Friday, February 4, 2011

Interview With Pat-Uwaje King of Mid-Night Crew


Hi Guys,

Here's someone I'd love you to 'really' meet.

She’s a young general, doing kingdom business the best way she knows how, and excelling at it.
I saw her on TV and I was enthralled. I’ve always known she was on that sensational Gospel group that I love sooo much but still....  

So this music video came on screen and I heard this strong captivating voice. It was Pat. I knew I wanted to talk to her. You’ll find her humble, passionate, compassionate, strong, feminine, spiritual and ...well, see for yourself.

We’d like to know a little more about Pat-Uwaje King...

I am my parents’ first daughter and the fourth of seven children.  I hail from Delta state, although I was born and bred in Ibadan, Oyo state, where I had my primary and some of my secondary education. I completed my secondary school in Lagos and I am a graduate of Creative Arts from The University of Lagos by God’s grace.



 Have you always known that music will be such an important aspect of your life?
I come from a family where we eat, drink and dream music. My mother is a wonderful vocalist and most of my siblings either sing or have a good ear for music.  I have always been very musically inclined and I served in church and campus choirs when I was much younger. Somehow, I knew my life was about music and that music would be a major part of me. My husband is also a good guitarist and music teacher and our 2 year old is hastily following in those steps. Its exciting!



What’s the best thing about being a member of The Mid Night Crew?

The privilege to worship God together with like-minded people and putting His praise on the lips of everyone-young and old, Africans and Non-Africans, black, white and grey. This for me is definitely the best thing about being a part of the Midnight Crew.  Being a group, we have had to learn to be good team players, Understanding and drawing strength from each other and as the scripture says “One shall chase a thousand, two, ten thousand,” can you imagine how many the four of us will chase?

 There is definitely strength and power in our togetherness and God’s grace has always been more than sufficient for us. We do have our challenges and differences but that’s what makes the group very unique.

We come from different physical and spiritual backgrounds and the people that love us all do, for different reasons. Michael is the swagger-man and the fuji crooner, Odunayo is our performer and dance queen, Gbenga is a bit reserved on stage but he brings God’s presence down in awesome worship and I just draw a bit from each of them and take the lead in vocals for some of our songs. We are so blessed by God. Our hit track, IGWE is being sung all over the world even by Non-Nigerians, it’s very humbling.

We pray to never take God’s anointing that makes the difference in our lives and ministry for granted.



You strike me as a strong, determined and disciplined woman. Do the many roles you fill as a wife, mother, etc affect this? What does your feminity mean to you?
Strength is a gift from God; I bless Him daily for it. Discipline and determination are my watchwords. I have always been very determined. I am a go-getter and I like to make things happen around me. I try to be very focused and reasonable in my decision making and the way I comport myself.

God has to be proud of us, His children, always and when a lot of people look up to you, you cannot afford to let them down, so discipline is very important to me. Also, being a wife and mother is a great responsibility and all those add to those characters definitely.  Some people attribute weakness to feminity but I think feminity is subtle strength. Women are God’s gifts to life itself. A good woman makes a difference in any household. We are naturally very good at multi-tasking. We can do a million things at a go and still hold it together. Naturally a woman nurtures and cares instinctively, looks out for her husband, kids and not just her own family but her husband’s as well. Show me a very successful man, and I will look around and show you an excellent wife who holds his hands and helps to strengthen his feeble knees when he gets weary! Womanhood is a blessing!


How does your faith come to bear on your everyday life?

I love God and I see His hands of love and favour in my life daily. If I start to tell you some of my testimonies, I will write a book. I cannot say I have attained, but like everyone else, I strive towards perfection and try to live a pleasing life unto God. I sometimes make mistakes and do silly things, but every chance I get; I try to do things that I know will make God happy. I love to learn from people no matter how young or old they are and I always ask God to humble me so that I don’t ever become too big for him to use. His mercies have kept me and I pray never to disappoint Him.

Was there ever a time in your life when you weren’t sure what you wanted to be or do in life? How did you handle that?

Like most people, yes! But that was only because most of our African parents and society always want us to be a doctor or a lawyer, accountant or an engineer etc, and anything else outside those really does not make sense to them.

I, on the other hand knew very well that none of those was for me.  It was a lot of struggle to define my own path and follow it, but when you follow God’s will, everything falls in place and that was what I did. I have no regrets whatsoever. I have peace and happiness and above all I feel very fulfilled. I have never wished for any other career or ministry.

Apart from singing, what other strong passions do you possess?

I love to teach music. I hope to begin doing that more on a big scale in the very near future, so everyone should watch this space. I also take delight in giving-My time, love, energy, resources to those who need it.


 What would you do if you had all the resources in the world at your disposal?

 I will build houses where poor people can find shelter, different multipurpose centres where creative activities can take place, shopping malls that would have presence all over the country, recreational grounds for both young and old. I will feed the poor, and use every opportunity to tell as many people as I can about Christ’s second coming.

                                                                           ***

 There you have it. Ain't she amazing?

Also, See Pat's Stint on Lara George's Video, Halleluyah



God bless you Pat, as you keep walking your destiny path and God bless Mid-night crew!


Roy.


7 comments:

AFalomo said...

Wow. You're a good interviewer Remi. I learned a thing or two too.

Roy said...

Thanks Ayo.
I guess when you meet great people, some things come easy.

Anonymous said...

nice interview,i was greatly blessed by the song although i have heard it before .great work dear.

Harry said...

Nice interview..iLike

AFalomo said...

@Remi, you're definitely right about that.

Roy said...

Hi Harry, Thanks! :)
Thanks @Ayo.

Roy said...

Thanks Enyonam. I do agree to your description of Pat, articulate and well spoken.
God bless you dear.
Thanks for coming around.