1. Growing Up
I grew up around music and entertainment. My grandfather was a musician, one generation was skipped, and most of my brothers in the family all became entertainers and musicians.
2. Inspirations
I have many favourite musicians – Bob Marley, Stevie Wonder, Mighty Sparrow, Third World, and the list goes on. I like lyrics that say something. We grew with the music of these brothers.
3. Your Band
This band has been going for many, many years. It’s my product and lots of different musicians have played with the band over the years. We have on drums Lisa, bass Jarrol, keys Al, guitar Jake, percussion Sammila. We also have a few MCs sitting in sometimes, like Gzeus, Blacker, Little Hunta and DovyDovy. The love of playing Caribbean music is the connection. The band’s style, type of music and direction is set, so there are no differences at all. The musicians we work with, all they have to do is to come and play their part and give musical love and respect.
4. The Music You Make
The band’s main music is original songs. Our preference is to be an original music band, but we also do covers that we like. The music we play is reggae, soca and a fusion of styles – a little funky, sometimes old-school rootsy calypso, and we got the steelpan too, so our sound is unique. We’re recording another album at the moment to present for the summer, have done some tracks at REC Studios and hope to have a CD out soon. Our live show is all energy – potent skanks, wicked soca licks and a happy dancing vibe.
5. Music, Right Here, Right Now
The music scene in Sydney is getting worse. Years ago there were more live music venues and people liked listening to live music more. The government has to provide more opportunities for full-time live musicians and treat musos with more respect. This is a profession too. The best thing about the local scene is I have been able to share my music with many people and make a full-time living. There are some good up-and-coming artists around that I like to listen to and give support.
Errol Renaud Trio appear at The Roots & Riddim Club at Play Bar on Wednesday August 26, with DJ Dizar.
