Outlish Magazine - Interviews

Keegan Simon: 1 Mysterious Individual

Joshua Ramirez Wharwood

Nov 14 |00:00

keegan1Who is Keegan Simon? That is the big question. 

Chances are, you’ve seen him around, at an event or two, or at those spots where the young, innovative crowd tend to be. Or maybe you’ve seen his handiwork in the form of some of the most interesting T-shirt prints that grace the pages of Scorch Magazine every so often. Or maybe you were lucky enough to get your claws on Trinidad Lookbook’s limited edition Team Anya T-shirt. Maybe you noticed his director credits for local singer, Mark Hardy’s “Amma Trini” video. But still, you never got around to connecting the dots, and linking it all back to him.

Add comment (1)

Read more: Keegan Simon: 1 Mysterious Individual

 

Anointed Fusion: SOS is More than Music

Jolisa Brewster

Oct 31 |00:00
This isn’t one of those groups that you hear at every Sunday morning worship service. In fact, this band is neither traditional, nor are they quick to stick to one lane.
The full-throttle, high-energy performance of this band is almost addictive, when they get on stage. Their eclectic sound consists of a mixture of R&B, rock, funk, and even alternative, as there isn’t a particular genre that the band focuses on. Instead, they prefer to call what they do an “anointed fusion”.
Chatting with Dwayne Thomas and Gary McSween, two, confident, young men, who are best friends and the band’s leaders, I can tell that SOS’ energy can only be described as vibrant, articulate, and focused. With powerful, captivating vocals, and extremely talented musicians, SOS (Source of Strength) is fresh, vibrant, and unapologetically Christian.
The brainchild of Thomas, SOS was launched in January 2010, and consists of thirteen members – with eight vocalists and five musicians. McSween (who also doubles as administrative coordinator), Talitha Mohammad, Aneesa Paul, Llettesha Sylvester, Akia McFarlane, Oneisha Dardaine, and Marc Isaacs round out the team of vocalists. Charles Ryan is their musical director, Kristian Dick – their drummer, Rondell Joseph – pianist, Kellon Archie – guitarist, and Joshua Caines – pianist. Thomas doubles as their musical coordinator.
“The members of SOS knew each other even before we became band mates,” McSween explains. “There are smaller groups of friends within the band that knew each other for years, and so we just met up with each other at different junctions in our lives and eventually SOS just flowed right after.”
Creating a buzz and slowly making their mark within the local gospel circuit, the band has made steady strides in just one year. In early 2011, SOS toured Canada and hosted music workshops, at the invitation of Agape Ministries, a Toronto-based church.
In September, they hosted their first concert, “Qanah” (pronounced kah nah) at Faith Centre in San Fernando, which received overwhelming support from loyal supporters, and fellow gospel artistes in the local industry.
Quanah, which means “to create” in Hebrew, was fitting. Though the band performs cover tracks as well, they also write original songs. Having released two singles, “Transformed” and “Hallelujah”, this year, SOS is receiving heavy rotation on local gospel stations, their music is available on iTunes, and they’re selling branded merchandise via their website.
And it doesn’t stop there. Calling themselves, a movement, and not just a band, SOS also has a non-profit foundation – SOS Foundation, where they use the power of music to uplift communities through workshops and programmes. Mentoring young kids and formally training them in music, while incorporating an appreciation for indigenous music – Soca, Calypso and Parang – their vision is to plant SOS throughout different parts of Trinidad, and then, perhaps, regionally. The Foundation has also partnered with a few organizations to support cancer and AIDS awareness programmes.
Pretty impressive for such a ‘newbie’ group, right? If they maintain this momentum, they may well achieve their ultimate dream – to one day make music their livelihood
The band’s next plan is to complete their first album by 2012, and to produce a second album within the next five years. They’re also considering touring the Caribbean, and reaching as far as Australia.
Hailing from the east, and deep south (one member is from Mayaro), members of the band juggle full-time jobs and school, all the while ensuring that SOS is a top priority. Understanding that it takes dedication to achieve greatness, they also do their best to support each other, no doubt helping to deepen their bond as a unit. They even attend each other churches, from time to time.
Everyone plays a role in the creative process – no doubt drawing from their individual experiences and shared influence by artistes like Stevie Wonder, artistes from the 70s, and D’ Angelo, and gospel artistes like Tye Tribett, Mali, Marvin Sapp and Israel Houghton.
Explaining how they usually come up with ideas for songs, Thomas says, “Generally if Gary gets something like a melody line, he will send me a message on BB one time”.
They usually meet up with the other members of the band, and start vibesing with each other to expand ideas.
“We just start to write,” Thomas adds. “It’s really random. There isn’t any set way. We are now developing the formula as a group because we also believe in formula as well. So generally this happens with the vibes and inspiration with the people there and we keep going until the song is done.”.
McSween adds, “The topics are limitless and everything relates to life.”
A word of encouragement, empowerment and sharing positivity is usually the inspiration used for their songs,. SOS want to attract all listeners and reach a wide community, but still be able to carry out its main purpose – to encourage people and seek strength in God.
Music production is undertaken by Cleon Richardson, owner of Camari Studios, and Charles Ryan, while Thomas and McSween are co-producers.
Now I can imagine how hard it is to manage just one person, let alone a band. It couldn’t be an easy feat, as with any group or band there will disagreements – yes, even in Christian bands.
“It’s crazy, generally,” says McSween, who has to stay abreast of scheduled appointments and organize the band’s activities. “Coordinating 13 people is a challenge, but it builds your muscles both physically and spiritually.”
“We don’t want to make it sound all ‘honky dorky’,” Thomas adds. “With 13 people, different personalities and ideologies, trying to fuse together under one vision and concept… of course there would be friction at times. But we work it out among ourselves, and get advice from other people as well.”
Apart from dealing with different personalities, another big challenge the band faces is logistics and meeting each other consistently. Practice sessions are usually held once a week, and they are rigorous, because the band has to facilitate work and school schedules, so they try to make each practice count and get as much productivity out of it as possible. However, when they have shows coming up, SOS meets at least three times a week.
The band members’ know that there isn’t room for mediocrity, realising all too well that opportunity can come knocking at any time.
While Thomas and McSween are the driving force behind SOS, generally the workload is split among band members so that no one becomes too overwhelmed. Charles Ryan (musical director) and Thomas coordinate the musical direction of SOS, while McSween and Oneisha Dardaine (vocalist) handle administrative duties and vocal training. McSween is also the marketing guru behind the band, managing their social media networks, website, and other areas.
“You have to maintain a certain quality and standard,” McSween says. “The international acts that are well established are presented at a certain standard. So SOS tries to maintain that standard even though we are an independent group, and we’re not signed to any record label.”
“Our goal isn’t necessarily to be known all over the world or anything like that,” Thomas adds. “It is just simply being able to go as far as God takes us. But we will do everything that is deemed necessary in marketing ourselves as well, but we don’t want anyone to think we are anyway about show. We bless God for making us look good and for our talent, but it isn’t about show for us. We are musicians. We’re not just singing some songs. Music is our life.”
As the interview wound down, I asked Thomas and McSween to share some advice to young persons who also wish to start a band, and the process involved in accomplishing that feat.
“I will say to any musician or singer out there, become skilful in your craft,” Thomas advises. “Nobody wants an architect to build a structure if he isn’t skilful. In the Bible, persons who were given the responsibility of dealing with music in the sanctuary were skilled and selected. It wasn’t just anybody picking up an instrument and playing.”
Just picking up and instrument and playing certainly hasn’t gotten this group to their current status. Commitment, focus, talent, and belief in their source of strength – God – are the credits for their success. Add their dedication to inspiring young children, and you know this group still has more strides to make.
Check out SOS on:
Website: www.sosincmusic.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SOSIncMusic?sk=info
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/SOSINCMUSIC
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/SourceOfStrength#p/a/u/1/Tmik_t49UqY

SOS2This isn’t one of those groups that you hear at every Sunday morning worship service. In fact, this band is neither traditional, nor are they quick to stick to one lane. 

The full-throttle, high-energy performance of this band is almost addictive, when they get on stage. Their eclectic sound consists of a mixture of R&B, rock, funk, and even alternative, as there isn’t a particular genre that the band focuses on. Instead, they prefer to call what they do an “anointed fusion”.

Add comment (0)

Read more: Anointed Fusion: SOS is More than Music

 

John John: Cita’s Grandson does Soul

Anthony La Borde

Jun 20 |00:00
Growing up, everyone had their own experience with music, whether it was by learning to play the piano in primary school, playing pan in secondary school, or simply drumming on desks and singing their favourite songs during lunchtime. For many people, that’s where their musical aspirations ended, but some went on to pursue careers. For John Francis, better known as John John, music is more than a listening pleasure. It’s something he feels compelled to create.
In Trinidad and Tobago, most aspiring artistes focus on Soca, Rapso, Hip Hop, Reggae, or even Jazz, so it’s not often you come across someone doing R&B, far less Neo Soul. With influences like local Soca artiste Ajala (from back in the day), and American acts Boyz II Men, Musiq (Soul Child), as a source of inspiration, John John has been trying to find his way in music for a while, and he’s found his footing, in Neo Soul.
Having signed with local label Highway Records in 2009, and currently prepping his debut album “Being Cita Grandson”, which should be released by August, he’s become part of a movement. Working in a world where local radio is still actually slow to recognise local talent, while an artiste could have a successful video on Synergy TV, John John and his label mates are working to break the mindset of Trinidadians, that anything local is not popular. Highway Records has been trying to improve the viability of the local music scene for young talent outside of the genres of Soca and Dancehall.
He’s managed to forge a way for himself, working with fellow local artistes, like label mate Chromatics on the Hip Hop joint “Cold Blooded”, and spoken-word artiste Gary Acosta on his live DVD performance (Uncut and Unplugged). John John also recently recorded a single for a producer from LA, Hannibal the General, called “Freedom 1978”, and plans to do a remix with an artiste from New York, Infinite Mind, from one of the break-off Wu Tang groups.
Like most singers would tell you, he started singing as a child, but it was hanging out in his neighbourhood that really piqued his interest in music. Growing up in the late 90s, when Kiskidee Caravan was popular, John John, then a student at South East Port of Spain Secondary school, listened to people from his neighbourhood in St Babbs, Laventille, but being a shy person by nature, he honed his skill singing to himself in his bedroom. One day, he approached a producer at Goose Music Firm, a studio in the community, and sang a Tevin Campbell song, which impressed the producer who invited him to join the group, Black Ambition, which mostly covered Boyz II Men songs at various functions.
When the group broke up, about a year after he’d joined he moved on to another group called Kings of Origin, where he experimented with Rap and expanded his singing skills, and eventually the Gospel choir Youth Pulse, in 1997, which bred other local talent, for example Audie from H2O Phlo and 2Intrigue. After the choir became defunct in 2000, he was left in limbo, until Neo soul rose to popularity, and motivated him to stop being a cover artiste, and write his own songs. He’s also paid dues, performing at the Island Club Casino, as a lounge singer.
Now, at 32, John John pushes himself to create music that connects with listeners. When he’s not making music, he’s spending time with his three-year-old daughter and literally helping to save lives, as an emergency medical technician. His ‘day’ job, in turn, inspires some of his music, as he sees the results of the activities of the darker side of T&T. Topics life like in the ghetto, “trying to be a black man in Trinidad, and a Rasta from Laventille” – as he puts it – love, religion, and politics are some of the issues he covers in his new album.
Making what he calls “music for the world”, his music has that depth of emotion you expect from a soul singer, and it’s obvious that, while there’s certainly room for John John to grow, he has the raw talent to take him further.
Currently, he’s working the local circuit, doing small shows to build anticipation for his album. Outlish recently caught up with him to chat via Skype about his journey, inspiration and his thoughts on the future of Neo Soul in T&T. Here’s what he had to say.
Outlish: There aren’t many people doing R&B in Trinidad, so I know you are going against the grain. What’s your experience been like, doing R&B in Trinidad?
John John: Well it’s not really about going against the grain for going against the grain sake. It’s music that I like and have listened to from small and could identify with, not just with the artistes, but the various topics as well. I didn’t really study the fact that nobody in Trinidad does it. I just like music and that’s what I decided to do. It wasn’t really a big decision of whether to do it here, or whether people would like it… just a matter of, I like the music, and the vibe of the music.
Outlish: Do you find it hard to find people to work with in Trinidad, in terms of producers, and getting someone to help you create the sound you envisioned for yourself?
John John: There are producers who do Neo soul music where they mix the R&B and the Hip Hop production wise, but transferring that true, Neo soul sound where you need the live band recording is a bit expensive. Not that there aren’t producers who will do it, but to get the live band sound that Neo soul has, it’s kinda expensive to do a whole album of live recordings. But there are producers here who do production, Hip Hop, R&B, and Neo soul.

Outlish: What’s the concept behind the name “Being Cita Grandson” for your debut album?
John John: I just coined that term, when I was young. Going through the neighbourhood people wouldn’t really know your name, or they would see you as a small guy walking around the neighbourhood, and people would say, “Yeah daiz Cita grandson”, or “Daiz Lynette son”. Daiz how they would identify you back in the day, when nobody didn’t really know your name, when you was small and trying to identify who you were. That’s basically where that came from. It has a deeper meaning too, where she was the first person who told me I was kinda grown up for my age. She used to call me “big man”, because I always tried to make myself seem more mature than I was. So that’s why I used her rather than Lynette son, because of that thing that she told me years and years ago that stuck with me ever since.
Outlish: So how will you translate this maturity you talk about into your music?
John John: Well, the topics that I choose to do. The songs basically are a wide variety of genres. It’s not just Neo soul. I do dabble in a couple of reggae (songs) on the album. So the songs range from “Angel”, a love song, which was my first release last year on radio, to my new release “State of mind” – basically a song about my state of mind at the time when I wrote this song… about the choices in life, with religion, relationships, figuring out things that didn’t really make sense.
Plus I have a song called “Ghetto”, speaking about the murder rate, because I live in St. Babbs, Laventille, which is one of the high crime areas, well back in the day, not so much now. I also have a song “Soulful”, which talks about some changes that I was going through and asking God about those changes, religion wise and relationship wise, and knowing if I had made these changes, there was no turning back. I also have a song called “Stop sleeping on Reggae”, talking about that same thing,
Outlish: Would you say that Highway Records has been able to mould your sound and help you grow?
John John: Yeah, well you learn a lot from people like Matics who’ve been around and doing music. People like Beebo (he is not with Highway Records anymore), producers, people in music who appreciate that sound give me advice from time to time. You learn as you go along. So my whole project is basically trial and error and picking the right songs, and  notes, and getting stuff done and live shows. Putting together a show and having to deal with that, it’s always a learning experience for me. I put together one last year, and it wasn’t that big, but it had a good lil turnout.

johnjohna

Growing up, everyone had their own experience with music, whether it was by learning to play the piano in primary school, playing pan in secondary school, or simply drumming on desks and singing their favourite songs during lunchtime. For many people, that’s where their musical aspirations ended, but some went on to pursue careers. For John Francis, better known as John John, music is more than a listening pleasure. It’s something he feels compelled to create.

In Trinidad and Tobago, most aspiring artistes focus on Soca, Rapso, Hip Hop, Reggae, or even Jazz, so it’s not often you come across someone doing R&B, far less Neo Soul. With influences like local Soca artiste Ajala (from back in the day), and American acts Boyz II Men, Musiq (Soul Child), as a source of inspiration, John John has been trying to find his way in music for a while, and he’s found his footing, in Neo Soul.

Add comment (0)

Read more: John John: Cita’s Grandson does Soul

 

ARC: Business sense or Allegiance to Art?

Karel Mc Intosh

May 16 |00:00

hollyandnadiaarcRunning a magazine is no easy task, especially when you don't have a long list of staff on your masthead, and everything – from design, marketing, distribution, content development, editing and writing – is your responsibility. Add money worries, and the stoic choice to not ‘sell out’ to advertisers, in order to maintain a beautiful aesthetic and artistic integrity, and you’re faced with the conundrum of balancing business and art.

For Holly Bynoe, 30, and Nadia Huggins, 27, of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, founders of ARC Magazine – a quarterly, limited edition, Caribbean art and culture magazine, which was launched in January 2011 – this is exactly the predicament. How do they balance the expensive production of a high-quality print magazine, without using the traditional model of selling advertising space? Add the fact that they’ve taken out a personal loan to fund ARC, with no revenue currently coming in, and the pressure they’re under is obvious. Yes the magazine isn’t free, but sales alone won’t cover costs, especially since ARC is produced in limited numbers.

Add comment (1)

Read more: ARC: Business sense or Allegiance to Art?

 

Akosua: An Activist for Entrepreneurship

Karel Mc Intosh

Apr 25 |00:00
At age 16, how many of us thought about being an entrepreneur? At age 16, how many of us thought that we could live off of our talent? As a matter of fact, how many of us think we can do this at 20, 26, 37 or 42? In each case, we’d say not many, right?
We could blame this on Trinidad and Tobago’s school system, which drowns us in academics and does its sociological duty in preparing us to accept the status quo, parents who let fear get in the way of them encouraging their children to look beyond traditional employment, and dream of entrepreneurship, or a society, which, for the most part, believes in getting a ‘permanent’ job and taking home a fat pension – and, of course, there’s nothing wrong with job security. However, for those who believe that our generation could be a bit more entrepreneurial, at some point, you have to stop wagging fingers, and do something about the change you want to see, right?
Well, that’s exactly what Akosua Edwards, Founder and National Coordinator of Enabling Enterprise, has done within the last three years, as she focuses on empowering women to pursue entrepreneurship.
Edwards’ life reminds me of those movies you see with missionaries or humanitarians, who go into areas, trying to bring out change, when they could have been lapping up the luxuries of life instead. Her average day is spent going into communities, like Egypt Village in Point Fortin, to help women plan for a bakery they want to open, pulling up by an empty lot of land to chat with a woman, mixing cement to rebuild her house and business that burnt down, or with secondary school children, encouraging them to be imaginative, confident and visionary.
As the owner of her own business, one would immediately call her an entrepreneur. From what I’ve seen, she’s an activist for entrepreneurship.
“It’s so good going into the communities,” she says. “I remember the first meeting we had (in Egypt Village) was in someone’s yard, and they’re all excited. You’re there with the laptop, like… ‘Ok, I can’t use this’. So you’re outside, under the mango tree, discussing various aspects of building and sustaining a business. Kids are there sitting down watching and you realise these people want to improve their lives and improve the community. So how do we engage them? A lot of times, we have to go to them. We have to go into their communities and work.”
As a champion for female entrepreneurs, Edwards expands her cause to several segments of society. For example, she recently conducted training sessions in business skills for disabled persons, who participate in art and trade classes at the National Centre for Disabled Persons (NCPD), because, as Edwards puts it, “what are you going to do with all this stuff you make if you can’t sell it or eat from it?”
Through Enabling Enterprise, she also seeks to partner Caribbean and international women’s business support agencies, policy makers and female entrepreneurs to enhance, and empower women, and exchange ideas and share experiences.
Edwards didn’t envision this life for herself, previously. A chartered accountant, she left Trinidad’s shores years ago to pursue studies, eventually settling in London where she pursued an MBA with a specialisation in entrepreneurship at London South Bank University in 2003. As part of her studies, she had to volunteer with a company that focused on developing entrepreneurs, for six months, so she joined Account3 Women's Consultancy Services, which was funded by the European Union and the London Development Agency, and whose main goal was to use entrepreneurship as a vehicle of empowerment for women from countries such as East Africa, and Bangladesh, and guide, encourage and finance ideas that had potential.
“Just to see how the women changed, from when they walked in the door with their head down, to fleshing out their idea to starting a business was amazing,” she says. “And it’s not that it was any huge business. It was the independence. They’re taking care of their family. They’re confident, and it’s improving the area. You saw it. And that just turned me onto the possibilities. So I was like you see this accounting thing… eh.”
After graduating in 2004, she started working fulltime with Account3. As Account3’s programme grew more successful, gaining international recognition, it broadened its reach to other countries, where it saw entrepreneurship as a vehicle for economic empowerment. Edwards was sent on missions to countries in Eastern Europe – like Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and even Germany – speaking with women who had lost their husbands and partners in the wars and to establish a new sense of independence and livelihood for themselves.
“I was going all over the place,” she says. “And I asked myself, ‘Why don’t I do this home’? So I told my boss I wanted to go back home, and do the same kind of work in T&T. She was like yeah. We can help you out.”
She returned in 2006 to get things started, but would fly back and forth, and eventually came home ‘for good’ in 2007. Three years later, she’s on her entrepreneurship activism grind.
Even as she drives all over Trinidad and Tobago, sharing her optimism and go-getter attitude with persons aspiring to self employment, Edwards is living the ups and downs of every person who decides to take the plunge.
“I eat any way I can,” the 30-something year old says, laughing.
“Any way I can” means lecturing entrepreneurship courses part-time at Arthur Lok Jack for the MBA programme, conducting training workshops for organisations, and providing business support for women – teaching them how to plan and manage their financials, or do it for them. It also means developing policy for organisations such as the Ministry of Social Development in areas such as poverty alleviation.
However, amidst all of this, Edwards’ pet project these days is the NiNa programme – a young entrepreneur’s programme focusing on young women between the ages of 16 to 20, a part of Enabling Enterprise. NiNa attempts to forge an entrepreneurial culture among secondary school students, and to provide them with the training and knowledge to empower them to view entrepreneurship as a career option, rather than a last resort.
“I’ve worked with women entrepreneurs all over the world and I realised that a lot of times – not all the time – women have the ideas, passion, and drive, but they don’t feel that entrepreneurship is an option, whether out of fear or family commitment,” she says. “So I was thinking… I wonder if we could plant the seed in their head from young whether that would change. Working in local programmes, like NIHERST’s Gen-Y programme, and talking to young people, I realised that lot of them feel that life is just about following the status quo… you know going to school, doing A’ levels, getting a job, and that’s it.
“I realised that business was the last thing on their mind. They didn’t think that even if they had a talent that they could turn that into a business or a career. So I thought there must be something I could do that would help bridge that gap.”
The seed for NiNa was planted in her mind, but what really pushed her into action was a conversation, some time after the GenY project, with a teenager who was seated next to her on a flight.
“We started to talk and it was the same thing and I was like nah… a soon as I get back I’m going to design a programme that focuses on young women with entrepreneurship as a career option,” she adds. “Everybody doesn’t have to be an entrepreneur but the programme also lets them know that while you go through life you won’t succeed at everything and that’s ok. It’s a learning experience. If you don’t ‘succeed’ at this it’s not the end of the world. And that’s what entrepreneurship is about. Sometimes you come up with an idea, but it doesn’t work. It’s how you take it and get back up again. You can use that in your life.”
Getting NiNa off the ground wasn’t that easy though. She tried to secure Government funding, but that didn’t pan out.
“I had to wheel and come again and try to do this in a way that is clever and not in the big way I was accustomed to doing things,” she explains.
The eternal optimist, she reached out to various organisations, like Scotiabank, NEDCO, and Arthur Lok Jack, to build a team of advisors. While she does not receive financial assistance from organisations, they do assist her with finding entrepreneurs to lead interactive sessions, host field trips to businesses, and mentor teens. In addition to gaining knowledge, students also have to create business ideas, and have access to mentors after the end of the programme.
“I fund it myself and I have to be resourceful because I have to find ways to get it done, so for some of the sessions, I would link with the financial literacy programme (hosted by the Central Bank) and call in my friends and associates for help,” she adds.
NiNa kicked off fully in 2010, with its first run at Pleasantville Secondary School, as an after-school programme. Edwards recently concluded the second edition of the programme at Bishops Anstey (East) and Trinity College (East). While NiNa is meant for girls, the Trinity boys begged to be part of the programme, and were fortunate enough to have NiNa as part of their school curriculum, getting two periods a week for the entrepreneurship sessions. The aim is to host it in one school every term, and while she’s gotten requests from several schools, at present, she can’t go to all because of limited resources.
“I know eventually it will get bigger and I will have to get more help, but I think if the programme is seen as something that’s successful and building the entrepreneurial culture or just helping the kids pass their exams, then people would open up the possibilities.”
Edwards is one of the few specialists in female entrepreneurship in the Caribbean, and, in May, she’ll have the honour of joining international peers – as the lone representative from the Caribbean – in Canada for a United Nations Women and Canadian International Development Agency conference, and a Commonwealth conference in India, the latter for which she’ll be presenting her recommendations on how the entrepreneurship gap can be reduced in Trinidad and Tobago. Humbled by the invitations, she’s eager for this new experience. After all, it’ll go along nicely with her positive memories of trips to places like Italy, Finland and Singapore, under her Enabling Enterprise banner.
A real example of someone who’s returned home to do her part in building Trinidad and Tobago, Edwards is definitely an activist for entrepreneurship, and a rare example of going all out in ‘giving back’.
“I’m passionate about using my knowledge to assist the entrepreneurial landscape because all of us can’t work for somebody,” she says. “It’s one of the way to diversify the economy. The oil and gas can’t sustain us forever as much as we would like it to and we have to start being innovative from young. We have to come up with innovative ways to get young people to realise it’s an option. And while the landscape isn’t perfect, we can do what we can to empower people to explore their options.”

Akosua1At age 16, how many of us thought about being an entrepreneur? At age 16, how many of us thought that we could live off of our talent? As a matter of fact, how many of us think we can do this at 20, 26, 37 or 42? In each case, we’d say not many, right?

We could blame this on Trinidad and Tobago’s school system, which drowns us in academics and does its sociological duty in preparing us to accept the status quo, parents who let fear get in the way of them encouraging their children to look beyond traditional employment, and dream of entrepreneurship, or a society, which, for the most part, believes in getting a ‘permanent’ job and taking home a fat pension – and, of course, there’s nothing wrong with job security. However, for those who believe that our generation could be a bit more entrepreneurial, at some point, you have to stop wagging fingers, and do something about the change you want to see, right?

Well, that’s exactly what Akosua Edwards, Founder and National Coordinator of Enabling Enterprise, has done within the last three years, as she focuses on empowering women to pursue entrepreneurship.

Edwards’ life reminds me of those movies you see with missionaries or humanitarians, who go into areas, trying to bring out change, when they could have been lapping up the luxuries of life instead. Her average day is spent going into communities, like Egypt Village in Point Fortin, to help women plan for a bakery they want to open, pulling up by an empty lot of land to chat with a woman, mixing cement to rebuild her house and business that burnt down, or with secondary school children, encouraging them to be imaginative, confident and visionary.

Add comment (0)

Read more: Akosua: An Activist for Entrepreneurship

 

Baidawi: Detnating Beats and Sounds

Karel Mc Intosh

Apr 04 |00:00
Deejaying since age 13, in 1989, Baidawi Assing has attached himself to music in much the same way that the treble and clef can’t be removed from a score of music.
He’s moved from his early teen, amateur days of making tapes from recording tunes off the radio and playing for house parties using two cassette players and a mixer, to finding his true calling as a music creator, alongside his musical partners Quincy Ross (known as QD Ross), and Umar Corion (Spanna), with whom he started detnator – a creative unit, devoted to experimenting with beats, sounds, and rhymes.
Growing up with a father who played music in several bands and being surrounded by guitars, amps and speakers, Baidawi was consumed with a love for music. His love for experimenting went into full toutoulebay scale, when his father bought a drum machine – the Korg DD1. This, he said, was a defining moment because not only did he have a need to interfere with this gadget, he also had a need to start making music. Add his brother (Usama “Saber” Assing) who also had crates of records, samplers, and recorders, and was making beats and rapping, and Baidawi had even more tools for experimentation.
As his prowess grew, in the 90s, he started producing beats for Spoiled Brats (a dance group that won Party Time, and went on to get involved in performing), young rappers Kendall “IceKream” Arneaud and Dexter “Bo Jungles” Baird, and his cousin Nisar, who had a rap group called Cactus Nation. With improved beat making skills, and access to more equipment, he felt he could officially call himself a producer. During this time, he was known by the monikers, Bassing (his DJ name) and Deep Thoughts, people soon started calling him DT, which he eventually changed to detnator.
Years later, detnator is still doing their thing, and Baidawi is still in love with music, even while he ‘makes a living’, on a self-employed basis, doing IT consultancy, technical and network support, graphic design and web design.
He chatted with Outlish about detnator’s latest work, the group’s creative process, future projects, and why he thinks there’s a place on the world stage for Rapso and not Soca.
Outlish: detnator’s bio says, “To put it bluntly, we make music and create other things related to or inspired by music, art and other forms of creative expression”. Expand on that for me…
Baidawi: I would actually be doing detnator a disservice by trying to nail down everything that we do because sometimes we’re not even too sure. One day we might be producing music, the next day we might be directing a video shoot for a TV commercial, the next day we might be helping to organize a street art festival, or making fettuccine for a cooking blog. The thing is we’re creative and we have a ridiculously large skill set that allows us to get involved seriously in many different things from conceptualization to the actual execution. It’s the approach to what we do, to obtaining knowledge and skills etc that makes detnator, detnator.
Detnator is a thinking... an approach which grew into a brand, which then grew into a company. Some people may watch detnator and say it’s a group of producers, but we do much more than just produce music and the thing that makes detnator what it is, is all in the approach to what we do and the reasons for doing it. We love music and creativity... being able to communicate ideas through different forms of creative expression.
Outlish: You’ll really started coming together in the late 90s. How did that come about?
Baidawi: The group only formed when Quincy, who I met up with in Barataria Senior Comprehensive, came by to check me I think in 1997/1998 or so, and told me he wanted in on this producing thing. Quincy and I were likeminded in many ways so I was eager to make him part of detnator. He came on board and that became another defining moment in detnator history, because that is when detnator actually became a group. Fast forward to 2007 or thereabouts, and I started talking to my cousin Umar “Spanna Detnator” about us doing some collaborative work. He was out in Toronto doing his thing as well, producing music for his company Nevah Dirty Productions. By 2008, we were talking about seriously consolidating our efforts, and, in 2009, Detnator Entertainment Limited came to fruition and The Bomb Shelter (their workspace) was created.
Outlish: What do Quincy and Spanna bring to the table, and what are your individual roles?
Baidawi: Quincy and Spanna produce as well, and they both have unique approaches to music. Quincy is also good at coming up with melodies for songs. He can hear an instrumental and work out exactly what the voice should be doing on the track.
There are no designated roles... we have different strengths and we operate within our different capacities towards a common goal. While I am considered the leader of the group, my function within that framework usually only extends to charting a course for detnator. However, because of the nature of what detnator is, which is an approach to creativity/ music/ expression etc. I actually just have to be myself and do what I’m accustomed doing and that role is fulfilled.
Outlish: You recently worked with up n’ coming, local Hip Hop artiste David Hamilton aka Da Face on his latest track “All the things we know”. How did that collaboration come about?
Baidawi: Facebook! I made a few connections on Facebook via the detnator page. A few local rappers and producers were adding me and tagging me in stuff, and I was really impressed with some of the work being put out. I heard some of Face’s tracks off his “Recession Music” mixtape, and contacted him to feature on one of our tracks. I’m working on a project, which is going to launch a new sound, different blends of electronic music, but featuring local talent in local dialect. I didn’t have any plans to label it anything in particular, but Nicholas Haskell came up with the label “Futurerapso”. I’m definitely going to call on Face again to feature on something. I think there is a place on the world stage for Rapso music.... not Soca.Deejaying since age 13, in 1989, Baidawi Assing has attached himself to music in much the same way that the treble and clef can't be removed from a score of music.
Outlish:  Why do you think there's a place for Rapso and not Soca?
Baidawi: I think that Rapso has a broader context that allows it to take on many roles while Soca music is predominantly dance music. Rapso can strike a harmonious balance between being groovy yet communicating a serious message. A song like Brother Resistance’s “Cyah Take Dat” is a perfect example of this. I had the pleasure of seeing Brother Resistance open for a Steel Pulse concert in the Queens Park Savannah a couple years ago, and I could see anyone taking that exact performance and placing it anywhere in the world with people from varying cultures and it would be just as potent, just as relevant.
Soca is incapable of doing this because its context is very narrow. Even from a musical perspective, it is very easy to mix, merge and experiment with Rapso music with other genres without obscuring its impact on the audience.
At present, we (detnator) are currently “exploiting” this, as we have embarked on a new project labelled FutureRapso, a label that was created by Nicholas Haskell, which aptly describes some of the experimental type music we have been doing with local Rapso artistes. In the past we have done tracks like Curious Ringo – “Back To A Place”, Daaknite’s – “The Power Coming Strong”, Ozy Majiq’s “Identify”, and a remix of Rembunction’s “It Starts Now”, where we mixed Rapso vocals on beats heavily influenced by electronica. Presently, we are working with Rembunction, Daaknite, and Curious Ringo on the Futurerapso project, and we have plans to work with much more local artists to turn Futurerapso from an idea into a brand (kinda like detnator nah!).
Outlish: Do you put out albums?
Baidawi: We tried to put out one album for a local rapper called Zeik. The title was “All About Z”. But that didn’t go well. We put out promos and samplers... since 1999 we’ve chosen the tracks for our debut album aptly titled “Of Plans And Procrastination”. Those tracks are still sitting on a hard drive, waiting to be resurrected. That album has yet to be completed.
Outlish: You describe your sound as experimental. What’s detnator’s creative process like?
Baidawi: It varies... sometimes I might dream a melody then jump out of my sleep and run to the computer to play it and save it, but it’s never a conscious thing with me. Spanna and Q can consciously have melodies in their heads that they can sit down and play... I dunno how they do it. It’s amazing and it is something that continues to evade me. Sometimes I will literally sit behind the keyboard and just fiddle until my hands do something that my brain responds to and says, “Aye Baidawi... I like what your hands are doing there... hit the record button”. Other times, it could be from watching a movie, hearing something on the news... having a convo with my woman. I draw inspiration from life’s experiences... the good and the bad, and I channel the emotional effects of them creatively. However, the experimental label comes from the approach where I never set out to do a Hip Hop beat or a Trance track, or a Soca track. I set out to do music.
I never follow trends in music and I never create something that people will like… I just do what I was born to do... I create and however it comes out, it comes out. There are times I create something and to me it sounds like the sh*ttiest thing ever, then Quincy or Spanna would hear it and say, “Nah that mad! Lemme do so and so with it”.
The process is very messy when you’re looking in from the outside, but there is a method to the madness... I just don’t know what the method is... I’m just aware of the madness part.
Outlish: What other projects is detnator dabbling in at the moment?
Baidawi: We’re working on a debut album for Curious Ringo called “Curious City”. We’ve been working on the DND Project (Detnator & Daaknite with James Hackett), which has a similar vibe to the Trinidad Street Fest, where we marry art and music in a public space. Spanna is currently helping organize an event similar to Street Fest in Toronto.
We’re working on our video series, OneTalks, and trying to release episodes more regularly. We’re working on the FutureRapso project. We’re also involved in Trinidad Street Fest. I’ve known Suelan (who’s leading the project) for some time as well. When I heard she was planning on doing the TSF, I shamelessly offered to lend a hand where needed. I love that kind of stuff. Beats going to a club any day.
To check out detnator, visit their website detnator.com or their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/detnated.

Baidawi2Deejaying since age 13, in 1989, Baidawi Assing has attached himself to music in much the same way that the treble and clef can’t be removed from a score of music. 

He’s moved from his early teen, amateur days of making tapes from recording tunes off the radio and playing for house parties using two cassette players and a mixer, to finding his true calling as a music creator, alongside his musical partners Quincy Ross (known as QD Ross), and Spanna Guevara (who prefers to not release his Government name), with whom he started detnator – a creative unit, devoted to experimenting with beats, sounds, and rhymes.

Growing up with a father who played music in several bands and being surrounded by guitars, amps and speakers, Baidawi was consumed with a love for music. His love for experimenting went into full toutoulebay scale, when his father bought a drum machine – the Korg DD1. This, he said, was a defining moment because not only did he have a need to interfere with this gadget, he also had a need to start making music. Add his brother (Usama “Saber” Assing) who also had crates of records, samplers, and recorders, and was making beats and rapping, and Baidawi had even more tools for experimentation.  As his prowess grew, in the 90s, he started producing beats for Spoiled Brats (a dance group that won Party Time, and went on to get involved in performing), young rappers Kendall “IceKream” Arneaud and Dexter “Bo Jungles” Baird, and his cousin Nisar, who had a rap group called Cactus Nation. With improved beat making skills, and access to more equipment, he felt he could officially call himself a producer. During this time, he was known by the monikers, Bassing (his DJ name) and Deep Thoughts, people soon started calling him DT, which he eventually changed to detnator.

Add comment (0)

Read more: Baidawi: Detnating Beats and Sounds

 

Marisa Albert: Take it to the Cleaners

Anthony La Borde

Mar 21 |00:00
You wouldn’t be surprised to hear a 21-year-old talk about wanting to start a business, but starting a dry cleaning business? That isn’t often mentioned. But, six years ago, at that age, that’s precisely what Marisa Albert, the owner of Tropical Dry Cleaners, was doing.
Albert always had the business bug. At age 13, she would tear out photos of singers and celebrities from magazines, and sell them as posters to classmates. She’d also sell accessories or clothes she’d grown tired of at school, and by the end of the school week she’d be wondering what she could get herself at Colsort Mall (now known as Capital Plaza) with her earnings.
As she grew older, Albert went on to work at her parents’ printing business, and dabbling in two of her favourite hobbies, deejaying and photography. In 2005, she got the opportunity to start a dry cleaning business with her close friend and former deejay, Kurtis Russell, when her father bought the dry cleaning business next door to his business. With some help from her dad, Albert and Russell got to down to work, and so, Tropical Dry Cleaners was born – merging her love for fashion, and her experience in business.
Six years later, Tropical Dry Cleaners is known for great service, and has customers who include the average Trini, looking for an easy way out of laundry chores and top designers like Heather Jones, Meiling, Brian Mac Farlane and The Cloth.
Check out what Albert had to say about her journey so far, and how she’s built a reputation for great customer service, a rare compliment for businesses in Trinidad and Tobago.
Outlish: How did you get involved in the dry cleaning business?
Marisa: I wish I could tell you I had a plan and it was always a dream of mine, but I can’t. I was finishing up a business degree and working with my parents’ business at the time, which is next door to the dry cleaners. We bought the building from an old Chinese laundry and one day decided we’ll do some research into dry cleaning and laundry. Next thing you know, we’re modernizing the place and setting up shop. What can I say… sometimes having no plan is a plan!
Outlish: Dry cleaning is a far cry away from printing - your parents’ business. Why didn't you get into that?
Marisa: I will…when the time is right.
Outlish: Were they (your parents) supportive? How so?
Marisa: Yup, they were. They provided financial assistance and managerial advice.
Outlish: Do you find that a lot of people, like me, hear dry cleaners and do not think of drapes, linens, repairs etc? How do you overcome this kind of challenge of customers not exactly understanding your business and that it’s more than cleaning clothes?
Marisa: Our latest printed call cards have a listing of our services on it to address this exact issue. Some folks think a dry cleaners only does dry cleaning, but we also do laundry, minor repairs, household items, wedding gowns and offer a press only service. Letting the general public know about all what we offer can ensure that Tropical comes to mind whenever the need for our service arises.
Outlish: I have a friend who took his suit to a cleaner once and when it came back it had little holes in it that weren’t there before. When he asked them about it they said it must have been moths or something and they weren't responsible. How do you handle situations like that?
Marisa: Sometimes customers don’t notice damages that occur while garments are in their care and thus at our store it is so important for us to inspect all items before we clean them to assess the condition they come in before they are processed to avoid customers blaming us for damages we didn’t do.
It’s always difficult for us to tell a customer, “Sir, you might want to check your cupboard for insects” because it sounds a bit odd, and some may take it as an insult. People need someone to blame and don’t want to hear that an insect destroyed their $900 suit, you know.
Outlish: What were some of the challenges you faced in setting up the business? Do you think these are unique to this type of business?
Marisa: The main challenge faced was getting the right team! In the early days, sometimes Tropical was understaffed because people would come to work stating they can do a job, but they were all talk and no action. There were other times when we’ll have the staff, but they came with issues such as high absenteeism, regular late arrivals, underperformance and poor work ethic, all of which were very stressful to cope with when all I wanted to do was produce a great service. I lost a few customers during those times, but I write it down as a learning experience.
There aren’t many kids sitting in school right now saying to themselves, “I want to be a presser when I grow up” you know. It isn’t a highly desired job. Pressing is a skill and to be a presser you’ve got to get some self-satisfaction from finishing a shirt and seeing it pressed well.
I think that staff problems occur all across the country in all fields of work because of our Trinidadian laid-back work ethic, amongst other things. However, I also think maintaining a good relationship with your staff, creating a drama-free and fun, working environment and giving rewards or perks to deserving staff is all part of the deal when you run a business. I’m a caring person, so appreciating staff and treating them well is enjoyable for me.
Outlish: You started the business with the help of your friend Kurtis. How has his role changed over the years?
Marisa: Over the years we’ve observed what we excel at and thus on a day-to-day basis, Kurtis assists with store maintenance, dry cleans, manages the production department, and monitor/maintains equipment. I supervise the store, train staff, do human resource and administrative tasks, marketing and mainly monitor the customer service department.
Outlish: What about your business model sets you apart from the other dry cleaners around?
Marisa: Customer service is of utmost importance. I always say you can get a pants pressed anywhere, but good customer service is not really guaranteed in Trinidad. Here, we remember your name, help take out your clothes to your car, offer minor repairs, and free pick up and delivery to offices and apartment complexes in Port-of-Spain and environs.
We also do our best at being green. We give our customers re-usable laundry bags, encourage the return of hangers and do a number of things internally to do our part in caring for the environment.
Outlish: I noticed that for Carnival, for example, you partnered with several bands to give masqueraders dry cleaning vouchers and even key chains. Tell me about your approach to marketing.
Marisa: Throughout our first four years, we relied heavily on word of mouth, but in terms of marketing, I observe our niches and promote to those segments with two main goals in mind – creating more business and building brand awareness.  Recently, we’ve done more direct marketing than using the mass media approach.
In terms of deciding when to advertise throughout the year, I also look at holidays and culture celebrations, like Emancipation Day, Divali, Christmas time and New Years when a lot of business can be made and things can get quite busy. I’m proud to state that Tropical Dry Cleaners is the only Trinidadian dry cleaners on Facebook at the moment. Social media is an effective marketing strategy for business and is a valuable resource that could easily bring new clients and customers.
Outlish: I presume word of mouth is quite key to your business. How do you keep ensuring that your customers refer you in the best possible way?
Marisa: By keeping them happy! By maintaining a consistency in the quality of work and customer service and monitoring trends in the industry locally or internationally to see what can be applied at Tropical. We also listen to our customers’ wants and needs, and put things in place accordingly.
Statistics show that happy customers tell one or two people about their experience while a dissatisfied customer tells nine to ten, and it costs five times as much to attract a new customer than it does to establish a new one. With this in mind, we try our best to please our customers whichever way we can!
Outlish: As you mention listening to your customers, service is something that people in T&T always complain about. How do you capture information to help you improve your service?
Marisa: We have done formal questionnaires and surveys but overall it’s informally collected in general conversation with our customers. We’re very friendly here at Tropical and we casually chat often with our regular customers and new ones.
Outlish: On that note, where do you get your inspiration/passion from?
Marisa: I love fashion!! As a teenager, I wasn’t allowed to go out with friends till I was finished with high school by which time I was 16, so I spent a lot of time with my head in magazines. I grew up reading various women and fashion magazines and when I got Internet I followed all the designers and the fashion on the runways. Running a drycleaners is interesting for me because I get to see a lot of clothes and its exciting when a gorgeous dress or top comes into the store. I’m pleased when a suit is pressed well and I feel really good when I can explain to a customer the risks involved in cleaning a delicate item.
Outlish: Running your own business is very demanding and tiring. What are some of the personal sacrifices you’ve had to make as a businesswoman?
Marisa: Accepting a big paycheque. A new business can take a while to grow; the other thing that gets affected is personal time. Sometimes I can work seven days a week and twelve-hour work days can become the norm. It’s a small business so I’ve come to accept that even when I’m sick I may have to work. Work follows you at home and even when I take mini-vacations, I’m never away from my Blackberry.
Outlish: I’ve heard stories of other business owners being so busy at times they take their laptop to the washroom! When things get that crazy, how do you keep going? You can’t exactly pull a sickie and run away to Maracas can you?
Marisa: So funny, I’ve done that washroom-laptop thing also. TMI! I breathe and stop to think things through and focus on solutions and end results instead of the problem and what may have caused it! I’m also part of DLI (Dry Cleaning & Laundry Institute), an international organization that I contact whenever I want to get help and answers. You can never tell yourself you know everything, you know… every day you can learn something new!
Outlish: Out of your high profile clients, what are some of your favourite perks or best memory from working with them?
Marisa: This is really silly, but in 2007 Edwin “Crazy” Ayoung had a song called “Cold Sweat” that was blowing up the airwaves. He’s our customer and when a co-worker told him I loved his song, he sang to me. I blushed so much.
Outlish: What are some of the lessons you’ve learned along the way, after being in business for six years?
Marisa: I’ve learned that success takes time, persistence, determination, and most importantly believing in yourself.
Outlish: Will you stay in Trinidad or venture up the islands - a name like "Tropical Dry Cleaners" lends itself to that type of thinking, no?
Marisa: It’s a great thought. Barbados is beautiful!
Outlish: What about the future, any intentions of expanding your business, or getting into other businesses?
Marisa: I believe in the saying “Man Plans, God Laughs”, so I try not to plan too much.

MarisaAlbertYou wouldn’t be surprised to hear a 21-year-old talk about wanting to start a business, but starting a dry cleaning business? That isn’t often mentioned. But, six years ago, at that age, that’s precisely what Marisa Albert, the owner of Tropical Dry Cleaners, was doing. 

Albert always had the business bug. At age 13, she would tear out photos of singers and celebrities from magazines, and sell them as posters to classmates. She’d also sell accessories or clothes she’d grown tired of at school, and by the end of the school week she’d be wondering what she could get herself at Colsort Mall (now known as Capital Plaza) with her earnings. 

As she grew older, Albert went on to work at her parents’ printing business, and dabbling in two of her favourite hobbies, deejaying and photography. In 2005, she got the opportunity to start a dry cleaning business with her close friend and former deejay, Kurtis Russell, when her father bought the dry cleaning business next door to his business. With some help from her dad, Albert and Russell got to down to work, and so, Tropical Dry Cleaners was born – merging her love for fashion, and her experience in business. 

Six years later, Tropical Dry Cleaners is known for great service, and has customers who include the average Trini, looking for an easy way out of laundry chores and top designers like Heather Jones, Meiling, Brian Mac Farlane and The Cloth.

Check out what Albert had to say about her journey so far, and how she’s built a reputation for great customer service, a rare compliment for businesses in Trinidad and Tobago.

Add comment (1)

Read more: Marisa Albert: Take it to the Cleaners

 

Modupe Onilu: The Power of Percussion

Mystie Thongs

Feb 21 |00:00
He is the reason why you can sink your teeth down to the very bone and marrow of a live performance, and enjoy the succulent flavour that oozes through your soul, as the waves of music course through the air.
Modupe Folasade Onilu is a self-described multi-instrumentalist, who traverses the plains of percussion with a strong sense of self, and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge.
Percussion, in his own words, is the seasoning that adds that distinctive and irreplaceable flavour to all music. Locally, we call percussionists, ‘de iron men’, or the ‘toc toc’ crew, and everyone knows someone who thinks they are a real riddum man. But the truth is, the playing of percussion is a very serious and disciplined calling, while percussion itself is a vital aspect to all musical genres, and can be found playing a major role when you listen to anything from classical music to jazz to soca – all of which by the way, Modupe has been a part and parcel of in his very short, but very music-infused life.
His face should be familiar to you, if you enjoy live performances, as he is currently one of the most sought after percussionists in Trinidad and Tobago.
His musical résumé is extremely diverse. Modupe has performed with Charlie’s Roots, David Rudder, Black Stalin, Super Blue, Machel Montano, Arturo Tappin, Busy Signal, Lil Jon, Luis Conte, Collie Buddz, Raf Robinson, 3canal, Clive Zander, Ray Holman, Ron Reid, Theron Shaw, Sean Thomas, Etienne Charles, Len “Boogsie” Sharpe, Mikhail Salcedo, Ken “Professor” Philmore, Elan Parle, and Exodus, to name names. He also dreams of adding names like Anita Baker, Sting, Pat Metheny, Andy Narell, and Esperanza Spalding to this list.
Chatting with Modupe is a lesson not just in music, but in how music can change lives. In this very personal interview, he lets us past his youthful, energetic, fun vibe to show his raw, pensive self, as he tells us about hustling as a young musician, his band – the Dayo Bejide Jazz Project, and why he feels a strong sense of responsibility to help heal his hometown of Laventille with his music.
Outlish: So you have some skills. Were you always into music?
Modupe: Actually no. In high school I never went into the music class, ever! The most I did, before I got into music seriously, was play the instruments I found at my dad’s, but other than that it was a while before I thought music could be a career for me.
Outlish: Your dad is a musician?
Modupe: My daddy is many things! Plenty, plenty things, but yes, I am the son of master percussionist and master builder, JaJah Ona Onilu. Everyone who has played music in this country knows him. He has toured with Super Blue, and worked with Clive Bradley, David Rudder, and countless others. It was through watching him and my brother that I really started to give music a try. For many years daddy had pulled away from the music scene, and it was only in 2001 he went back with my bro and entered “Scouting For Talent”.
I remember watching them on TV, and hearing and seeing them play, feeling the vibes, or as daddy would say, keeping the audience spellbound while they played, and they came second overall. In that same show, I saw Ken ‘Professor’ Philmore play as a guest artiste, and it affected me, seeing him play, realising the effect music could have on people. And he was getting paid to do it? I thought, but I could do that too! After that I joined Laventille Serenaders, a steel band near to me, and played with them for about four years.
Outlish: So your appetite was opened…
Modupe: Very much so! And the more I played the more I wanted to learn. I started researching professional musicians. Also, daddy and my bro, Baba Ayinde, really took me under their wings in Jewels of Nature, the family band, and they taught me. I mean they were always showing me stuff eh, but I think maybe I was finally ready to really open up and learn and listen. The experience, knowledge, and just organic vibes that I gain when I play with them… invaluable.
Outlish: Why do you call yourself a multi-instrumentalist vs. a percussionist?
Modupe: Well I used to refer to myself as a percussionist, until one day I was setting up for a Jazz on the Greens performance, and I counted how many instruments I had ready to play and it was 78. That was the last time I called myself a percussionist, because yes it is percussion, but when you are playing 78 instruments in one show, it is so much more than that. I also have and can play all of the different types of steel pan, and drums…
Outlish: In addition to Jewels of Nature are you a member of any other band?
Modupe: Yes! Jewels of Nature is the family business, up in Caura. That is where we practise, and also sell handmade unique percussion instruments, jewellery, etc, make sure you tell people to check us out. I also started my own band the Dayo Bejide Jazz Project, and I am hired to play as a multi-instrumentalist for many different gigs all over the Caribbean.
Outlish: How do you go from being, a pan player, to having your own jazz band?
Modupe: That journey took a little while. After Laventille Serenaders, I started going to different pan yards and doing what we used to call ‘hustling’… where one man will play for several different steel bands at the same time and collect payment from all of them. I’m not shy, so I went to the pan yards, like Desperadoes and more, and just listened and tried. It was easy for me to pick up, and it wasn’t long before I was able to play all the different pans, and I was hustling with the best of them.
At the same time though, I kept on researching and following the careers of professionals I admire, Len ‘Boogsie’ Sharp, and of course Ken ‘Professor’ Philmore, also Andy Narell. Around then too, I started playing percussion in the steel bands instead of pan and seriously began pursuing music as a career. I was hired to work with the National Steel Symphony Orchestra as a percussionist, and I did that for a year and half. Imagine that, I used to play classical music for a living… but after work every day I would stay in and keep practising, and keep working and pushing myself after everyone else left. It was somewhere in there I knew I wanted more. Then I saw pan jazz, and jazz really just spoke to me. It was, to me at least, the most organic form of mainstream music around. And I thought it was in this I would really find the music that would express what was inside my soul. My words, my thoughts, my gifts to the world.
Outlish: If you had to put a name to the sound we hear when we listen to your music, what would it be?
Modupe: One name???
Outlish: Ok describe it then…
Modupe: Jewels of Nature is organic music, as the name suggests, and all about channelling the vibes and energy within nature through ourselves as musical vessels to sound energy that reaches out to spellbind the audience. Me as just Modupe, or as bandleader of Dayo Bejide, growing up in an electric age and with the organic music background, that music is Organic, Afro, Caribbean World Fusion Jazz!
Outlish: Why is it important to you that you share what you feel inside with the world?
Modupe: To understand that, you have to understand where I come from. Laventille. The place everyone is so afraid of. Every day in my neighbourhood all around me I see negativity. Some lil lil boys robbing, shooting each other, and girls who are barely teenagers making babies, always a repeating cycle of negativity.
I was lucky to have my family teach me differently, to instil in me a curiosity and a strong sense of who I am, who I am supposed to be as a Black man, a husband, and as a musician. The people around me do not have that sense of respect or sense of self, believing and following what they see on TV, hear on radio, letting those individuals be their role models… that is not the truth, that is not who or what they were meant to be.
Too many of my brothers and sisters think that slavery and post slavery is the end all and be all of Black history. And you can see this damaged sense of self being passed on to generation after generation. I remember one evening liming home and hearing two and three year olds singing, harmonizing eh, to ramping shop. You believe that? The singing itself was beautiful, touching, but imagine as small as two years old… you know the words to ramping shop right! It reinforced to me though that music is the most influential thing on this planet.
I always tell musicians we have the ear of the people. It is our responsibility to not just entertain, but also educate and uplift those who listening to us to a higher plain of thinking and feeling. This to me is my calling.
Being surrounded by people who are unaware of their potential, I want to compose and play music for them. To help them find a way out of the negativity. To teach them. But first you have to be able to reach them, so I try to incorporate our lives in Laventille, our daily reality here into my music, my voice… for them. And trying to write music for them is a lifetime study. This was not something I could do as part of someone else’s voice, I needed my own sound and that was how I knew I had to start my own band – Dayo Bejide.
Outlish: That is meaningful and fulfilling work, it makes me wonder if the name, Dayo Bejide, ties in with what you are working so hard to do?
Modupe: It does. Dayo Bejide means happiness has come in the rainy season. It is in Yoruba, just like my full name – Modupe Folasade Onilu.
Outlish: Which means?
Modupe: Modupe means giving thanks, or thank God, Folasade means let this crown be your honour, and Onilu means drummer.
Outlish: Future plans?
Modupe: This year is all about education. Sharing and receiving. I will be giving classes in drums and percussion, theory and practical all age groups. In addition I will be trying to access funding to travel to Berklee (College of Music), and if possible, New York, to do some workshops. Long term though, my goal is to find my true, unique purpose and that is a lifetime study, which nobody but me myself could uncover. But I working it!
To stay connected with Modupe, check out his Facebook pages:
www.facebook.com/pages/Modupe-Folasade-Onilu/216803028222
www.facebook.com/pages/Dayo-Bejide-Jazz-Project/107441995956103
www.facebook.com/pages/Jewels-of-Nature/54250442348

Modupe1He is the reason why you can sink your teeth down to the very bone and marrow of a live performance, and enjoy the succulent flavour that oozes through your soul, as the waves of music course through the air.

Modupe Folasade Onilu is a self-described multi-instrumentalist, who traverses the plains of percussion with a strong sense of self, and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge.

Percussion, in his own words, is the seasoning that adds that distinctive and irreplaceable flavour to all music. Locally, we call percussionists, ‘de iron men’, or the ‘toc toc’ crew, and everyone knows someone who thinks they are a real riddum man. But the truth is, the playing of percussion is a very serious and disciplined calling, while percussion itself is a vital aspect to all musical genres, and can be found playing a major role when you listen to anything from classical music to jazz to soca – all of which by the way, Modupe has been a part and parcel of in his very short, but very music-infused life. 

His face should be familiar to you, if you enjoy live performances, as he is currently one of the most sought after percussionists in Trinidad and Tobago.

His musical résumé is extremely diverse. Modupe has performed with Charlie’s Roots, David Rudder, Black Stalin, Super Blue, Machel Montano, Arturo Tappin, Busy Signal, Lil Jon, Luis Conte, Collie Buddz, Raf Robinson, 3canal, Clive Zander, Ray Holman, Ron Reid, Theron Shaw, Sean Thomas, Etienne Charles, Len “Boogsie” Sharpe, Mikhail Salcedo, Ken “Professor” Philmore, Elan Parle, and Exodus, to name names. He also dreams of adding names like Anita Baker, Sting, Pat Metheny, Andy Narell, and Esperanza Spalding to this list.

Add comment (1)

Read more: Modupe Onilu: The Power of Percussion

 

Tracey Chan: Diverting Art’s Direction

Karel Mc Intosh

Feb 14 |00:00
What people would dub as starting over might actually be a simple diversion. For multimedia visual artist Tracey Chan, 30, that diversion meant leaving the world of the 8 to 4, as a print department manager and graphic designer, and becoming a full-time artist.
Chan, however, wasn’t content to stay in Trinidad to spread her wings. Soon after leaving her job, she moved to Grenada in December 2009.
“I was really burnt out, having worked since I came out of Form 6, so I knew I had to take a break and do what it is I really wanted to do which was fine art and get that, because I never had the opportunity to do that before,” she says. “So it was just a matter of having the guts to drop it and move along and I really needed time and space. I didn’t feel like I had that in Trinidad at all, so I said let me try moving. I had savings. So I randomly went to Grenada.
“Of course everyone was freaking out. They still are. You know how these life-changing decisions are. Where you’re kinda like ‘oh gosh I’m gonna die’, but you know what… it’s worth it. I had no parrot on a stick.”
There just over a year now, she’s checked a few boxes on her to-do list. Exploring a wide range of media, drawing, painting, photography, video and experimental animation, she has exhibited in Grenada’s 2010 Arts Council Show and the group shows, “Ephemeral”, “Line & Colour” and “A Sampling of Grenadian Art”.
The contemporary, fine art world in Grenada is a small one, but it’s one this Trini is intent on helping to expand.
“Actually now I’m working with a young, Grenadian artist, Stacey Byer on WOMA (Women Make Art) – Grenada’s first women only exhibition – which takes place in March,” she explains. “We’re doing it in celebration of International Women’s Day (March 8). So this is quite exciting because this is the first of its kind for Grenada’s art scene.”
Chan is quick to note that the event isn’t meant to come across as being sexist or fuelled by feminists. Instead, it’s simply meant to celebrate women, their achievements, and their progression. While Chan and Byer are not yet sure as to whether the event will be a one-off show or held annually, Chan clearly has her hands full for 2011 – not just with her work, but also in helping to nurture young talent.
“What I’m trying to do is push art in Grenada, especially with young people because the crowd in Grenada is an older crowd, a lot of expats,” she says. “A lot of the active artists are expats and I’m one of those, but I’m trying to push it because it’s very sad to see when you don’t have a lot of young artists coming out because they’re too shy. You’d find that there’s no encouragement of random chatting with an artist and that’s what we faced as well growing up, as an emerging artist. You always want mentors and someone to push you in the right direction. Someone told me I should be an agent as well, because I like the networking aspect of it. Maybe that’s another area I should look into.”
Her art
Chan’s love affair with art goes right back to her childhood.
“I would draw on my school books… writing on the desk, getting boof for writing on the desk, oh gosh having to clean the desk, and writing on all the covers, inside, outside the book, everywhere there was space,” she says, laughing. “Only the walls got away unscathed.
“I still have drawings from childhood. I was always the class artist – primary school and secondary school. I was the person everyone asked, ‘hey I have a poster to do or want to do a tattoo’.”
After secondary school, she dabbled in animation, print media, advertising, video editing, and event management, while moving on to pursue her B.A. in Visual Arts from The University of the West Indies (St. Augustine) on a part-time basis.
For the non-artsy person, Chan’s work is definitely an eye-opener about the various media artists use. A multimedia artist, by definition, automatically has permission to experiment with textures and materials, and Chan goes all out, with a socially and environmentally conscious approach. These days, she’s using recycled materials, especially brown paper, and don’t be surprised if she asks you for your Styrofoam lunch container, so she can convert it into a work of art. She even creates art out of thread and wood.
“I really don’t like canvas,” she admits. “I mean I’ve painted before and I may use it on other things but I use a lot of drawing. A lot of people don’t do it. Like drawing more illustrator type things. Using a lot of pen, markers, that sort of thing. I can switch. I like watercolours. I’m not an acrylic girl, but I can use a lot of media depending on my mood. Depending on what I’m working on. It also depends on the type of paper I’m using as well. I do a lot of figures. I use a lot of words as well in my work. You can tell from the scroll.”
The scroll Chan speaks of is a 50-foot scroll, she made as her university final project, which was previously, temporarily installed at the Trinidad and Tobago’s National Museum, as part of UWI’s presentation, and for which she’s now looking for a new display space.
“A lot of my work was based on school projects and final projects,” she explains. “So it sort of progressed. So a design project ended up being an enormous installation and that’s the nature of what a visual artist is. You can be in any medium. It can be video or installation work or drawings or paintings or anything using sound… Anything you really want. And so that is it… in school you learn to use a variety of things, so you can pull a genre… so I think that’s the genesis of what a contemporary artist is now…  You have to be flexible as well and work with the materials that you have, especially if you’re on a low budget like myself.
“I do a lot of research as well. People think you go to a studio, working, painting or drawing. But you think a lot as an artist too. A lot of my studies deal with human beings and our kind of behaviour and the ridiculous things that we do and all of the social interaction. There’s a lot of research involved and it’s not just slapping something on canvas. There is a background to it. There is theory to it. There is stuff that you’re interested in at the moment that you will go and research. Because like, for me, when I did the scroll I was looking at things like calligraphy, Asian things, paper, and journaling, because I’ve been blogging for the past ten years or more and so using words in that regard… even with that it had a background story so even now a lot of my stuff is very connected. Works are connected somehow.”
Constant experimentation often means that people will try to place labels on what you do, so how does Chan handle this?
“You have to put a label at some point,” she admits. “I do a lot of abstract stuff. For me I wouldn’t even put a label on it, but sometimes I have to because I have to say ok I might do contemporary, minimalist photography or something like that because you don’t want people to think you do portrait photography. Other times you have to say I really don’t know, call it visual art. But it’s more than that. It’s pretty complex. It’s a hard job and a lot of people don’t understand that.
“It involves a lot of thinking because you know when you go to an office job you can switch off and leave work, but when you’re making art, it’s hard because you’re always working, always thinking. You might be liming and you’re still thinking somewhere in the back of your head.”
Back to Grenada
“It’ll take a little while to expand the art scene and it’ll be quite a challenge, which I like, considering what I’ve done, because everybody’s first question is why there (Grenada)… it’s so backward… but you know what it’s quiet and new,” she says. “A lot of people would look down on it and say ‘oh a small island, nothing really to offer’. I actually enjoy living there. Grenada is absolutely gorgeous and brilliant.”
A naturally vivacious personality, Chan seems to thoroughly enjoy the networking aspect of her work, from the usual exhibitions to fun ventures like the mural she recently teamed up to do with fellow Trini artists like James Hackett, Dominic Gomes, and Warren Le Platte, during her visit home for Christmas, while music creators Baidawi, Spanny and Quincy of Detnator provided the soundtrack for the artistic, fusion lime.
“It was interesting for a lot of people who never saw it before,” she says, reminiscing. “It was an amazing experience. That was one of the things for it… the energy. And I think that’s what we need. A lot more installations and projects, getting people together to work.”
Now, that she’s back in Grenada, WOMA and her other projects are her main focus. She’s also made great connections in Grenada with artists and organisations like Erik Johnson and Meg Conlon of The Gallery, Lilo Nido and Chris Mast of Art Fabrik, Sandra Russo, the Alliance Française, The Grenada Arts Council, Sandra Russo of aF, Susan Mains, Hazel Dawson, and Suelin Low Chew Tung (Trini artist).
“I’m meeting people, and selling more work,” Chan says. “It’s not a lot but I’m still building. My next projects will involve the artist communities, and getting people together to create work, to show work and to share with one another. I also want to do some more group shows and hopefully a solo show either in Grenada, Trinidad or anywhere I can get to do one! I'm also going to apply for residencies so I can travel again.”
The life of an artist is ever a work in progress. For Chan, evidently, roaming the world for new experiences, socialising and sharing her creative juices with fellow artists and nurturing new talent are at the core of her journey.
To stay connected with Tracey, follow her on Twitter @traceyctt, find her on Facebook at, and check out her websites traceychan.com and inspiritus.org.

TraceyChan2What people would dub as starting over might actually be a simple diversion. For multimedia visual artist Tracey Chan, 30, that diversion meant leaving the world of the 8 to 4, as a print department manager and graphic designer, and becoming a full-time artist.

Chan, however, wasn’t content to stay in Trinidad to spread her wings. Soon after leaving her job, she moved to Grenada in December 2009. 

“I was really burnt out, having worked since I came out of Form 6, so I knew I had to take a break and do what it is I really wanted to do which was fine art and get that, because I never had the opportunity to do that before,” she says. “So it was just a matter of having the guts to drop it and move along and I really needed time and space. I didn’t feel like I had that in Trinidad at all, so I said let me try moving. I had savings. So I randomly went to Grenada.

Add comment (1)

Read more: Tracey Chan: Diverting Art’s Direction

 

Ozy Merrique: Rollin with Art

Joshua Ramirez Wharwood

Feb 07 |00:00
Okay, question: Who among you could remember the days of the Kiskadee Karavan (circa 1995)? The days of Yard Fowl Crew, General Grant, Kindred, Edu Rankin, and Supa Chile, among other young, talented acts? Those were the days when everybody knew the lyrics to tunes such as “Dan It Up”, “Shot Call”, and “Dis Trini could Flow” and were mesmerised by the chants of General Grant.
And who could remember “Rollin'” by the equally legendary, Rapso group HomeFront? That was probably the hugest tune from the group. But, as with everything else time touches, the Karavan dissolved. We'd see a few of its original members pop up here and there, but still, the vast majority of them are only memories.
So I was pretty excited to have the chance to chat with Ozwald “Ozy” Merrique, out of the ranks of HomeFront, An artist, in my opinion, who sees himself as always capable of more, and refuses to accept the seasonality and genre restrictions of the local music industry.
Ozy has remained in the music biz over the years, working on a few post-Carnival projects and appearing in places such as Songshine. He's also kept busy with writing and producing, as well as some DJ work. Last year, though, he announced this final stage performance via Facebook (of course), and has mostly returned to his first passion, art.
His reason for such a shift? The perennial confines of our local art forms to the Carnival season. He has spearheaded projects in which local art forms have had a stage outside of the period of Boxing Day to Ash Wednesday, but according to him, it has been an uphill battle he could no longer afford to fight, both financially and otherwise.
My catch-up session with him over a series of phone calls, e-mails, and Facebook messages was enlightening – learning about a man some would consider as one of the pioneers in the Rapso movement, who, while he may not be literally on a stage anymore, has resolved not to fade to black. Check out the mind of a man many of his friends simply call OzyMajiq.
Outlish: Tell me about Ozy Merrique – in a nutshell, who are you?
Ozy: I'm not sure if a nut can hold it nah. Maybe a coconut could? I'm about music, art, identity, freedom, love and expression of whatever gifts I've been granted, and sharing them with others while I am here on earth.
Outlish: Many Trinis may remember you from the days of HomeFront, and since then, you’ve essentially gone underground. What have you been up to?
Ozy: Trinidad and Tobago doesn't have an underground because we don’t have an overground. Because of the seasonal nature of our music, people say anybody working outside of that framework is underground, not realising that what's unusual is for a people’s music to be reserved for a single period in time.
My years after, and even during, HomeFront was me allowing my art and music to live and grow on its own terms and not by the dictates of “Ash Wednesday, throw away”. But hey, that’s where we train all our stagelights. So it’s probably just that some end up working in low lights. Not underground but under darkness.
But I've always tried to shed light on what I and others like me do.
I’ve organized mid-year music events since the late 90s with names like The Honey and Lime Tour, The Junction Series, The Revival Series, and Majiq Mondays. I've also made numerous appearances at events such as Songshine, and Isavibes and shows featuring me sharing my music live. These days I DJ, write and produce and now I'm getting back into painting. What really excites me now is filmmaking though. You should check out some of my stuff on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/dopstartv)
Outlish: You’ve made the jump from Rapso to art. Many may not see this as very profitable, since the art scene in Triniland is not really a cash cow, or something that is appreciated locally. Why make the transition?
Ozy: Well in fact I made the jump from art to Rapso as I was writing poetry and painting on anything like canvas, bags, shoes, and T-shirts long before I cut my first tune. In terms of the money, I guess it’s the same kinda cow as Kaiso/Soca/Rapso because some do well and some don’t in both fields. I mean if LeRoy Clarke is the Machel of local art world I guess I’m like the… well... me! But why I’m doing it is that it allows me to return to a certain kind of immediacy and honesty in the work and how it’s appreciated. If I do a painting, it's either you feel it or you don't. You might feel it enough to pay some money for it. With a painting I don’t have to pass it through a Radio DJ first before you could even get a chance to dislike it.
Outlish: Interesting. So how did you get into painting then?
Ozy: I really got into painting back in secondary school. I would make and paint necklaces for friends. And, as my mother was a designer and seamstress, her clients would hire me to paint things like bamboo and hummingbirds and whatnot on the clothing she made. I started doing T-shirts from about from four years old, then fell into screen printing soon after. And, the rest is history.
Outlish: The Facebook note announcing your last performance (http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=391794285559) and the one about the indigenous art forms being merely seasonal (http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=488849920559) really shed some light on the happenings on the local industry. Do you have any words of hope for those who want to enter the industry?
Ozy: Well everybody has their own path to walk. Carnival has its role and some of us have that work to do as artists, so I will never discourage anybody. You have as good a chance as any to “eat a food”, but you have to know yourself. If you're doing gospel and that is your calling then it's only to a limited extent your world and the secular world would intersect. And you can’t get more secular than the festival of the flesh! Do what moves you and stand on the corner and see who stops to listen. Also take their name and email and yeah… make sure you have something to sell them, even if is a five-dollar bandanna with your name on it.
Outlish: Tell me about your current venture, “ESTATES – The Collection” and “The Adventures of Shango Jack”. What’s the story behind it all, and what do you hope to achieve?
Ozy: A few months ago I wrote a note (http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=486721680559) on the many definitions of the word “estate” – an extensive property, your assets, and whatnot. I used to live on an estate myself – Coconut Estate in Mayaro. The real inspiration behind the note itself is that we live in a society made up of different diaspora, and most of us have no real connection to our origins. And the paintings are tied to these meanings; in a sense, I want to redefine the meaning of the word “estate”.
As for Shango Jack, I was fascinated by the phenomenon of Facebook as a tool in new media, and I got an idea to do a kind of serial instead of one-off notes. Shango Jack is a new kind of hero I want to introduce – you know we in the Western world have this philosophy about heroism and such, so I made Shango Jack as local and relatable to fit this model.
My projected achievements? Well with that I'm prepared for whatever comes. I'm just doing the work and seeing where it leads.
Outlish: Any plans to showcase your work so far?
Ozy: I had a mini-exhibition around Christmas time. It was really nice. This collection is supposed to be 40 pieces and I plan to show all at my birthday party on Thursday February 24 at Trevor’s Edge. After that I will try to organise a more formal showing. Or I might just do like I used to do with my T-shirts back in the day. Go on the corner of Frederick Street and Independence Square and put them out!
Outlish: Is your hiatus (for want of a better word) from the local music arena permanent, or is there any chance of you popping back on the scene?
Ozy: I still do music. Right now I’m working with some kids and it’s quite rewarding. It's three of them who could really sing and one of them is competing in the Junior Calypso Monarch, and I'm producing the melody to go along with the lyrics.
Whether I will offer up myself as a live performer for hire and go back down that road? Anything’s possible with music. She doh like to be ignored for too long.
Outlish: And what else should we look forward to, with Ozy Merrique’s name on it?
Ozy: I’m kinda trying to centralise all the things I do under one banner. It’s called the DOPSPOT. It's a primary Internet portal where you can see art, music, fashion and movies – all local, all talent. I plan to move it from the virtual to something tangible, and make it a real artistic brand with a physical location (or locations) in the future. I’m still putting it together, but it should be ready soon.
For more on Ozy and that he's doing these days, check his Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/merriqestate) and his YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/dopstartv). Also check out the first installment of The Adventures of Shango Jack (http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=500154865559) and the complete ESTATES – The Collection (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26658&id=164270996943921).

OzyMerrique2Okay, question: Who among you could remember the days of the Kiskadee Karavan (circa 1995)? The days of Yard Fowl Crew, General Grant, Kindred, Edu Rankin, and Supa Chile, among other young, talented acts? Those were the days when everybody knew the lyrics to tunes such as “Dan It Up”, “Shot Call”, and “Dis Trini could Flow” and were mesmerised by the chants of General Grant.

And who could remember “Rollin'” by the equally legendary, Rapso group HomeFront? That was probably the hugest tune from the group. But, as with everything else time touches, the Karavan dissolved. We'd see a few of its original members pop up here and there, but still, the vast majority of them are only memories. 

So I was pretty excited to have the chance to chat with Ozwald “Ozy” Merrique, out of the ranks of HomeFront, An artist, in my opinion, who sees himself as always capable of more, and refuses to accept the seasonality and genre restrictions of the local music industry.  

Ozy has remained in the music biz over the years, working on a few post-Carnival projects and appearing in places such as Songshine. He's also kept busy with writing and producing, as well as some DJ work. Last year, though, he announced this final stage performance via Facebook (of course), and has mostly returned to his first passion, art.

His reason for such a shift? The perennial confines of our local art forms to the Carnival season. He has spearheaded projects in which local art forms have had a stage outside of the period of Boxing Day to Ash Wednesday, but according to him, it has been an uphill battle he could no longer afford to fight, both financially and otherwise.

My catch-up session with him over a series of phone calls, e-mails, and Facebook messages was enlightening – learning about a man some would consider as one of the pioneers in the Rapso movement, who, while he may not be literally on a stage anymore, has resolved not to fade to black. Check out the mind of a man many of his friends simply call OzyMajiq.

Add comment (1)

Read more: Ozy Merrique: Rollin with Art

 

Cocoa Vintage: The Artful Jeweller

Catherine Young

Jan 31 |00:00
For some people, starting a business takes time and ample resources, but for Crystal Antoine, all it took was talent, and a Facebook fan page. In November 2010, her handmade jewellery line, Cocoa Vintage, was born, and growth has been organic.
Though still in its infancy, Cocoa Vintage has been enjoying quite a bit of success thanks to its Facebook page, which Antoine established after a personal, two-year hiatus from the social network. Her only other advertising channels are limited to word of mouth and wearing her own pieces, but her designs have gotten very positive reviews, creating a steady stream of referrals.
Cocoa Vintage is geared towards women who appreciate art, as well as things that are different, cultural and unique. The pieces are delicate in nature, and remind you of a time, when things were painstakingly crafted from scratch. The earrings are elegant; the rings… dignified. The entire line solidifies an aesthetic that is earthy, cultured and genuine.
While she does not yet take custom orders, Antoine’s designs have proven very popular, so much so that in the two months that she has been in production, she has already managed to get large orders from admirers of her work – including an upcoming job to design and create the jewellery for an entire bridal party. Yes. She’s that versatile.
Antoine’s love of jewellery was solidified after attending the Caribbean Academy of Fashion Design at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) – for a degree in fashion design – when a required course in jewellery and handbags showed her that her true talent was in jewellery crafting and design. And while she has had to defer her full bachelor’s degree to a later date, due to scheduling conflicts with her classes, she has taken the lessons already learned, and made the absolute most of them.
“I did my two years as I planned to, and I graduated with a diploma in fashion design in January 2011,” she explains. “I didn’t go on to do the other two years, for the bachelor’s, because it was becoming stressful for me with work and school. So I decided to take a break and get some creativity out and focus on my jewellery making.”
She started out with simple, wire-wrapped jewellery, and graduated to more complicated designs after doing her own research and teaching herself, driven by her passion. Even though she began in fashion design, she is confident that her shift in focus has been beneficial, and while she still loves fashion design, she shines when given the tools of her jewelling trade. Antoine originally began creating costume jewellery, but plans to make the move to sterling silver in the near future.
Now, Antoine works ‘hard’ to incorporate ‘found items’ into her jewellery, including things like shells, tamarind seeds, leather and freshwater pearls.
“There’s a lot of spiral wire work involved to add that element of quirkiness,” she explains. “I also use precious stones. My favourites are rose quartz, turquoise, and African turquoise. The possibilities are endless, and depending on the theme I’m going for or my inspiration I’ll decide what materials to use.”
The inspiration for Cocoa Vintage pieces comes from many varying sources. Antoine absorbs art in all forms, including fashion, art history, renaissance, and Egyptian and Persian art, and reflects them in her jewellery’s designs. Nature is also an obvious muse for her creations. Her admiration for the work of international jewellery designer Lizzie Fortuato who is based in New York has also influenced her.
“She [also] fuses found items from around the world and combines unexpected materials to produce one of a kind, beautiful, textured, organic pieces,” she says. “I get my supply materials from local arts and crafts shops, and all my wire, tools and stones from a wholesale jewellery shop in Florida. I also order everything online.”
The Cocoa Vintage line is highly labour intensive, and occupies much of Antoine’s free time. Since each piece is individually crafted by hand, construction of a single piece can take anywhere from hours to days, depending on the intricacy of the design.
In addition to working on her jewellery line, Antoine also works full-time at the McCann Erickson advertising agency as a Senior Art Director. It was a project she worked on at the agency that inspired the name for her line, and her signature cocoa pod earrings. Given the task of preparing a gift basket for the Tobago Heritage Festival, Antoine put relevant trinkets inside a cocoa pod, and her finished product made her take notice of the beauty of the natural fruit, encouraging her to create jewellery from them.
Antoine says that having two jobs has not been easy, but she is willing to put in the work to help her line grow because of her love for her craft. She sometimes works into the early hours of the morning in order to complete an order, but approaches it as part of the sacrifice that she has to make to ensure that Cocoa Vintage is successful. For now, Cocoa Vintage is a one-woman show, but she does anticipate hiring an intern, if circumstances permit.
Cocoa Vintage may be new, but Antoine already has huge goals for her line. She is beginning to market her signature, cocoa pod earrings to tourists, and hopes to submit her pieces to the Tobago Heritage Festival. Although she plans to proceed slowly, she hopes to one day have her own boutique too. Right now, Antoine is working on partnering with other boutiques to retail her wire-wrapped rings, chains and pendants. She also hopes to one day collaborate with other professionals in the local, fashion sector.
“I would love to work with Heather Jones, Claudia Pegus and Meiling,” she says, excitedly. “I think collaborations are great, but I would only be able to work with someone who was already working along the lines of my own vision. I’d love to work with Brian McFarlane on a Carnival presentation because to me he is a true artist.”
Antoine credits UTT with helping her find her passion, and is convinced that she would never have known she had such immense talent without the classes she took. She also credits her teacher Anton Harris, a fellow designer, with inspiring her by being a passionate teacher whose intense course focused her talents.
“I love what CAFD is doing,” she says. “Trinidad still has a lot of growing to do if we want to reach international status, and I think right now, we’re stuck. Some designers don’t have any structure – no theme, no inspiration in their collections, and they just send it down the runway thinking it’s a cohesive show. It’s quite the opposite. CAFD is trying to help remedy that.”
Antoine says she would eventually like to get back to designing clothing, and expand the Cocoa Vintage line.
“I love designing and I’m confident in my designing ability, but I hate to sew,” she says. “The idea of making a garment is amazing to me, but I’ll admit that in class I didn’t do as well as some of the other students who were more experienced, but I tried my best.”
For now, Antoine successfully juggles her two careers, but she hopes to be able to fully support herself with Cocoa Vintage within the next two to three years, depending on how the chips fall.
“There is so much that I want to do, that I feel overwhelmed at times,” she confesses. “Ideas run through my head every day. The demand for my jewellery is getting bigger and it’s exciting. I want to take my jewellery as far as it can go. It will be a journey, but I love what I do. The passion is there and I have the support of my friends and family.”

CrystalAntoineaFor some people, starting a business takes time and ample resources, but for Crystal Antoine, all it took was talent, and a Facebook fan page. In November 2010, her handmade jewellery line, Cocoa Vintage, was born, and growth has been organic.

Though still in its infancy, Cocoa Vintage has been enjoying quite a bit of success thanks to its Facebook page, which Antoine established after a personal, two-year hiatus from the social network. Her only other advertising channels are limited to word of mouth and wearing her own pieces, but her designs have gotten very positive reviews, creating a steady stream of referrals. 

cocoavintage8Cocoa Vintage is geared towards women who appreciate art, as well as things that are different, cultural and unique. The pieces are delicate in nature, and remind you of a time, when things were painstakingly crafted from scratch. The earrings are elegant; the rings… dignified. The entire line solidifies an aesthetic that is earthy, cultured and genuine.

Add comment (1)

Read more: Cocoa Vintage: The Artful Jeweller

 

Hybrid Theory: Design Innovators

Quilin Achat

Jan 17 |00:00
You know the saying, “behind every man is a good woman”? Well, behind Dave Cooper, multi-talented, creative genius, is Stephanie Khan – former BWIA attendant, turned business partner and fiancée.
As the story goes, in 2002, they met, fell in love, and created Hybrid Theory, an art and design company that creates and constructs many of the design elements in ‘big-name’ Carnival fetes. What that says about their chemistry is not immediately evident. However, what it says about their combined creativity is that they’re a design powerhouse.
Khan explains: “The business was created because there was, and still is, a need for creative people that can design as well as fabricate their ideas, not many people can do both. Hybrid Theory was established in order to make design sustainable for Dave and I. Dave always wanted to work within his field as an artist and wanted to make his creativity work for him. Traditionally, artists paint and host exhibitions, but it is not always financially viable.
“Hybrid Theory was a way to create art and become financially viable, so we adapted our skills to create products and services that are in demand as we operate in a country that loves to party,” Cooper adds. “We wanted to change the stereotype that artists are traditionally poor and decided to show that art is a viable form of income by adapting our work to the demand.”
Cooper is animated as he talks about how Hybrid Theory materialised from just two words he liked… to a business.
“Since 1997, I always toyed with the idea of using it as a business name, but wasn’t sure what the business would be about,” he says. “I used hybrid because our business is a combination of various disciplines (art, music, mathematics, technical drawing, carpentry, masonry, and common sense), and theory because we are an amalgamation of many different rules and practices.”
Fatefully, he had taken a commercial direction in his artistic development, years ago, when he joined the street team for local DJ, Signal to Noise. Recognising the talent in Cooper, Signal to Noise gave Hybrid Theory its first, ‘big’ job – to create an entrance for his annual Caribbean Wet Fete event. Signal gave the logos and colours of the sponsors, but Cooper had to come up with the design, transport and scaffolding to rig the final 15-foot structure. With only practical experience in sign making, Cooper, along with Khan at his side, relied on his intuition and delivered an impressive design. Their success with this event, despite the challenges, put plans in the pipeline, and since then, business and their projects have only gotten bigger.
As an artist, musician, writer, and, by day, an art teacher at San Juan South Secondary School, who is passionate about passing on his skills to the youth, creating has been a part of Cooper for as long as many people can remember. Even old friends and acquaintances from his student days at The University of the West Indies (St. Augustine) still talk about the jewellery and other art pieces he used to make in those days. With his creative eye and street ‘know how’, it soon became evident to many that Cooper was the man who knew what they wanted.
“Promoters and friends kept approaching us for help with the visual aspect of their events from ticket layout, promotional flyers, banners, and signage, and then the requests to make the venue more aesthetically pleasing began,” explains Khan.
They soon found themselves in a niche market, creating design elements for fetes.
While Cooper is design starboard, Khan is anchor. As the glue that holds it all together, she chose carnival studies as her major at UWI in order to better understand the financial viability behind Trinidad and Tobago’s biggest cultural event, especially since Hybrid Theory is knee-deep in the festivities, providing design services for mas stalwarts like Tribe and ISLANDpeople. She complements the naturally talented Cooper, with her managerial skills, and communications savvy. Khan is also pursuing a minor in communications. She’s the ‘better half’ to a creative genius, and, as the custom goes in this sort of dynamic, helps to ground him.
Cooper’s design mettle was nationally tested in 2009, when he participated in the Red Bull Art of Can exhibition Judged on creativity, construction and conceptual design, artists constructed art pieces out of Red Bull cans, and Cooper, blew away the competition, with his winning entry of a four-foot Michael Jackson replica, complete with wings and iconic “Smooth Criminal” lean, made from around 500 used Red Bull cans, which qualified him to move on to a national leg of the competition in Jamaica. He didn’t win the competition in Jamaica, but earned tangible rewards.
“It was exciting, because he didn’t expect to win he just entered for fun,” explains Khan, laughing and beaming with pride for her fiancée. “We gained a lot of exposure and recognition as there were articles in Scorch Magazine and local newspapers for the entire week, and he was featured on Synergy TV.  The competition in Jamaica only featured Caribbean artist and was an opportunity to showcase work and he received 2nd place in the Caribbean.  From this experience we established a firm relationship with Red Bull (Trinidad), and Brydens.”
Over the years, they’ve acquired quite a portfolio and count SandBox Entertainment, ISLANDpeople, Tribe, Tempo, Triniscene, Shal Marshal, Kwesi Hopkinson, Red Bull (Trinidad), Brydens, Hennessy and Tri Star Productions as some of their clients.
As a design team, they know their clients need the outrageous.
“Our clients are people who want more than just a banner printed,” Khan says. “They want something larger than life to add that ‘wow factor’ to their event. We do more than just events as well. We visually upgrade anything for our clients and offer design and consultancy services. From sketches to fabricating costumes, we do it all. In 2009, we expanded our services to include permanent, decorative structures for our clients, which include a sign – “Stone Goddess” – on Carlos Street, Woodbrook, and a Hennessy-branded stage at Coco Lounge.”
As business has grown, so has the need to expand their team. Christopher Littrean and Simon Aboud of SignPost Ltd have become partners, and assist with design and fabrication. Workers are treated like family, and though good staff is had to train and maintain, even with this challenge, the duo has found an innovative way to man staff and nurture upcoming designers, by including Cooper’s art students from San Juan South Secondary School in Hybrid Theory’s projects, and offering them practical training. It’s also extra cash for the teenagers, and early working experience for those who love art.
“We usually hire boys, as they are, sad to say, easier to control than the girls and get less distracted,” says Khan. “We also try to help them improve their English skills, as they realize that to communicate effectively with your team or client you must be able to speak and write well.”
Cooper pipes in: “The local art scene, hmm…. there needs to be a more active role in Trinidad regarding educating young people, creating creative learning spaces and hosting other artists and events. Carnival arts should be taught to secondary school students. It should be part of the syllabus. We are pushing for this! Local artists also need to educate themselves regarding their rights about patents and intellectual property.
“We want Hybrid Theory to be synonymous with great designs. Our goal is to never repeat the same things, and to be better than our last design. We are trendsetters. Eventually, we would like to develop a non-profit organisation to provide support services for young and upcoming artists where they can hone their natural talents and learn skills to help them in their journey.”
If they aren’t the coolest couple you’ve read about by now, know this. They’re also into reducing their carbon footprint. Whether it’s reusing past projects, using biodegradable products, or purchasing used materials from large companies to use in their design, they’re making a difference.
“We have always been into ‘green art’,” says Cooper. “Recycling is our thing, and we would like to work with others to help create a sustainable Trinidad and Tobago.”
Over the eight years they’ve been in business, Hybrid Theory has become the go-to company for promoters. Still, it must get overwhelming sometimes to be business partners and mates 24/7.
“It can be difficult at times, but we want to make this work,” says Khan. “So we make time to be apart. We also listen to what each person has to say and try our best to not let our passion for our work come between us. We have our differences and just like any couple we argue, but we have common goals that we never lose sight of.”
Clearly, Khan and Cooper are their own hybrid – love and art.
To check out Hybrid Theory’s creations, visit their Facebook page. (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hybrid-Theory/131672924322)

HybridTheoryYou know the saying, “behind every man is a good woman”? Well, behind Dave Cooper, multi-talented, creative genius, is Stephanie Khan – former BWIA attendant, turned business partner and fiancée. 

As the story goes, in 2002, they met, fell in love, and created Hybrid Theory, an art and design company that creates and constructs many of the design elements in ‘big-name’ Carnival fetes. What that says about their chemistry is not immediately evident. However, what it says about their combined creativity is that they’re a design powerhouse. 

Khan explains: “The business was created because there was, and still is, a need for creative people that can design as well as fabricate their ideas, not many people can do both. Hybrid Theory was established in order to make design sustainable for Dave and I. Dave always wanted to work within his field as an artist and wanted to make his creativity work for him. Traditionally, artists paint and host exhibitions, but it is not always financially viable.

Add comment (1)

Read more: Hybrid Theory: Design Innovators

 

TimeSquared: Double the Convenience

Karel Mc Intosh

Jan 10 |00:00
Running errands can be the bane of your existence. Standing in line at the bank, waiting to pay your phone bill, collecting clothes from the drycleaners, filing your taxes, and purchasing mundane items like toiletries and groceries – these are things we wish someone would do for us.
Thing is, if you can hardly get things done for yourself, how do you manage to run errands for other people too, and run your own business? This is exactly what close friends Amy Inglefield and Jeunesse Ali, both 24, have been doing since February 2009, when they started their company TimeSquared Limited, a concierge and image consulting and personal shopping business.
We could say base their ability to get so much done on their solid time management skills, but it’s more a case of seemingly endless energy, dashing out of cars, running up stairs, prioritising on the go, and bring true tag team players.
“Even though it’s just both of us and we don’t have employees right now, we’re very efficient in getting stuff done,” Ali explains. “Our whole concept is that we’re doubling your time with the service we offer. Clients are so amazed at how quickly we do things. People see that they can trust us with their business. They see the service as being efficient and timely. With our image consulting, we’re also saving you time, showing you how easy it is to get ready, and ‘look good’.”
“Youth also has something to do with it,” Inglefield adds. “It takes a lot of energy to be able to do this every day. Clients call us at any time.
“Working people here don’t have the time to do little things like banking or running errands. There are a lot of concierge businesses abroad, and we thought it’d be so good for Trinidad because people are so caught up with work and it’s hard to take time off to do these everyday things or even things like being at the bank... or paying taxes. We don’t have the convenience that they do away, where everything is online. We aren’t at that level of technology where you can do virtually everything online. So it pays for companies to send somebody else, rather than someone from the office who will be away from work for one hour or two hours.”
In addition to banks, other large companies, and small businesses, TimeSquared’s clientele comprises individuals, including working people and senior citizens. TimeSquared will do your dry cleaning, pay bills, deliver packages, or take elderly people to appointments, going wherever clients need them to in west, south, central and east Trinidad. Basically, they do whatever you want.
The concierge services are actually affordable, and manageable with TimeSquared offering several packages, including different, monthly packages with a particular number of hours allotted to clients.
“In a way it was an easy business to start up because you don’t need a lot of start-up capital,” Ali explains. “ You just need time, a car to drive etc.”
“Our car is our office,” Inglefield adds. “All our emails are done from our phone. Thank God for BB (BlackBerry). We also use our diaries are well. The car… that’s our office that’s where we do business. We’re always on the road. We work on the go.”
Before we go deeper with TimeSquared’s story, let’s think about their business setting though. Trinidad and Tobago is a pretty hectic place, especially for working people. With work taking up so much of our time, never ending traffic, and things like going to the bank or a Government office easily taking up your entire lunch hour, it’s safe to say the average person would welcome having someone to run their errands. However, hiring someone to go to the bank for you isn’t necessarily the norm in Trinidad and Tobago and, unless you can beg a favour from a friend or family member or you’re fortunate enough to know of a trusted individual who can run your errands, you’re destined to cuss about long lines and bumper-to-bumper traffic erasing your free time. Still, it’s something that companies and individuals can benefit from.
A personal concierge service like TimeSquared’s runs on the most basic of premises. People want things done, but don't have the time to do them. So if someone else can do it efficiently and effectively, it works well for everyone involved. Convenience is the main benefit here, and TimeSquared is sort of like the personal assistant you’ve always wanted.
Nevertheless, although concierge services are definitely not a new type of business, and are widespread overseas, in Trinidad and Tobago, it takes trust for you to hire a virtual stranger to conduct your affairs. That was the prospect Ali and Inglefield also faced when they returned to Trinidad, after completing undergraduate studies abroad, just over a year before they started TimeSquared. Ali had studied events and tourism, and Inglefield Fine Arts and English. Inglefield was working in advertising at the time, at her father’s firm Inglefield/Ogilvy & Mather, and Ali was working in events at the Oval.
“Jeunesse (Ali) came up with the concierge idea,” says Inglefield. “She was thinking… how could I not be stuck at an office all day conducting business and trying to get my stuff done. And I told her if she came up with a good idea, I’d be 100% on board. You don’t really hear about this sort of service locally, but it wasn’t that popular and talking to our parents they’d always be like, Can you do this for me. Can you do that for me?’
“It’s not that I didn’t like my job at all. I like marketing, reaching out to markets and what it takes to make brands successful. But I wanted to do something for myself. Dad told me there’s nothing better than working for myself. So I was glad that Jeunesse was thinking the same way. There’s only so far you can get in someone else’s company. When you’re on your own you’re empowered… that’s what really struck me, even though it’s our customers who in a way run our company too.”
“We work for them,” Ali adds. “But this way…  we can get out, we’re around different people all day, seeing different things.”
The image consulting side of the business came into play with Inglefield’s love of fashion.
“I was always into image, clothes and fashion and shopping, which is typical for a lot of girls,” she says. “I found I had a knack for it, and before we started TimeSquared I told Jeunesse I was going to do an intensive training programme in image consulting at the Sterling Style Academy in Miami and encouraged her to go with me, which she did.”
Certified and thus able to operate as image consultants, fashion consultants, style consultants, fashion stylists, personal stylists and personal shoppers, the two quickly added this service to their portfolio, launching TimeSquared’s full offering from day one.
TimeSquared’s start was highly based on generating interest in the service, networking and referrals. When they started up in 2009, they stuffed mailboxes with flyers, advertised in The Westerly, a community newspaper in west Trinidad, emailed their parents’ friends, and got themselves featured in the daily newspapers to spread word of their new business. Word of mouth referrals, however, have been a main source of customers for them, with employees of some of their corporate clients, hiring TimeSquared to do their personal errands.
“We have a client whose mother, grandmother and sister use us as well,” says Inglefield.
Now, on the image consulting side of the business, when most people think about having someone advise them about their dress code, they think about being restricted to one set of colours or styles, as opposed to being able to express their individuality. However, Ali and Inglefield definitely have a more modern take that ensures that clients maintain their individuality, and their budget, which goes a long way in establishing TimeSquared’s positioning as a consultancy in this area, and viability as personal shoppers. With their knack for fashion, and knowledge of trends, they’ve been working with client of various ages, body types and lifestyles.
“We don’t do the colour wads,” says Ali. “We don’t confine you to a season… winter… summer etc. We show our clients they can wear any colour, but it’s the hue of the colour that matters. So we have a modern take on it. We don’t want to change our clients. It’s just about making them more comfortable and helping them to feel good in what they wear. We just create a more confident version of you.”
“So far people have been using the wardrobe analysis,” says Inglefield. “Personal shopping is not ‘I’m gonna buy you a whole new wardrobe’. When you hire us you see how things can look on you. Image consultants are there to show you, ‘Hey do you see the difference this makes for your legs or torso?’ It’s seeing hands on the kind of impact new styles can have on you.
“As a part of our consultation, we get to know about you. We give our clients a quiz that helps them to determine their style based on what they like, aspire to be, or their lifestyle.”
“You don’t have to have a huge budget,” Ali adds, chiming in. “We take you places to shop, and work with your budget. You don’t just buy clothes for no reason whatsoever.”
With this sort of accommodating philosophy that seeks to create the greatest value for clients, Inglefield and Ali are off to a great start.
“It’s still in its early stages and we still have a lot more room to grow,” says Ali. “It’ll be a profitable company and grow, especially with the concierge services. What we can offer is limitless. We can tap into everybody because everyone has different needs. We can tailor it too. For image consulting, you can either be going to an event, looking for a job or looking for a serious relationship and want to look good… it sounds funny but it can be applicable. There are tonnes of ways to use an image consultant, as well as concierge services. It’s not just the people who have money to spend or places to go who use image consulting.”
“Being a young entrepreneur is great, because what we’re doing is new, and I say it’s a new idea because we’ve pushed our business as something different… and not something you’ve really seen before in Trinidad,” Inglefield adds. “For some people it’s totally new, so it gives us the opportunity to make an impression.
“Trinidad has so much potential, especially like young potential, and just because we’re a small island doesn’t mean we’re limited to small island things. You also have the potential to really become successful because competition mightn’t be that large, whereas there’s so much more competition in the States.”
TimeSquared is an apt example of this viewpoint... Young potential… Room to grow... Opportunities to make a great impression... And creating a model that offers value, convenience and reliability for customers.
To contact TimeSquared, check out their Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/TimeSquared-Ltd/64458909995

TimesquaredaRunning errands can be the bane of your existence. Standing in line at the bank, waiting to pay your phone bill, collecting clothes from the drycleaners, filing your taxes, and purchasing mundane items like toiletries and groceries – these are things we wish someone would do for us.

Thing is, if you can hardly get things done for yourself, how do you manage to run errands for other people too, and run your own business? This is exactly what close friends Amy Inglefield and Jeunesse Ali, both 24, have been doing since February 2009, when they started their company TimeSquared Limited, a concierge and image consulting and personal shopping business. 

We could base their ability to get so much done on their solid time management skills, but it’s more a case of seemingly endless energy, dashing out of cars, running up stairs, prioritising on the go, and being true tag team players.

Add comment (0)

Read more: TimeSquared: Double the Convenience

 

Trinis we Love: Top Ten Interviews of 2010

Karel Mc Intosh

Dec 27 |00:00

RogerAlexisTrusting your creative instinct is one thing. Acting upon it is another.

Here at Outlish we celebrate individuality, passion, and innovation, showcasing the many talented Trinis who are going after their dreams, and taking a chance on something they love - regardless of how scary their venture/ adventure may be.

Since launching on April 12, 2010, we've brought you stories about entrepreneurs, musicians, poets, actors, artists, activists, dancers, filmmakers, bloggers, and designers, based locally and abroad, every Monday morning. The common thread that ties it all together is that these people follow their entrepreneurial and adventurous spirits, wherever it takes them, and are just doing their do – being themselves.

Add comment (5)

Read more: Trinis we Love: Top Ten Interviews of 2010

 

RemBunction: Music, Life and Motion

Karel Mc Intosh

Dec 20 |00:00


Listening to the music of Roland Edward Marc Yearwood, aka the artiste known as RemBunction, and affectionately called Remy, it’s obvious that he’s a versatile artiste
From his popular, cheerful Soca Parang tunes “Mr Santa Claus” (aka Socks and Drawers) and “Macafouchette”, to the groovy ole-time Soca “Ah Diggin’ Horrors” – featuring the Mighty Sparrow, the waistline-moving “Roti & Kuchela”, the melodious, pan tune “Tell Dem”, and the introspective “A Quiet Evening”, he definitely knows the art of mixing the rhythms of Trinidad and Tobago’s diverse cultures to create a sound that is absolutely rembunctious.
Remy’s musical journey started as a young boy, singing in the school choir, and going on to win the “Boys under 11” solo category, at age 11, at the Trinidad and Tobago Music Festival. In his secondary school years at Trinity College, he sang, joined the pan side, and performed with friends as part of the R&B-tinged, quintet M.D.E., which was part of the original Kiskadee Caravan in the early 90s.
A creative multitasker – who holds Bachelor's in Visual Communication and Business Administration from North Carolina Central University (US) – he dabbles in more than music. From his legendary and much loved Reminabox cartoon strip that ran in the Vox Magazine (published by the Trinidad Express Newspapers) in the 90s, to the animations featured in his videos, and his video production for artistes like Bunji Garlin, Fay Ann Lyons-Alvarez, Machel Montano, 3Suns, Ziggy Rankin, Ghetto Flex, Lil Bitts, Dawg E Slaughter, Denise Belfon, Shadow Man (out of St. Marten), and Isaac Blackman – under the umbrella of his company RemBunction Productions – he’s a master of many trades. Oh, and he does commercials too.
With two albums under his belt – “It Starts… Now” (2004), and “The Return of the Calypso Man” (2010) – and a slew of singles, embraced here in Trinidad and Tobago, in sister isles like Jamaica, and even in North America – Toronto and New York, specifically. He’s also currently working on two, new albums, and says we can look out for his new singles “Play on Player”, “Rudey”, “Oh Lover” – with Nehilet Blackman, “Sweat”, “Cool Wid It”, and “Who Loves Yuh”.
Check out what Remy had to tell Outlish about his new music, why he prefers digital distribution, if he’ll bring back his popular cartoon “Reminabox”, and whether his Soca Parang tunes could pigeonhole him as a parrandero.
O: First off… Yuh still getting socks and drawers?
Remy: (Laughs). Well yuh see… in all fairness… the funny thing is, the hardest thing for me to come by is socks and drawers. So now I have a shortage… yuh know. “Socks and drawers” was never literal socks and draws eh. It’s tongue in cheek in the sense of… sometimes you get gifts and you’re like, “C’mon, you couldn’t get more creative than this?” But I get that question all the time, and funnily enough, I doh get no socks and drawers no more, because like people ‘fraid they get pong.
O: What are you up to these days?
Remy: Right now we in the Christmas season, so I’ve been paranging a lil bit with the same side as in the music video, so we just hit a few locations, and I’m just performing here and there. Apart from that… always creating music, so I’m working on material, not necessarily for the Carnival season. Sometimes depending on how the energy hits it might end up in that kind of space, but most times I’m just bringing out music continuously. On the other side of things, as the videographer, director, editor guy, I’m doing some work for fellow artistes, so right now I’m finishing something for a guy in St. Marten and doing stuff for a couple calypsonians and Soca artistes. So just look out for different stuff.
O: You’ve got a lot of talents. How do you decide when and how you use them?
Remy: I always explain to people the pursuit of creativity is all related, so whether I’m doing music, art, or visuals it’s an opportunity to express myself artistically. So you’ll find that things go in a cycle; there will be times when I’m extremely ripe, musically, and then the other times the energy shifts and I’m painting, and then another time I’m in a more comic zone and I’m animating. And then of course, there’s the video production stuff, so that’s how it goes for me.
O: You’ve had a lot of success with “Mr Santa Claus”, and now you have “Macafouchette”. Is it that you’ve decided to do a Soca Parang every year from now on?
Remy: Well no. That’s just accidental. The first Soca Parang was “Mr Santa Claus”, and it happened because at the time I was doing a lot of work with Isaac Blackman, moreso on the production and artwork side of things. They were bringing out a Christmas album, and Isaac had this rhythm and when I heard it, the words just came to me, and it built from there. That year I brought out two songs – “Mr. Santa Claus” and another song on a rhythm called the “Stagger” rhythm with myself, Isaac and Sheldon Blackman “Oh no ah hadda be home for Christmas” (singing), and that was fairly liked as well.
I guess once you open up a creative channel, more starts flowing...
P.S.: Oh, and for the ladies who asked us to maco his business, he’s not married, but he has a significant other. He never really realised he made some of you swoon so – “if people think I cute, thanks”, he says, and, for those who want to know if he’s a Christian, because he works closely with the Blackmans, he avoids labels, believes in God, is working on his spirituality, and makes music for everyone.
You can purchase Remy’s music on trinidadtunes.com and iTunes.com. Check out Remy on his Facebook, and MySpace

Rembunction1Listening to the music of Roland Edward Marc Yearwood, aka the artiste known as RemBunction, and affectionately called Remy, it’s obvious that he’s a versatile artiste. 

From his popular, cheerful Soca Parang tunes “Mr Santa Claus” (aka Socks and Drawers) and “Macafouchette”, to the groovy ole-time Soca “Ah Diggin’ Horrors” – featuring the Mighty Sparrow, the waistline-moving “Roti & Kuchela”, the melodious, pan tune “Tell Dem”, and the introspective “A Quiet Evening”, he definitely knows the art of mixing the rhythms of Trinidad and Tobago’s diverse cultures to create a sound that is absolutely rembunctious.

Add comment (7)

Read more: RemBunction: Music, Life and Motion

 

Dale Ramirez: Expanding our Tastes

Karel Mc Intosh

Dec 13 |00:00

DaleRamirez1Dale Ramirez isn't the guy you put on an obstacle course, and then expect to see him fail. A sucker for challenges, this serial entrepreneur and owner of the popular Drink! Wine Bar and juice bar Hümzinger is quite accustomed to jumping through hoops of fire, ducking flying chainsaws, and balancing tightropes, figuratively of course.

Just a week shy of 30, he's already co-owned and operated several businesses, over the past eight years, including a gadget and gizmos kiosk - which he started with a friend, an advertising agency - where he learnt, the 'hard' way, how big companies can steal your ideas, and a (gay) nightclub - where he honed his bar and nightclub management skills, before moving onto the food and beverage industry. Even with the successes he's had along the way, however, his journey hasn't been a fairytale.

Add comment (4)

Read more: Dale Ramirez: Expanding our Tastes

 

Collis Duranty: He’s Got Unlimited Soul

Quilin Achat

Dec 06 |00:00
Singers who really touch us with their music do so because we sense their passion, and that this is more than a show. We realise that it is an offering of who they are, at their most personal layer. Collis Duranty has shared many layers, and, as clichéd as it may sound, he’s still got more to share.
"I try to represent what some people don’t know how to express," he says. "That feeling in your heart and soul when you feel pain or joy, when the mind is weary and you need to find the right words to help you think in the right direction. I represent the red, white and black. The heart of our people. The conscience side and not so much the conscious. Really, I am a conscience lyrical artiste.”
Ask anyone who’s witnessed his recent performances at Woodford Café, Spalkers, and Casa de Ibiza, and they’ll support that claim. For those of you who haven’t seen him on stage, or have never heard his name, you’re probably still wondering who’s this guy? To his fan base, he’s a gifted musician, whose music raises your pores. His music transcends the simple genre of Soul, and can more aptly be described as soulful. Still, his sound is something each listener must define for himself or herself. Ask him to describe his sound, and this is his response:
“I am a singer and songwriter of World Beat music, with influences of Jazz, Folk, Alternative Pop, Reggae, R&B, and Calypso. I am the Unlimited Soul Project. And most of all, I represent our Creator, made in his image and likeness with the gift to also create and re-create in my music and in my inspirations… to aim at deeply penetrating the psyche.”
Well-received songs like, “Red, White & Black”, “Consequences to Why”, and “Brighter Day” define Duranty’s keen observation of the human spirit. Not all of it is public reflection though; it’s impossible to be sensitive to others and not let your own emotions leak in.
It took a handful of years performing in the underground to perfect this ‘Collis Duranty sound’. He’s been doing this for over twenty years, singing since the age of eight and working his way up the local music circuit, starting with our local rite of passage for any entertainer, Best Village. For this ‘South boy’, growing up was a shuffle between Siparia to Point Fortin, and, in his adult life, La Romaine.
More than a singer from south Trinidad, he’s also a perfect example of someone who’s naturally gifted. He sings, yes, but he also writes his own songs – the lyrics and the music, plays it on his guitar (sometimes cowbell), and arranges the rest of the instruments in the masterpiece he has constructed in his head. While you’re processing all of this, add that he can’t read music… Yup, he plays it by ear.
Duranty has left behind the wandering path of an artiste trying to ‘make it’ in the narrow back alley of the T&T music industry, and as the snowball becomes an avalanche, it is becoming evident that his sound is ready to go mainstream. This year, he was booked on the Digicel Outta Control Tour, which culminated with a whole-day concert, comprising an all-star cast, which included Ked the Band, at the Hyatt Waterfront. Recently, he performed alongside fellow, local talent Rizon for the TT Entertainment Online ‘Unplugged’ Series, and, so far, he is booked for regular, encore performances throughout the year.
Note that he’s accomplished this despite no radio airplay. Perhaps one can base his achievements to date on the loyalty of his fans, or at least just over 1,200 of those who populate his Facebook page. I also can’t help but think that if 601 Liquid Lounge (San Fernando) – another stage he’s graced – was located in Brooklyn, undoubtedly talk of his talent would have reached some talent scout by now; but in Trinidad it’s difficult to promote music that doesn’t exactly fit a recognizable genre.
As a fan for well over a year, my personal grouse is the ‘sometimish’ reluctance of the audience to lose themselves to this foot-stomping, hands-high-swaying music, but to him, every show is a highlight. Clearly, it would be easier to label him a Soca or Dancehall artiste, but is it possible that Trinbagonians have ‘soul’ too?
Music is not just business for Duranty. I dare say it isn’t even just his passion. It’s a part of his existence. Asked what he would be doing if he didn’t do music, he replies, “Not be existing”.
Creating music is part of his daily schedule, and although he rises with the dawn, the technical part of creating a song – gathering the day’s experience and transcribing them into music happens when the sun goes down. He often travels to Port of Spain to “talk business” with his manager, or spend time in the studio, so he is always on the go – always observing, collecting raw material. He is also hardly ever without his guitar, with its beautiful, natural-wood facing, and an accessory of a molded red ribbon on the bottom right edge. For this soul man, putting experiences into music is never a problem.
While he acknowledges that his musical ability is “just gift and talent”, he advises upcoming artistes to not only be passionate, but to also study their music and the business. Understanding the opportunities the online world presents, he also uses Facebook and YouTube, and is focused on learning how to use social media to build his presence. Attaining knowledge “will enhance who you are, and what you want to do”, he says, adding, “Embrace everything that comes your way”.
As the music industry grows in Trinidad and Tobago, Duranty also advises young performers to do their own thing and not look for ‘hand-outs’.
“Don’t try to look for no ‘bligh’ in the sense that you living in a trace with two studio or you know a man who sing, who into the arts or what not,” he says. “You looking for yuh bligh, but you not looking to be ‘up and under’. Look for your space! Let people see you for who you are.  Don’t try to rub off on nobody.”
So when asked what is his big dream? What it is he still has yet to achieve?
“Just some stability right now for me. Stability in the sense of my personal life so I could have a little more focus and concentration on the music… I wouldn’t lie about that. I’ve been shifted by things in my personal life and you know… you want a little stability.”
That goal may not have been so out of reach had he been allowed to perform at the much anticipated end-of-year show “Evolution of Sound” on December 4, 2010, which featured international superstars Damian Jr. Gong Marley and Nas, and reggae artiste Jah Cure, for which he was originally carded as the closing act to the local performers. That invitation was withdrawn.
His expected performance created a ripple amongst his Facebook fan base, but his withdrawal created a frenzy in the underground, with the promoters for the show on the receiving end of their criticisms. Many of his fans posted comments and videos, on the concert’s event page, asking promoters to undo their decision. While all of these comments have been deleted by administrators, as they say in PR, “all publicity is good publicity”, and this incident has definitely been more positive than negative to Duranty’s career, endearing him even more to his fans, and making his name a bit more known.
He acknowledges that it was a great opportunity, and, perhaps, it could have been a ‘diving board’ to mainstream popularity. However, he says he is unruffled because he believes that his time is coming.
He’s still performing, and has been booking shows consistently. On stage, banging his cowbell amid the instrumentals and the chorus of the crowd clapping, there is no indication that this is work, or that here, in his element – wearing his signature newsboy cap, and grinning an ear-to-ear Duranty smile – the pressure of success, at least in financial form, is weighing on his mind. He is living his dream – writing, singing and performing his music full-time, and being paid for it.
For him, life right now is unlimited. A conceptual CD is in the works, and while highly demanded by his fans, he understands the ‘waiting game’. If there was any dream yet to be attained he says, “Hmm… maybe a show in the Queen’s Park Savannah… Collis Duranty in concert with Tracey Chapman and Relator”.
To keep with up Collis Duranty, visit his Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/CollisDuranty, or check him out on Reverb Nation.
http://www.reverbnation.com/collisduranty
Photography by Mark Lyndersay of http://lyndersaydigital.com. Mark is a professional photographer and writer working in Trinidad and Tobago since 1976. His column on personal technology, BitDepth, has been continuously published since 1995. He is currently pursuing a photo essay series about how Trinidad and Tobago pursues its culture and festivals called Local Lives. Both series are archived on his website at http://lyndersaydigital.com.

CollisDuranty1Singers who really touch us with their music do so because we sense their passion, and that this is more than a show. We realise that it is an offering of who they are, at their most personal layer.

Collis Duranty has shared many layers, and, as clichéd as it may sound, he’s still got more to share. 

"I try to represent what some people don’t know how to express," he says. "That feeling in your heart and soul when you feel pain or joy, when the mind is weary and you need to find the right words to help you think in the right direction. I represent the red, white and black. The heart of our people. The conscience side and not so much the conscious. Really, I am a conscience lyrical artiste.”

Add comment (1)

Read more: Collis Duranty: He’s Got Unlimited Soul

 

Nicole Greene: Macaroni Kid at Heart

Karel Mc Intosh

Nov 29 |00:00

NicoleGreene1Creating a business that matches your lifestyle is a great way to keep your passion burning. For Nicole Greene, 36, it only made sense to develop a business based on her first love, family. As the Founder of Macaroni Kid Trinidad, she's part of a rapidly expanding mom's blogging network.

Add comment (3)

Read more: Nicole Greene: Macaroni Kid at Heart

 

Gary Acosta: Uncut and Unplugged

Quilin Achat

Nov 22 |00:00

GaryAcostacoverTwo years ago, watching Gary Acosta perform at the local, spoken word mecca, "One Mic" in San Fernando, it was immediately apparent that he was a talented orator. He showed no evidence that it was his first time on stage. An engineer by profession, Acosta brought the same amount of focus, precision and analytical skill to his poetic persona.

Although he denies any difference between Gary on or off stage, it is no coincidence that an inside joke at "One Mic" has turned into a well-used moniker, "Marcus Gary". Offstage, he is a self-described "red man with glasses doing poetry", but on stage the 'soft' visage does not hold up to the voice - with a strong delivery. Like a 'Midnight Robber' on a Dimanche Gras stage, he intends to take prisoners when he stands in front of the mike.

Add comment (0)

Read more: Gary Acosta: Uncut and Unplugged

 

Etienne Charles: Jazzy and Original

Karel Mc Intosh

Nov 15 |00:00

EtienneCharlesImagine the scene. Etienne Charles is at Dulles Airport (Virginia, USA), glued to his iPhone. He's heading to London for a concert, PanJazz UK. I email him some questions, and over the next hour, we go back and forth.

Touring, technology, and the trumpet. These three 't's' sum up his daily routine, revealing a new-age musician, trumpeter and jazz connoisseur, who has managed to be dubbed a visionary at the early age of 27, with his authentic take on the Caribbean aesthetic.

Etienne's debut album, "Culture Shock" (2006), is a mélange of Afro-Caribbean rhythms and straight-ahead jazz, and his latest album, "Folklore", released in 2009, features original music inspired by the folklore characters of Trinidad, and is filled with folk rhythms and African chants. With a musical imagination, prone to genius moments, he continues to hold his cultural heritage close to his heart, and is currently working on his new album "Kaiso", exploring some of the classics of the Calypso songbook (in particular Lord Kitchener and Sparrow).

Add comment (1)

Read more: Etienne Charles: Jazzy and Original

 

Market Movers: Love and Virtual Veggies

Karel Mc Intosh

Nov 08 |00:00

MarketMoverscoverSome people say lovers can't be business partners, but in the case of David Thomas, 32, and Rachel Renie, 25, this is far from the truth. In March 2009, the young couple officially launched their company, Market Movers, providing home and office delivery of fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy, eggs, fresh juices, meats and seafood.

Add comment (4)

Read more: Market Movers: Love and Virtual Veggies

 

a_phake: Expressive, Eclectic, Electric

Joshua Ramirez Wharwood

Nov 01 |00:00

aphakeAfter being introduced to the local, EDM (Electronic Dance Music) scene a little over two years ago, I've had the pleasure of meeting an entirely new set of individuals I thought never existed in this neck of the woods - from DJs spinning the latest tunes from Europe, to producers pioneering the genre on local soil, to the person you may never assume enjoys being surrounded by flashing lights and reverberating bass lines.

Add comment (1)

Read more: a_phake: Expressive, Eclectic, Electric

 

Roger Alexis: More than Puppets on Film

Karel Mc Intosh

Oct 25 |00:00

RogerAlexisPuppetry has always been a thing for kids, but Roger Alexis has definitely made it a must-see for adults. Trinis have been 'cracking up' over the short films "Thou Shall not Horn" and "The Fete", which have gone viral, amassing over 98,000 and 70,000 views, respectively on YouTube, and have been circulating Facebook. Distinctly Trini, and starring the puppets Santana and Janice, the films are written, directed and produced by Alexis, who's been dabbling in video creation since his teens.

Add comment (17)

Read more: Roger Alexis: More than Puppets on Film

 

Paul Pryce: From Oprah to the Stage

Karel Mc Intosh

Oct 18 |00:00

PaulPrycecoverWhen Oprah (yes that Oprah) met Paul Pryce in 1999, he was Paul, the young Trini trying to make his mark in the modelling world. Appearing on "The Oprah Show" for the "Sexiest Island Man" contest, in the Bahamas, he won the hearts of viewers, with his charm, wit, and six-foot-three striking look, copping the title "King of the Caribbean", and bragging rights as the sexiest man in the Caribbean.

He then went on to book modelling gigs in New York and Paris, and complete his bachelor's degree in management and marketing at The University of the West Indies (St. Augustine).

Add comment (0)

Read more: Paul Pryce: From Oprah to the Stage

 

Rhonda Alfonso: Raw and Real in TV Land

Evan Salina

Oct 11 |00:00

RhondaAlfonsoSpending very little time with Rhonda Alfonso, you'll be sure to get an idea of the kind of person she is. The bubbly "red girl", who has worked in television for 16 years, has no shortage of opinion, when it comes to local TV. Currently working as a Supervising Producer at Gayelle The Channel, I spoke with her, getting her take on local programming, whether Gayelle's guerrilla style is here to stay, and what keeps her up at night.

Add comment (0)

Read more: Rhonda Alfonso: Raw and Real in TV Land

   

Nick Salloum: Engineer gone FashioNiQ

Catherine Young

Oct 04 |00:00

NickSalloumWhen can an engineer become a fashion designer? When your name is Nicholas Salloum, and the idea of a career behind a desk, pushing paper, makes you cringe. Most people who make a drastic career change are having a mid-life crisis. But what do you call it when you're 25, fresh out of college and simply considering your options?

Add comment (1)

Read more: Nick Salloum: Engineer gone FashioNiQ

   

Kerry Panchoo: Mixing & Mashing Media

Bahia Amarsingh

Sep 27 |00:00

kerrypanchooHave you ever wondered who created that infamous 'Dramatic Chipmunk', where the chipmunk pops up from one video to the next or that rather cute 'Sneezing baby Panda'?

Countless, animated clips have wormed their way into our personal, online viewing spaces, each with its own unique beginning. Addictive? Definitely! When working on a computer, for hours on end, as many of us are, a break is necessary and what easier way to "catch your kicks" than with the click of a button.

Add comment (1)

Read more: Kerry Panchoo: Mixing & Mashing Media

   

Obasi Springer: Artist on Skin

Joshua Ramirez Wharwood

Sep 20 |00:00

ObasiSpringercoverA drummer with Trini Rock gods Orange Sky, turned tattoo artist, he is probably the best kept secret in Trinidad and Tobago's body art world. Chances are you may have seen his handiwork, but don't know the man, 26-year-old Obasi Springer.

Outlish recently sat down with Obasi (in the supermarket on a Sunday afternoon, mind you) to get to know the man behind the already legendary tattoo of Lord Ganesh, adorning a young woman's back, which is still a work in progress, and his take on skin as a growing medium for Trinidadians and Tobagonians to express themselves.

Add comment (0)

Read more: Obasi Springer: Artist on Skin

   

Messiah Ramkissoon: Rhyme and Reason

Onika Pascal

Sep 13 |00:00

MessiahRamkissoonBack in May, I received a text message from my Trini pal DJ Mad Scorpion, telling me about a poet he had just checked out.

“He’s a real boss with this poetry ting,” he said.

Add comment (2)

Read more: Messiah Ramkissoon: Rhyme and Reason

   

Christian Boucaud: Designing her Dreams

Catherine Young

Sep 06 |00:00

ChristianBoucaudbodyWhen Fashion Week Trinidad and Tobago came to a close earlier this year, Christian Boucaud was the name on everyone's lips. Bringing the audience to its feet after the presentation of her latest swimwear collection "Christian Boucaud Designs", which she dedicated to the memory of her late grandmother, the 26-year-old designer had hit quite a fashionable homerun.

Add comment (3)

Read more: Christian Boucaud: Designing her Dreams

   

Highway Records: Fighting for Royalties

Quilin Achat

Aug 30 |00:00

HighwayRecordscover

From L to R: Chromatics, John John, Kane, Andre Prescod, Lil' Saint, and Stuart Fortuné.

Fight down, fight down, and more fight down. That seems to be the life of the local artiste.

Most recently, the frustration that local musicians feel was openly aired on Facebook, as Highway Records, most known for their Hip Hop and R&B acts, let the world know about a recent decision taken by the Trinidad and Tobago Publishers and Broadcasters Association (TTPBA), which allegedly paves the way for radio stations to not pay royalties to their collections agent of choice, Awesome Limited.

Add comment (1)

Read more: Highway Records: Fighting for Royalties

   

Georgina Terry: From Passion to Profit

Natalia Jones

Aug 23 |00:00

GeorginaTerrycoverWith her new book "The Amazing Race to Entrepreneurial Freedom" set for release at the end of August, Georgina Terry is definitely living her passion.

Burning with a desire to help entrepreneurs, aspiring and existing, to achieve their dreams, Terry is the Director of her own company, Business and People Development Associates Limited, which coaches people and organisations in business and career development.

Add comment (0)

Read more: Georgina Terry: From Passion to Profit

   

RealVibez: How we got a deal with YouTube

Karel Mc Intosh

Aug 16 |00:00

Crossing borders this week, Outlish chats with two, young, Jamaican entrepreneurs about how they got a deal with YouTube.

 

youtubebrosWhen someone graduates with a bachelors degree at age 19, you immediately expect great things from them.

In the case of brothers David Mullings and Robert Mullings, who, at 15, left Jamaica to study in the US, the quest for greatness includes extending the reach of Caribbean content online, and extending their influence, as digital natives.

Add comment (3)

Read more: RealVibez: How we got a deal with YouTube

   

Richard Rawlins: Obsessed with Creating

Karel Mc Intosh

Aug 09 |00:00

RichardRawlinscover

Richard Rawlins is many things - graphic designer, visual artist, photographer, and Creative Director at Collier, Morrison, Belgrave (CMB) - one of Trinidad and Tobago's larger, advertising agencies.

Add comment (5)

Read more: Richard Rawlins: Obsessed with Creating

   

TTFashionista: Fashion meets tech savvy

Desiree Seebaran

Aug 02 |00:00

TTFashionista.com founder Karen McElroy talks about marketing a business online.

ttfashionista4Roughly 18 months ago, Internet addict and fashion diva Karen McElroy found a way to blend her passions into one business: TTFashionista.com (TTF).

Add comment (1)

Read more: TTFashionista: Fashion meets tech savvy

   

Sean Annandsingh: Babash Man

Karel Mc Intosh

Jul 26 |00:00

SeanAnnandsinghcoverSean Annandsingh is one of those guys you have a hard time not liking.

Always smiling (at least every time I see him), he's earnest about going after his dreams, and supporting others in their own quest.

Add comment (1)

Read more: Sean Annandsingh: Babash Man

   

Stephen Hadeed: Trinifying Hollywood

Onika Pascal

Jul 19 |00:00

StephenHadeedJrIt was a rare, hot day in June for New York. I raced across the streets of SOHO to meet with Stephen Hadeed Jr.

I was a bit lost at first, but managed to find my way to the tucked away Café Café, our designated meeting place. I was eager to meet him, and ready to get the scoop on his journey through Hollywood via New York, by way of Trinidad.

Add comment (3)

Read more: Stephen Hadeed: Trinifying Hollywood

   

DJ Phaze: There is Only 1

Quilin Achat

Jul 11 |19:30
djphazecover

Before you get to know the man who goes by the alias DJ Phaze, you must first know what he believes.

Written in bold, white letters at the bottom right of his webpage his tagline, "There's only 1", stands out.

Three, simple words, they tell you this music man secure in the talent he has taken almost two decades to hone, the last five as an in-house DJ for the mega sports brands Puma (flagship store in Georgetown), and Adidas Originals.

Add comment (0)

Read more: DJ Phaze: There is Only 1

   

Making Insurance his Business

Danielle Martin

Jul 05 |00:00

JustinRampersad1With dark brown eyes that sparkle with a hint of mischief, Justin Rampersad is the kind of guy who doesn't stay contained for long.

Ambitious, determined and full of ideas, he's always ready for a challenge, and eager to find solutions.

Add comment (2)

Read more: Making Insurance his Business

   

Patrice: Afrobella on the Move

Karel Mc Intosh

Jul 05 |00:00

It's every blogger's dream.

afrobellacoverYou know, start a blog about a topic you love, make it popular, and then poof - you find that you can actually earn a living from doing what you love, and say bye bye to the corporate world.

Patrice Elizabeth Grell Yursik, author of the immensely popular beauty blog afrobella.com, once had this dream, and made this move smack in the middle of the global, economic slowdown in 2009 when she felt the need to release the creative bonds around her, and left her job as the Calendar Editor for the Miami New Times to become a full-time blogger and expand her writing career.

Add comment (3)

Read more: Patrice: Afrobella on the Move

   

The Ultimate Carnival Baby

Karel Mc Intosh

Jun 28 |00:00

Saucy Diva is arguably Trinidad and Tobago's most popular blogger.

TrinidadCarnivalDiaryTo date, she's had over two million visitors to her blog, Trinidad Carnival Diary, and her welcome mat just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Saucy describes her blog as "the only place on the world wide web to get current and constant information about the World's Greatest Festival, Trinidad Carnival!"

Add comment (6)

Read more: The Ultimate Carnival Baby

   

Chynee Charts a new Course

Karel Mc Intosh

Jun 28 |00:00

ChyneeOne thing strikes me about Richard Valentine – his quiet, humble demeanour.

Even fresh off his win on Synergy Soca Star in 2009, he was just ‘chill’. He could have easily let his success at the time go to his head, but even as he performed at major fetes, like Alternative Concert, Licensing Fete, Insomnia and Soca Monarch, he knew that the real test would come after the buzz of his win settled.

Add comment (3)

Read more: Chynee Charts a new Course

   

David: Acting on HIV/AIDS

Joshua Ramirez Wharwood

Jun 21 |00:00

davidsoomarie"I live." That is the answer David Soomarie has for anyone who asks him how he has been coping with HIV/AIDS every day, for the past 16 years.

Add comment (5)

Read more: David: Acting on HIV/AIDS

   

Ryan Khan - Directing an Affair

Karel Mc Intosh

Jun 14 |00:00

ryankhan

We often think of storytellers as orators telling us tales from the stage or reeling us into their realities through the books they write. We forget about the directors who choreograph the movement of people from behind the camera, tying together stories, characters, scenes, and dialogue.

Add comment (1)

Read more: Ryan Khan - Directing an Affair

   

Rehana Ali - An Inspired Mine

Danielle Martin

Jun 07 |00:00

Rehana Ali

"When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be" - Patanjuli.
Add comment (3)

Read more: Rehana Ali - An Inspired Mine

   

Theophilus London - Back to Birth

Karel Mc Intosh

May 31 |00:00

TheophilusLondon2My love affair with Theophilus London began in 2009. Granted that he dropped his first mixtape "Jam" in 2008, I was a bit late to the party, but it was still swinging when I arrived. Pumping music that keeps you dancing, Theo isn't your average rapper. He's an innovator on the microphone, mashing musical genres together to create a sound that is new wave and pop.

Add comment (4)

Read more: Theophilus London - Back to Birth

   

Isaac - Son of King David

Karel Mc Intosh

May 24 |00:00

Yung RuddBeing born to musical royalty certainly has its perks. For the most part, you grow up with a deep appreciation for music, witnessing first-hand the genius that goes into creating classics that live on for generations. Sometimes, you might even get to be featured on one of your parent's greatest hits. If you're Isaac Foderingham-Rudder, you're reminded of your childhood self every time you listen to the end of "A Song for a Lonely Soul" by his father David Michael Rudder - often dubbed the Bob Marley of Soca.

Add comment (8)

Read more: Isaac - Son of King David

   

Andre Worrell - The Cash King

Karel Mc Intosh

May 17 |00:00

andreworrellsmWhen 50 Cent sang, “I get money, money I got”, little did he know he was creating hip-hop lover Andre Worrell’s unofficial anthem. Worrell, however, goes beyond cashing cheques. As the Managing Director of Cash Handling Supplies Limited – a business he started when he was just 23 years old – he helps companies to manage their cash operations.

Add comment (3)

Read more: Andre Worrell - The Cash King

   

Page 1 of 2

Interview Comments