The Tensions of a Music Producer
The knobs and faders blink quietly around us as we settle into the production booth after church. It’s a fairly busy area, so there’s a lot of movement and conversations in the background, but my focus is fully trained on one man.
Olay leans back in his chair with the casual comfort of someone who spends much of his time around audio equipment. It’s his birthday, but instead of cake and candles, he’s surrounded by compressors and cables, talking about something that runs even deeper than his love for music.
“I’m not telling you the meaning of my name,” he grins, right off the bat. “You’ll only hear it once a year.”
It’s vintage Olay, charming, quick with the jokes, eyes lighting up like halogen floodlights every time drums or chords enter the conversation. But as we talk, it becomes clear there’s something more layered in the mix of his life – an unwavering commitment to honouring God in a workspace that doesn’t always make that easy.
It All Started with Some Oil Cans
Before he was mixing records, Olay was just a boy with a dream and some very loud oil cans.
“I’d line up those empty King’s oil cans like a drum set and play them based on what I saw at church,” he laughs. “The neighbours would scream, ‘Bobo yi o’n pariwo now!’”. Which loosely translates from Yoruba to English as, “This boy, you are disturbing our lives and destinies with noise!”.
His fascination with rhythm was sparked by the shiny new drum set his church bought when he was in primary school. At a time when most kids found pleasure in rolling tyres around the neighbourhood, Olay spent most of his time absorbing sounds from his dad’s old vinyl record player. He practised with makeshift instruments, spending siesta hours playing the keyboard in the chapel of his boarding secondary school.
Even when everyone else wanted to be aeronautical engineers and pilots, Olay dreamt of becoming DJ Jimmy Jatt… because “the way they would call his name on radio just sounded to me like the guy had a lot of money.”
Still, the dream had to grow through tension. He hit a wall during his engineering internship in Lagos. Endless traffic and an uninspiring routine were the beat of that 9-5 life. For Olay, that beat was way off rhythm.
“I felt like I was gifted with the talent of creating music, so I decided to pursue it. I sat in the office one day and Googled: how to make a beat,” he says with a chuckle. “That was it. In one of the search results, I watched somebody playing a particular beat. And in my mind, I thought, “This is too easy. Is this what people are getting paid for?”
The Clash of Faith and Career
Working with both gospel and secular artists, Olay has become intimately familiar with the tension that sometimes comes up between conviction and creative liberty.
“There are different kinds of secular music,” he explains. “Love songs, dance songs, heartbreak songs, all of that. But, every now and then, someone sends you a track and you don’t even know where to categorise it. Sometimes, I listen to lines that make me go like, ‘My God! I can’t even say this as a Christian!’” He chuckles and shakes his head.
Olay has heard lyrics that made him pause mid-mix. He’s stepped into rooms thick with smoke and ego. He’s walked away from projects with his values–and lungs–intact.
“There was a guy I worked with whose personality was a major clash with my values. To start with, it seemed like he didn’t respect my experience as a producer. He didn’t listen to me or take any of my creative suggestions on board,” he recalls.
“To make matters worse, he was constantly smoking in shared spaces, and I just couldn’t breathe. It was overwhelming. I heard the voice of God nudging me to leave, but it was late at night so I had to wait until morning.
I didn’t sleep that night. I couldn’t. I just sat by the window and kept myself engaged, texting and calling friends, watching Lagos traffic till morning. Once it was 6am, I bailed. I just sent the artist his recordings, and that was the end.”
In other moments, the Holy Spirit’s nudge is met with some natural human resistance, “I imagine worst-case scenarios like the artist saying ‘Ah, you’re too churchy for me, I’m never working with you again in my life’
When confronted with those situations, Olay allows God’s wisdom to guide his approach.
“What I do is focus on letting the artist understand that my production is going in one direction, but their lyrics are taking things in the opposite direction. ”
In one memorable instance, he reached out to an artist mid-project. “I just said, ‘Guy, this line… let’s not go in this direction. There’s a better way to phrase this.’” In his words, “ I wasn’t trying to be deep or churchy. The lines just didn’t sit well with my spirit. I was nervous. But I still told him.”
The artist was surprisingly open to changing things. “But even if he wasn’t,” Olay shrugs, “I’d still do the right thing.”
“But don’t get it twisted,” he adds. “I don’t police everybody’s lyrics; I’m not the verse patrol. Most times, I just pray and ask the Holy Spirit, ‘Should I speak or stay silent?’ And honestly, He guides me.”
Honouring God with Boundaries
In a creative industry where studio sessions often come with side servings of substances, Olay’s studio operates differently. There’s one story he tells with a twinkle in his eye.
“I remember this one artist came in and said, ‘Let’s go get drinks.’ I told him, ‘We have Coke, Fanta, Iced Tea, pick your poison.’” He laughs. “Then the guy was like, ‘No, no, no. I mean drinks that can spark creativity.’ My response was, ‘Iced Tea sparks me, my bro.’”
It turns out Iced Tea is Olay’s secret weapon. “Shout out to Chivita. That stuff gets my brain functioning at its creative peak. I can’t even explain it,” he adds, laughing and staring longingly at the half-filled Iced Tea juice pack he had been drinking from before the interview started.
His rules are clear. No substances. No chaos. No compromising the vibe – or the values. But these rules are always communicated with grace.
“I don’t come across like, ‘You unrighteous sinner, don’t defile my holy studio!’ Nah. In most cases, it’s as simple as gently stating, ‘For my health and sanity, and because of the kind of environment this is, please don’t light anything in here.’”
The goal isn’t to judge; it’s to stand firm. “I might be in the space, but I am not of it.” he adds in a reflective tone.
Still, the pushback comes. “Sometimes my colleagues tease, ‘Ah, this one na Pastor!’” he says, smiling. “And I’m like, ‘Yes oh. Just as long as we’re on the same page.’ One thing that is not negotiable for me is making sure my values and boundaries are obvious to anyone I work with.”
Honouring God by Trusting in Him
Olay doesn’t just work in a challenging industry, he does it outside its primary hub. While most producers cluster in Lagos, he chooses to stay in Ibadan and serve faithfully at Sycamore Church. But there have been challenges. One time, a client ghosted him the moment he mentioned he lived in Ibadan.
“They just never called back,” he shrugs. “Immediately I mentioned I was based in Ibadan, it was the last time I heard from them. Not even a ‘bye’.”
“That decision to remain in Ibadan is one that sometimes closes doors of opportunity,” he says. “But God has a way of showing up and letting my work speak for me in the right spaces.”
One of the clearest moments came on the eve of his birthday a few years ago. “I had a big job lined up, it was an advert for a top artist. I was already calculating birthday money in my head,” he admits, grinning. “Then boom, it fell through at the last minute. They pulled out and decided to work with the celebrity directly.”
But here’s the wild part: he didn’t panic. “I just had this peace. I told myself, ‘If it was mine, it would have stayed.’ And you know what? God brought even bigger opportunities after that.”
That theme of trust has been consistent across his career. It’s one of the biggest lessons he has learnt.
“Sometimes the Holy Spirit will nudge me: ‘Don’t take that project.’ It can be hard, especially if the money looks juicy. But each time I obey, He surprises me with something better.”
The way Olay views it, it gets easier to trust when you’ve seen the kind of doors God opens—doors that you didn’t even know to knock on.
Honouring God With Good Work
Olay’s work ethic shows up even in underpaid gigs.
“I’ve learnt that one major way I can honour God within this space is to always do great work regardless of the circumstances. The spirit of excellence dwells within me as a Christian, so my burden is to ensure that it reflects in every project.”
Recently, a freelance job that he took on paid far less than it should’ve because the client had funded the contract before sending the full scope of the gig. When the production got exhausting, Olay was tempted to rush it, but the Holy Spirit whispered: excellence, always.
“So I pushed through and gave it my best. Sent it in. The client was so impressed, he ended up giving me a tip that brought the eventual pay right up to what it should have been in the first place.”
He smiles, almost amused. “God can be funny like that.”
Advice from the Booth
I asked what he’d say to a young creative afraid of being ‘swept away’ by the music industry, and Olay doesn’t hesitate.
“First of all, know yourself. More importantly, know God, and walk with Him. You’ll need the spirit of discernment, because this industry can show you pepper,” he laughs. “On a serious note, the music industry, the creative industry in general, will test you. If you’re not rooted strongly in God before jumping in, you can fall flat.”
Then he throws in a disclaimer, “I’d also say you shouldn’t be scared. It’s very possible to mind your business, stay grounded in your values, do your work, and go home.”
Olay is quick to add that not all secular artists are wild cards that can corrupt your spirit. “There are artists that write clean, beautiful love songs. Not everyone’s out here trying to put out vulgarity morning, afternoon, and night. You’ll find artists that engage in wholesome, respectable projects. But, there are some other artists, when you see them coming?” He leans in with a cheeky grin. “Run!”
While speaking, Olay emphasises a particular line more than once: “Mistakes happen in mistake territory.” According to him, it’s one of the many vital lessons he’s picked up from the teachings of Pastor Tolulope Moody.
“To honour God while working in this industry, you have to be intentional and accountable about your inner circle. The people you spend the most time with must share your spiritual values.”
Final Mixdown
As we wrap up the conversation, surrounded by blinking faders and high-tech switchers, it’s hard not to feel the weight of Olay’s juggle in the entertainment industry.
“Don’t be money-driven, be value-driven,” he says, still speaking to a young creative trying to honour God in their workspace. “It’s okay to want fair pay. It’s important, actually. But don’t chase money like it’s your god. Patience is a fruit of the Spirit. And in this industry, you’ll need a whole plantation of it. There are projects that may not enrich your pocket right away, but in the long run, they could prove very lucrative.”
Then he pauses. “And, please,” he adds with a grin, “put your work out there. Learn social media and be loud about what you do. God will back you.”
The lights on the mixer blink softly beside him. Olay leans back, reaches for his Iced Tea, takes an extended sip – more like a big gulp to be honest – and smiles.
“Now that,” he says, “was a good take.”
Join Us This Sunday!
This Sunday at Sycamore Church, we continue our new Teaching Series on Making Work Work, and we invite you to be part of it.
God cares about our work, and He equips us for it. You are welcome to join us in person at our church premises behind Mobil Filling Station, Samonda, Ibadan.
If you’re unable to make it physically, you can join our online church via YouTube.
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Olay Ayomikun leads the Production Team at Sycamore Church, Ibadan._
Written By Victor Anih
Victor serves with the Content Team at Sycamore Church, Ibadan.
(Blogposts are creative expressions generously provided for Sycamore Church. The ideas and thoughts do not necessarily represent the position of Sycamore Church)
