Lighthouse Family: Soft sounds spell success

Lighthouse Family: Soft sounds spell success

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Lighthouse Family is synonymous with laid-back, yet catchy pop
tunes. Formed in Newcastle eight years ago by vocalist Tunde
Baiyewu and programmer/keyboard player Paul Tucker, the duo had
two years to wait before its 1995 single Lifted was released.

It was worth it, because the debut album ,Ocean Drive, and
sophomore effort, Postcards From Heaven, sold 2.5 million and 3.7
million copies respectively.

The duo has just released a new album, Whatever Gets You
Through The Day. Although it is less catchy than its forerunner,
the album is well-crafted and enjoyable.

They are also popular here, thanks to hits like High and Lost
In Space which became, like, the standard songs on the club
scene.

Baiyewu visited the capital last week in the middle of the
Southeast Asia promo tour for the latest album, and also to
perform at the grand launch of Cosmopolitan FM.

Tucker, however, was unable to come, although there was no
clear explanation for his absence. Baiyewu, meanwhile, in line
with his signature tender and soothing voice, is a humble and
very down-to-earth person.

Below is an excerpt of Baiyewu's comments at a media
conference.

Why exactly did you guys call your band the Lighthouse Family?

As you know, we come from Newcastle, which is near to the
beach. There's something really spiritual about the ocean. Our
first album was called Ocean Drive. And so we came up with a name
that is related to the ocean, which is "lighthouse". We added
"family" because there are lots of people who were involved in
making our project and giving ideas to us.

About your latest single (I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To
Be) Free/One, what's with the long title and the bracket? And why
did you mix it with U2's One?

The song is an old song from (jazz great) Nina Simone, so we
had to put the full title of the original song. If it was up to
us, we would just call it "Free".

As for using One, it happened during the recording session.
Paul said that Nina's song has a similar progression to One and
then he asked why don't we find a way of marrying the song.
Turned out it was strong enough to be in one song because both
songs kind of belong together.

I actually thought that Nina's song was enough but Paul loves
U2 so much, so ...

The new album sounds kind of gloomy.

Well, that's how Lighthouse Family is. But if you listen to
it, you can see aspirations of things. That it's green on the
other side.

But, yeah, the previous albums are more optimistic. It's just
that we don't want to write just happy things because I don't
think life is all about (being) happy. We want to project some
realistic point of view.

The music style is hardly any different though than previous
albums.

We've been around for eight years now and we've developed our
own style. We know what we are, so it's the Lighthouse Family
kind of style. But it's important to change and the latest album
changed in term of sonic landscape. We changed producer in this
album. So, sonically and production-wise, it's different. The
songs are more organic and not overproduced.

In the past, we often liked a song but after it got into the
studio, it became really different. That reduced our spirit.

Why did it take you so long to release this album?

Indeed. When we released this album, we just realized that the
last album was in 1997. It was because two years afterwards, we
did lots and lots of tours. So we wanted to slow things down a
bit and be normal. We need to get back to life.

There were many things that happened as well. My mother passed
away through cancer. Paul had a three-months'-premature baby. He
also built a studio after that. So, it kind of accumulated.
But we didn't stop working. It took us a year to record this
album.

You don't like touring?

It's just not a real life. Yeah, right, it's great, but it's
like living in a bubble. It's great to be appreciated and
praised. No complaints. But still, there's real life out there.
Well, so long as you take it in balance ...

Your voice is sort of flat, and you've been coming out with
the same style. What if people get bored with Lighthouse Family?

If people get bored, then we've had enough of Lighthouse
Family (laughs). Well, that's me. I mean, it's important to
embrace the style instead of jumping onto a bandwagon and being
trendy or trying to be cool.

People also say the same thing about Sade but it doesn't stop
her. I always like Sade. I think as long as it (the music) comes
from the heart, it would be fine.

I don't like everything on the charts. I think there's always
space for everybody. We'd be silly if we expected everybody to
like it. But people do not want to jump around all the time, they
also need our kind of music once in a while.

If you were asked to do a duet with a female singer, who would
you choose?

I never really thought about that. I mean I'm still learning
and finding a way to stand on my own two feet. But I would say
Mary J. Blige. I like R&B, everything that Dr. Dre touches turns
out great.

At the evening event, Baiyewu performed four numbers: I Wish,
Run, Lost In Space and High, accompanied by a keyboard/guitar
player and two backing vocalists.

Wearing a gray suit and with his soothing voice, the simple
performance highlighted the event, even though it was obviously
too short at barely half an hour. However, if you are a fan,
watch out for more news about the pair as, according to Baiyewu,
the group wants to come here for a full concert soon.