I wrote this piece back in 1999 for my second year University class in Interpersonal Communication.
Music. Music is
something that all of us take for granted. The time and effort that
goes into painstakingly getting a piece of music from its initial
embryonic stage as just an idea, no words, no melody, no particular
musical pattern of arrangement; to its eventual transformation into
something unique and recognizable as a song is really nothing short
of a miracle.
Even though
there are all types of music that exist in the world today, here in
Trinidad and Tobago there are only few forms of music that are
acknowledged as something worthy of listening to, from the point of
view of the general public. For that matter especially any local
form of ‘Rock” music is seriously discredited. Most people
associate ‘rock or alternative’ as it is called these days with
noisy guitars, screaming vocals and loud drums. While in some cases
this maybe true, it is generally very stereotypical to label all
bands or artists as playing the same thing. There are no two local
original bands in Trinidad that sound alike. Each band has their own
original ideas, some mix reggae with alternative, others mix calypso.
But now
however there is a new movement in Trinidad to only get a particular
type of music heard by everyone. There is a pop-rock movement,
specifically designed to get these ‘pop’ bands to play only a
particular type of material that appeases the masses. This
particular type of music really as the name suggests, ‘popular
songs on the radio,’ these songs are decided for these bands from a
songlist, they are told what choices they have and how to play (e. g.
no swearing etc.). Because these bands play whatever these promoters
want as well as what the crowd wants, there is no room for any band
that is trying to get their own original material heard, both from
the point of view of pubs as well as the listening public.
The public
has turned off its ears when it comes to original bands, ‘why are
these bands wasting their time anyway, don’t they know, it’s the
‘pop covers’ that sells anyway’, (covers in the sense that
other foreign artists’ music are copied and played or ‘covered’
by the pop bands) at least that’s what the majority say. While it
is true that a person who has paid to be entertained deserves some
value for money, it is unfair to say that a patron owns a band for a
night based on the door fee anyway. A band should be allowed to
express themselves to an extent because if a band isn’t playing at
least some of their material to please themselves, then really and
truly that band is not living to play music but to please people and
make money, which is such a sad thing.
It is only
when we open our mind to new ideas that we discover new ways of
seeing and doing things. If we only want to satisfy existing needs
then what is to transpire when those needs are satisfied? There will
be nothing left, the crowds will stop coming, the pubs will stop
taking bands and bands will cease to exist. In order to keep things
fresh and new we must continue to be innovative, but bands cannot go
on without support from people and people must understand that a band
does not exist in a bubble. Bands need support and understanding on
behalf of the audience; we need to be more open-minded and not so
closed in that we can’t see the innovation around us. Trinidad
music scene is waiting to happen, and may continue to forever wait
unless we the public gets up and support our musical future.
