OBARO Ejimiwe is a straight talker. The 37 year old doesn’t beat around the bush on his latest album, I Grow Tired But Dare Not Fall Asleep, and his perspective on the world is further explored in depth since his 2017 musings on Dark Days + Canapes. Releasing an album during a global pandemic is exactly not what he planned, but he takes it on the chin, rolling with the punches, much like we all are during these uncertain times. We caught up with Ghostpoet to discuss the release of his new album, lockdown regimes and life in general.
The album cover for I Grow Tired But Dare Not Fall Asleep.
Your new album comes out on May 1st. When you wrote it I’m sure you didn’t have these circumstances in mind. What are your thoughts about releasing an album during the lockdown?
I feel in these crazy and confusing times, art can be a great comfort and I’m glad to be hopefully contributing in my own little way.
Where are you spending your lockdown?
In London.
Shakespeare famously wrote King Lear during isolation for the plague. Does isolation help with creativity or is there a pressure to create something brilliant during these quieter times?
There seems to be pressure on some artists to use this ‘free time’ to create the next opus. I’m not one of those people. I’m filling my time with things that keep my mind steady.
Your record is called I Grow Tired But Dare Not Fall Asleep. What does it mean? Talk us through its origins.
It’s my overall reflection on society. Many of us are mentally and physically tired of our merry-go-round existence but maybe out of fear or defiance we know we have to stay awake and fight for a brighter tomorrow.
What is the underlying message of your new record?
You’re not alone in how you’re feeling.
In an recent interview you said, “music is a strange beast. It makes you do strange things. I’d do music for a Double Decker, a cheese and onion sandwich. All you gotta do is stay happy – that’s how you get by.” Five years on, does this still approach to music still apply?
No. You can’t pay bills with sandwiches. Music is still very much a passion but I know my self-worth.
Is there pressure as a musician to exercise your creativity knowing you’re creating something to sell?
No. I feel lucky in this respect.
You recently released Concrete Pony, which is great. What’s the response been like?
Thanks! Good I guess? I don’t really make music for plaudits, it’s nice to get them though.
Your music seems to capture the gloomy narrative of our times. Do you think musicians have a responsibility to address politics and how important is it to you to do so?
Personally I think it’s important to write about the time’s we’re living in and I do raise questions of a political nature from time to time in my songs but that’s just a small part of what I write about.
You seem to be the king of collaborations having collaborated with so many great artists in the past. On this record we see collabs with Art School Girlfriend, Skinny Girl Diet’s Delilah Holiday, SaraSara and Katie Dove Dixon. How did these come about?
I wouldn’t say that! I’ve been very lucky to have an amazing array of people featured on my music singing my lyrics. Collaboration is a totally different matter, I’m pretty much an evil dictator when it comes to my solo work, ain’t much collaborating going on there.
If you could put yourself in a supergroup with three others, who would they be and why?
Me, Myself and I.
Your album cover takes influence from a painting called The Nightmare by Henry Fuselli but instead sees you lying in the place of the woman who originally features in it. How did this find its way to you, and what does it mean?
It came to me via my manager who was sending me artworks inspired by listening to the near finished album. I loved the meanings behind the original and the title, the idea of a sleeping/half sleeping human paralysed, unable to control what was going on around them felt like something I wanted to replicate.
Which artists have you been listening to during lockdown?
Currently, Nick Drake, BB King, Mazzy Star, Claude Debaussy, Headie One, Wells Fargo, Annette Peacock, Sibylle Baier.
Do you have any lockdown tips for those lacking creative motivation?Booze, exercise, banana-bread baking and laundry.
by Katrina Mirpuri
Ghostpoet’s new album is now available to stream through all platforms.