UCHEiDEA INTERVIEW [FEATURE]

Contents Exclusively for Viper Magazine & @throohereyes

VIPER caught up with rising LA artist, producer and creative UCHE, who’s preparing to follow up with the second installment of his two-part album, ‘HOW TO LIVE/HOW TO DIE’… 

What’s the meaning behind your name? 

It’s a shorter form of Uchechi, which is from Igbo descent. I’m from Nigeria and it means “the farthest mind,” “the father,” implying God. So it’s like, “the mind of God” pretty much if we’re translating. But it also means “the mind.”

What five words would define your sound?

I would say disruptive, prolific, human, transparent and evolving. I’m very, very human and my music and my art is just me acting as a mirror to other people’s human experience through expressing my own human experience. So there’s a lot of tears and dynamics to that experience and that can be breathtaking depending on who you’re looking at. It also can be immersive, it can be challenging. I just think there’s levels to mine and everybody’s human experience. I just act as a mirror so I think that’s where those words come from. 

Tell me something unique about your creative process.

I play music on the speakers at a decently loud volume and I sit right in front of the speakers holding a C14 mic condenser, which is for recording vocals in loud areas. That’s how I record all my music. I’ve gotten so good and found a way that works for me to mix everything and make it sound good, even though sometimes you can hear the music bleeding in the back and playing a part in it. But I feel like it adds textures to my world and it’s real because I’m creating music from a place where my life is happening. So I think that’s something that’s unique about my process.

What inspired you to make ‘Here I Go’?

‘Here I Go’ to me is like a big kid in a mosh pit. Like you’re putting your elbows out and making room for all the things that you want to take up. That helped me put a stamp on that, in the industry and just clearing the space that I hope to take up and occupy with my art moving forward. 

What is the most vulnerable you’ve allowed yourself to be when writing?

I definitely think […]

Photos: @lukerowanphoto

Interview: Nickeeba Archer @throohereyes

Publication: @vipermagazine