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A close encounter with Lexis Bill

Born Louis Sakyiamah, he is popularly known as Lexis Bill. Starting his radio career back in KNUST Campus, he now wakes Accra up on Hitz 103.7 with Daybreak Hitz. Lexis bill in an interview with , he talks about perfecting his English, how Ghana music can break boundaries and his indifference towards the Radio and Television Personality Awards.

How did you meet Radio?

For me it was more of an adventure. I was not a fan of radio; I was a fan of literature. I was more into writing poems and I remember going to Focus FM to get the chance to hear a poem I had heard them play so I could write it down.The Program Director then heard my voice and thought I should record a statement and everyone liked it. The next day I was invited on a talk show about love and he put me on it. And I have been on radio ever since.

What’s your philosophy for what you do?

My philosophy is education as in learning because it never ends. I believe in doing things and doing them well once you decide to do the thing. I am still learning even on the show and I really appreciate those bits.You give well when you give of your possessions, but you give and you really give when you give of yourself. If it must be done, it must be done well.

Are our on-air people being professional?

Just like every profession there are people who will be lackadaisical about it. There are a lot of people who get on radio by chance and decide not to learn and do things the way it’s supposed to be done. I got on radio by chance and I took it upon myself to be professional about it.People don’t like to research and know the developing trends in their chosen careers and also the influx of private radio has made it possible for anyone at all to get on radio. And that’s hurting the industry.

Do you ever have to adjust your self so the audience can relate to you?

It is just me. A lot of people get on radio and they want to speak like they are on radio. I try to be Lexis Bill and present the contents like I would to my friends off radio. I was also very particular about phonetics in English; so I could speak the language right.

I have also personally pursued voice and speech development and learnt pronunciation and stuff like that. I also specialize in teaching words pronunciation and phonetics back at Elite Media Consult. If you have to learn something you have to learn it well.

How has your platform affected your brand?

The institution you belong to plays a role but everyone has their personality and qualities. The platform you find yourself also shapes you. I was one of the best R&B guys on air in Kumasi but Accra changed me into the Lexis you guys know now.
Running a morning show in a politically polluted environment and getting recognition by the RTP’s in the Morning show category is evident that a good amount of effort is being put to make something different.

Are people over criticizing the Radio and Television Personalities Awards?

I think everything has people who vouch for or against it. Just like any other thing, someone got to do it and I think the organizers are doing all their possible best to make the thing happen. There could be a few lapses here and there but nothing has ever started on a very perfect note.

Take the Ghana music awards for instance, it has been around for over ten years but people still have issues with it when it comes around. I’m kind of indifferent about this Radio and Television Personality(s) Award because I am not organizing it and I can’t really tell how the organizers want to run things.

I think you cannot get everyone praising you always; some people would have their reservations about something. But all in all, the RPT’s is a laudable idea.

What’s your take on our music scene now?

It’s evolving and a lot of creativity is flowing into it now. The only problem is that we are losing our African-ness and our Ghanaian rhythms .If there was a way we could fuse them into our music now, it will have been good. The other part we are losing is storytelling, which people are loosing grips with the story telling bit and just sing because they have voices.

I think we are losing on the whole branding thing. We are losing our African-ness in the name of crossing over.

If you want to break bounds I think you should look for the likes of Wanlov, King Ayisoba and the Afro Gypsy Band and study what they do. They are playing all over the world to foreign audience. The Afro Gypsy band play instruments like Violin, Accordion, Kologo, Shekere, Gome, Kpalongo and with these instrument’s they are serving Ghanaian music to foreigners.

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