Shan George tells NEHRU ODEH why she is into music
Q: When did you realise you had a flair for music?
A: I think everybody has a flair for music. I am sure you sing when you are having your bath. Music is just a normal thing I feel everybody has inside. It just comes out with time. Maybe this is my time.
Q: For how long did you prepare for this album?
A: It actually took me about seven months to produce this album.
Q: Did you have any musical experience?
A: Yes, kind of. Because I have been producing movies. I write and produce movies. And definitely, you have to do the soundtrack for your movie and do the scoring. So it is the same thing as going into the studio to do normal music. You go into the studio and make music for the soundtrack. So I have actually been working in the music studio over the years, producing music for my movies. But this time, I decided to do something for my people that is basically music, not just like going to do soundtrack for my movies.
Q: Could you remember the first movie you acted in and what was the experience like?
A: My first movie was titled Thorns of Rose and it was produced by the late Jennifer Okere-Ossai and Emeka Ossai. I was a bit nervous the first time. It wasn’t something I thought of doing; it just came. Someone introduced me and I just got to the industry and started doing it. I don’t think I did it well that first time; but you know like they say, practice makes perfect. I am sure having put these many years into the industry, I have actually improved. I want to think I have improved. But I am doing my best.
Q: Aside being an actress and a musician, what would you have loved to become?
A: I wanted to be a lawyer; I have always wanted to be a lawyer because I come from a community where there was so much gender inequality. Women suffered a lot: genital mutilation and child marriage. It was so bad that all I kept doing was pray to have the opportunity to go to university, so that I could become a lawyer. In fact, I wanted to become a lawyer so I can deal very badly with all those people, send all the men to jail. But anyway, as they say, man proposes and God disposes. Here I am today, but I do not have any regret because I want to make those people watching to actually see what is really going on inside you. That is what being an actor/actress is about. Another thing is that the movies that I see as those that are outstanding may not be the ones that other people see as outstanding because I want to believe that where I am is where God wants me to be.
Q: How come you were able to break out of that straitjacket?
A: Honestly, I don’t know. I can’t say it’s this or it’s that. I think at the end of the day, it’s just as they say, what will be will be. Maybe this is where God wants me to be. He has his own way of directing his children’s footsteps to where he wants them to go.
Q: Who are those your music is targeted at?
A: Everybody, as long as you know the word, celebrate.
Q: Over the years you’ve made a name as a movie bad girl. Did you choose that?
A: In movies, you are not able to express yourself because the moment the director says, ‘action,’ the you in you dies. It will give birth to a character that you are playing in the movie. At the end of the day, I have done a lot of movies. I have been a good girl, widow, student, prostitute, preacher-turned killer, farmer etc. I have played almost every kind of role you can think of. I believe that goes for most of the other actors and actresses as well. It is like a rope. If you are given a certain character that you have to wear for that particular moment and after acting the role when the director says ‘cut’, you take off the rope and you come back to being yourself. So there is nobody that would say I like playing this or that particular role. I think what happens is that at the beginning of your acting career, some directors are able to detect a particular role that you are very good at. This is why, you see, it gets to a point where everybody is now distinguished; like Osuofia now is in comedy, Patience Ozokwor, most times, is cast as a wicked woman. But at the end of the day, you still play other roles. But somehow, people just love seeing you when you play a certain role.
When I started, most of the movies I did were those in which I had to do a lot of crying. And I remember a lot of people saying ‘cry, cry.’ It got to a point where I was now tested in other roles like a prostitute or a killer. I took on that also and somehow, I want to believe I did it well. If you are able to make people believe that you carry the role you are playing so well, people would tend to want to look at you like that as well. So it doesn’t have anything to do with your person.
Q: How come when you cry on set, it looks so real?
A: Because when you cry, of course, you are really crying. For instance, there are people who sit in their homes and are watching movies and crying. You get touched. There are roles you play as a human being. I mean this is a script given to you. You are supposed to study it. There are some scripts that are unavoidably touching and at the end of the day, you feel it as a person. Sometimes, you don’t even know when the tears come out of your eyes. But then as an artiste, when you cry you have to cry for real because at the end of the day you are putting yourself in a character. You are supposed to be real about it.
Q: To what extent are you going to take your music?
A: Oh my God! I honestly don’t know. I would not lie to you. I don’t know. Right now, it is still like you get a new recipe and you want to just try out a new dish. And you’ve actually set the fire, you’ve brought the ingredients needed for the dish, lined up all your recipe. You are trying to cook it. Right now, I am more like at that stage and I don’t know if it will be a delicious dish at the end of the day.
Q: Why is it that most Nigeria actors/actresses go into music nowadays? Is it a fad that will surely pass away?
A: I don’t think it is a deviation. As you are growing, you are developing new interests; you are breaking new grounds and you are trying out new things. It’s part of growth and nobody can run away from it. It’s just like somebody who started out by being a freelance journalist, finally getting a position in one particular paper, growing from that position to become editor and from there to becoming a publisher.
Its the same field. And if you are in a field and you are not growing, it is not a good thing.
So at the end of the day, actors/actresses are actually going into music and you find out that there are lots of musicians who are also going into acting. These are two things that complement each other.
I think some other actor/actresses who have gone into music haven’t done badly. Don’t forget that something may not be a commercial success, but not necessarily a bad thing.
So I don’t see any actor/actress who has gone into music as a failure. I listened to Genevieve and Omotola’s music and I see a lot of hardwork that has been put into it. And I want them to know that I appreciate their music; I want them to know that there are lots of us out there who appreciate their music.
Q: When are we expecting the visuals?
A: By the end of this month, the first track that we’ve been working on since November will be ready. Then we would put it on air and try to shoot the second track because we don’t want to rush, because it is native music, you have to do a lot of research to find the set, the costume etc. I can’t say exactly when the whole video will be ready, but I can assure everybody that at the end of February, one of the videos will be on air.
Q: What kind of music do you love listening to?
A: I love music generally, any good music irrespective of language, or genre. As long as it is good music, I enjoy it. But I have particular preference for ragga music. The track titled Princess in my album actually has a ragga flavour.
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