•The CEO, SAMMY SODEKE Tells City People
Have you noticed that at many celebrity parties these days, Aristos Band is always on the band stand? It is live band of choice for many celebrities. They like their performance and the fact that they can sing all manner of songs, from Juju to highlife, to R & B to all the latest tunes. It is a band that has been around for a long time, founded by the versatile musician, Sammy Sodeke, who has a trade mark bushy beards.
Apart from beign the leaders of the band, he blows the Sax and thrills guests at every event with as he moves around singing popular tunes, along with his band members. A few days back, City People Publisher, SEYE KEHINDE spent quality time with Sammy, who is an easy going gentleman who loves good music.
How has he been able to sustain the band we asked him? “So, far so good. I can only say it’s been the grace of God. I have been doing these for a while now, but, when God says it’s time, it is time. So, I give God the glory. That’s the only thing I can say. And I will keep working and God will continue to take the Glory.
How long has the journey been? “Personally, I have been doing music professionally for about 10 years. And the band is over 12 years now. We’ve been there but the prominent of these days is kind of much. But we thank God for that”.
What explains that? “The God factor and a lot of hard work. We try to create something different with our music and our performance. And I can say I am lucky to have good guys that work with me. They are dedicated and hard working.”
So how did he coin the name of the band, ARISTOS BAND? “ARISTOS is different from the Nigerian Aristo. It’s a Spanish word which means “Class” and “Style”. That’s where we coined the name from, and we stand to be different in everything that we do, and try to be Classic in everything that we do.”
What has been his strategy in terms of music. And how has he been going at the pace he has been going? “Like I said earlier, we try to be different, every time. people see you on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and the skins is the same, you will become boring. So we try to add things that will make us different and unique every time we come out to perform and we are aware of the competition in the industry. And we do not relax.”
How can your music be different, doing what you do everyday? “May be because we enjoy it. I basically, I enjoy what I do and if you watch many of our videos on YouTube you can tell the differences and the entire band enjoyed what they do. When we get on stage, we just have fun and we understand ourselves on stage.”
How has it been playing back to back? “Just enjoy yourself some times, it might be tiring playing back to back but when you enjoy what you’re doing, once we get on stage, the energy comes back, from there the passion keeps us going.”
What also determins the kind of music the band sings at an event? “We are very adaptive. We study the crowd. You know we play all genre of music. So we will look at the crowd and picture what their expectation is. I have travelled around the world, and I have worked with Lagbaja for a long while, before I started doing my own thing. I am very versatile and experienced. The musical contribution of my backup singers just brings colour to the whole thing. So when we get to an event, we study the crowd very well, and sometimes they will give us a brief, and we will try to follow that. Also, when we listen to the brief, we will study the crowd as well and take them through the journey of music experience both the old songs and latest songs.”
We took him back a bit. We got him to recollect his first contact with Music and what triggered his love for music in you? “It’s in born, it is in the family. My father love music so much. And we are Christians. My father is a Pastor, so we grow from music to music. So, I personally went out to learn and I actually studied Music. Mou know our parents then, if you are not a Doctor or lawyer; you are not doing something. So, I studied Microbiology, and later pursue my passion. That’s what has been the drive. It’s has been music, that’s ask I know.
How did saxophone come in? “I love music, I play a couple of musical instruments and music director, I am a Saxophonist and Pianist. By the way, a lot of band owner today have passed through my linage, I won’t mention names, some are still in the band some come and they’ve gone. Aristos entertainment us like a platform that a lot of guys have enjoyed. At a point, I decided to give the band a face. So I started playing the saxophone. See the first face and at that point everything changed.”
How does he juggled all those roles, playing the Sax and leading the band? “Like I said it’s a collective effort. This lady here is one of our back up singers. She is my partner. She’s been there for a while too, and few of those guys there. It is not my 100% effort. They added their contributions and we work together. Importantly, we enjoy what we do. When you enjoy what you do it is not work anymore. We enjoy what we do. In other to be classy among others we are always in the studio practising, rehearsing, and performing.”
What roles does rehearsal, play in music? “Rehearsal makes everything better, we have to be better today than the performance of yesterday. The more you rehearse, the more you know and get better as an individual and as a group.”
How does he see the music industry? “The industry is growing, we are expecting more bands to come. Like King Sunny Ade, he has been there for a while, he plays music like he just started yesterday. That’s dedication and passion. If you have it, it will not leave you. So, you won’t be scared, that new bands are coming in because THE SKY IS THERE FIT EVERYBODY. Its a good thing, a lot has changed in the industry and I am happy about it. I love the competition, is just that you will keep working. If you don’t like amala, you will like eba, if you don’t like pounded yam, you will like rice. So, there is choice. Some will like this band, the other will like the second band. So, THE SKY IS THERE For EVERYBODY that is my philosophy.”
We get him to tell us about your growing up?
My growing up was a humble beginning, my father is a Pastor, we will have to move from on environment to another due to transfer placement. It was one of the things that makes me stronger and my father is a discipline man and those things helped me and shaped my career. If you look at our band that’s what you will find out that we are disciplined. It has never been recorded in the band’s history that we can’t late. We are always punctual at every event, be it small event or big event.
What should we be expecting from the band?“A lot. I think we are still scratching the suegeos, There is lot to do. We have plans which I can’t say to the air. We have lot of tour that we are planning on. So, we have a lot of good things to uncover, just watch out.
