Vizion Hustles Hard

I met Oliver “Vizion” Gale on my recent trip to Nashville with Malissa Alanna. There I got an opportunity to observe the recording process and see this guy in action. Even though it was constant work for him in the studio, he managed to spare some time for an interview with me.

Oliver’s interest for music began at the end of primary school, with dancehall being his preferred genre. At the time, a friend of his had a cassette player that had a microphone attached to it which he would borrow and use to sing over the songs. Most of the time he would do so with his own lyrics and that is what really sparked his passion for becoming a recording artist. In the later years of secondary school, he got into his friends’ freestyle battles. He recorded a few dancehall songs at home at the age of 15, being influenced by Jamaican celebs Bounty Killa and Sizzla, but nothing that he ever released.

Vizion (All photos by Mikey Rapley)

When Oliver went to Trinity College in Toronto to study at the age of 18, he had to start deciding where he wanted his studies to go. His dad advised him to do whatever he enjoyed doing and, as it turns out, music was what he really wanted to do. So they both agreed that Oliver would continue his studies, but still try to pursue music. Since he couldn’t decide what other path he would like to take at the time, he picked as wide a range of subjects as he could. By this time, his musical interest turned to Rap and Hip Hop, with 2Pac being a major influence. It was at this point that he got really serous and would write lyrics between lectures and he even got together with a group of other peers at the college to put on a performance at the college.

After finishing his studies is Toronto, Oliver moved to Patagonia, Chile for three months on a charity expedition. Having met a lot of spiritual people on his trip, the influence of reggae music, which was always with him, rose above that of Hip Hop. In addition, the things that Oliver saw and the people that he met made him realise that he wanted to create music with a message. With the Reggae influence came the interest in Rastafarianism and he started to interact with the community more in order to understand their lifestyle and their struggles.

“I always had a guilt issue, coming from a privileged background. How can I sing about these issues if I’m not going through the issues? I don’t want people to say ‘Who is this white boy to sing about sufferation and poverty when he ain’t seen poverty yet?’”

Upon returning from Chile, Oliver’s dad organised a meeting between him and Derik Wilkie, who in turn hooked him up with Hit Island Studios’ K.B. Sharp, who became Oliver’s first mentor. Together they came up with Vizion’s first recorded single “Girl I Need You”. Not only did it get a lot of airplay on the local radio, but the music video was shown in international countries such as South Africa and Italy. He also performed at Reggae on the Hill and Reggae on the Beach a couple of years ago.

There came a time when Oliver’s parents wanted him to go university, which he wasn’t too keen on at first as his music was going somewhere, having recorded a few more songs. However, he agreed and attended the University of Bristol, studying Business, Accounting and Management. It was the presence of a large Caribbean community that drew him to the university and he took part in a lot of underground reggae and hip hop shows, performed in clubs and bars and was interviewed on the radio. He even ventured to Manchester to preform there.

After graduating from Bristol, Oliver went on a Euro trip which was another eye opening experience that allowed him to realise that life isn’t all about soul searching and that he needed to start enjoying life in the moment. It also allowed him to return home with a fresh mind to really think about his music career, which he was struggling with near the end of his university life. Upon returning to Barbados, he really began to focus his energy on his music again.

“I read books on the industry, picked up the keyboard and started vocal lessons. I started back writing as I hadn’t been doing so for a long time.”

Vizion started to focus on creating music, which contained a fusion of reggae and dance hall melodies with the lyrical influence of hip hop. He eventually released “Hustle Hard” with Million Dollar Music at the end of 2010. As the song started to gain airplay, Oliver made a resolution to make 2011 the year that he stepped up his game, with hopes that he would release an album by the end of the year, which he is very close to doing. 

 In the second part of the interview, find out who are Oliver’s influences in the industry, about his brand “Authentic Revolution” and what else he does in his spare time, not to mention the photo shoot!

This is a Hidden Gems feature. Every other week, Mikey Rapley will interview young and talented Bajans who deserve a chance to shine in the spotlight.