Takeaways:

• The essence of building trust in the music biz hinges on spontaneous communication and mutual understanding between artists and their crew, ensuring no surprises during shows.
• Touring can be a total rollercoaster, especially when it comes to juggling time management and the elusive search for good food on the road.
• Production quality is the unsung hero of live performances; even the most talented artists can seem like rockstars with the right sound and light tech behind them.
• Navigating the complexities of different venues and PA systems makes every show unique, requiring adaptability and a solid game plan from the crew.
• Time is absolutely key in touring; a minute late can throw a whole schedule into chaos, so being punctual is non-negotiable!
• Having the right team and production can elevate an artist's performance from average to epic, emphasizing the importance of collaboration in the music industry.

mentioned in this episode:

• Davido
• Asa
• Ye

The Best five minute music podcast featuring Camp five Big Vibes only.

What's up, fam?

Welcome to the moment.

Welcome back to the Best five mini music podcast.

I'm your host, Kamba, and I still have Precious here with me.

So Precious, you're still on tour with one of Afrobeat's biggest exports, Davido.

How did that opportunity come about?

So for every artist that I've worked with, I've probably been the fallback guy for just a show.

And then it went on into being a guy for like, I was called back again and again.

I've been working with David on and off for five years.

Yeah, five years now.

And then fast forward to last year.

I got a call from Isa asking me where I was.

I told him where I was.

I was going to be out in Calabar.

I was coming to Lagos.

The next day was like, okay, let's see.

I was like, okay, fine artist showing Intercoursetta Hotel.

He came to meet me.

He shared the vision he wanted for David moving forward, asked what I'll need to accomplish that, and it was basically a, this is what we want to achieve.

We need you on board.

And I was like, yeah, am I.

And the relationship up till then, since we shook hands, have been amazing.

So, yeah, that's how I go to work with David.

I mean, it's David who we are talking about.

I know it takes a lot to come up with a proper set list, a great tour, and obviously ESA is doing a great work.

By the way, if you don't know who Asa is, that's Davido's manager.

I'd like to know, how do you build trust?

David is a very spontaneous person.

Number one, he does things.

But one thing he has been able to do, which is what a lot of artists do not do, David listens.

So for us right now, there's nothing that's really unplanned per se, because for us to achieve anything, to give the fans a good show, we cannot be surprised like the fans.

If we are surprised as a technical team, then the fans will not be surprised.

So.

So we basically know what he needs per time.

Right now.

His microphone has a talkback switch.

So while on stage he can press on the talkback switch and talk to the monitor engineer on me and tell, oh, please, I need vocals up or I need more tracks or I need more this thing.

Which is very rare because we've done a couple of rehearsals and we have his years dialed in.

We're pretty much locked in with this thing about what he might want differently let's say maybe he's on stage and he wants to talk to the fans.

Yes.

With the talkback switch now he can tell us, oh, he wants this and that.

So pretty much that is it.

We're not surprised.

We do our homework very well.

What's the hardest part of the tour?

So one of the hardest parts is as a Nigerian is being on time.

Sadly, that is it.

When you're touring, time is everything.

Time is everything.

So if your lobby call is 7:00am, your lobby call is 7:00am, not 7:01, not 7:05.

Because everything there is timed like up till lunch time is 12.

For lunch time, workers will stop working and go to eat.

So if you have not achieved what you want to achieve with the stage hands you have per country, that is your business.

If they were hired for five hours, once it's your fifth hour, they have anything other than that is over time.

So with Turing, its time has actually been this thing then.

Lack of sleep, obviously, yes.

You might feel like, oh, our job, we know the we normally sleep.

But when you're on tour, you realize that even when they tell you do you want to go for after party, you have to think whether it's really worth it because your show is the next couple of hours.

So you have to catch either the sleep on the top bus or you sleep when you're supposed to sleep.

You get.

So yeah.

And then basically different venues, different PA systems.

Sometimes only when we're doing arenas that we in some of the venues were arenas, so we had to fly PA there like D and B.

Some of the venues came in with their.

We had their inbuilt PA which was like L acoustic for most of the venues.

But that is different venues, different in house engineers, different PA system language barriers sometimes.

And then.

Yeah, so but these are just a few things and then.

Yes.

Which we're able to try and overcome.

Food.

Yes.

Finding Nigerian food in all these countries is an extreme spot.

And it's expensive.

Yeah.

So that's just it.

How important is it to have the right crew, the right production behind the scenes?

I'm talking about sound, light stage and technicality of all of this.

What people do not understand is when it comes to shows, when people see flyer, sometimes they feel like, oh, the lineup of the artist is what actually matters is a lie.

Production is key.

See, I have seen some untalented artists look like talented artists because of production.

I don't start mentioning names, but some major touring artists today, there are songs you might not even like.

What production makes you Want to listen to what they are doing.

For example, Ye, everyone is talking about his stage.

He's a very talented artist.

But you realize that what has been going around this thing is not about his singing is stage design, what have you.

So with production, production has to do with everything which is sound like stage, screen, stage managers and what have you.

Now if you're planning the show, first thing to do is the right venue.

So people plan some shows in some venues that do not even help what they're about to do.

So right venue, then you have to have the right set designs.

Right set design, some who design some sets and it's even meant for that kind of events.

And then you're wondering, okay, imagine doing an event with a lot of screens but you don't have screen content.

Why the hell do you have a lot of screens?

Go use curtains, make it look nicer.

Use back lights, just brighten it up.

Now for you to choose screens all over the place and they are boring content on the screen here.

So.

And there are some artists that do not understand that for their genre of music or for their sets, they do not need screens.

So I will say a venue set design and then basically the right team to work with.

So if you choose the right vendors or the right companies, it makes life easy.

People are not guessing.

People also have what to protect, like their integrity.

You don't need to be telling someone that knows that his name is at stake to do the right thing.

Coming up on the Best five minute Music podcast.

If you don't have a good ear, you cannot use a good gear if your drum doesn't sound great.

Is the drum head good?

Is the shell good?

Is the drummer using the right stick?

Is the drummer good?

Is the drummer strength?

So there are a lot of factors.

The various place was from the fact that most churches do not pay attention to worship.

So that's how much time we have for this episode.

I can't wait to see you on the next one.

Don't forget to like share, subscribe and leave us a follow.

Bye for now.