Remi On "Talking To The People"

He's one of the panelists at the upcoming Talk The Talk Music Conference and Remi Kolawole admits that he enjoys "talking to the people" in this way and sharing his knowledge. Kolawole recently made himself available for "a face-to-face with some upcoming musicians at Groovin The Moo, talking about what they can expect from the music industry". "We'd try to help 'em out and give 'em advice that they can choose to take or not to take," he shares. "It's something that myself and Sensible J like to do a fair bit."

"The most important part is having a trust system with a select few people who you know have read the same books as you and can actually tell you, 'That's wack'."

When asked whether he can pinpoint exactly what it was that helped him get a foot in the door with his own music, Kolawole replies without hesitation, "Oh, yeah, a hundred per cent it was meeting [Sensible] J... the whole learning curve was all through J." And in Kolawole's experience, musical development accelerates through collaboration. "That's where you grow the most," he stresses, "whether it's just because of the fact that you're way out of your depth - it makes you go home and try as hard as you possibly can - or whether it's because you've got someone who's, like, walking it through with you; teaching you indirectly just by having their own style of making music.

"The most important part is having a trust system with a select few people who you know have read the same books as you and can actually tell you, 'That's wack', or, 'I know you can do better, go and do it'." He's fortunate enough to have "a lot" of mentors in his life and Kolawale encourages, "You'll find your mentor, I believe, when you are ready, you know what I mean? Like, when you want that mentor, when you're willing to accept that knowledge in yourself.

"I've met people in the last year - last few days - that are younger than me, maybe have not been as experienced as me, but [they] have totally blown my entire mind just by the way that they approach life and how they approach music, you know. So it's just about being ready to accept someone into your life that can add some sort of perspective."

Given that this conference is open to young people from the age of 12, we ask Kolawole whether he had musical aspirations this early on. "I played classical piano up until I was about 16," he reveals, "which kind of sucks for me, because I love piano but I was, you know, taught to play the classical route, which doesn't speak to a child. If someone had told me I could play Stevie Wonder, then I definitely would have done that." Based on this experience, Kolawole recommends anyone in a similar position should not "feel obligated" to "do the norm". "You can go and find whatever artist you like and see if they've got piano in their tracks and, more often than not, they will," he suggests. "You can go on YouTube and type in 'Stevie Wonder - All I Do How To Tutorial' and that will teach you how to do it." So is Kolawole planning on revisiting piano? "Very recently that's definitely speaking to me, a lot, is trying to get back in and play the keys," he confesses.