Butterfly Haus is the Brooklyn-based indie-alternative music project of New Jersey-born Nigerian-American producer, songwriter, and recording artist Osaze Akerejah. Two weeks ago, during this weird transition between the darkness of winter and the unsettling idyllic promise of Spring, I discovered a unique voice dancing between genres. His latest record Time Bomb Season moves through seasons like classic records before, which pulls us in like a crowd in a theatre unaware of the time, going on a journey. The track “Synesthesia Freestyle” is truly a work of prodigious poetry.
His latest “Topless Tesla” on a pure sound basis, even if I wasn’t happily distracted by the tantalizing and fun music video, is a moody synth-driven track with amphetamine-driven sixteen note high hats, cut by the offbeat snare hits, which make the song unpredictable and hypnotic. Speaking of the music video, the cut scenes feel like Reservoir Dogs chaos with a playfulness that makes this music video so dope and unpredictable. In a lot of ways, Osaze Akerejah’s life has also been unpredictable. Dealing with the loss of his father, and a major health scare, as a man who’s no stranger to metamorphosis, I got a chance to ask him some deeper questions.
“I truly think art is one of the best ways to help on that front so continuing to make things and speak about my life and the process feels like my best bet in terms of making a positive impact on this rock.”
1) What was going on in your life around the time of your latest? How much does life imitate art?
“The big elephant in the room during the creation of the album was me navigating my stage-4 cancer diagnosis. Grappling with the potential that I might die put me into a constant back and forth of hopeful vs hopeless. So the album gave me a space to really tackle those concepts in a colorful way that could maybe resonate with others. I also just ended up in a very heightened place of reflection, thinking about my career, heartbreaks, my overall journey in life, and the various paths I’ve chosen. I just had a lot to try and digest in the midst of a very tough time. My father recently passed away, like a week or so after the album came out so there has just been a constant revolving door of things to process during this past year. But music really is alchemy, you take something shitty and you turn it into a beautiful melody or a compelling lyric.”
2) I see you created your own production company, was this because of the state of the industry? Can you give us your manifesto on the industry and where your publishing and production choices fit in?
“A lot of my favorite artists really prioritized independence, control, and autonomy, whether that’s Prince, or Jay Z or Frank Ocean or Kate Bush, to tons of other acts, the more control one has over their shit the better, and as a producer, songwriter and the whole shebang, it just felt like the logical move to build my own house to live in. Hmm, I guess one of my manifestos is “Never let these people belittle you”, I think a lot of us as artists on the come-up fall into very desperate, insecure states of being and that’s where you get easily fucked over, and taken advantage of. Knowing your worth and trusting your sense of judgment are imperative in this thang.”
3) You draw from a lot of different backgrounds musically, how about your Nigerian background? Were your parents into music growing up?
“My household was very musical across a broad spectrum of sounds. So, I did grow up on classic Fela Kuti records, which I digested, but I think I just benefited from the diversity of sound in the household in general. From classic Nigerian afrobeat music such as Fela to classical music to 70’s Soul, to Jazz, to 90’s Hip-Hop, there was just a lot. One of my favorite aspects of being a producer is that I’m able to throw all my influences and tastes into a blender and produce a unique thing out of it. Folks tend to get a kick out of trying to speculate what my influences are based on how my work sounds.”
4) If you had to collaborate with someone who would you create a banger with (potentially)?
“I made this beat a few years ago with this really lush soul sample and hard-hitting drums that I always fantasized about having Andre 3000 and Young Thug on, I think that would be really cool. It would also be really cool to unite SZA, Lorde, and Kate Bush on a track to make some sort of Alternative Synth-Pop/Singer-Songwriter, Indie-R&B, Hip-Hop situation.”
5) Talk to me about production. What is your favorite produced record(s) across any time period? What’s your philosophy on production?
“Question of the year, haha. I’d probably go with Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. What made it so special to me was that it combined all the unique elements of his four previous albums. So you ended up with this project with stadium-size synths, a Hip-Hop core, Soul samples, moody electronics, lush strings, instrumentation and vocal arrangements, various eccentricities and left turns, but it all lived cohesively under one roof. That lends itself a lot to my philosophy on production, essentially, I think of my mind and ear as a Velcro ball picking up different sounds, so then the goal is to be able to synthesize all of these elements into a singular vision as best as possible. That way things remain simultaneously cohesive yet versatile.”
6) Is Anything new coming after Time Bomb Season? If so, can we get a creative headspace preview?
“Currently just working on releasing more visuals from the project, we’ve got the video for “Topless Tesla” (out now) and that should be fun since that’s proven to be a fan-favorite from the album. I’ll be releasing an instrumental version of the record in the coming months which should be exciting since the production of the project has been getting a lion’s share of the praise. Also got a few collaborations lined up, and I’m slowly but surely working towards my goal of putting together a Mark Ronson-style of album where I primarily focus on the producing and songwriting and have other vocalists come in and fly these little sonic airplanes I’ll build, so to speak.”
7) Lastly, where do you see the music taking you in life, this can be a bit of an actual plan or a vision.
“Music will be the vehicle that helps me live my best life as well as connecting with others. Ugh, so cliche sounding, but it’s true. Haha. So, I believe I’ll wind up with a rather robust solo catalog and opportunities that allow me to never have to worry about money again, but I’m also very eager to lend my sound to other musicians and have more arms in the industry via my work assisting other people’s projects. Furthermore, in a perfect world, due to the substance of my material, I’m hoping my work helps others deal with life’s ups and downs, that’s what it continues to help me within my own life. Mental/emotional health is constantly on my mind and I truly think art is one of the best ways to help on that front so continuing to make things and speak about my life and the process feels like my best bet in terms of making a positive impact on this rock.”