Q: Who is Israel Olusegun
A: I am a native of Osun State but I am based in Lagos, am a guitarist and a music producer. Am popularly known as Segun Lisma in the industry.
Q: When did you start music and production.
A: Music for me is a hobby, a lifestyle, because I do music alongside my Artcrafts but after an incident that happened in 1996 I dropped art and craft and started music fully.
But I never wanted to be a stage Artist like Shina Peters, King Sunny Ade, Osadebe , and the likes because I know even then it takes a lot of money to put up a band. So, I decided to play guitar for some artist… On till one day I went to a studio (Emi Studios) I saw massive mixing console with led faders on each channel. It was unusual so I was stuck there for the day.
I went back again and again and again till a white man named Mr. Brown picked on me. He started training me, being a computer Engineer and a detailed craft young boy, I was grabbing faster than he could imagine. The fact that I had an idea of all musical Instruments also helped me …that was how the journey began for me.
Q: What have been the difficulties in the journey so far.
A: Well, as my Father always tells me, Rome was not built in a day. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a step. I actually started from the basics. As in, we were used to recording analogue in studios but at a time we started using computer as a digital studio.
This gave me an edge because I know everything that has to do with the computer, both repairing, assembling, troubleshooting, formatting and installation among others.
So I was the only option available in studios then for file recovery and computer ethics. Our then NEPA was not helping studio matters, knowing that you must run generator 24hour is an issue.
Q: What’s the experience with acts like.
A: Some artists who gave me recording problems, I call them Kongaga-gowagaahh. They sing off key, some even sing off beat and they still tell me that is how they want it. I am very sure you know what I am talking about.
Q: Can you mention how many artists you have worked with.
A: Hmmmm, apart from the Kongaga-gowagaahh set of artists which are more than 1,500, I have recorded some artists that are doing well.
But to mention a few… Bari Jesus, Femo Commander, Konga, Ayo Adesanya, mizz kiss, Adejesu, Iyanyan, Obesere, Michel Akingbala, Ransome|Orishafemi, Reminisce|PK1, Spiderman/MI, Terry da Rapman, Seriki, Styleh/Pasuma, etc and lots of upcoming Artists.
Q: What does it take to be a producer like Segun Lisma:
A: To become a music producer …you need to have passion for it. Even at that you need to define your area of interest.
For instance, a sound engineer is different from a recording engineer. Also, an analogue engineer is different from a digital engineer. Also, a mixing engineer is different from a music producer. In any of these fields you must invest a minimum of 18 months in Lisma Productions.
Q: Advice to other music producers…
A: As a music Producer who specializes in all kinds of music production, my advice to you is to always update and upgrade yourself in your area of specialization… And be straight forward in music production… If you are specialized in hip hop music …don’t produce gospel music because you think they pay well.
