Oluwaseye Adelekan,[1] better known as Seye Adelekan, is a Nigerian-British musician, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is the live bassist for Gorillaz since 2016.
Role in Gorillaz[]
Adelekan has been serving as Gorillaz' bassist for their live concerts since the Humanz Tour. He also provides additional guitar. Seye got involved after having met co-creator Damon Albarn in 2012 Africa Express. He was later asked to do many other projects with Damon Albarn before getting invited to join Gorillaz in 2017.
He has described himself as ‘Murdoc's counterpart’. In the music video for Tranz, the way Ace moves is loosely based on the way Seye moves. He said in an Instagram livestream a month before the Tranz video premiered that "when you look at the new video, you'll notice that Ace moves a bit like me.".
Musical Career[]
Seye has been working with Damon Albarn since 2011, when he became the bassist for the live band of the musical collective Africa Express. Albarn also used Seye as the bassist and guitarist for The Heavy Seas, which is the live band of his 2012 Everyday Robots solo tour. In 2016, he became the bassist of Gorillaz for live shows for the Humanz Tour and continues to be the live bassist for Gorillaz today.
In 2016, Seye formed the supergroup YOTA: Youth of the Apocalypse with fellow Gorillaz' live bandmate Jeff Wootton, Klaxons' frontman Jamie Reynolds, drummer Jay Sharrock, rapper Young Lazurus and DJ Twiggy Garcia. Youth of the Apocalypse released the song Drop The Bomb (featuring MF Doom) on the 1st of June 2018, with the music video being released on the 10th of July 2018. YOTA were originally set to headline the 2018 Demon Days Festival in Los Angeles, but ultimately cancelled their appearance and eventually broke up.
Trivia[]
- Seye's favourite Gorillaz songs to play live include The Valley of the Pagans, Last Living Souls, El Mañana, Hong Kong and Demon Days.
- He has also recorded and produced many covers of other Gorillaz songs, which he posted to his YouTube channel, most notably of Aries and On Melancholy Hill.
- Seye makes a cameo appearance in the music video for Strobelite.
- Seye uses a Yellow Eastwood Flying BV Bass Guitar and a Green Eastwood Classic 6 Bass Guitar.
- Seye's older brother, Olugbenga Adelekan, is the bassist for the band Metronomy, who worked on El Mañana (Metronomy Remix), which appeared on the compilation album D-Sides in 2007.
- Seye has a tattoo of Murdoc on his right arm.
