This year’s Groovy Soca Monarch winner is none other than Kes Diffenthaller with his hit song Wotless. Kes’s performance at Soca Monarch had the crowd going as the lyrics and stage presentation truly exemplified the spirit of carnival. This season was truly a blessed one for Kes as in addition to Wotless, he released a number of other hit songs including ‘Come Gyal’ and ‘Where ya From’ which show off the versatility of this young, talented artist.
While this was the first year Kes landed in the Soca Monarch arena he is no new comer to the soca industry. Kes began performing in the late 90’s as the lead singer in a cover band that specialized in chart toppers and popular soca and reggae tracks. His great stage presence and performance quickly created a buzz and attracted a loyal following. Due to this, Kes left the cover band to form his own band with the dream of producing great, original music with an international appeal.
Since their formation, the band has achieved significant worldwide success. They have released several albums with more than a dozen tracks making it into the top 10 major Caribbean Charts. In addition, the band has won numerous awards for songwriting, toured globally and performed at major festivals and events in the United States, Cananda and Germany. They have also opened for acts such as Sean Paul, Musiq Soul Child, Usher, John Legend and Rihanna.
Kes the Band has managed to blend soulful vocals & calypso inspired melodies, over a fusion of rock riffs, island beats and hints of soca & reggae. This unique mixture has enabled the band to become a household name in Trinidad and Tobago and throughout the Caribbean circuit including Miami, New York and Los Angeles and let us not forget, this year’s reining Groovy Soca Monarch winner. Congratulations again Kes!!!!
Kes at Soca Monarch 2011
Boxing? There are a lot of great boxers turned musicians.
I was a boxer.
Berry Gordy and James Brown started out boxing. Then they all realized it's better to make music than get beat up.
Yep! I got one on the button and that convinced me, I think I better stick with something else.
How old were you?
I used to box in school. I never paid attention much to the school work, I was just waiting for the recess to go outside and start boxing with my friends. The first time I really got to put gloves on was when we went to Kingston. So we did it with bare knuckles. But I still love sports. I have a football team that I support in my village in Somerton.
Do you have a favorite food or meal?
I'm not a great food person. I like to eat healthy, so now I'm really into juice. Pure, fresh juice. I put in carrots. I put in any fruit and vegetables and I mix them in. I travel all the time with my juice extractor.
When you were young, you used to point to the different places on the world map and say, "I'm going to go there one day." Are you still a great world traveler? I love it. I love to still do that. One place I have not explored enough yet is Asia. That's my next target.
What's your dream destination?
China is becoming really interesting place. I've always kind of admired those people. I'd like to perform there. And I wrote a song about Vietnam at the time the war was going on. I'd like to go there. I love their medicine - acupuncture, the herbs. I grew up with herbs. I want to go dive into that and see the origin of those things.
Do you take care of your chakras?
Absolutely. That's an ancient part of the human development from this planet that we've kind of put aside. But that's our essence. We did those things in Africa, too. There were people with spiritual knowledge that could see to those things. And we've lost a lot of that knowledge today.
When you're not in Jamaica, what do you miss the most?
[Pointing to the beach] That!
The sound of the ocean?
The sound of the ocean, going into the ocean, the river - I grew up on the river - the forest. Me, I'm a country boy. I miss the country; I miss nature and being in touch with nature. I never grew up with running water. I went to the spring where water was busting out of the earth. And it was water that tastes like it was coming out of a refrigerator - pure and clean. I miss those things.
When people think about Jamaica, they think about the music and the beaches. What do you want them to know about Jamaica?
I think there has been a lot of bad publicity about Jamaica in terms of violence and that kind of thing. I want people to know that we are still very friendly, hospitable people, regardless of what they've read. Even in Kingston. It is a very important thing for me for people to know that. I don't want people to stop coming here.
What's next for Jimmy Cliff?
Movies were my first love. So I'm really focusing on movies. I still want to do more acting. And I'm writing screenplays. I'm working on a few right now.
