From learning to harmonize with her father on a car ride one afternoon, to singing in school choir, and listening to Dolly Parton’s greatest hits via her mother, Uwade has always had music around her. She tells us as much as we sit down to chat about her debut album Florilegium due out April 25th. It’s a collection of songs long overdue, she explains almost sheepishly as we chat. The thing of the matter is: that she never thought she’d be able to put this all together. She cites being incredibly lucky for the success she’s received thus far, and while that may be true, there’s also raw talent to back it up.


Posting covers of songs to Instagram got her discovered and led to her meeting Fleet Foxes’ (that’s the voice you hear at the beginning of their Grammy-nominated album Shore) and countless others, (including her favorite band: The Strokes) who have recognized the unyielding beauty that is her voice. Uwade began to wonder with all the attention she was garnering whether she had peaked. With every new opportunity that comes her way, the musician finds herself in a perpetual state of shock, as the next big thing lands on her doorstep. And the next. And the next. But it isn’t just luck, or talent (though that definitely helps), it’s the dedication to her craft that’s gotten her to where she is today.

In conversation with 1883 Magazine’s Dana Reboe, singer/songwriter Uwade discusses her upcoming album Florilegium, what it was like to go on tour with Fleet Foxes, discovering her love of music, meeting Lin-Manuel Miranda, and more.

To start us off, I read in an article by NPR Music saying that singing for you is like prayer. Can you expand on that a little? What about the act of singing makes it so sacred to you?

That’s a great question. I’ve been singing for a long time in religious contexts, but also not religious, and generally, I’ve just been doing it for so long. It almost feels like the thing that makes me feel most human and makes me feel most connected to the people around me. In that way, it feels like it’s right. It was sort of intended or crafted by whatever forces control the universe — that moment, sharing my voice and singing with people, was everything.

What was your earliest musical memory and the moment you fell in love with the craft?

There are several moments but I’m trying to think of the one that was most impactful. When I was younger, I sang a lot and one of the people who influenced me and sort of taught me about the value of singing was my dad. We would sort of listen to music together in the car and he would sing songs. He had a good voice but it was a bit shaky sometimes. I remember one day in particular, we were listening to a song on the radio, and he said, “I’m going to teach you how to harmonize.” For some reason that unlocked something in me.

I have to ask: what sort of music did you and your father listen to and bond over?

A lot of like Fela Kuti and Sunny Ade and Victor Waifu and songs that he just grew up listening to. I don’t know if this is common for a lot of people from immigrant families, but for most of my childhood, my parents weren’t thinking about passing on their likes and dislikes to me and sharing the culture. It was more like, “Let’s get food on the table. Let’s get worked out. Let’s get you in school.” I mainly just got bits and pieces of songs that my parents liked. My mom likes Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. So, some country was in there, some Afro and then some gospel, Yolanda Adams and R&B, Aaliyah. There’s a wide range.

You had quite a big pool of music to pull from to write your own from country, R&B, and Nigerian music…

I know. I think it’s a universal experience when parents share the music they love growing up with their kids.

Agreed. A really strong memory for me, is Sunday afternoons with my mother and she’s putting in tapes like INXS, The Police, and UB40, most of which I still listen to. Moving forward a bit, everyone’s creative process looks different. What does yours look like and how does a song go from being bare bones to complete in your eyes?

It has changed throughout the years, but usually, it starts with some melodic line. I’m playing around with chords. When I first started trying to write my own music, I was like, “I’m going to find a new chord progression.” That’s not possible [laughter], but that was always really exciting when I would play something that I hadn’t heard before, even though I probably have. I would go with whatever feeling the music, the chords that I was playing, whatever feelings they brought up. I think in Western society, major, minor, jazz chords, and seventh, they all have different emotional universes. You can play with that or against that. That was always fun.

When I pick something up, it’s in response to something that’s happened or something I’ve read and I just need to process it somehow. I do it in that way. I think there are two threads. There’s wanting to make interesting music and then wanting to process something emotionally. Usually, the emotional processing happens with logic, or it used to be garage band [laughs], where I’m just putting things together and not so concerned about originality. Then there’s the other side where I want something that sounds unique and interesting. It’s almost like puzzle pieces, just like clicking together.

You’ve been working in the industry for a little while now, and you’ve collaborated with The Strokes and Fleet Foxes. How did those collabs come to be? And what did you learn from those experiences that you carry with you?

So Fleet Foxes, honestly, people ask me: how did you get here? And I’m like, “I don’t even know.” [laughter] People ask: “what’s your path? What’s the method?” I’m not the one to ask because I’ve been so lucky. I started posting covers on Instagram and some bands reposted the covers and I got some followers, and some new friends that I made in New York, where I was living at the time. One of them had worked with Robin (Pecknold) on some aspect of a record and I think he sent the video of my cover to Robin over the summer. I don’t know how many messages Robin gets, but he happened to comment and messaged me. “Oh, would you like to sing on the album that we’re recording?” Would I? What? Huh? What do you mean? [laughs]

It just so happened that I was going to school in England when he was recording in Paris. I was able to go, and it was crazy. I started releasing a couple more songs of my own and they asked: “Do you want to go on tour?” And I was like, “Hell yeah! Sure, why not?” And The Strokes, they’re probably my favourite band of all time. I was in New York and I was like, “I’m in New York, I’m playing in New York. Let me do a Strokes song because this is their stomping ground.” And again, I don’t know how it happened. But Julian (Casablancas) saw it and was like, “Great cover. Would you like to be a part of this show that we’re putting on?” And I think I fell to the ground.

Did you black out for a couple of seconds?

I did. [laughter] My legs started shaking. It was crazy.

What was tour life like?

It was really interesting. I’d been on one tour before with The Tallest Man on Earth. But I wasn’t on the — sleeping in the bus, getting used to the rhythm. Going to sleep in one place and waking up in a parking lot in another place. I think I’ve just been so lucky because Fleet Foxes are the best people. All the rumors are true. They’re just as kind and amazing as everyone. I very quickly felt like the little sister of the group. But it was so nice. They were so caring, we’d bond over our shared interests.

I realized I didn’t answer half of your question about what I learned. I’ve always struggled with seeing it (making music) as like a selfish enterprise. It’s like, “Oh, I’m writing these songs and it’s all about me and I’m sharing myself with you.” But on these tours, I saw how much this art and this art form is for other people. That was really beautiful. Seeing all the people whose lives were changed because of these songs. It’s deeper than you can imagine.

That’s rock star status right there. Does it ever click in your head, like, “Wow, I did that!”

It does. It has a few times. Something big happens. You’re like, “I wonder what could top that, you know?” So, it’s just in my head – I guess I peaked. But I also thought I peaked in college when I got to meet Lin-Manuel Miranda. Life just keeps going up.

Collaboration when?

In the works [laughs].

We’re putting it out into the universe.

Please, let’s manifest.

How long has the album Florilegium been in the works? Where did the title originate and how does it feel knowing this body of work will be put out in April for everyone to listen to?

Crazy. I can’t believe it’s happening. I feel like some people sort of start working on an album, and they’re like, “I want this to be an album. And this is going to be put out as an album. And these are the songs that are going to go together.” But this started as I have some songs, would be cool to record them. Maybe I’ll do an EP. Actually, never mind. Actually surprise, I’m going back to school. Okay, try to record something. Maybe I should record a couple more songs, or write a couple more songs.

It wasn’t until last year that I thoguht, “I’m going to try to put them together.” The name came first. I was in school, I was getting my Master’s, and I was studying ancient literature. I would write down these words that I came across that I found really interesting and thought cool songs could come out of. That one spoke to me because it’s meant so many different things over the years. It’s also similar to my name. It’s a word that, when you see it, you’re like, “What does this mean? How do you say it?” It’s a book of quotations from my favourite authors, it can mean a book of botanical illustrations. It has a lot of different possible meanings. It felt like a really good way to just sort of unify these songs that I didn’t know were going to come together. They all sound really different. So, it just felt like my bouquet. This is my collection of flowers. Don’t ask me to analyze them. [laughs]

I won’t, I promise. So, then, that leads me to my next question: you’re currently studying for your PhD, and you’ve studied the classics previously at Oxford, does the study of those stories and that literature influence your music?

I think so. Being exposed to any kind of story or literature drives a lot of creativity and music. And it just so happens that I like old stuff because I like to feel connected to humanity in some way. When I read modern writing, I’m like, “Oh, yeah, I see myself and this.” But then you read something from 2000 years ago you’re like, this is what people were feeling way back then. It’s about a deeper connection. There are some songs I’ve written that are a straight-up reflection on something I read in the text. Sometimes there are phrases that I find really beautiful. I like to do two things at once, even though it’s hard and complicated, and I get tired really easily, so I try to escape whatever I’m doing. It’s really nice to throw myself into music and then be able to go and refresh with reading and talking to people about things. And then once I’m tired of that, which I have been in the past couple of weeks, then I spend some more time with music.

The album covers everything from heartache to grief. And there are glimmers of happiness and perseverance, which I felt with “Call It a Draw.“ There’s a sense of vulnerability woven throughout. Why was it important to convey that to you?

I feel like that’s what excites me the most in art. I think stories are beautiful, but the best part of a story to me is the thing that everyone can latch on to. You know, particulars are really cool and telling this personal story. But it’s the core of the thing that connects us all. I feel like that is most visible in vulnerability because at the end of the day, we’re all feeling things. Sometimes the things we feel are similar. Sharing those difficult moments or joyful moments is powerful.

And lastly, when you look at how far you’ve come, what would you tell your younger self about the journey ahead?

Wow, I would say, prepare to be surprised. When I was in kindergarten, I said I wanted to be a singer. But then I never identified a musician fully. I was like, “I’ll end up doing something else and keep singing as a hobby.” But the success just keeps coming and I’m enjoying it [laughter]. I’m putting things out and I’m excited to share and collaborate. There’s a Fleet Foxes lyric that I love, one of my favourites. I would tell my younger self this lyric, which is that “life unfolds in pools of gold.” You just let it flow, and you’ll be surprised by the joys and the treasures you fall into.

(I Wonder) What We’re Made Of is out now.

Interview Dana Reboe