Words by Tishanna Williams—
Port of Spain is still recovering from the spectacle of God Loves the Fighter, following the feature film’s standing-room-only screenings at September’s Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival. While the rest of the world will have to wait until 2014 to see the much talked about Trini movie, God Loves The Fighter is making its presence felt again, this time with the release of the film’s soundtrack. Titled Laventille, the album, set for release the first week of December, features 100% local Trinbagonian content, ranging from original music by Freetown Collective to cultural rhythms with a contemporary edge you’ll have to hear to even believe.
Blue Cinamon Group’s Damian Marcano and Alexa Bailey, the LA-based Trini team behind God Loves the Fighter, have been making their mark in film for years including producing music videos for Machel Montano’s 2013 Carnival hits “Fog” and “Represent” remix. This time, they teamed up with Tobago-born producer Q-Major, whose passion for turning music into art is definitely apparent with this venture. The 11-track album takes you through the streets of Port-of-Spain at dawn on J’Ouvert morning shocking your spirit into a frenzy with sudden jolts of hip-hop and electronic beats that demand you keep moving before finally dropping you, exhausted, before the steps of a Baptist church to cool your spirit.
We recently caught up with the Alexa, Damian and Q-Major for an exclusive interview about the project. Stream the full album first in our exclusive preview right here, and read on for the interview here.
LargeUp: How would you describe the music on the soundtrack?
Q Major: You know, we never actually slowed down from the work to really step back and analyse it. We just went with the flow. We’ve given it all sorts of names though, like Damian calls “Good Swimma” “contrapcious music,” cause it’s a mix of conscious and trapstep. But for me it’s just a refreshing take on our local sound.
Damian Marcano: Lou Lyons [from Freetown Collective] calls it “Sonically Unsafe,” but I like “Rockstone.”
LU: Why name the album Laventille?
DM: That’s where I am originally from in Trinidad.
LU: What influenced your choices when it came to producing the album’s particular sound?
AB: The film. Damian always knew what he wanted it to look like, and sound like.
Q: I like electronic music and manipulating sounds. I hate anything boring so there was a lot of experimenting to come up with something fresh that hadn’t been done and was capable of getting our culture out internationally. And I wanted it to focus equally on the artist and the music in a way that doesn’t even match what we generally consider a song to be.
LU: How did you all come together?
AB: At first Damian had all these songs as guitar recordings but no matter how we worked with them, they never excited us or fit what was in D’s head until we reconnected with Q.
Q: I had worked with them on the Freetown Collective mixtape Blacks and White in 2011, but we lost touch after. Then this year we met when they came over to Tobago. Damian showed me a cut of the film and gave me a copy of the music he had. I went home and in half hour sent him a mixed version of the song “Laventille”. He went crazy over it and now here we are.
DM: And we didn’t even go over to Tobago for work. Alexa had a blackout while we were working with Machel Montano’s “Fog” video for Carnival 2013 due to what we thought was overwork. Later we found out she was actually pregnant. So we dropped everything flew there for her to relax. If she had never passed out, we may have never met Q back when we did.
LU: Good job Alexa! Now this album is 100% Trinidad and Tobago content. Do you think that’s a risk when it comes to international appeal?
Q: For me no, it may be local but it is formatted for international audiences. I think, if anything, the greater risk is local acceptance because we’ve never heard anything from us like this. But even soca music is starting to experiment with electronic sound[s] so I definitely believe that, though it may be new to us, we’re ready for it.
AB: There is always a risk. So often with other types of local music, it seems as if thought isn’t really put into the music’s global scope, but we have worked to ensure that the album is mixed and produced in such a way that it is as open as possible when it comes to world reach.
LU: Do you think it’s working so far?
DM: Definitely. Both Major Lazer and Junior Blender of the Supersonic DJs (Germany) have already contacted us for the debut album track “Good Swimma.”
LU: Q-Major, what’s it been like working with Alexa and Damien?
Q: Challenging and fun. Alexa really helped to bring out a creative side I didn’t know I had because she’s always pushing for better. I would send things and she would be like, “No, that’s what a normal person would do. Delete it and do it over.” (Laughs)
LU: Alexa, is it true you gave Q-Major the same deadline for the album draft as your due date?
AB: [Laughs] Yeah. Also my final call to [Freetown Collective’s] Muhammad, I was having contractions and holding off to go to the hospital.
LU: Have any favourite moments doing this project that you care to share?
DM: The title track “Laventille” was actually done in Fort Picton, Laventille. We went up there with master drummer Redman, Beebo and musicians from the North West Laventille Cultural Movement, and recorded it in the shed of an elder in the Orisha faith. Everyone just sat and played drums, cowbells and other instruments and made music, while we looked out over the ocean at the coast of Venezuela.
Q: For me it was liming with the entire crew and I put on “Good Swimma” and started playing around with it. Everyone got hyped and the energy in the room just changed totally. It was a great vibe and actually the only track Damian was there physically to work on with me.
LU: So, how do we get this album?
DM: Laventille will be available on Amazon, itunes and other online music stores. Physical release will coincide with the film’s international release in March. The plan is, by then, for people to be able to access a full package complete with movie, visuals and music.
LU: Finally, we have to know, what’s your favourite track on the album?
DM: Can’t pick one. “Good Swimma”, “Dead or Alive” and “Five”.
AB: “Dead or Alive” and “The Drug Song”
Q: Can’t pick one either, but “Good Swimma” always stands out for me.
LU: Wait, does the baby have a favourite?
AB: [Laughing] He likes them all.
Follow the God Loves The Fighter Facebook page for your chance to purchase this album but until then LargeUp is giving you the hookup with an exclusive listen right here:
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