handed out as an EP, signalled emeson’s solo pursuit and foray into the arena. Composed, written, performed, produced and engineered entirely by emeson, one has to question whether this is his way of working from now on. ”Mmm, it certainly keeps me busy” he laughs. ”But no, I have done everything else on ‘Audiocentrities’, but the mastering I left to EPM Mastering, this time”

Which leads us to Audiocentricities. A fifteen-track soulphonic sashay through bittersoul electronica and nu -psychedelic boogie (Track 3.Dream Weaver). The name Audiocentricities came about from experimentation with sound at his indoor recording studio apartment, in London.

Incidentally, this track ‘Dream Weaver’ formed part of the freethreemp3 – Audiothentic- EP released on the Internet. Dreamweaver and one of the other tracks ‘Check for Static’ from the EP feature on the album soon to be released on sale as an initial mp3 download album.
Is it Retro-Neo? ”It’s my experiences, my influences, nuances, mood swings, my difference and indifference…it is what it is” ”It’s real, it’s part electronic – part human, but essentially the whole being of ‘Audiocentricities’, charts an emotional rollercoaster of the past few years and has taken me the best part of eighteen months to open up, lay down and record” answers emeson. Having had his music described as a samurai dawn battle of shaolin electronica versus tiger claw soul (ruckerson). emeson is about to wield his uncompromising Hattori Hanzo sword of music…