Nwanchukwu Ozioko, familiarly called as Vast
from the eastern singing group, Bracket, was
diagnosed with Lymphoma, a type of cancer of
the blood early last year and thankfully
survived and is now cancer free. While the
treatment was going on, Bracket managed to
keep releasing material (Audio & Video) and
remain relevant.
The NOTJUSTOK team hooked up with the
singing duo in their house after Vast just
returned from a check up in the United
Kingdom, to discuss Music, survival and the future. The interview was done individually, enjoy.
INTERVIEW WITH VAST
We heard you just got back from a medical
check up in UK, how did it go?
It was successful, I thank God for that, this is
not the first check up, it is actually the 3rd
and they all went well, I’m completely cancer
free.
Let’s recap on how it started, was there a
check up before the first check up?
What i mean is a check up after the treatment,
they said I had to keep coming back so there
won’t be a relapse. I have to be going every 4
months. Even though everything seems
completely perfect, I have to be back for
another checkup in February 2014.
Moving back on the bright side of your
experience, you spent more than 6 months,
how did you guys manage to keep releasing
materials? because it didn’t feel like you guys
were away or took a break.
We have to give thanks to God, I was
diagnosed in Nigeria, but before then I was
sick but I was still going for shows, Cupid
Stories album was on point and was
everywhere, we went for a tour in Australia in
January 2013 and we came back in the first
week of February and I was down, I couldn’t
even move, they told me it was cancer and
they referred me to London and we went to
London. Nazy (Our manager), said people
were still calling and wondering where we were
and we had dropped ‘Temperature’ and people
were wondering when we would release a video
for it. By that time I was already on the 4th
Chemotherapy circle out of 8, so I told Nazy I
had the strength to appear in a video in
London. We had to bring Clarence Peters to
London and we shot the video, and put it out
immediately it was ready. So, people didn’t
really know that something was going on. But,
I stayed almost a year and people didn’t hear
from us but that video helped a lot.
So, after the treatment, you guys went on a
material release spree?
After Temperature video people were waiting
for a new song, when we came back we
needed to close that gap because we were
away for almost a year, some people even
thought that we had stopped music as a
career, even though the news went everywhere
that I was sick, a lot of people didn’t know.
We released International Baby and it wasn’t
enough, then came Mama Africa, we even
made a song with Flavour called ‘Tonight’
before ‘Nana’.
The next question is, how did all these songs
get made in a short space of time, were you
writing them while you were in the hospital?
Experience can motivate you to write songs, if
you’re in shock. if you’re in pain etc. If you’re
happy you can also write but when you’re in a
bad mood you write more songs. Yes, I was
writing when I was in the hospital, I couldn’t
wait until I got back to Nigeria before I picked
up writing music. That’s how we got “Mama
Africa”. When I got back to Nigeria, Smash
(My music partner), played “International
Baby” for me and we recorded it together with
“Mama Africa”. Smash, Jay Stuntz and
Flavour already made ‘Tonight’, so I just
needed to do my verse. For Nana, we called
Masterkraft and asked him if he had anything
for us he said he didn’t and i tried a melody
and he made the beat and the rest is history.
While you were writing in London, did you
have producers send you beats or were you
sending them voice recordings to work with?
For Mama Africa, Meca E sent me a beat first,
so I had to flow on the beat while I was in the
hospital. Jay Stuntz on the other hand came
to the house, and most times we go to the
studio to work, same thing with Masterkraft.
What are the future plans now, are we
expecting Cupid Stories 2?
Of course, we are planning to release another
album but, we’re wanna work on 2 more
collaborations first. We are looking forward to
Davido, P Square or Tiwa Savage, any 2 of
these 3 will do.
For shows, how are they coming along? Is
everything back to normal?
Not actually back to normal, but I can say it
has been going well. It’s not easy, especially
when one goes off the scene for a while and
all of a sudden shows start flowing, it doesn’t
work like that. It’s going well, we have a
couple of shows lined up but everything will
kick off in October. We had a couple of shows
in August in Benin republic, even had an
European Tour in July, and a couple in
Equitorial Guinea, Burkina Faso and a few
more coming up.
For a duo/group to survive as long as long as
you guys have, there must be something
strong that would have bonded you guys, as of
last year we heard rumors that you guys were
about to split up, there was even an artwork
that said “Vast- Cupid Man”, and people
rumored that it was the title of your solo
album, what do you have to say about that?
All i can say is that God has been behind
everything, he has been the one keeping us,
it’s not easy, I can’t say that i’m perfect
enough to make it work. The ‘Cupid man’
thing is just a name i came up with innocently
but people can go crazy and read meaning
into little things. The day i heard the news i
wasn’t shocked, that is Nigerians for you. So, I
don’t care. Bracket, we are still strong
together, two is one, if we split we lose the
brand Bracket.
You guys are not kids anymore, soon it will be
time to start a family, you guys might not
think about splitting up yet but when that time
comes, there will be issues of sharing
property, separate houses… etc. When that
time comes, will Bracket exist as a group
releasing music in Nigeria?
Yes, that’s what I said earlier. Being together
as a group is the most important thing, even
if we get married, that should be the peak of
the career- working together after marriage.
Right now, we’re just playing, when we get
married we have more responsibilities, so
that’s where the hard work will start. Anyone,
who thinks that women will cause a split up is
getting it wrong because we know what
women can do and we know the kinda women
we wanna get married to. Money issues,
property issues… we will sort that out like we
always, do it won’t be a problem.
Thanks for having us today, we wish you good health and success.
Thank you.
INTERVIEW WITH SMASH
We’d like to hear from your own perspective,
how was the compilation of music made
possible?
He actually in the hospital when we made
Temperature video, but he was getting better
then after that he got of the hospital in
September and we made more songs. So these
songs made sure our face didn’t fade out of
the market.
For song recordings, how did that happen?
We didn’t actually record any song in London,
Jay Stuntz made most of our recordings here
in Lagos, Nigeria.
So how did you cope with the absence of
Vast, were you lonely? Because, you seemed
like the one on ground making the necessary
moves to keep your brand alive, how did you
manage all of that?
I was actually in London with him for like 4
months, so when I got back it was just like 4
months for him to get back so i didn’t feel any
form of loneliness. After I got back, I called
Jay Stuntz, who was always coming around
and we didn’t have to wait for Vasts’ return
before making music. We even has a song wevmade with Dammy Krane, these songs would be on the album.
As a group is there anything (Un-spiritual) you
guys do to stick together? Is there anything
you can credit as a reason to still be together?
It’s more of understanding, not trying to
compete within ourselves for a particular role.
In a group there is a lead singer, everyone
can’t play lead. In certain groups, everyone
wants to show themselves and be the front
man. If there’s an understanding there are
certain songs that can be done by one person
or just two parties and everyone still gets a
role to play in that song. The songs must not
have every member of the group sing all the
time, that’s where some of the problems can
come in, and then the monetary aspect. These
are the two major problems a group could
have. One member could think of how much he
could make as a solo artiste compared to
what he’s making as a member of a group.
Sometimes, without any issue one could think
they’ve worked long enough and it’s time to
go a separate direction. When we started, we
were 3, then my major concern was to ‘Blow’,
I didn’t care about any issue, then we were
mixing rap and r&b and we knew the rap side
was slacking and we needed to scrap it, it
became a major issue and one of us had to
go, as soon as he left it eventually worked out
just the way we had envisioned and by God’s
grace it is working till date.
You said something about finance, in Nigeria,
do they pay a group higher than they pay an
individual?
It depends, sometimes, they pay an individual
more than they pay a group, sometimes a
group gets the higher pay, it all depends on
the current status of the brand. If you’re the
rave of the moment, they’ll pay higher than
the other party be it individual or group. If
you’re a solo artist at that time that’s more
money.
So, you guys don’t have money sharing
conflicts?
None at all. We don’t really think about
money most times. We only talk money when
we’re about to spend on a project. There are
bigger issues like performance, crowd presence
and sound to think about before a concert.
Has there been any situation where you guys
like the same girl and one person has to
sacrifice for the next party?
Sure, of course
So, who normally steps down for the other?
Most times, I back off. Lol
Thanks for having us Smash.
Thanks.
Source - notjustok.com
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