Observing Patterns: Yinka Bernie on His Solo Exhibition, Moving Parts An Umuala Journal Interview

Sound artist, musician and producer Yinka Bernie speaks to Umuala on his debut solo exhibition Moving Parts, his introduction to music, his influences and much more.

Umuala Journal (UJ): Thank you for your time. I like to begin by asking how you got into music and producing, what has the journey been like?

Yinka Bernie (YB): I started producing first maybe 2012, 2013 because I had a cousin that used to produce as well and still produces, and he kind of introduced me to it. I grew up around musical people as well, and it’s just been from that. I released my first project in 2015 which is called Fela Obsession; it’s just been like that since.

UJ: The project is called Fela Obsession, so is Fela a big influence on your music?

YB: Very much, I think he is one of the best composers we have ever experienced in the world.

UJ: Do you have any other musical influences? Your musical practice is quite broad in the sense that you score films, you engage with the fine arts, and you do commercial projects as well. What are your influences in these spheres and how do you engage with all these things?

YB: I consume a lot of music, art, I consume a lot, so I’m influenced by so much. I just observe things a lot, I even listen to music I don’t even like. I’m just always on the watch, so my influences are quite broad in that regard, but I think I’m really inspired by Virgil Abloh in terms of just how he is able to do so many things and interpret it in his own way and also how he brings different worlds together. I am super inspired by Virgil but there are so many people. I listen to so many people, I watch so many things so I can’t really pinpoint, but I think Virgil stands out.

UJ: You said you like to observe things and one of the things you observe you say is silence, you listen carefully to silence and you embellish it, can you speak more to that statement?

YB: Yeah. So I was the kind of kid that was just always curious, very quiet, observing people a lot, knew how to imitate people like I could recognise people, I was just very aware of things, I just observed a lot. It is something my parents say, my siblings say as well, growing up I was just a very curious kid and also I’ve just always watched things. For instance, I think my sister was more of an active participant in church back in the day, and my parent bought a flute for her, bought like so many things, she was reigning then, but I wasn’t that way, I think I just used to observe things and I always shied away from the stage but in terms watching a drummer, I watched a drummer for so long that I started learning how to drum from just observing patterns, so I think it replicated over the years of me just being able to observe from afar and just see things.

UJ: So all these observations have led up to your current endeavour which is the exhibition, Moving Parts. Can you tell us the inspiration for the themes that you are engaging with and how this exhibition came about?

YB: It is an idea I have had for a very long time because I live in Gbagada and I always take walks and just go around, use the bridge, and also people that follow me on Instagram know I make a lot of videos of random things in Lagos. So I used to make a lot of videos of the bridge; it just looked very scenic. So I was like I have to do something around this. Previously I made a website, I took pictures of buses, different buses in Lagos and made a video out of it. So, I just knew I wanted to do something in terms of exhibiting as a sound artist because it is something I have been really wanting to do for a while.

UJ: Can you tell us about the sonic and artistic direction you have taken for the exhibition?

YB: I would want people to come and see. It is a lot of ambient music, a lot of compositions, a lot of field recordings and experimental sounds. I feel like the sonics are very interesting. I just want people to experience it and tell me what they think because it is a very experimental score and music piece.

UJ: You said you did a lot of field recording, what was filming and recording like? And this could be a generalisation of Lagosians but they do not necessarily like being filmed, photographed or recorded in any way. Did you experience any issues when on location?

YB: No, it was pretty smooth, we had security with us, so it was pretty seamless, and we asked for permission to speak to people, we tried as much as possible not to show people’s faces as well because the video is also black and white and it is not a paid exhibition. We had security especially for times when we went out very early in the morning, we went very late in the night as well sometimes, so it was pretty seamless, it was fun like just speaking to different people and just hearing their stories. There is this guy we spoke to that sweeps the bridge, he is crippled and he had a very interesting story of how he comes to the bridge every morning and that is his day-to-day, that is like his nine-to-five, so hearing stories like that. Another guy was speaking about how he came to Lagos, how it was difficult for him to survive. So it has just been a very interesting experience hearing different peoples POV that I have met on the bridge.

UJ: Was there any common thread in the conversations you were having with these people?

YB: Yeah, it feels like Nigerians are very resilient. In particular, speaking to the guy that takes care of the bridge, that sweeps the bridge I’m like this guy regardless of being crippled, he comes there every morning, makes sure the bridge is swept, and the guy told us it is the money that people give to him when they are passing that he uses to take care of his family. So I felt there is a common indicator of resilience which can be good and bad. For us in Nigeria we always find a way to just make things work. And also how fast Lagos is, I don’t know whether to say people don’t care about each other, not even that, I just think everybody is kind of very frustrated because even the expressions, seeing how people are not smiling, everyone is just on the run going somewhere always, always just moving. I think Moving Parts in general just captures how crazy Lagos is and how we are always moving in Lagos and how it is such a fast city.

UJ: Lagos is rowdy and chaotic at times, you see a lot of absurd things happening on a daily basis and you’re just like is this a real place. Vibes differ from place to place and Lagos is a big city. I like to say there are cities within the city, from Ikorodu to Ikeja. Which locations did you find yourself in?

YB: We did Gbagada, obviously I stay in Gbagada, we did Oworonshoki, we did Berger, we did Ikeja, there like a very popular bridge in Ikeja just before Computer Village, we did that, took some videos of the one in Lekki, took some videos of the one in Ikorodu, Yaba as well; different bridges, we drove around and made videos over the bridges.

UJ: You are engaging in the fine art space. I alluded to it earlier that you produce and you make music, but you also make sound art. What prompted you to engage your musical practice in the fine art space and what would you say is the difference between this engagement and let’s say a more commercial project?

YB: I think for this it’s just very experimental because i think it marries all the worlds that I exist in, which is visuals, sound, instrumentation and also Lagos because I actually really like living in Lagos, although it is very chaotic but I don’t really see myself living anywhere else, so I feel this is just a full experience of who I am in terms of an artist or a person, because it just encompasses everything I do. With music, with doing like a concert for instance, it’s a bit different because I am performing songs telling my personal experiences, but with this it is more like my point of view, it is how I see the world or how I see sounds or how I engage with people.

UJ: You say it is a personal POV and from our observation you tend to do a lot of collaborations. Is there any collaboration on this project, and is collaboration an important aspect of your practice?

YB: Yeah very much, I have a wonderful team that I work with, shout out to my manager Olaolu. On this project I work with my long-term collaborator Bola Agbaje, he did my first cover in 2015, we went to uni together. Samad Agbaje, he was the art director for this, he designed everything regarding the rollout. I worked with Prince Akpa for the edit of the visuals, and also worked with Abdullahi. So me and Abdullahi mostly went around town, so he was taking photos, also making videos as well, I was making videos as well. Those are the main collaborators for this project, and my amazing band as well who will be playing at the opening by around 6 p.m on Saturday.

UJ: You have been in a couple group exhibitions with some galleries and have been part of some exciting art projects one notably being the sound installation for an exhibition by Orry Shenjobi at the Venice Biennale. Moving Parts is an independent exhibition. What has it been like producing your first solo exhibition?

YB: It’s been really fun because I have experienced a lot of art and I have worked with galleries, so over time I have seen what it takes to put on an exhibition together, so it’s been fun doing this independently and hopefully we are able to take this to other countries and just make it travel around the world.

UJ: What are you looking forward to when people experience the exhibition? Is there anything people should listen keenly to or keep an eye out for?

YB: Not really, I think people should come with an open mind. I am not really tied to orchestrating the vibe, I would just love to hear people’s experiences of what they think or how they felt. I would just like people to come and experience it with an open mind.

Observing Patterns: Yinka Bernie on His Solo Exhibition, Moving Parts An Umuala Journal Interview was originally published in Umuala Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.