Machel Montano

TEMPO: Being that Soca artists tour more than any genre of music, when do you find time to record and be creative?

MM: It's hard. I'm not going to lie; the Soca business is not easy. We have to tour a lot because we make more money of that than from record sales. Our thing is live. Soca music can't be explained on vinyl or on a CD. You have to come out and see what an artist does live on stage. So most of the times we're performing live around the world. We have to keep our business straight. Then after the all the carnivals, you get back [home] and have two months to get ready for next year. Two months to produce and write another album. Most of my stuff comes [to me] during carnival. So I may be singing this year and already thinking about what I am going to do next year and seeing ideas manifest right in front of me by the way people react and the things that they do.

TEMPO: Are Soca artists respected in other genres?

MM: I think respect for Soca has been growing recently. Especially things like having carnivals in Jamaica. From the size of events, people have to respect the fact that we bring these people out and we get them going. I think the music has had some problems in its growth but it's stepping up and other artists are starting to respect us. Jamaicans never liked the music; sometimes they would say it was too fast. But I think we have seen them come around, we've seen more dancehall artists like Beenie Man and Bounty Killer stepping into Soca music and giving it props. It's becoming friendlier and making them understand and relate. When they come to carnival and actually see what it's like and they can say I understand what this music is for. The more we expose it to the world people are going to see what it's for, what it can do and the potential of it.

TEMPO: What's your connection to the island of Jamaica?;

MM: I went to prep school in Jamaica for 2-3 years when my parents studied there. So we know the whole vibe of Jamaica and we listened to a lot of Jamaican music. So Jamaica is a good memory for me and I have always loved Jamaican music. One of my greatest influences has been Bob Marley, his career, his words, and his music. I'm most touched by the quality and the intricacy of beats and songs. I've been paying attention to that and there have been so many artists coming from that point like Buju Banton and Shabba Ranks. I like this excitement, I like this type of music, so I have been putting some of that in my own music. I was fortunate to work with people like Red Rat, Beenie Man and Shaggy, they taught me the ropes.