IslandMix - Soca, Reggae, Zouk and Caribbean Entertainment

VINCYPOWA · 01-12-2008, 11:46 AM

Love life and soca

Destra Garcia
By Cedriann J Martin

Saturday, January 12th 2008

Destra Garcia

I wasn't overly pissed that I was parked outside Destra Garcia's gated community on a Saturday afternoon with no response from any of her four contact numbers. Some stories are actually worth the inconvenience. Three hours and one raspy apology later we're sitting on a flight of stairs at the National Stadium where she was carded to headline the Fire Service fete. For just under one hour, until we're drowned out by the sound check din, we discuss everything from the evolution of her music to her relationships with members of the soca fraternity and Laventille.

"I was looking for a new style," she says of the rougher, raunchier attitude that's emerged in most of her six 2k8 offerings. (All save the pan tune.) "Over the past couple years my style was getting more and more pop because I was trying to take my music to a different place where people could accept it internationally. But I was starting to lose the grassroots of soca where I began. I decided to go back to my roots and rough it up a little bit. People say 'you sound like you're from the ghetto'. But that's where I'm from. So it's not hard for me to be that. Artistes should be flexible enough to explore different styles. Be able to chant. Be able to sing. The people who are really successful are versatile."

Over the past year she's underlined the point. Destra earned new respect for her solid, soulful Tobago Jazz Festival set. She collaborated with Sean Paul and Mr Vegas on separate tracks. She's done a Panorama-bound number with all the requisite ramajay. Then there is this Carnival's feisty soca trinity-"Saddle", "High", and the chutney-infused "Wine It".

"When you ride on the saddle," she half-croons, half-teases. "I hope you can handle the ride." The taunting tone and sexual innuendo drum up expectations of wicked waistline displays. Destra is as anxious about those expectations as she is committed to fulfilling them. Believe it or not, she says the sensual performances take "brain power".

"It's so easy for somebody like Saucy to control a wining tune," Destra says. "For me it's much easier to do a rag tune. That's like second nature. But with a wining tune... I mean, I pull it off... but it's not easy to do."

But there are other anxieties jamming up with those sexually-charged lyrics and sensual performances. Does it stop at entertainment or does it spill out of dancehalls and fetes into the way men perceive and treat women? Asked whether she has concerns that some men may construe the sensual language and movements of Carnival as open invitations, Destra first deflects, then allows, then resolves.

"Carnival is fun and the music lets you have a good time. All year round you're under stress, you're working eight-to-four. Carnival is about freeing your mind. This is our culture. I did not create this. So I am not ashamed of what it says... wining, waving, whatever. But it all goes back to order. Yes the music might send a message to men but I also send a message that as women we have to be positive, strong, focused. We set the pace. If a man disrespects us it's because we allow them.

"If I don't know someone I wouldn't call them on-stage to wine. It's scary for me because I don't know what would happen. There was this time I called a man up onstage to jump. I was singing 'It's Carnival'. That is not a wining tune. He came on-stage and wanted to wine and I told him 'no, I didn't call you for that so get off my stage'. He was angry and started to get on and pull my top off and my breast was outside. My father was back-stage and I felt embarrassed... I felt like I let him down because this is the career I chose and here I am being disrespected by men.

"It's hard. My stance is that I won't call you on-stage because I can't handle it. It's about the level of respect that you want. It all depends on us."

Over the years she's become one of the most visible soca artistes. Throughout the year we see and hear Destra in connection with entities like Digicel and E555, and with messages ranging from "Arrive Alive" to the National AIDS Coordinating Committee's "abstain, be faithful, condomise". Corporate and public service Trinidad seem to agree that hers is a voice people would hear. So when you're charged with helping save countrymen from everything from raod fatalities to HIV, does that impact your view of self?

"I don't see myself as a role model per se but I'm very aware that I am. Sometimes you get caught up being just human and forget that eyes are always on you. You may make mistakes or do something people don't expect. But remember it's a lot of pressure on you. I don't see myself as a role model in that way but being one I try to live up to the responsibility especially when it comes to children. So many times they call me ''Aunty Destra' or a mother tells me 'my son loves you'. How old is he? 7, 11, 3... babies. Then you grasp the concept of 'wait nah, I'm influencing all these young children'.

"I'd like them to know that life comes with it's ups and downs... life is ever-changing. You're not perfect. Nobody is perfect. But you need to look to your parents for guidance and trust in something. For me it's God. Yes you could be free and be yourself but remember to do unto others as you'd like them to do unto to you."

Speaking of which, the soca industry often seems rife with bad blood and a pervasive 'do them before they do you' mentality.

"We're cool," Destra says of her professional relationship with Denise "Saucy Wow" Belfon following their infamous tiff backstage at Angostura two years ago. Destra explains that it's the stress and competitiveness of the industry that leads to conflict.

"Soca music is just a small pond," she explains. "Reggae, dancehall, hip hop and a lot of the other music forms have worldwide listenership. We have just snippets. I've been all over the world but the people we perform to and the money we make is just a small part of the pot. When carnival season comes it's a race to the top because if you not big for Trinidad carnival you don't get work anywhere else. It's the soca industry itself that makes us competitive. It's so small and we're all fighting for a space. We don't start off that way but they make it like that."

In soca, like life, relationships come and go. The relationship between Destra and Kernel Roberts created some of the most feel-good Carnival music in recent years. (Think 'Bonnie and Clyde' and 'It's Carnival'). I wondered whether there was any anxiety about his apparently exclusive move to the HD camp.

"He was never part of my band in the first place so it really was not a problem for him to go to Xtatik. But I thought we could probably work together still. Him not writing for me anymore felt like 'wow, we started this thing together'. His first big tune and mine, really, was 'Tremble It'. So we kind of grew together. I felt empty for a while. Losing him I felt like I lost a part of me because he was like a brother to me. But now I've grown to learn that I'm talented, I'm driven and I realised that I co-wrote a lot of the songs he wrote for me. He was someone that was a guide for me and we taught each other a lot. But there comes a time in everyone's life when you need to part ways with some of the most important people in your life. At best we can hope to be friends but I've come to a place where I'm alright... I'm good."

And song-writing has as much to do with that place as the voice or the look or the waist. Destra co-wrote all of this season's songs. For her, melodies just flow. And once there's the spark of a good idea, she runs with it. A song is usually finished in hours. (She admits that her band mates aren't happy when she throws away a tune that didn't happen in "one shot"). She also appreciates the collaboration process in song-writing.

CONTINUE

VINCYPOWA · 01-12-2008, 11:47 AM

Our intense, fete-after-fete, competition-fuelled industry can take its toll. Destra has organised to suit. As the lone lead singer of Atlantik she's learned how to take care of her voice through sleep, care and supplements. Gone are the days, she says, when she's without a voice by Bacchanal Friday. Gone too is the focus on competition.

"I kind of gave up on that whole competition thing a while back. It used to take up too much of my brain space. It would be about winning not competing. You lose sight of the fact that this is Carnival season and all your fans who didn't see you for the year are coming out to see you perform. Competition is not going to make much of a difference except for the fact that they have great prize money. And at the same time we tour so much that that isn't so much a factor. My focus is on going on-stage and delivering the songs as best I could."

Then there's Laventille. She's lived there for most her life with her parents, two brothers, sister and an entire extended family. Destra discusses her roots and the recent reputation of her community with refreshing realness.

"Nobody really understands or knows what causes crime or what another man's life is like. You have to live it to know it. I remember times there was no food and my father had to bend over backwards to make sure we have something to eat. I see kids nowadays picking and choosing what they want to eat. I think 'come on. When I was younger I didn't have choice'. When you're that hungry and your stomach hurting you have to eat whatever there is. Sometimes you wake up and there is no bread. That's why I appreciate and embrace the importance of family. Granny and papa were upstairs. Uncles and cousins were in the same house. Somebody must have something to give you.

"That was just my experience. What about somebody else's? Laventille is filled with people just like that who go through the struggle. And when your back is against the wall nobody knows what's it's like to have kids screaming and wanting and you can't give it to them. I'm not making an excuses for it but you have to live it to know it. When you get there and really appreciate what it is then you can begin to address it. I will never condone violence. I hate guns. But there's another side of Laventille and I know it made me who I am. That's home for me and it will always be home."

Trinidad News, Trinidad Newspaper, Trinidad Sports, Trinidad politics, Trinidad and Tobago, Tobago News, Trinidad classifieds, Trinidad TV, Sports, Business

DA END

01-12-2008, 12:07 PM

good read

Taj · 01-12-2008, 12:50 PM

that interviewer really did a good job to get her to really give her detailed opinion on a lot of issues.

melissah50 · 01-12-2008, 12:51 PM

Yea nice article.

Dr Insane · 01-12-2008, 01:42 PM

i like it

TriniTrini · 01-12-2008, 01:47 PM

Excellent article and I like the journalist's approach.
The Trinidad Express' Woman Magazine always has some really good articles that give you some insight into the artiste's lives and other intersting reads.

Destra always has some great opinions and observations.
These two quotes are excellent observations by Destra:

"He was never part of my band in the first place so it really was not a problem for him to go to Xtatik. But I thought we could probably work together still. Him not writing for me anymore felt like 'wow, we started this thing together'. His first big tune and mine, really, was 'Tremble It'. So we kind of grew together. I felt empty for a while. Losing him I felt like I lost a part of me because he was like a brother to me. But now I've grown to learn that I'm talented, I'm driven and I realised that I co-wrote a lot of the songs he wrote for me. He was someone that was a guide for me and we taught each other a lot. But there comes a time in everyone's life when you need to part ways with some of the most important people in your life. At best we can hope to be friends but I've come to a place where I'm alright... I'm good."

"Soca music is just a small pond," she explains. "Reggae, dancehall, hip hop and a lot of the other music forms have worldwide listenership. We have just snippets. I've been all over the world but the people we perform to and the money we make is just a small part of the pot. When carnival season comes it's a race to the top because if you not big for Trinidad carnival you don't get work anywhere else. It's the soca industry itself that makes us competitive. It's so small and we're all fighting for a space. We don't start off that way but they make it like that."

VINCYPOWA · 01-12-2008, 01:48 PM

DAMN....ALL THIS LOVEFEST going on in here makes me WANNA BARF.

NEVERTHELESS, it is GOOD to see the VINCY DESTRA DOING her THING.

BIG UP to my VINCY PEEPS in LAVENTILLE.

MUDDERWUK!!!

B.R.P · 01-12-2008, 02:14 PM

Originally Posted by VINCYPOWA

DAMN....ALL THIS LOVEFEST going on in here makes me WANNA BARF.

NEVERTHELESS, it is GOOD to see the VINCY DESTRA DOING her THING.

BIG UP to my VINCY PEEPS in LAVENTILLE.

MUDDERWUK!!!

LOL...

Destra is here to stay!!! all the best to her in her music career.

socapineman · 01-12-2008, 02:16 PM

VP,

This Obama thing taking a toll on you...you didn't remind us that her Mother or is it her Father is a Vincy !

Anyway, as you know, Destra is my girl and all....but, I came on record to state that without Kernel, we will have a probelm...three years later, we still have a problem, that is Kernel is a Master at what he does.... Writing Big Tunes.....To me, I can't put any of her current tunes in the same league as Fly, Tremble it, It's Carnival, etc.... so yes, he was a big part to her success !

http://www.islandmix.com/backchat/f1...s-year-118973/

My only criticism of the article is....the double talk, remember my classic thread, what Destra needs to do to be a Soca Queen....well there you have the double talk, and I understand where she is coming from, but if out of respect for yourself, you don't want to call male fans to wine on you....why then are you now calling female fans to come on stage to wine on your band members...where is your respect for them ?

In Order For Destra To Be The Queen Of Soca...

Anyway, continue sucess Destra... I will catch you in UK or someplace this year.

VINCYPOWA · 01-12-2008, 02:30 PM

Originally Posted by socapineman

[B]VP,

his Obama thing taking a toll on you...you didn't remind us that her Mother or is it her Father is a Vincy !

Her MOTHER is VINCY.

Buoyyyyy, dem TRINI FELLAS caah GET ENOUGH of VINCY women yes.

De TRINIS know de VINCIES POSSESS GREAT NATURAL TALENT in their DNA

Is that a MUDDERWUK or an Ohhhhhhhhh yeahhhhhhh?

VINCYPOWA · 01-12-2008, 02:51 PM

Originally Posted by De Geechee Vincy

Destra look like she gaining a little weight. Somebody needs to direct her away from the roti and towards a salad.

Good article anyway.

Mannnn, it was de X-MAS SEASON.

She NUH MUSS put on a FEW POUNDS.

Calor · 01-12-2008, 10:00 PM

very nice article

VINCYPOWA · 01-29-2008, 01:16 PM

Digga D · 01-29-2008, 01:27 PM

boy i aint read yet jus seen those DESTRA PICS!!!!

nice

01-12-2008, 12:50 PM	#4 (permalink)
Taj Tough2B soft;hard2Btender Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: --- Posts: 31,184 Credits: 200,598	that interviewer really did a good job to get her to really give her detailed opinion on a lot of issues. __________________ Life is short. Too young; too soon. Love everyone! Instead of wondering why me ask what's next. be careful of who you pretend to be, you are who you pretend to be - kurt vonnegut Everybody has a talent, but if you do not expose yourself you will not birth the talents within you. ---- Spike Lee.

01-12-2008, 01:42 PM	#6 (permalink)
Dr Insane Captain Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: 40,000 ft above ground. Posts: 33,131 Credits: 173,173	i like it __________________ http://stlucianow.com/ right now ah sellin wood plenty plenty wood... how much inches of wood yuh want...

01-12-2008, 02:16 PM	#10 (permalink)
socapineman JA Soca Ambassador Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Bklyn Posts: 4,899 Credits: 10,277	VP, This Obama thing taking a toll on you...you didn't remind us that her Mother or is it her Father is a Vincy ! Anyway, as you know, Destra is my girl and all....but, I came on record to state that without Kernel, we will have a probelm...three years later, we still have a problem, that is Kernel is a Master at what he does.... Writing Big Tunes.....To me, I can't put any of her current tunes in the same league as Fly, Tremble it, It's Carnival, etc.... so yes, he was a big part to her success ! http://www.islandmix.com/backchat/f1...s-year-118973/ My only criticism of the article is....the double talk, remember my classic thread, what Destra needs to do to be a Soca Queen....well there you have the double talk, and I understand where she is coming from, but if out of respect for yourself, you don't want to call male fans to wine on you....why then are you now calling female fans to come on stage to wine on your band members...where is your respect for them ? In Order For Destra To Be The Queen Of Soca... Anyway, continue sucess Destra... I will catch you in UK or someplace this year. Last edited by socapineman; 01-12-2008 at 02:34 PM..

01-29-2008, 01:16 PM	#14 (permalink)
VINCYPOWA Registered User Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: America Posts: 59,251 Credits: 186,146	bump

01-29-2008, 01:27 PM	#15 (permalink)
Digga D UK™ (CEO) Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Around Da Way.. Posts: 6,554 Credits: 27,258	boy i aint read yet jus seen those DESTRA PICS!!!! nice __________________ Digga D - Unity Krew (UK) www.myspace.com/diggasoca www.largeradio.com/ every sundays 4pm to 6pm www.ustream.tv/channel/diggasoca http://calaloo.podOmatic.com

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01-12-2008, 12:07 PM	#3 (permalink)
vincy_socababy Guest Posts: n/a Credits: 0 [Check]	good read

01-12-2008, 12:51 PM	#5 (permalink)
melissah50 Registered User Join Date: May 2005 Location: Bajetown Posts: 27 Credits: 18	Yea nice article.

01-12-2008, 01:48 PM	#8 (permalink)
VINCYPOWA Registered User Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: America Posts: 59,251 Credits: 186,146	DAMN....ALL THIS LOVEFEST going on in here makes me WANNA BARF. NEVERTHELESS, it is GOOD to see the VINCY DESTRA DOING her THING. BIG UP to my VINCY PEEPS in LAVENTILLE. MUDDERWUK!!!

01-12-2008, 10:00 PM	#13 (permalink)
Calor Registered User Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: U.S.A Posts: 3,687 Credits: 1,455	very nice article

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