How did you guys get together, where did you meet?
We met in high school where Samson was the president of our Fellowship and he was looking for a way to make the Fellowship more vibrant. Music worked. Somewhere along the line, we met Sunny who was a proficient keyboardist. Then we had this mass choir that didn't quite go well. But somehow, we bonded as an Acapella group. With the fusion of Sunny into the group, we started experimenting with sounds. Then we were called "All for Christ', but it didn't seem original enough because it reminds you of the American group, "All for one". It was through the help of a friend that we arrived at the name Infinity, which was synonymous with what we really do. We are Christians and we believe if there is anything, any work or ministry that we think will last forever, even after we leave this side of the world, it is music. In heaven, pastors will lose their jobs, doctors will lose their jobs, all what we will be doing is singing praises to God. So, Infinity is like forever, endless and timeless.
What does the song Olorioko symbolize?
Olorioko speaks for itself. Literarily, the word Olorioko si bo means, the owner of the band is coming back. And what we are trying to say there according to the scriptures is that Christ is coming back and when He comes back, He will not come as the Son of Man, but as the Son of God in all His glory. And that is actually, the Christian hope. When we go through diverse temptation and trials in our lives, we look up to that kingdom, we look up to the coming, we look up to rapture and we are just saying INFINITY believes in that too. And beyond rapture and the coming of Jesus, we feel that there is always an element of hope for everybody but whatever that hope is, we can take it to the next level when we remember that Jesus is coming back.
What were the challenges you had putting the song together, getting each person to take different parts?
I won't try to downplay the challenges. Most of them dwelt on the fact that thoughts are more ideal than actions. That is one challenge that has always been facing us. We have this beautiful idea as regards the songs we want to do the instrumentals and the videos; but when we look at the finance available to us, it is not sufficient and we are a group that will not compromise on excellence. That is why we stayed nine years before people got to know who Infinity really is.
But apart from that, everybody in the group is creative and we thank God because we have this synergy. So, it was kind of easy getting each person to do his bit. We have our differences, we quarrel, shout at one another, but we disagree to agree. But then, working outside the immediate five has also been a challenge because you meet people to just have words and words alone. Then there are some other spiritual factors.
How did the idea of the video come?
As a matter of fact, we bad a different idea, something on a grand scale, but like I told you, the finance factor was a problem. So, we thought we should do something a bit simpler. But still grand and that Idea actually came from Sunny. We thought of using the stage with a drummer which is a universally known African thing. So, we play around the drums more, exhibit it more to make a statement. Then of course, the costume brought out the Africaness in everything.
The truth really is, INFINITY is not like the average superstar out there, we don't smoke, we don't drink, and we do not womanise. We have a married man in our group. Not because we do not feel like doing those things, but because we can't. We have to obey God and we believe strongly that success is attached to obedience to God and once we start disobeying God, we are losing it. |
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We have always been very Afrocentric and creativity has always been topmost on our minds. We criticize those artists that recycle the same things. We don't want to do that. The idea of the video came in a meeting; we actually spent hours trying to sort it out. Then when you talk about actualizing it, like I said before, thoughts are more ideal than actions and it make things drag a bit. But I must say that we were lucky to work with the right people, like the director of the video, Yomi Amawo, a splendid guy. He is very much m touch with reality and made it easy for us to work together. It was pretty expensive but we were able to cross the financial barrier and the rest is history.
So, what next after Olorioko?
We are shooting four more videos. We have shot two already and they are being edited in the studio. Hopefully, by March or April, we will be through with the video and we will be putting a compilation of five videos into the market for sale.
I have heard people say INFINITY is based in South Africa , because somewhere in the song you had some foreign language infused into it. Is It true?
That was David doing his thing there. He threw everybody off and people thought it was South African. The guy was just sang in tongues there (David cuts in) "I was speaking Bambra, Bob Marleian lang".
So it came just like that?
I love languages a lot I sometimes emulate some languages that I actually do not speak, and from there came about tongues. (Kehinde cuts in) But again, scripturally, the scripture says when we speak in tongues, we speak mysteries. Of course our understanding is not benefited from it, but our spirit is. It is a spiritual thing. We are a spiritual people, deeply spiritual. We believe strongly in speaking in tongues. We believe that is a language that defeats the devil. He can't beat that and that was what David was playing with.
Like every other successful artistes, I believe with the success of your video, came female fans. How are you managing these?
Our Christian orientation prepared us for these. The truth really is, INFINITY is not like the average superstar out there, we don't smoke, we don't drink, and we do not womanise. We have a married man in our group. Not because we do not feel like doing those things, but because we can't. We have to obey God and we believe strongly that success is attached to obedience to God and once we start disobeying God, we are losing it. So, you should expect to see a difference between INFINITY and the average other stars out there because we are not just coming with our banner. We are coming in the name of the Lord. Our dream is to take the gospel out of the church and bring it to the clubs. We thank God for the recognition. Hopefully, we should in a short time be winning Grammy's. We are actually aiming at that and it is very achievable.
Tell us a bit about your educational background.
David is a University of Lagos Theatre Art undergraduate. Samson and Joseph are studying Industrial Relations and Personal Management at the Lagos State University. Sunny and I are into sound engineering. I am actually looking forward to going into video editing. I am a producer and writer. I write scripts for movies. I also write scripts for November Records.
Culled from Vanguard
