HEY:
I'm Angelo "Ello" Bagley. Producer, and Owner of The Hit Bag. This is the story of my lifelong dream coming true through God's Grace and Love.
WHERE IT ALL STARTED:
I remember being about 10 years old and annoying my sister so much because I was always knocking beats on the arms of mom's couches without end.
AAAH..THE MOMENT:
One night in 2000, when I was 12 years old, I was up late (on a school night, mind you. -Don't tell my mom) and heard Jay-Z's Timbaland-produced 'Big Pimpin', I internally lost my 12 year old mind. I'll always remember how the production made me feel. This was a pivotal moment for me. All I could think about for the next few days and weeks was that beat and jigga's flow on it. This was when I knew that all I want to do is make people feel the way that song made me feel in those moments.
OTHER INFLUENCES:
All of the mainstream US producers inspired me. However, the stuff Semitone did for Skwatta Kamp, made me really start listening to local Hiphop attentively and then South African music generally. Apart from Hiphop, I've always had so much love for 90's Rnb. I'm also glad that I was introduced to 'Queen' from a very young age, and then most of the Pop hits since the early 2000's. One of the best gifts from my mom was this little torch light radio. For some of my teenage years, all I ever did was listen to the radio. Looking back, I'm glad I listened to that much radio. Oh and I Loved my cassette tape walkman too.
LA FAMILIA:
My dad, Tony, is a super gifted guitarist. My brother, Antonio, sings and taught me the very first chord I ever played. My sister, sang in 9 different countries excluding SA.
I met my Wife at a rehearsal of the Gospel choir that she sang for and I played keys for.
THE STAGES:
I started doing the live thing professionally I'd say from around 2013. I met some amazing musicians in my home town, and other cities, and built great relationships along the way.
I Loved the Festivals, loved the corporates. The clubs? Nooot so much. I feel like I was half forced to perform jazz music just because of it's strong influence on Cape Town. However, I am happy that my chord vocabulary grew through the process. I just wanted to break away from the monotony though.
FAITH:
I Love and Worship God. I treasure my personal relationship with Jesus above everything else, and even though the music may be mostly secular, it does not mean that God cannot be Glorified through it somehow. Every ounce of my musical knowledge, my ears, rhythm, and ability all come from God. The least I can do is Produce good music with gifted, hardworking Artists to say thank you. Instead of selfishly keeping the gifts He gave to myself.
MY ROCK:
My Wife has truly been a 'Day 1'. She's been so supportive of my dream. Listened to me babble about this and that plugin, eq and Compression continuously. She's sacrificed so much for my dream. Even putting her own dream on hold!
DON'T GIVE UP:
I never gave up on my lifelong dream. I had to wait decades for it to come to pass. Learnt tons of lessons, had infinite setbacks, saved and invested alot of money that could've been spent on other things, prayed hard, believed even harder, and now..
Now my dream is here!
Let's make some music.
