A part of the popular Afolayan family, Gabriel Afolayan is a versatile artistic individual with his impressive acting skills and delivery of soulful music.
Also known by stage name, G-Fresh, he speaks with Doyin Adeoye about his career and relationship with his brothers, among other things. Excerpts:
How was growing up?
It was a normal childhood like every other person’s. It was a very cordial father-son relationship and I loved most part of it. The experience is my antecedent, one cannot rule that out. It is a great influence in what I do today.
What childhood memories do you have?
Although we were young then, we were made to see what he did. We were not very actively involved, but we were there. He showed us a whole lot of stuffs and he made mention of the fact that if any of us was interested, we could pick it up from there.
The path I’m walking right now has always been my childhood dreams. I have always had passion for this. I didn’t deceive myself on anything else.
How did the foray into movies professionally begin for you?
I started as a child actor, so it’s been a long time coming for me. I grew up into the trade. I learnt the trade both formally and informally, so it is something I have always been doing. And it has been an awesome experience. Just like every other business, you have ups and downs; you have it good, bad and ugly. It’s never smooth sailing, but whatever comes good to you, there is always a journey to it.
What is your educational background?
I grew up in Ibadan basically and I did all my schooling in Ibadan. For my primary school education, I attended the United Native African Primary School, then I proceeded to Polytechnic High School, before I went to the University of Ibadan where I studied Theatre Arts.
You hardly feature in your brother, Kunle’s movies, why is this so?
The thing is the fact that I don’t have to be in his movie just because we are family members. It is not a criterion. We are professionals and we do things professionally. If there is no cause for me to be there, then there is no point. I am always behind the camera with him, I even learn a lot behind the camera than being in front of the camera. And I normally handle his research for any film he’s doing. We’ve worked together countless times.
People have the impression that things are not good between you and your brother, Aremu, as you didn’t attend his wedding…
I was working at the time, I was off town; I wasn’t in Lagos. I was in Port Harcourt and I was just tied up. There is nothing more to it than that. He is my brother and we are good.
What influenced your decision to go into music?
I’m into music because I have the passion for it as well. Music is a part of me from way back. I have always had this melody in my head that I don’t want to let go of. Music practice for me has been a long time coming, it is not something I just woke up one day to do. It has always been there.
I have been a back-up singer for a long time now. I was signed to a studio as a back-up singer ever since 1997, so music for me is not something new. It has always been a part of my trade. I am full of anything artistic; it is a total package, we produce, we direct, we write. I am coming from a round theatrical background where we don’t just act; we dance, we sing, we play instruments. So it’s a house of entertainment.
Your first single Kokoro Ife got massive recognition, what inspired it?
First, the notion of me wanting to do a simple music gave birth to that idea. I know in this country we work with what’s obtainable and there is no point in me getting into music and start making complications. I wanted to make a simple song. I have it in my head and I wanted to make a love song. So bringing borrowed experiences with my personal experience made a good music out of it. That was what just happened.
I didn’t even expect that much acceptance. I knew the song was refreshing because personally, I listened to it over and over again after recording the song. And when you see something good, you don’t have to stress it, it is good. So the motive of wanting to do something simple and reachable influenced the song.
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