New Friends: Colloboh

I first discovered Colloboh through Leaving Records. They posted a video featuring one of his tracks and I quickly fell down the rabbit hole. Colloboh's Instagram is full of musical inspiration ranging from vinyl records to sampled beats to his own music. We recently had the opportunity to pick his brain a bit and learn more about his background and process. 

Tell us a bit about yourself. Who you are, what you do, where you’re from.

So my name is Collins, I’m based in Baltimore, MD but born in Lagos, Nigeria (moved to MD at age 7). Apart from making music, I am a data analyst for my city’s school district.

When did you get interested in the arts? Any moments, people, things that particularly inspired you?

I remember a specific moment in 6th grade when we watched the film “12 Angry Men.” For some reason watching that film sparked a love for filmmaking and the arts. I was pretty obsessed with wanting to be a filmmaker (still hope to do that at some point). In terms of music- I actually got really into music when I joined my high school radio club. The creator of the club was a real “old soul” type of kid and he put me on to vinyl records. That opened the doors for me in terms of listening to so many kinds of music. I also have to attribute being a part of a hip hop music group with 2 of my closest friends when I was starting out college as being a huge part of what got me into music production.

Do you remember any of those records? Did any stand out? 

There weren’t much actually, I remember he was a fan of Elvis so we listened to that. I was just more intrigued with the physical medium of vinyl. I remember going to my first record store and can still vividly remember them playing Dr. Johns “ Dr. Johns Gumbo” album right when I walked in. That was when I was like- “wow this sounds amazing”. Maybe it was just that album itself, maybe it was the ambience of the record store (shoutout to the Joes Record Paradise - the old large pink one), but something at that moment made me commit to record collecting and expanding my music knowledge.

Let’s talk about your process. From idea to final product, what does a typical workflow look like for you?

My typical workflow is just fiddling with my eurorack system until I find something interesting (usually a melody). I am not very prolific, I usually only make like 1 track a month if that really. There’s no point in forcing it for me, it’s supposed to be fun and somewhat meditative.

Do you think a stress-free process is crucial to creating your music?

That’s a good question. Although I definitely enjoy a stress free creative process there are times where stress can be beneficial. As in having a due date set or a deadline. I’ve made a some of my favorite tracks when I’ve had some pressure to reach a certain deadline, It can make you a little more focused. I don’t get stressed if I have not completed work. If something isn’t working I have no problems scraping it- and modular patching almost makes it cathartic to scrap an idea cause you physically have to dismantle the connections. I do get a little angsty if I have gone too long without making anything.

Who / What inspires you now? 

Right now my friends are what inspire me. Not even in terms of music really, just generally hanging out and trying to enjoy life. I try not to really take the music stuff too seriously. I am blessed that being a musician has connected me with a lot of great people that are incredibly talented at what they do. 

I love that. I read your post about traveling with some friends to Montana. Do you actively seek out that time? Did you have any creative intentions on that trip with friends?

Well I try my best. There’s only so much hours in a day so sometimes it gets hard juggling day job, music stuff, family, partner, and friends. I usually don’t have any intentions when I’m interacting with friends apart from enjoying each other’s company.

If you could collaborate with anyone dead or alive who would it be and why?

If I could collaborate with anyone it would have to be Eugene McDaniels. Headless Hero’s of the Apocalypse is my favorite album ever and it would be amazing to meet him. Honestly I would really just have liked to meet him. Also- I’m a pretty big James Blake fan, his early work was pivotal to me going this direction in my music. 

You can find Colloboh on Bandcamp, Instagram and Spotify. His new album Entity Relation drops 9/3/21

Cover Photo by Micah E. Wood