My name is Kevon Walker and I am an organiser of sound. I’m from Port-of-Spain but I recently moved to Point Cumana, on the sea side of the road. I love being close to the water. I lucked out with that apartment when two friends went back to New York and I took over the lease. I got transferred from Newtown Boys because my mother left to go to New York when I was about seven. She left us with my grandmother in Trincity.
After about three months in Form One at Five Rivers Junior Secondary, my papers came through and I went to the States. And high school was a big culture shock! I had a strong Trini accent, I knew nothing about America and I had to conform to this new culture. But it all contributed to my mentality now.
I lived in New York from ages 11 to 25. Some people say I have a little accent and it’s from that part of my life. I never really felt disconnected from Trinidad. There are A LOT of Trinis in New York! Especially in Brooklyn: Flatbush; Crown Heights; Bed-Sty. You always met a Trini everywhere.
High school in New York had no school uniform, so it was a fashion show every day. That I couldn’t keep up with, at one point: I had to get a part-time job, to buy clothes to go to school! Whatever the most famous musicians were wearing, you had to have it. I can definitely keep up with the fashion, now. They can’t touch me on that one, boy! My hair grows naturally like this. I just come out the shower and shake it and let it do its own thing. And this is what it does.
I could build studios, build tracks, beats, editing. Most of it was self-taught. But I did do a two-year course in New York. Everybody has a bedroom studio in Trinidad. It’s my dream to have a proper, professional studio. I feel artists like K Rich and Kes and Machel and Bunji have gotten into a new element: EDM, electronic dance music. That’s the new scene. And soca’s taking that direction, too.
Soca lyrics are so washed out now. I would love to be a contributing factor to changing that. Take it back to a little Ras Shorty-I. I would love to rework a David Rudder into EDM. You keep it alive that way. They’re producers in Europe who’re doing that with our calypso songs. People are beating us to it!
I do believe in God and I am a Christian, even though I might not be practising. But everyone has their own way to God. Sometimes I wonder, “Is my beliefs just what I’ve been fed?” If I was born Hindu, I’d have believed that just as strongly. Actually, I wear a Ganesh ring. Ganesh is the god of prosperity and I believe Ganesh is real!
I’m an organiser of sound. I produce and I also deejay. Most producers deejay to pay the rent now. Even Dr Dre! I got to keep it coming if I want to keep my apartment in Point Cumana, man!
I use drum machines, keyboards, samplers, synchronisers. The love of the craft keeps you going. A lot of times, I’ll take work for free. If an artist friend asks for a track for an image or film. And I know that, if they could, they would pay me. If big companies ask me to do something, I know they can afford it, so it’s only right to charge them.
The best part of the job is doing something you love. There’s a certain amount of satisfaction when you complete a track. Here, world! Enjoy it! And dance! The bad part of the job is financial insecurity. That’s where the day job comes in. A Trinidadian is a happy person. I have a lot of American friends who would love to switch places with me. T&T is where I come from. That’s my culture, man. That’s home.
