Machel Montano

TEMPO: What exactly does Soca mean?

Machel Montano: A lot of people call it "jump-up music," but it's a hybrid. It started way back from Calypso and they mixed Calypso with Indian rhythms and called it Soca music-the soul of Calypso. It's just about a vibe. Calypso's a music that is [about] interactions between people on stage and the crowds. You have big massive crowds and open-air environments that go crazy. So Soca music is like the fuel for that fire.

TEMPO: As an artist, you've successfully crossed boundaries between young and old, between Jamaica and Trinidad, and between Soca and Dancehall. What drives your passion?

MM: Well, ya know my passion has been music from the get go so I've always been amazed by music and seeing people on stage, the lights… I think the hype of all of it when it all comes together, the energy of the lights going up to you running on stage seeing all those people out there. That vibe and that feeling and that first minute of people seeing you and you seeing them and knowing, Look, we here to have a good time. That's my passion.

TEMPO: How would you describe the journey of Soca music from when you first started to where it is now? 

MM: My journey in Soca music has been a quest and a struggle. It's been a map of my life. When I was growing up, Calypso music wasn't yet adapted to the youth. It wasn't really a young, vibrant, exciting thing and I think that has been my journey, a constant evolution of this music. Just constantly trying to fuse it with dancehall, Soca rhythms, Indian rhythms, and classical music, and I always found myself being able to say next year I'm going to be better, next year I'm going to try to come bigger and better and improve and keep the standard high.

TEMPO: A lot of what you and your music symbolizes is directly from Trinidadian culture. How do you see Soca music taking Trinidad and Tobago to a different level?

MM:Soca songs are always about Trinidad. A lot of the topics about flag waving, singing, dancing, and how we act in the Caribbean. Recently, a lot of younger people have been coming into Soca and bringing in their influences like Hip-Hop, R&B, Reggae, and conscious Dancehall. We see people speak about themselves, speak about their crew, which is basically what rap is about, and I think more personal issues are coming into songs and people singing about reality. Soca music is expanding.

TEMPO: Does the response change between audiences as the music reaches other parts of the world?

MM: Audiences vary and change like the weather and they always say the toughest [crowd] is at home. We have a great time at carnival when we make it at home in front of your own people. That's really important. I always remember going out to Germany and wondering what would happen, but I went out to packed houses in Berlin and all over East Germany and really rocked. Sometimes they don't understand English but this is the good thing about Soca music, it's about energy so it's about crowd response and we can sometimes say, "Hey," and they have no idea what we're saying but they respond because it's all about energy.