I Grew Up As Son of a Local Bread Seller
Segun Johnson is a live performer and a musician. His expertise with different musical instruments have helped shaped him into a musical powerhouse. He tells Tosin Clegg about starting out, his big break, career and so much more
Howdiditallstart?
I grew up as a son of a local bread seller in Oke-Ira, Ogba part of Lagos, where I was raised by my mum, Mrs. SamiatAdekanbi, all by herself. I had my primary and secondary education in Lagos. During this time, my talent in playing the drums and piano granted me an opportunity to play the drum set in a local church where I was paid N10,000 monthly salary and I was able to save some money with which I sponsored myself in school.
When did your career kick off?
And my first step was to serve as a backup singer for different live bands in Lagos. My plan was to learn the styles of these different live bands, especially because they all had different kinds of music as their selling points. Some live bands were good with gospel songs, some were good with juju and fuji music, some were good with Jazz and Pop songs of foreign old school songs. For a year, I continuously did backedup vocals for different bands just to learn their styles. I spent a major time of my learning process with Bolaji Olarewaju, popularly known as Big B.
Tell us about your performances so far?
I have moved from corporate to regular owambe events, such as weddings and birthdays in and out of Lagos. I made appearance on different media platforms such as the Teju Babyface Show, TVC wake up Nigeria, Channels television Sunrise, amongst others. I’ve hosted corporate events with different corporate organisations such as Chevron Nigeria, Toyota Nigeria, Promasidor Nigeria, Meristem Securities, amongst others.
When was your most memorable moment?
When ChiefAde-Ojo, Chairman of Elizade, called me personally and requested my presence and performance at his golf course at his home town in Ilara Mokin, Ondo State. This was memorable for us because as at that time we were just few months into the business and choosing us was at the expense of another notable band in Nigeria.
What are your future goals?
Presently, we stand as the only live band and crossover artiste that performs the present style of versatility in vogue. We also perform customised ethical songs, not vulgar songs, for each event. In years to come, we look forward to satisfying clients.