TUNDE OLANIRAN: Whipped Cream & Daydreams

| by Michaela Stock

queer media makers and artists that came from all over the country to Detroit,” Olaniran said.

The conference exposed Olaniran to creators that inspired and reflected their identity.

“I think artists from West Michigan can probably relate to this, but when you’re in a smaller city, sometimes it’s hard to get a sense of what’s possible,” Olaniran said.

“Being around Black and brown queer people, queer artists, who were giving this love back to the work I was doing, really pushed me.”

This performance became one of many concerts that continued to lay the groundwork for Olaniran’s artistic self discovery. Now adorned with elaborate costumes and choreography, Olaniran’s shows also inspire those who attend them.

“I’ve had people come up to me after shows and be like, ‘I wish I could do that,’” Olaniran said.

“I’m like, ‘You can do that!’ I think that society really traps us into thinking we can only express ourselves and live in certain ways.” and various artists, which further pushed their exploratory approach to songwriting.

As a songwriter, Olaniran fuses pop music’s verse-chorus blueprint with unexpected soundscapes, resulting in catchy melodies marbled with sonic surprises.

“You can map out pop music like a math equation. I like filling that equation with different variables, like different sounds, different lyrical approaches, and different approaches to using my voice that are not traditional pop music,” Olaniran said.

This musical mixture ushers listeners into an entanglement of desire, identity, and storytelling.

“It’s a mixture of really unfamiliar sounds and unfamiliar melodies, but in a very familiar format, so that it becomes easy to listen to and understand what’s coming next,” Olaniran said.

Despite featuring more than 20 musicians, producers and writers, Ephemerreality was a completely virtual project that came to life during the pandemic. “No one was ever in the same physical room together.”

Beyond surmounting these logistical hurdles, Olaniran also wanted to use the project to provide Black women with a larger platform on digital streaming services.

“I was also really frustrated being on Spotify and just seeing so few Black women artists on playlists, especially in 2020,” Olaniran said. “I had this desire to bring together a lot of really powerful Black women, who I really admire, and see if we could make some cool music together.” say, ‘I wish I was on a lavender cloud, dripping honey into your mouth.’ That’s just such a random thing that couldn’t have happened in the real world.”

This metaphor founded Whipped Cream Daydream , the song that not only sparked the 12-track mixtape, but was playlisted by high profile artists, spun on BCC One, and played at World Pride.

“Someone contacted me and said that their nine-yearold twin boys love the song Whipped Cream Daydream, and so I’m going to be their first-ever concert,” Olaniran said. “That’s the song they play every day before they go to school. I just love that.”

TUNDE OLANIRAN

The Pyramid Scheme pyramidschemebar.com

68 Commerce Ave. SW, Grand Rapids April 15, 7 p.m.

“I like to surprise and put in sounds just to make you go, ‘What was that? What was that texture? What was that noise?”

Olaniran’s most recent project, a mixtape titled Ephemerrreality that was released in 2022, brilliantly captures this element of surprise. Each song hosts a collaboration between Olaniran

One of the tracks that inspired the mixtape was Olaniran’s own Whipped Cream Daydream , which features an upbeat pop melody with whimsical lyrics about having a crush.

“I was actually doing a virtual visit for a University of Michigan class about music business, and I was talking to them about songwriting. I was trying to give them an example of not feeling like you have to write metaphors that are based in reality,” Olaniran said.

“Let’s say you have a crush on someone, and instead of saying, ‘I have a crush on you,’ you could

Olaniran’s upcoming record, titled Chaotic Good , is slated to be released this fall. Preceding the release, Olaniran is performing at the Pyramid Scheme on April 15th. As Olaniran’s music is written for the live experience, they hope to see faces both fresh and familiar come to their show.

“When I write music, I am imagining what it would be like to perform it. That really affects the music and the way I produce it,” Olaniran said.

“I think the live performance is a big part of what makes the song fun for people. We love dancing, and we love having costume reveals. We love just delighting people.” ■

Brit Floyd returns to the DeVos Performance Hall stage on Monday, May 15th

with an all-new production celebrating 50 years of the ground-breaking and iconic musical masterpiece The Dark Side of the Moon.

The show will feature classic tracks in a two and a half hour plus setlist that includes highlights from Pink Floyd’s magnificent catalogue of albums, including The Wall, Wish You Were Here, Animals , The Division Bell, Medal and more! Brit Floyd has made a name for themselves as one of the greatest Pink Floyd tribute bands to ever exist performing note for note renditions of the classic Pink Floyd tracks. Brit Floyd features long time guitarist/ vocalist and musical director Damian Darlington, who has played over 2,500 Pink Floyd music related concerts as well as Ian Cattell, Edo Scordo, Eva Avila and other expert musicians.

The Brit Floyd show has become a phenomenon, widely regarded as the world’s greatest rock tribute show. Faithfully recreating the scale and pomp of the final 1994 Pink Floyd tour, complete with a stunning light show, iconic circular screen, lasers, inflatables and theatrics.

Rising DJ, producer and electronic music artist Nick Rowland— aka Super Future—wants to take listeners on a journey with the release of his new EP, Full Spectrum Transporting audiences through time, space, and sound, he aims to venture through a wide array of styles and sonic emotions, as well as his own personal journey, when he returns to Grand Rapids to release the record and kick off his upcoming tour.

“I do to sound what a prism does to light,” Rowland said of his far-reaching, forward-thinking music. “Sound waves go into something and I just spread it out and blow it out into a million different fragmented colors to make a really beautiful moment.”

Although originally from Rochester Hills, near Detroit, and now once again residing on the East side of the state, Rowland considers Grand Rapids something of a second hometown as it’s where he first found his footing in music.

After graduating from Michigan State University with a degree in Chemical Engineering back in 2012, Rowland said he really got into EDM, citing big names like Skrillex, Zed’s Dead and others. He decided he wanted to start DJing as a hobby, and began playing bars by MSU.

“I really fell in love with it pretty quickly, which is weird because I used to be really against it because of being like a pure guitarist, a music purist and metal head,” Rowland said, adding that he grew up playing guitar. “But then I started to see the parallels, and really started to enjoy the energy that heavy electronic music created.”

Almost getting fired as a DJ for playing subgenres and sounds that hadn’t really caught on commercially at that time, Rowland knew early on that he wanted to make his own music, and he found more welcoming opportunities to develop his sound and network with other likeminded DJs in Grand Rapids.

He moved here in 2015, and played his first shows at The Intersection in 2016, where he became a regular opener for touring EDM acts, until he left West Michigan in 2021.

“I became a really good asset for tours who wanted more of a vibe-y, chill opener, who could still make people dance,” Rowland said. “And I think I found my pocket right there. And that little space where I exist, I’ve expanded and helped build some underground trends myself in the national experimental bass format throughout the states.”

Co-founding the Samsara Family Collective here in West Michigan in 2017, Rowland fondly looks back on the many