- Gabriele Filippi
- Nov 2020
- 2 min
- 1020 views
Out on October 23, 2020, “Tell Me Something” started as a collaboration between Dave Stewart and Otto during a songwriting competition on the global social recording collaboration app, Trackd.
Otto won the competition with a cash prize and subsequently inked a record deal with Bay Street Records. Stewart handled production duties on the single, giving Otto’s voice enough room to shine over the glimmering instrumentation. The song’s undeniable hook and imagistic lyricism betrays the influence of Otto’s label boss, but the young singer-songwriter infuses “Tell Me Something” with a fond, personal nostalgia for the moments before a life changes.
Otto recorded a version of this song directly onto his mobile phone in his bedroom, which happens to be the telegram room in an old converted post office in the Welsh valleys. “Tell Me Something” was worked on over the internet on numerous Trackd and Zoom sessions with Stewart, whose songwriting and production expertise reveals itself throughout the brilliant paced and precisely performed track. The song was then developed further and mixed at Nashville’s iconic Blackbird Studios with Music City’s finest session players adding their flavors. Throughout the process, Otto surrounded himself with recording legends.
Speaking about the song Otto said, “The song is an apology letter to a friend, reminiscing upon some of the moments and words that were once shared between us. It opens up a conversation about what I could have done differently now that I’m looking back. I guess it’s a song about growth, and taking stock of where I’ve been and where I’m going.”
Not letting the pandemic stop the creative process, Otto and Stewart recorded a music video between the old post office and the Nashville studio, inviting the brilliant Eva Holbrook of American folk group SHEL for a cameo.
Dave Stewart commented, “Once I delved into Otto’s Aladdin’s Cave of Music he was making in the old Post office, I realized he was a true artist. And after many chats about creativity and the way in which he worked playing all the instruments and meticulously recording himself I was blown away, and of course, his voice is heavenly, I just had to continue working with him which led to signing Otto to Bay Street Records.” 
Listen now to "Tell Me Something (I Don't Know)," the debut single by Otto, available in streaming on all major digital platforms. You can find your favorite one via https://linktr.ee/igobyotto
To know more about Otto and his music, find and follow Otto all over the web by checking the links below:
<\span>- .: Nova MUSIC blog // November 2020
You can also discover "Tell Me Something, I Don't Know" and Otto music by listening to our playlist NOVA ERA, a weekly rotation featuring an eclectic selection of artists covered by Nova MUSIC blog.
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