Following the release of latest track ‘Get Your Shit Together’, we caught up with London based artist SABATTA to chat about musical genres, London, recording and talking to animals (as you do), read on to see how we got on….

You are a tremendous guitarist and songwriter and you’ve decided to go by the name Sabatta instead of your real name Yinka Oyewole. Can you tell me how your artist name came about?

Thank you very much! That’s very kind of you to say. The name came from a character from a 1960s/70s Spaghetti western film character. The proverbial man in black. He seemed like a badass, I thought it fit the bill at the time. I always envisioned playing Sabatta stuff in a band setting, so that’s why it’s not ‘Yinka’, that’d be a different thing.

There are many bands and acts that may have influenced your sound, including Queens of the Stone Age, Bad Brains, Jimi Hendrix, Lenny Kravitz, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Black Sabbath and Parliament / Funkadelic. Quite an eclectic mix - tell me how and when you were turned on to these?

And there’s more. LOL. What I find interesting is the idea that any musician, of whatever genre, claims that they only were influenced by like 2 artists/groups from one genre. You mean to tell me that they’ve only ever listened to those artists? My elder brothers introduced me to a lot of music – stuff Sabbath originally comes from them. Then a lot of stuff like Lenny K, RHCP, came from school friends and then Parliament and Funkadelic stuff came through playing in bands and those people putting me on to these artists. Like I said, to me it’s funny that other musicians would act like they haven’t had similar experiences. As a musician you’re not only a fan of music but you also want to explore how to make it and that makes you naturally curious – so you’re gonna check various things out music wise. I just think lots of people omit that, cos they don’t think it will work with their story, I’m just being honest about it.

You’re based in London - tell me what you enjoy about the city and the local music scene….

London is the place. It’s like the definition of the big city, in my eyes, next to New York. New York is open 24 hours, London almost 25 hours. I can get anywhere from where I live, so it’s really handy. One of the cooler things is having Denmark St (the famous London guitar shop street) like 20 minutes away. Even though a lot of shops are gone, it's cool to go down there and see what’s new - even the times when you don’t buy anything. Obviously every band plays here, foreign and domestic, so if you wanna see a band, it’s easy. There’s a big mix of people and cultures, so that’s pretty cool too.

And what you DON’T like so much about life and the music scene there….

It’s fucking expensive! As someone from here I’m used to it but people I know from foreign countries or from way out of town, do say the people can be a little cold. Sometimes a bit insular. A bit cliquey. But I think that’s just the nature of a Metropolis

What are your Saturday night and Sunday morning albums?

Man, that’s such a tough question, because of course they change all the time. So I’d say recently on a Saturday eve I played Funkadelic’s Maggot Brain.

And I just bought a new, old record - Thin Lizzy; Johnny The Fox. That’s definitely got Sunday play. Not sure about Sunday morning. I’m not really up in the morning - early afternoon. I’ve got a bunch of over stuff in my phone but album wise - that’s what happening right now.

The genre ‘psychedelic funk-rock’ is great, in a world where we tend not to pigeon-hole artists, this sums you up perfectly, did you settle on this genre pretty quickly?

That’s an interesting question for a few reasons: I actually think that we live in a world where artists are constantly pigeon-holed, so it’s interesting to hear the opposite belief. I don’t think artists should be pigeonholed but ultimately, in terms of business, it’s about selling, so record companies are going to categorise the music to make that easier for them to do, the same goes for platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. The labels put on music might be changing but I think the labels still exist. I’ve had my music labeled and have also labeled my music different things. Grunge Soul was one of them, which is also somewhat accurate but can also give a different impression – if someone plays up the ‘Soul’ part too much in their mind. As you say ‘psychedelic funk-rock’ does put it in a nutshell in a way – it’s rock, but it’s definitely funk and it’s got a tripped vibe at times too – so yeah, it just fits and I suppose I’ve really just settled on that moniker recently.

How does Sabatta relax after a heavy day in the studio or otherwise playing out?

Ha! I wasn’t sure how to answer this one. I’d say in the usual recreational ways most people do 😉. But also personally, I like movies – big movie buff, hence the band name. And I listen to music, go to gigs, and buy records. My life really revolves around music. I probably watch too much shit on YouTube and Instagram also – just to be real about it.

I read that the single ‘Get Your Shit Together’ and forthcoming album ‘How To Get Even’ were recorded by Alex Franklinos at Shrunken Heads Studio in London. Why did you choose this producer and studio? 

Another good question! Well two things. Firstly I produced the record. It was just recorded at Shrunken Heads. And actually I did some of the guitar overdubs in Peckham, afterwards. But actually a dude named Fran Ashcroft, who’s a producer that has worked with Damon Albarn, hit me up on Facebook after hearing some stuff and gave me lots of great advice and he did a little search for studios and he came up with that one. So It’s all his fault! LOL! It was pretty intense to be honest – did it super old school and laid down all the basic tracks (guitar drums, guide vocals) in one day. I play a Les Paul as one of my guitars, they are notoriously heavy. So It’s like 8 hours of playing that, with like a 20 min break or something, crazy!!

You perform guitar, bass and vocals on the track and Adam Frederick Jacques is on drums. How does everything work when you play live? (Assuming you have other members to draw upon?)

Live it’s a 3 piece. The band was in translation, a lot to do with Covid, but not only that. So live it’s gonna be me and a drummer and a bassist. Nice and simple. And LOUD!

Your forthcoming album ‘How To Get Even’ is due to land on November 17th. How are you planning on celebrating the event?

Well I’m working on putting some dates together and hopefully we’ll do a show at a cool London venue and then probably tour in the New Year. I’m up for doing dates before then too though. Bookers, holler at me!

What formats will the album be available on?

Initially it will be digital but I’m also planning to do a limited vinyl run. I think the music really lends itself to that format. I might even do some cassettes. Keep an eye on our socials (links at the bottom) and you’ll see news of vinyl pressings when they happen!

Lastly, would you rather be able to communicate with animals or speak every language in the world fluently? What about communicating through music?

After the last part of that question there’s really only one choice – to be able to speak with animals. We do kind of communicate with them now but to have actual conversations would be cool - and possibly very, very weird! LOL! And we all know that music IS the universal language so I like to think I speak that fluently and my music is available worldwide!

Thanks for having me. Yinka

We’d like to thank Sabatta for sparing the time to chat to us and we wish him every success with the launch of his new album ‘How To Get Even’ on November 17th, keep an eye on his socials for details of live dates and more!

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