Interview With OkCello

How would you describe your music to any person who may have never heard it before?

Think of a band but all cellos. The bassist is a cellist.  The drummer beats on a cello. The keyboardist is a cellist, and so is the guitarist. And the lead singer? You got it... a cellist, but this band doesn’t play classical music. Not the way you are thinking. They don’t even play the classics in contemporary styles. The band writes and plays original music that is influenced by soul, reggae, EDM, funk, and jazz. Imagine Bobby McFerrin meets Bill Withers and Miles Davis, but with the musical sensibility of Ed Sheeran.

What’s the significance of your musical moniker?

My name is Okorie.  My performance name is OkCello. That’s just the “ok” from my name and the instrument I play. It means more than that, though. It could mean that I am an “OK” cellist. I think that is true. It also could be a thing that audiences say after they hear me play and are surprised/impressed: “Okay! Cello.” Really, what it is is a mantra that I use to help me remember that no matter how hard things get, it’s all going to be okay.

What are your musical influences?

While I mentioned who my music sounds like above, I can’t say that I listen greatly or deeply to those folks regularly. My heroes are Prince, Bob Marley, Jeff Buckley, Van Hunt, and David Ryan Harris. But lately I have been listening deeply to Jack Garrat, Hozier, and Willow Smith. So, I imagine that little bits of those sounds come through in my music, whether I know it or not. 

What are your musical inspirations?

I am moved by stories and emotions. But, mostly improvisation is my main method for finding inspiration. I usually don’t go to the cello with the intention to write a song or express a feeling. More often than not, I sit down at my cello and I let the music come to me, and as I listen to the music, it often helps me to be clearer about what emotion I am feeling or story I am telling. I do a lot more receiving of input and inspiration from the cello and the sounds I make on it during improvisation, that I take to the cello when I sit down to play.

If given the chance, what musician(s) would you like to collaborate with? Rather this is

to either write a song or be featured on a track.

Well, I have a song that I’d love to share with Jill Scott. Two, possibly. I have a song that I would love Darius Rucker to sing. I’d love to work with the great Bobby McFerrin. I think Jack Garrat is absolutely amazing. By far, my favourite artists making music today. I would love to see what we would come up with. And this is going to sound strange, but I think it would be amazing to work with Goldie. I’d love to be part of making a drum and bass concerto. Goldie and maybe Bjork. I like Victoria Monet. I’d love to see what she would come up with for me. The last person I would love to work with is Lionel Richie. He’s a pure songwriter.

What’s the song/album about?  What’s something you hope people take away from the new song(s)?

The song and the process through which I remembered/discovered this song are emblematic of the entire communication of the album: Things (life in general) are usually working out in our favor, even and especially when we don’t understand how.

I started working on the album back in March of 2024.  I worked somewhat steadily until August, recording new tracks and dusting off old songs whose time, I thought, had come.  However, financial hardships began to express themselves by the end of the summer, and thankfully, gigs picked up significantly in August and continued throughout the end of the year. As a result,  I had to put the album on hold.

I started back recording in Feb 2025 with the intention to finish the album by the end of March.  I was recording and mixing furiously to meet the deadline.  I was nearly done with what I thought the album was going to be, until I decided it needed something a bit lighter and brighter. More upbeat.  

I went back into my video recordings of ideas that I thought had the potential to be turned into something, and I found this snippet of an idea I had recorded in February 2024, even before I had formally started working on the album. It was perfect. It had energy, edge, and light, and I immediately started finishing it. It took me maybe two days to complete, and all of a sudden, it had totally changed the direction of the album. In fact, it made such a strong sonic impact on me that it changed the title of the album and became the title track.

Something about the way I stumbled into this song, even though I had a “clear” idea of what the album was going to be and where it was going to go before I had rediscovered it, was the essence of how this album and project came together. It was the essence of how plans bigger and better than our own are always guiding us and operating in the background.

Sometimes it’s hard for me to believe that. However, there are so many examples in my life - personally and professionally - where a reality that is better and more custom designed to my wants and needs is being unfurled in front of my eyes unbeknownst to me, even as I think the world and the plan I have labored so hard to bring into fruition is crumbling around me.

This song and this album are reminders to me and hopefully my audience to trust the journey and to be confident in your capacity to produce and meet the moment.

Do you have any favourite songs to perform live? Could be your own music or even a

cover. Any reason why?

The heart of this album is Sweet Work. It’s the fifth song on the album - strangely, there is no single for it. It will only be heard on the album. But, it’s my favourite to listen to -although I really love every song on this album. Sweet Work and Movement. Those were the surprises of the album. I knew that “Funny…” the song would do something powerful and new for me. As of yet, I have not performed it in public. So, it’s a favourite too. Just new to the family!

If you could perform a show this very second anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Is there any particular venue(s) or city/cities that comes to mind?

So many places: Lagos, first. I’ve been dying to get to Nigeria. Whatever venue in that city where my music makes sense, I’d enjoy it.  Havana! I loved playing in Cuba some years ago. Tokyo. Again, I have no idea what venue, but I know that I’d love playing for a Japanese audience. I’d like to go back to Kinshasa, DRC and perform this new work. And one of my favorite audiences is City Winery in Philadelphia. I love Philly and Philly audiences. 

Thanks for the time today. Is there anything else you may want to add before you go?

Look for the light.  It’s always there.