When Yinka Ayefele set up his studio, Music Room, it was not just for his personal use but also to help upcoming artistes. The good judgment and initiative he showed back then have no doubt paid off as the Gospel musician now operates something much bigger than a music room.
A visit to the pleasantly modern studios of Fresh F.M, situated within the Music House, Challenge, Ibadan, is more than enough to convince anyone that Yinka Ayefele is managing the station with great success. Not only does Fresh 105.9 boast of state of the art equipment, its staff can compete favourably with broadcasters anywhere in the world.
The radio station itself is a testimony of hard work, patience and perseverance. Fresh F.M’s license was approved by the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC after a seven-year waiting period. But all the while, Yinka Ayefele never wavered; his focus never shifted. One shouldn’t have expected anything less from a man who holds fast to the philosophy that “when you work hard, success may not come as fast as expected but it will come sooner than you think”.
Moreover, Ayefele has always been a radio person. Many know that years before Ayefele ventured into music, he worked at the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Ibadan. What may, however, not be known to them is that Ayefele actually started off as the station’s Father Christmas, a role he played on an annual basis until he attended the FRCN Training School in Lagos between 1993 and 1994; thereby facilitating his employment as a broadcaster.
For Yinka Ayefele, Fresh F.M which took off in August 2015 is a dream come true. He had been revealing his vision for the broadcast industry since the mid-2000s. Back then, he said “I would love to see the broadcast industry climb to greater heights with the coming on board of many private radio stations. I pray for an industry where in the years ahead, professionalism will be the watchword”.
At Radio Nigeria, he anchored a number of programs including E ku isinmi, Piri lolongo nji and Lagbo Faaji ; giving a good account of himself in the process. When he left the FRCN in 1996 to become a freelance broadcaster, his scope widened as he started presenting programmes on stations like the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS) and Ondo State Radio Service (OSRC).
What many perhaps remember is that he was always in the studio with Kola Olawuyi and that he produced quite a number of jingles which became more like anthems back then. Of course Yinka Ayefele didn’t start producing jingles by accident.
Having started off as an instrumentalist, paying attention to details eventually paid off for him. Not many also know that their beloved Gospel musician was a key instrumentalist with Uncle Toye Ajagun and it was while with him that the name Ayefele was first considered. Ajagun had asked one day about his surname and when the young Yinka replied that the surname was simply “Fele”, Ajagun pressed further by asking “ki lo fele?” (What is simple? He would later ask him to add a prefix to the surname; giving him “Aye” and “Inu” as options.
His 1999 experience would later prove that the world could indeed be “simple”. Incidentally, his parents did not oppose him changing his surname.
For Ayefele, who believes there is no substitute for hard work, his admirable talent also saw him playing instruments for Micho Ade and Wale Thompson.
Since the release of Yinka Ayefele’s debut album, Bitter Experience after the 1997 incident that made him a musician; his fame has resisted gravity. His sophomore album, Sweet Experience was glorious and after that, every album has been a hit back to back. And to allow his fans savour the magnificence of each album, he releases his albums at a particular period of the year and gives an almost regular interval of a year before the next album is released.
His reason? “A wise musician would not be releasing albums like pure water; if care is not taken, you are off the block; you’ll exhaust all you have and that may not be good for one’s career”, Ayefele once said.
Not only has he been able to sustain the tempo of his music over the years, Ayefele has proved his mastery of the rudiments of album production including composition and arrangement of songs. He simply does not compromise quality.
In a recent chat with PMParrot.com, he confessed that the only place he is ‘comfortably happy’ is the studio.
His words “the centre of the studio, any studio, in Nigeria or abroad is where real happiness lies for me. I am ever conscious that it is the only place I can do almost anything.
“That we now run a full radio station is an additional source of joy. We give all the glory to God. All things are working in our favour. Being a musician gives me joy. But I feel fulfilled too being a radioman.”
Packaged by Wole Adejumo with additional reports from Olayinka Agboola
