As the release of Ayo Bamidele’s new album approaches, there is a sense of connection and wisdom in every word he speaks.

Catching up with Ayo ahead of his album launch The Recorder on August 12th and his gig at The Harrison on September 5th, we engaged in a meaningful chat that saw Ayo explore music, money, and meaning.

A Turning Point

This new release marks a turning point. For the first time, Ayo is not approaching an album by himself. With his previous works being self-funded — selling CDs at shows, running his own events — this album is a step away from that style.

“Crowdfunding has been a great way to get people involved,” he tells me. “If they’re willing to support it, they become part of it from the start.”
The idea of community, Ayo explains, has been at the heart of the album’s inception and how he approaches his music.

“It’s about like-minded people, into the same kind of music. When I put on my own events, I realised it wasn’t just about me playing. It was about other people, too.”

A Leap of Faith and a New Collaboration

What has been an incredible move for Ayo on this record is the collaboration with award-winning producer Brendan Lynch — a partnership that was formed after Ayo made an ambitious step to pursue his dream.

“About 18 months ago I decided to give up work and focus on music. I sent Brendan a CD, and he came back saying he liked the voice. So, we made an album.”

The record took just six weeks to record — a stripped-back, intimate affair with no drums and plenty of space for Ayo’s lyrics to breathe.

“Many of the songs are sparse.” Yet it is in this sparse landscape that Ayo’s voice finds the setting it desperately suits.

The result is an atmospheric folk album — stripped of percussion but full of emotional weight — where space, silence, and lyricism do the heavy lifting.

From Politics to Personal

It’s the lyrics — paired with Ayo’s raspy voice — that matter deeply to him, and this has been something he’s been aware of since a young age.

“I’ve always been into lyrics,” he says. “When I started, I was 15, into New Wave — The Clash, The Jam — it was political, social. That’s where I began. But over time, my writing’s become more personal. Now it’s about family, loss, children, and nature.”

This shift to a personal focus runs deep through the new album, as Ayo opens up to his community through touching tracks that vary in theme but remain grounded in authenticity.

The Reality of the Industry

Ayo also understands the difficulty of getting such an amazing album made as an independent artist.

“There’s not a lot of money,” he says plainly. “It’s always been that way. The top 1% might make it, but for the rest of us, it’s different. Streaming? It’s a double-edged sword. For some kinds of music, it works — but for a lot of folk artists, it just doesn’t work the same way.”

What does work, Ayo insists, is community. “If you can find a thousand people who like what you do and want to support it — that’s sustainable. That’s what I’m trying to build.”

That ethos runs through everything — even down to how the album was funded.

“If you don’t get 100% on Kickstarter, you don’t get anything. So, it’s all or nothing. But I’m nearly there.”

And he’s right — the campaign is close to its goal, driven not by algorithms, but by people who care.

Music First, Metrics Later

Ayo, however, does not deny the importance of monetisation. “As an artist, my priority is the music. But I know I need to do more marketing.”

What’s clear is that Ayo is not motivated by building a slick streaming platform or chasing good metrics. He’s motivated by finding those who truly appreciate his music — a motivation that does away with the endless hunt for visibility.

This isn’t a new philosophy for Ayo. Long before social media, he created his own zine and website over two decades ago to build a music community from the ground up.

A Sonic Homecoming

Ayo’s new album is a sonic realm that is sparse, yet it comes together to create a rich collection of tracks sure to bring the community around him together.

This will culminate in Ayo’s performance at The Harrison in September — and when he takes the stage, it won’t just be a performance. It’ll be a celebration of everything he’s built, one listener at a time.