Hip In Detroit Asks Tunde Olaniran the Questions No One Else Will

For the last three years we have been raving about the unique talent of Tunde Olaniran. We have seen him perform in every venue from the Lager House to Royal Oak Music Theatre and every time he has taken the stage he has done something different and kept it fresh. But, most importantly, he always made sure that everyone in the room had fun.

Today Tunde released his first full length album called Transgressor and Saturday night The Elizabeth Theater will host his album release party. All the major publications in Detroit have written about Tunde and the new album this week. Metro Times walked us through the tracks one by one, The Detroit News gave us an overview of the music, the man, and the attraction, and The Free Press gave us an inside look at the artist's life and philosophy. We want to remind you of the most important reason to come out and see Tunde this Saturday. Simply put, it's going to be really fucking fun!

The reason that Tunde is Tunde is that he takes over a room, makes you watch, makes you have fun, and nine out of ten times he will make you dance. If you want to have fun and witness one of the best shows you can see for $10, then you want to see Tunde.

In the spirit of fun, here is an short interview with Tunde to make you smile and to remind you how fun and creative this artist truly is.

HID- If you were an X-Men character who would you be and why?

Tunde Olaniran- "I'd either be Kitty Pryde or Jean Grey. I just love Kitty (the COMIC version, not whatever they tried to give us with Ellen Page), and Jean is a boss, lowkey. Telekinetic and telepathic??"

HID- What's your favorite color? Why? 

TO- "I don't have a favorite color, that's for like when you're in kindergarten. I used to think it was purple, but I started realizing I am not a fan of that or red. I find myself wearing or picking blue a lot when I'm buying clothes. Blue feels like a rich, powerful color, especially when it's darker."

HID-Would you rather be in a real version of The Walking Dead or Jurassic Park?

TO- "Uhm, obviously I want to exist in any world with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum. Also, FUCK ZOMBIES. Zombies are the only horror movie 'monsters' that actually stress me out. Besides, I think our world would be much better equipped to handle dinosaurs than zombies, but if I had to survive one on one against a zombie vs a raptor, I guess I would choose zombie." 

HID- If I came to your home and looked inside the refrigerator, what would I find?

TO- "It depends on when. Right now, there's like a 5 different kinds of juices. I've been making fresh watermelon juice lately. And Carrot-orange juice, and aloe juice, and hemp milk. I also keep goat milk cheese on deck at all times. BBQ sauce is a must, green onions are a must, and like 5 pre-stocked little containers of mixed fruit I can pop into my blender for a smoothie. There's more, but it's not that interesting."

HID- What was the best thing before sliced bread?

TO- "Hmmmm.. well wait ok when did we start slicing bread let me google that because I can't keep specific facts in my head...

Holy shit, this is an intense story http://priceonomics.com/the-invention-of-sliced-bread/

Okay anyway, probably the best thing before sliced bread was probably the light bulb and before that I don't know probably the matrilineal society of the Iroquois Nation?"

HID- Are you a night owl or morning person?

TO- "I'm usually more active (especially creatively) at night, but if I don't have to do anything I love having mornings to myself to spend at my leisure, cooking a big breakfast and maybe cleaning. I will say though, in general, I would love to make it federal law that no meeting is ever to be held before 10:30 am at THEE EARLIEST. Some of y'all be killing me with these 9 am conference calls."

HID- Have you ever googled yourself?

TO- "I have Google Alerts! Although Twitter usually tells me about myself before anything else lol. Sometimes after a big show I will google to find any live videos. I used to tape all my sets as a way to like improve them, but now I don't have time for that, so if I see a video online it's fun to watch every now and then. I think as a somewhat public figure, it's more mundane to have google alerts, it's not like there's going to be anything very surprising since you have put yourself out there anyway."

HID- Would you rather a vampire or a wizard?

TO- "So a lot of people think vampires are sexy, but I don't know man, being a vampire seems like it would involve a lot of really bad smells that we the audience or viewer don't really think about, so I'm gonna go with Wizard!! I feel like I have the clothes already."

~S