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Nhojj: Someday Peace Love and Freedom
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Ernest Barteldes: I noticed that you opted to play all the instruments. What was the reason for that? Nhojj: The music you hear on Someday Peace Love & Freedom are parts of samples that I pieced together. On my first project, I had musicians come in and record everything, on this project - I was vibing off of these sounds that I purchased and the songs grew out of those. It was fun, a tribute to the music of the Caribbean, I grew up listening to in Guyana and Trinidad. I worked solo because this was about me exploring what I had inside, it was important for me to do that, it was part of my learning process as a recording artist. Ernest Barteldes: What influences have affected you most? I notice that you have a Bobby McFerrin quality, but I notice that you also have some Asian sounds in your music - for example, the use of a Koto on Peace.
Nhojj: Yeah, Bobby McFerrin has had a big impact on my music, so has Bob Marley, gospel artists like Take 6, Richard Smallwood, and a lot of the pop stars of the 80s Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston. But when recording, it all gets fused together, even music I just heard once and can't even remember. I believe everything we've heard gets stored and comes out at the right time, by the way thanks for letting me know what sound that was in Peace - I really liked the quality of the sound over the drums, I didn't know what the name was.Ernest Barteldes: How do you feel about the Outmusic nomination? Nhojj: I'm flattered, I heard there were around 600 submissions, so I was really flattered that Someday Peace Love and Freedom was one CDs that the judges liked. Its always nice when someone else "gets" what you're doing. Ernest Barteldes: You were born in Guyana to a father who is a minister. How did that affect your becoming openly "out" ? Nhojj: Being true to oneself is seldom easy, but I have to be true to myself - my father was true to his calling and I have to be true to mine. Ernest Barteldes: Your academic background has little connection with music. How did that come about, and when did you decide to take the plunge and become a professional musician? Nhojj: I decided to take the plunge after graduating from school. I had been ingrained with the idea of "stability" so I started as a biology major (and hated it), I graduated with a BA in Economics, but didn't want to work the people I sat in class with, so I had to really look at my life and decide what I really wanted to do. It wasn't a matter of what I could do, because from my grades I could be a MD or an Economist. So I really had soul searching to do, and when it was all done - music was the leader by a long shot, so I jumped in. It was a tough time, because part of me really did want stability, but I needed creativity. I tried both for a while, but in the end music and creativity won, music makes me happy. Ernest Barteldes: What is your songwriting process? Nhojj: I play around with it on my first CD I've Been Waiting for You I had all these melodies floating around in my head and, so I started with the melody first and the melodies inspired the lyrics. I play keyboards well enough to piece basic tracks together and I'd have professional musicians come and flush it out. On this CD, I had samples that got the ball rolling, I listened to the music with a little portable tape recorder and sang the musical ideas that I got from the music.
So they are like opposite ways of writing melodies. I also like to play around with the lyric writing, for the first CD, I thought about what I wanted to say and how I wanted everything worded and the images I wanted to words to create, with the second I barely edited anything, I just let it flow out. The topics I write about are usually whatever is on my mind at the time; for the first album, I was dealing with myself, coming to terms with my sexuality, relationships, falling in love and falling out of love. On the second album I was looking around me at the world and what was happening, 9/11 occurred around that time, so there was a lot to write about. Ernest Barteldes: With all the controversy on gay marriage, what is your position about the matter today? Nhojj: I'm baffled that this is an issue in 2004, I can't believe there are human beings who still oppose gay marriage. |
 
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Nhojj 
They are both interesting ways of writing- with the first method, the sky is the limit and you have to narrow it down to a melody. With the second method, your have to squeeze the most out this 2 or 4 bar sample. © 1997-2009 BEI
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