Back in ’98, I got my first taste of Donnie Hathaway and I was inspired.
98 you may think is a bit late, but really I should say he was the latest because back in the kiddie days, my dad just like everyone's dads I suppose, had a wicked record collection, and peeps like Otis Reading, Ray Charles and Gladys Knight, to even ‘countrified’ folks like, Elvis was part of the staple diet!
As a child of Trinidad and Tobago, strangely I wasn't particularly into Soca, Reggae and Calypso music which surrounded me in ‘80s Trinidad’, but what I did inherit was the country's prolific gift for story telling which was part of the life and soul of the island and its music.
Growing up, singing Gospel music was everything. Picked up the guitar around that time, and started writing simple songs. I was a very reluctant singer. I was always the guy in the back doing my thing. Writing was always my first love tho and while everyone was bumping to Jodeci and Boyz II Men, I was hooked into Al Green like seriously.
Couple of years later, now living in London, I wanted to see if this song writing/music thing was for real. So I enrolled at a London Music School, to explore and dream.
I totally surprised myself in getting a Top award for Performances and following my stint nosing around in books and life on the road, I got busy, collaborating and writing with vocalists and musicians, at events and shows in the Capital
Music, more than anything is about stimulation. I'm about bringing back an old time innocence to modern music which in the end is all about people, being excited and shaped, lyrically, emotionally and spiritually, just like those old LPs.
Joel
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