5 Questions with

Musically inclined disc jock Bambino is quite the multitalented character. Christened Orrett Hart at birth, he loves to entertain and has been doing so ever since he was a student at Vaz Preparatory School, where he would always be involved in the school’s pantomime. His type of entertainment, however, was sometimes not exactly what the doctor ordered. In a 2010 Gleaner interview, he stated, “When I got my report cards, it would say, ‘Orrett needs to be less talkative’, and if there were 12 comments from teachers, that one would be repeated 10 times. I was really talkative and loved to give jokes.”

Fast-forward decades later and Orrett is known as DJ Bambino, a well-respected on-air disc jock and a record producer of merit. However, he has also carved out a niche for himself as a recording artiste, the comedic ‘Trevor Off Key’. Bambino’s alter ego has a rather ingenious way of seizing on songs that are trending on the charts, and doing parodies which always tickle the funny bones of listeners.

STUDIO GEM

Perhaps in response to his fans who have not heard from him in a minute, Trevor Off Key recently went into the studio and came up with a gem. He has had a soft release of the single, titled Crocs, and although it’s too early to tell, he is anticipating that it will do well. Crocs, which has an intro from Chi Ching Ching, has many moments of hilarity.

“Everybody talking bout Clarks and Vans, but me wear Crocs. Dem call me Crocs King,” he stated proudly, explaining the concept behind the song. “Ah don’t get a whole lot of feedback, but it’s the regular Trevor Off Key vibes.”

The disc jock, who was residing in Miami when he officially launched his deejaying career, said that he was forced to find a creative way to grab the attention of the people, and so Trevor Off Key was born. He said that Trevor is a random name he chose, and ‘Off Key’ was given to him by DJ Supa Twitch.

“The competition among selectors was so much that one would try to outdo the other by playing all the hot songs. If I was the featured disc jockey, I would have to come with something out of the box, so I always walked with something special that I knew no one would have because it would have been something I voiced,” he said.

He created his own dubplates, which, more often than not, would be a parody of a song. Several dancehall and R&B singles were humorously mimicked, but the most popular were of Beyoncé’s Irreplaceable, Drake’s Find Your Love and God’s Plan, Chino’s Pon Your Head, and Vybz Kartel’s Straight Jeans and Fitted.

While his parody of Find Your Love, titled Miss My Cooking, and Erasable (To the Right) , which answered Irreplaceable, increased Trevor Off Key’s listeners overseas and was played on the top 40 radio stations across the US, Fake Jeans, Admit It recorded to the beat of Straight Jeans and Fitted , got him a ‘forward’ in the Jamaican dancehall.

He even performed the single with Vybz Kartel. It motivated him to take the career as a recording artiste further rather than to be known only as a musical comedian, and he continued to record original singles as well as collaborated with other artistes such as Romain Virgo, Macka Diamond, and Stylish.

Five Questions With .... caught up with the disc jock-artiste-producer and tried to get some insight into his other, more personal, side.

Name three things on your bucket list.

One thing that I haven’t done yet is to produce a song for a superstar artiste. I really want to produce a big song for an international artiste.

Two things that I have ticked off are a tour of Europe (for work), and recently I took a vacation. A real vacation ... to London, Italy, and Scotland. When you go to these places as a tourist, it’s completely different from going to work.

What is your favourite Bible verse or chapter?

The love chapter, 1Corinthians 13 and Psalms 23.

Who would you most want to meet and why?

Dave Chapelle is the first person who comes to mind. His comedy.

What football teams do you cheer for?

Reggae Boyz and, of course, Reggae Girlz. Can’t leave out the girls. And Brazil. I always cheer for Brazil, no matter what.

Describe yourself in one sentence.

What you see is what you get, and you never know what you’re gonna get when you approach me.

Bonus: What song is the soundtrack of your life?

Proclaimers’ I’m Gonna Be ( 500 Miles).