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Aerosoul Interview
Other | Monday 23rd January 2012 | Osh
What’s happening 2012? It’s Oshi with the second big interview of year. Right now I’m chilling with the big man, Leke Aerosoul. What’s happening homeboy? Good to see you!
Good to see you too. Haven’t in a long time
Exactly. Been a while man. Where am I right now?
You’re at “Aerosoul” headquarters, and this is my operations centre.
Oh man, things have changed around here. I used to hang out here, right?
That’s right. Back in the 90’s Don FM days. That’s the old school... that’s where we came through, when I first met you. When was that, the early 90’s, right?
Wow, that was a long time ago now! So what’s been popping? For people who don’t know, tell us about Aerosoul, the story…
Aerosoul has been going since 1998. I set up the brand after college. I graduated from London School of fashion and I had a lot of friends in the music business. I was raving hard in Essex. My close friends got signed to Moving Shadow and that’s when I got into the rave scene. It was around 1994/95, and yea, I started putting out a product. I started printing up my own little shirts. I was doing some stuff for Soul to Soul when the shop was in Camden.
OK, yea, there was a big Soul to Soul movement in clothing that must have been a little bit inspirational for you?
Yea, well I was part of the movement. I did some African prints and was selling quite a lot of them in shops….
So wait a minute, you mean to tell me you’re the guy that brought the African to the Soul to Soul?
I wouldn’t say that because we’re all Africans, but yea, I did some African prints specifically for the movement as well. It was traditional African garments with print on them and also t-shirts with African prints on them. I had a little range I was doing for Soul to Soul based in the shop. After graduating from The London College of Fashion, I went to The London College of Printing to learn how to screen-print. There I made my t-shirts and then sold them to stores.
OK, ‘cause for those who don’t know, Aerosoul was one of the first urban music-based clothing brands I ever knew. I remember Soul to Soul, and now I can see the connection…
That’s right... the whole Camden scene...
But you studied, right? You went to London College of Fashion first?
Yeah, actually I went to The City and Guild school of art first, which was a private art school in Kennington, and I did my foundation in art and design there. Then I went to London College of Fashion to study design, visual communication, fashion and retail management, and as soon as I finished the course I pretty much set up my brand straight away ‘cause by the end of the course I knew this was what I wanted to do. My end of year collection was like my first clothing range. That’s what I used.
Nice, so you actually took your studies straight out into the business world. I remember a lot of your designs from back in the day. They are some iconic designs. Aerosoul is synonymous with music, and there were always artists involved. There was always a strong representation in UK Hip Hop, a big UK flavour, a lot of drum and bass… everything that was fresh. Who were the first people to start wearing your brand?
Well basically, straight after college, around the late 90’s, I got involved with DJ Ron and we set up the soul movement called London Some’ting Records. We had the whole East London fraternity. We had Moose, DJ SL and GQ, and we had 5 labels: we had Pimp, Picasso London, Some’ting records and PGS’s label. We also had a recording studio, so a lot of people used to come through there and put stuff down. I don’t know if you remember that big garage track “Good Times” with MC Unknown and the Garage Lot? They cut that joint in the studio… it was all part of that era
So we saw Ron in the t-shirt… Moose was supporting this?
Yea we had Kane down there, a guy called Gerald. Nornsky came through old school joints with Moose, DJ Ron and MC 50 and DJ SL, the original London Some’ting records all stars. I mean we had loads of people coming in: Kenny Ken, pretty much all the jungle heads. Obviously Ron is pretty well connected in that scene, so people used to come through to hear music, catch up and make music because the studio was there. It was like a collective and my label was part of that… 5 record labels and a clothing brand basically.
Your brand became associated with the music ‘cause they were all wearing it, but how much was your work involved in and influenced by the music around you?
Well, like I said, that particular era really inspired me. I mean just to do a photo-shoot with DJ Ron. I was big into Cool Fm and all that stuff. All you guys were doing the Don FM thing, so I was really big into that at the time. It went from a photo-shoot with Ron to us getting involved in a business and setting something up on Goswell Road in Barbican. So the music just played a big part in it. There were so many artists coming through and I was pretty connected in the music biz in those days as well, so we just bought our databases together and developed something. Obviously that didn’t go according to plan because after a while I re-established myself as Aerosol clothing. It was called Outrage clothing when I was working with Ron. Around 1998 I set up Aerosoul clothing by myself again. More independent.
So when you came up again you were repping music. We started seeing those designs. Who was out there then?
I mean it kicked off with the Junglist movement design really, because that was like my first proper design. That’s the first thing that got me noticed.
Yea, I know, that was crazy. Then came the hype ‘cause we started seeing your clothes in movies. How did that happen?
Well, the production company had seen my clothes somewhere in Leicester and they got in touch with the director. The director had already seen some of my stuff and they showed him some more samples.
This was the director for human traffic, right?
That’s right: Justin Kerrigan. He really liked my stuff so I pretty much sent him one of each design just to see what happened. They ended up using all of them, but the Jungalist Movement was the predominant design, and that’s the one that got noticed. I started developing the brand straight after that design broke through. I was just feeding in more products. I started really going for it. The artist has always been there since day one, and I’ve been connected to the music scene from an early stage. I also DJ, so it’s always been there for me personally. If anything I was like right, I’m going to get on it more aggressively, get the right artists wearing it, and I was fortunate at the time to have met some really cool artists. So anyone I was really feeling who I saw wearing my brand, I would just approach. And there were people that I knew already like Omar, Roots Manuva, Rodeny P and Tie, and they had seen my stuff. Basically, I wanted to get the artists more involved with the brand ‘cause the artists I represent are the face of Aerosoul. That plays a big part in what I do. It’s just about being consistent. The movie thing was just being in the right place at the right time. I went on to do stuff for a guy called Q who had a film called Dead Meat, which he had been writing as a little script that he used to give out in clubs. I don’t know if you remember him, Osh. He used to wear those weird glasses. He was at Heads, a few dances like that, and he had these weird glasses he use to wear and this little script he gave out based on the jungle scene. That comic type book thing led to a book deal that then went to a film which he developed himself from scratch. I mean it took a long time to get the film out as he financed it all himself. I met Q in the middle of that and he liked what I was doing as well, so I hooked him up with some garms for his film, and that went really well. Then I started getting stuff with Hollyoaks. I also got stuff on different kinds of Channel 4 music documentaries.
Wow, that’s right. But it wasn’t like you were at home making clothes all the time. You were someone who was always out there. You’ve worked with people like Public Enemy and Russell Simons. What has been the highest point so far?
Well, there have been so many, Osh. I’ve met a lot of incredible people on the journey. It’s hard to really pick one. I’ve been fortunate to meet all of them, but meeting Russell Simmons was the big one for me. Like I said, they played a big part in my inspiration and directing what I wanted to do with my brand.
Looking back… any other inspirational moments you recall having through your career?
Well, getting the products into Human Traffic, that was a really high moment because everything just came together so perfectly. I didn’t realise my products had been used in the film as there was such a big gap between filming and release, about 3 or 4 years, and I didn’t hear anything, so it was totally out of my mind. So when it came out it just blew up, phones started ringing and people were saying “I’ve just seen your stuff in a film”. It was crazy. I was like wow, I totally forgot about that! I mean all I got was a script and I just based it on the script because it had music by Pete Tong and a Cameo by Karl Cox. Everything about it was like the life we were living. I was like, “If this film ever does get made, it’s going to be amazing ‘cause it’s, like, our lifestyle”. So the whole film thing… when that came out it was a big moment… it was real special.
What about now? It’s going to be in skins right?
Yea, that’s right. We’ve got some products in the new skins series, which is coming out in like 2 weeks. I don’t know about the scenes, but my designs are going to be featured in it. And we’ve got this guy called Joel Dornman, the MTV news guy, who’s really into our stuff at the moment. He’s been wearing it a lot on MTV news.
That can’t be bad for business….
Yea, it’s very good for business. Every little helps. At the end of the day this is an independent, grass roots brand. Anything we can get that benefits us is a positive thing, you know, ‘cause it’s hard. It’s a hard game. The retail game is not as easy as people think. You’re competing with design designer brands, urban brands and independent street wear brands… all types of brands. It’s a very competitive industry.
So tell me about the man, the struggle. Tell us about the hard work you’ve put in and the hardest things you’ve had to cope with…
Well, it’s just like running any business. Basically, you have to think about how the business runs financially ‘cause that’s the important thing. I had a lot of issues with shops and a lot of shops going bust, not being paid on time. Lots of dramas. I ended up losing a lot of money, and stock as well ‘cause the stock was selling but shops just wouldn’t pay for whatever reason. So I made the decision not to do sale or return anymore around 2001/2002 as soon as I got online and developed my online store. I cut out the middleman and went straight to the consumer because I’d just lost so much money and it slowed things down a lot. And since I did that it has been great. Now I know exactly where the money comes from, and when an order comes in it’s all pro format. I have some really good accounts now. Chemical records is probably the biggest account. I’ve had no dramas with them, and I’ve been supplying them for over 13 years now.
So what’s this side of the business… what exactly do you do for them?
I mean, obviously, I sell to them. I have an account with them and they sell a few of my designs. I also have a collaboration we did for the Junglist Movement design, so I get royalties form that and I also support what they do. Out of all the accounts that I have, Chemical is my best and the one I like working with the most. They pay on time, they’re regular, the product goes really well and they have a nice fan base. The Latest product is the Jungalist Movement collaboration hat. They are coming along really well.
Who’s wearing your designs right now?
We have people like Ian Wright wearing the stuff. We have people like Leon Best. We have actors like Jason Mazza, Joel Dornhan who does the MTV news. We’ve got Steven Graham, Ed Sheeran… he’s been rocking the stuff. Doube E wears our stuff is his video for Street Fighter, which was huge. 100,000 hits in a few days. Yea, we have lots of new artists coming though too. Grime artists and stuff.
It's popping off right now. You have some big event going on. Tell us about that…
Right, well, it’s a knowledge event, taking place on the 27th January at 1001 café. It’s a joint venture between Intrigue and Aerosol. Intrigue is a liquid drum and bass night in Bristol that has been running for the past 9 years. The guy who runs it is called Ben Insider, a very good friend of mine. We’re very close. We’ve done events together before. We did one just before Purple closed down that was really successful. We’re using artists that are affiliated to Aerosoul and Intrigue, and yea, it’s quite exciting. We do quite a few things together. He’s got a track on my compilation as well, Soul Control, and he’s the sponsored artist, so we do quite a few different things together.
Nice! Tell me about this compilation?
It’s an album called Soul Control. The first was called Soul Controlled. That was a joint thing, a cover CD that we did for Knowledge. We did one for Knowledge which was basically exclusive tracks from artists sponsored by Aerosol, and then last year I did a remix of it called Soul Controlled. That features tracks from the original compilation plus lots of new tracks that artists have done exclusively for the brand.
So tell me what artists we’ve got on this. This is a serious CD, so what kind of music are we talking about?
Well, it’s mixed up for a start. It’s not one genre ‘cause obviously Aerosol is a lifestyle brand. We got Omar, Dolly, Paradox, Alaska, Insiders, AI, Domu, Steve the Force (who use to be Ali G’s Dj), Zero Ting and we have a Spectra track on there. Yea they’re all exclusive… all of them.
That is big. When can we get the CD?
The CD is actually free. It’s a promotional item, so if you buy a certain amount of Aerosoul items, you get the CD free. You need to go to Aerosol.co.uk and buy 2 products and then you get the CD free.
So that BIG CD is free. Go to www.aerosoul.co.uk and get on it. Nice to have so many people rocking your brand. How does that make you feel?
Great. I mean that’s the best feeling ever. When you put out a product, you want the best people in the game to be wearing it. We have a core of artists we work with, and we don’t really go in a different direction. We stick to what we know. We have this very high standard we have to keep. The standard of artists has to be high. Nowadays it’s quite easy to be honest because a lot of people know about Aerosoul, and they know about what we do. They know that this is how we get down, and if they reach out to me… most definitely. I’m fortunate... I can kind of predict before an artist blows up. Like Ed Sheeran… he’s probably the biggest artist we’ve got wearing the stuff at the moment. Before he blew up he didn’t have a deal, he was just doing his thing with his guitar. As soon as I heard one of his demos online, I just knew this kid was going to blow up. People were like ‘Are you sure mate?’ It just shows: you can’t judge a book by its cover. I just knew he was really talented and he was doing a lot of different stuff as well.
Ok that’s enough about Ed Sheeran… Have you got any big plans for your brand this year?
I can’t let that off, bruv (laughs). You know what, Osh, the way I see it, it’s like that old saying: the bad boy moves in silence. I don’t really give up my goods. I just do my thing and then let people get it, ‘cause I think if you start chatting about what you’re going to do, it kinda kills it. I just like to do my thing and not tell anyone. Keep flipping the script and keep people guessing… that’s what works for me. I mean my last product was a black and white V-neck, a tribute to YSL. Very unexpected for people that knew me. I’m glad I did it, and that’s the product I got on Ian Wright. It fits him perfectly. I design in a more mature way now. My fan base is growing, so my products have to diversify. I’m making my products more unique, more mature and a lot cleaner. But at the same time I can flip it and do more stuff with graphics. I just like to keep people guessing. The biggest thing for us now is this new website which will be dropping in Spring. There will be new designs.
And all kinds of interaction…
That’s right. You’re done. That is a Jungalist movement right there. Obviously there are a few things still left to come. Just keep an eye on the website. Keep an eye on what we do and you’ll see.
Tell me… if you were invisible for a day, what would you do?
I would rob a bank (laugh). You like that, right (laughs)?
If you were stranded on a dessert island with 3 people, who would they be? They have to be celebrities.
That’s a tricky one. I would definitely have to say my missus. She would have to be there, but I don’t know how she’d feel about the other 2 guests. One would have to be Cassey, and the third one would be Anne Maire. The three ladies. We’ll get it popping. I’ll be with them all and they can do anything
If you could change one rule in the world, what would it be?
Wow, that is difficult ‘cause it’s just one. If it was only one, I would make the world a better place…
How would you do that?
I guess I would fix up the government. Politics or polotrix, whatever you want to call it. I’ll fix that up, and I would make things better for people. Right about now the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. I’d find a middle-ground that would keep people happy and in a better place. Just a better spirit of life for the individual person. That’s if it was possible ‘cause at the end of the day my offering is just peace across the world. I’m Nigerian and we have a lot of politics going on at the moment. I don’t know if you read the news. We’ve got issues with fuel and things like that. One of the things that came to my head straight away is a better government system that’s not corrupt. Just make the world a better place. If it’s just one question, that’s all you can do. Get more creativity going on. With all the London riots, things going on thing like that need to be addressed, and addressing things like that would make everything the world better. When I say the world I mean the UK. We don’t know what the fuck’s going on in Iraq. It’s about fixing our own back yard, sorting out our community. It’s important man. And also, before you can move forward, you need to know about your past, so history and education is very important. Whether we do that through what we do with products and brands or through education and entertainment. That is edutainment, as KRS1 would say. What we do here is not just entertainment… we’re educating as well. We need more of that.
Lets keep it moving! I’ll look forward to going through the show and picking out some bits to represent. We’re getting over 1000 views a day, so come get your boy and ill be rocking aerosol ‘til I die.
It’s good too see you, and I have to big up the G list. You’re doing big things. Everyone needs to represent. Get on Facebook and the twitter and support TGN!
Good to see you too. Haven’t in a long time
Exactly. Been a while man. Where am I right now?
You’re at “Aerosoul” headquarters, and this is my operations centre.
Oh man, things have changed around here. I used to hang out here, right?
That’s right. Back in the 90’s Don FM days. That’s the old school... that’s where we came through, when I first met you. When was that, the early 90’s, right?
Wow, that was a long time ago now! So what’s been popping? For people who don’t know, tell us about Aerosoul, the story…
Aerosoul has been going since 1998. I set up the brand after college. I graduated from London School of fashion and I had a lot of friends in the music business. I was raving hard in Essex. My close friends got signed to Moving Shadow and that’s when I got into the rave scene. It was around 1994/95, and yea, I started putting out a product. I started printing up my own little shirts. I was doing some stuff for Soul to Soul when the shop was in Camden.
OK, yea, there was a big Soul to Soul movement in clothing that must have been a little bit inspirational for you?
Yea, well I was part of the movement. I did some African prints and was selling quite a lot of them in shops….
So wait a minute, you mean to tell me you’re the guy that brought the African to the Soul to Soul?
I wouldn’t say that because we’re all Africans, but yea, I did some African prints specifically for the movement as well. It was traditional African garments with print on them and also t-shirts with African prints on them. I had a little range I was doing for Soul to Soul based in the shop. After graduating from The London College of Fashion, I went to The London College of Printing to learn how to screen-print. There I made my t-shirts and then sold them to stores.
OK, ‘cause for those who don’t know, Aerosoul was one of the first urban music-based clothing brands I ever knew. I remember Soul to Soul, and now I can see the connection…
That’s right... the whole Camden scene...
But you studied, right? You went to London College of Fashion first?
Yeah, actually I went to The City and Guild school of art first, which was a private art school in Kennington, and I did my foundation in art and design there. Then I went to London College of Fashion to study design, visual communication, fashion and retail management, and as soon as I finished the course I pretty much set up my brand straight away ‘cause by the end of the course I knew this was what I wanted to do. My end of year collection was like my first clothing range. That’s what I used.
Nice, so you actually took your studies straight out into the business world. I remember a lot of your designs from back in the day. They are some iconic designs. Aerosoul is synonymous with music, and there were always artists involved. There was always a strong representation in UK Hip Hop, a big UK flavour, a lot of drum and bass… everything that was fresh. Who were the first people to start wearing your brand?
Well basically, straight after college, around the late 90’s, I got involved with DJ Ron and we set up the soul movement called London Some’ting Records. We had the whole East London fraternity. We had Moose, DJ SL and GQ, and we had 5 labels: we had Pimp, Picasso London, Some’ting records and PGS’s label. We also had a recording studio, so a lot of people used to come through there and put stuff down. I don’t know if you remember that big garage track “Good Times” with MC Unknown and the Garage Lot? They cut that joint in the studio… it was all part of that era
So we saw Ron in the t-shirt… Moose was supporting this?
Yea we had Kane down there, a guy called Gerald. Nornsky came through old school joints with Moose, DJ Ron and MC 50 and DJ SL, the original London Some’ting records all stars. I mean we had loads of people coming in: Kenny Ken, pretty much all the jungle heads. Obviously Ron is pretty well connected in that scene, so people used to come through to hear music, catch up and make music because the studio was there. It was like a collective and my label was part of that… 5 record labels and a clothing brand basically.
Your brand became associated with the music ‘cause they were all wearing it, but how much was your work involved in and influenced by the music around you?
Well, like I said, that particular era really inspired me. I mean just to do a photo-shoot with DJ Ron. I was big into Cool Fm and all that stuff. All you guys were doing the Don FM thing, so I was really big into that at the time. It went from a photo-shoot with Ron to us getting involved in a business and setting something up on Goswell Road in Barbican. So the music just played a big part in it. There were so many artists coming through and I was pretty connected in the music biz in those days as well, so we just bought our databases together and developed something. Obviously that didn’t go according to plan because after a while I re-established myself as Aerosol clothing. It was called Outrage clothing when I was working with Ron. Around 1998 I set up Aerosoul clothing by myself again. More independent.
So when you came up again you were repping music. We started seeing those designs. Who was out there then?
I mean it kicked off with the Junglist movement design really, because that was like my first proper design. That’s the first thing that got me noticed.
Yea, I know, that was crazy. Then came the hype ‘cause we started seeing your clothes in movies. How did that happen?
Well, the production company had seen my clothes somewhere in Leicester and they got in touch with the director. The director had already seen some of my stuff and they showed him some more samples.
This was the director for human traffic, right?
That’s right: Justin Kerrigan. He really liked my stuff so I pretty much sent him one of each design just to see what happened. They ended up using all of them, but the Jungalist Movement was the predominant design, and that’s the one that got noticed. I started developing the brand straight after that design broke through. I was just feeding in more products. I started really going for it. The artist has always been there since day one, and I’ve been connected to the music scene from an early stage. I also DJ, so it’s always been there for me personally. If anything I was like right, I’m going to get on it more aggressively, get the right artists wearing it, and I was fortunate at the time to have met some really cool artists. So anyone I was really feeling who I saw wearing my brand, I would just approach. And there were people that I knew already like Omar, Roots Manuva, Rodeny P and Tie, and they had seen my stuff. Basically, I wanted to get the artists more involved with the brand ‘cause the artists I represent are the face of Aerosoul. That plays a big part in what I do. It’s just about being consistent. The movie thing was just being in the right place at the right time. I went on to do stuff for a guy called Q who had a film called Dead Meat, which he had been writing as a little script that he used to give out in clubs. I don’t know if you remember him, Osh. He used to wear those weird glasses. He was at Heads, a few dances like that, and he had these weird glasses he use to wear and this little script he gave out based on the jungle scene. That comic type book thing led to a book deal that then went to a film which he developed himself from scratch. I mean it took a long time to get the film out as he financed it all himself. I met Q in the middle of that and he liked what I was doing as well, so I hooked him up with some garms for his film, and that went really well. Then I started getting stuff with Hollyoaks. I also got stuff on different kinds of Channel 4 music documentaries.
Wow, that’s right. But it wasn’t like you were at home making clothes all the time. You were someone who was always out there. You’ve worked with people like Public Enemy and Russell Simons. What has been the highest point so far?
Well, there have been so many, Osh. I’ve met a lot of incredible people on the journey. It’s hard to really pick one. I’ve been fortunate to meet all of them, but meeting Russell Simmons was the big one for me. Like I said, they played a big part in my inspiration and directing what I wanted to do with my brand.
Looking back… any other inspirational moments you recall having through your career?
Well, getting the products into Human Traffic, that was a really high moment because everything just came together so perfectly. I didn’t realise my products had been used in the film as there was such a big gap between filming and release, about 3 or 4 years, and I didn’t hear anything, so it was totally out of my mind. So when it came out it just blew up, phones started ringing and people were saying “I’ve just seen your stuff in a film”. It was crazy. I was like wow, I totally forgot about that! I mean all I got was a script and I just based it on the script because it had music by Pete Tong and a Cameo by Karl Cox. Everything about it was like the life we were living. I was like, “If this film ever does get made, it’s going to be amazing ‘cause it’s, like, our lifestyle”. So the whole film thing… when that came out it was a big moment… it was real special.
What about now? It’s going to be in skins right?
Yea, that’s right. We’ve got some products in the new skins series, which is coming out in like 2 weeks. I don’t know about the scenes, but my designs are going to be featured in it. And we’ve got this guy called Joel Dornman, the MTV news guy, who’s really into our stuff at the moment. He’s been wearing it a lot on MTV news.
That can’t be bad for business….
Yea, it’s very good for business. Every little helps. At the end of the day this is an independent, grass roots brand. Anything we can get that benefits us is a positive thing, you know, ‘cause it’s hard. It’s a hard game. The retail game is not as easy as people think. You’re competing with design designer brands, urban brands and independent street wear brands… all types of brands. It’s a very competitive industry.
So tell me about the man, the struggle. Tell us about the hard work you’ve put in and the hardest things you’ve had to cope with…
Well, it’s just like running any business. Basically, you have to think about how the business runs financially ‘cause that’s the important thing. I had a lot of issues with shops and a lot of shops going bust, not being paid on time. Lots of dramas. I ended up losing a lot of money, and stock as well ‘cause the stock was selling but shops just wouldn’t pay for whatever reason. So I made the decision not to do sale or return anymore around 2001/2002 as soon as I got online and developed my online store. I cut out the middleman and went straight to the consumer because I’d just lost so much money and it slowed things down a lot. And since I did that it has been great. Now I know exactly where the money comes from, and when an order comes in it’s all pro format. I have some really good accounts now. Chemical records is probably the biggest account. I’ve had no dramas with them, and I’ve been supplying them for over 13 years now.
So what’s this side of the business… what exactly do you do for them?
I mean, obviously, I sell to them. I have an account with them and they sell a few of my designs. I also have a collaboration we did for the Junglist Movement design, so I get royalties form that and I also support what they do. Out of all the accounts that I have, Chemical is my best and the one I like working with the most. They pay on time, they’re regular, the product goes really well and they have a nice fan base. The Latest product is the Jungalist Movement collaboration hat. They are coming along really well.
Who’s wearing your designs right now?
We have people like Ian Wright wearing the stuff. We have people like Leon Best. We have actors like Jason Mazza, Joel Dornhan who does the MTV news. We’ve got Steven Graham, Ed Sheeran… he’s been rocking the stuff. Doube E wears our stuff is his video for Street Fighter, which was huge. 100,000 hits in a few days. Yea, we have lots of new artists coming though too. Grime artists and stuff.
It's popping off right now. You have some big event going on. Tell us about that…
Right, well, it’s a knowledge event, taking place on the 27th January at 1001 café. It’s a joint venture between Intrigue and Aerosol. Intrigue is a liquid drum and bass night in Bristol that has been running for the past 9 years. The guy who runs it is called Ben Insider, a very good friend of mine. We’re very close. We’ve done events together before. We did one just before Purple closed down that was really successful. We’re using artists that are affiliated to Aerosoul and Intrigue, and yea, it’s quite exciting. We do quite a few things together. He’s got a track on my compilation as well, Soul Control, and he’s the sponsored artist, so we do quite a few different things together.
Nice! Tell me about this compilation?
It’s an album called Soul Control. The first was called Soul Controlled. That was a joint thing, a cover CD that we did for Knowledge. We did one for Knowledge which was basically exclusive tracks from artists sponsored by Aerosol, and then last year I did a remix of it called Soul Controlled. That features tracks from the original compilation plus lots of new tracks that artists have done exclusively for the brand.
So tell me what artists we’ve got on this. This is a serious CD, so what kind of music are we talking about?
Well, it’s mixed up for a start. It’s not one genre ‘cause obviously Aerosol is a lifestyle brand. We got Omar, Dolly, Paradox, Alaska, Insiders, AI, Domu, Steve the Force (who use to be Ali G’s Dj), Zero Ting and we have a Spectra track on there. Yea they’re all exclusive… all of them.
That is big. When can we get the CD?
The CD is actually free. It’s a promotional item, so if you buy a certain amount of Aerosoul items, you get the CD free. You need to go to Aerosol.co.uk and buy 2 products and then you get the CD free.
So that BIG CD is free. Go to www.aerosoul.co.uk and get on it. Nice to have so many people rocking your brand. How does that make you feel?
Great. I mean that’s the best feeling ever. When you put out a product, you want the best people in the game to be wearing it. We have a core of artists we work with, and we don’t really go in a different direction. We stick to what we know. We have this very high standard we have to keep. The standard of artists has to be high. Nowadays it’s quite easy to be honest because a lot of people know about Aerosoul, and they know about what we do. They know that this is how we get down, and if they reach out to me… most definitely. I’m fortunate... I can kind of predict before an artist blows up. Like Ed Sheeran… he’s probably the biggest artist we’ve got wearing the stuff at the moment. Before he blew up he didn’t have a deal, he was just doing his thing with his guitar. As soon as I heard one of his demos online, I just knew this kid was going to blow up. People were like ‘Are you sure mate?’ It just shows: you can’t judge a book by its cover. I just knew he was really talented and he was doing a lot of different stuff as well.
Ok that’s enough about Ed Sheeran… Have you got any big plans for your brand this year?
I can’t let that off, bruv (laughs). You know what, Osh, the way I see it, it’s like that old saying: the bad boy moves in silence. I don’t really give up my goods. I just do my thing and then let people get it, ‘cause I think if you start chatting about what you’re going to do, it kinda kills it. I just like to do my thing and not tell anyone. Keep flipping the script and keep people guessing… that’s what works for me. I mean my last product was a black and white V-neck, a tribute to YSL. Very unexpected for people that knew me. I’m glad I did it, and that’s the product I got on Ian Wright. It fits him perfectly. I design in a more mature way now. My fan base is growing, so my products have to diversify. I’m making my products more unique, more mature and a lot cleaner. But at the same time I can flip it and do more stuff with graphics. I just like to keep people guessing. The biggest thing for us now is this new website which will be dropping in Spring. There will be new designs.
And all kinds of interaction…
That’s right. You’re done. That is a Jungalist movement right there. Obviously there are a few things still left to come. Just keep an eye on the website. Keep an eye on what we do and you’ll see.
Tell me… if you were invisible for a day, what would you do?
I would rob a bank (laugh). You like that, right (laughs)?
If you were stranded on a dessert island with 3 people, who would they be? They have to be celebrities.
That’s a tricky one. I would definitely have to say my missus. She would have to be there, but I don’t know how she’d feel about the other 2 guests. One would have to be Cassey, and the third one would be Anne Maire. The three ladies. We’ll get it popping. I’ll be with them all and they can do anything
If you could change one rule in the world, what would it be?
Wow, that is difficult ‘cause it’s just one. If it was only one, I would make the world a better place…
How would you do that?
I guess I would fix up the government. Politics or polotrix, whatever you want to call it. I’ll fix that up, and I would make things better for people. Right about now the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. I’d find a middle-ground that would keep people happy and in a better place. Just a better spirit of life for the individual person. That’s if it was possible ‘cause at the end of the day my offering is just peace across the world. I’m Nigerian and we have a lot of politics going on at the moment. I don’t know if you read the news. We’ve got issues with fuel and things like that. One of the things that came to my head straight away is a better government system that’s not corrupt. Just make the world a better place. If it’s just one question, that’s all you can do. Get more creativity going on. With all the London riots, things going on thing like that need to be addressed, and addressing things like that would make everything the world better. When I say the world I mean the UK. We don’t know what the fuck’s going on in Iraq. It’s about fixing our own back yard, sorting out our community. It’s important man. And also, before you can move forward, you need to know about your past, so history and education is very important. Whether we do that through what we do with products and brands or through education and entertainment. That is edutainment, as KRS1 would say. What we do here is not just entertainment… we’re educating as well. We need more of that.
Lets keep it moving! I’ll look forward to going through the show and picking out some bits to represent. We’re getting over 1000 views a day, so come get your boy and ill be rocking aerosol ‘til I die.
It’s good too see you, and I have to big up the G list. You’re doing big things. Everyone needs to represent. Get on Facebook and the twitter and support TGN!
