5 Questions with ... Bunji Garlin

Trinidadian ragga-soca artiste, Bunji Garlin, knows that he is an expert when it comes to a “hard fete” and it is arguably impossible to have missed out on gyrating to any of his tracks if you have been avoiding ‘small fetes’ this carnival season. Bunji Garlin, whose real name is Ian Anthony Alvarez, started his musical career in the late 1990s and immediately became known for songs such as Send Them Rhythm Crazy and Warrior Cry. Since then, he has put out numerous albums and singles, like Differentology, which in 2013 earned the Soul Train Award for Best International Performance. Known for his high-energy beats and infectious choruses, he has won the hearts, ears, and waistlines of fans across the world.

No stranger to the island, Bunji Garlin has been performing during the Jamaica Carnival Season for several years and has developed great ties with the culture and the people. Speaking with Five Questions, he reflects on the relationship over the years.

1. You recently tweeted about your first booking in Jamaica, which you jokingly described as a “rude awakening and experience all in one”. Can you share some more of that story with us?

Well, what I was talking about was my first experience in Jamaica which happened when I came for Jokers Wild, fresh out of Trinidad as the newest sensation doing ragga soca and didn’t know that it didn’t catch on in Jamaica yet as. The contemporary style of soca was still at its peak in Jamaica that time. Nigel and Marvin Lewis’ Move in to the Left, and Colin Lucass Dollar Wine were still extremely huge. Bryon Lee basically laid the ground for what songs were huge in Jamaica after Trinidad carnival and my song was not in that build so it was hard labour. So I kinda had to burn and learn as I went through the motion in that first year. Also, as a new artiste I didn’t realise what was huge back home didn’t necessarily mean it was anything somewhere else. Also, there are some songs from Jamaica that was playing non-stop and me thinking those were the songs, didn’t realise either that those songs weren’t even playing in Jamaica. So it took a lot of readjustments over the years to understand how to approach Jamaica as a soca artiste. But what helped a lot was Jamaica soca scene was spreading beyond its usual communities and that was the catalyst.

2. What do you enjoy most about performing on the island?

What I enjoy the most about performing in Jamaica is the way people go all in (or all out) as the case may with music they love. It doesn’t matter the genre, once they love it there’s undiluted passion coming at you and that’s priceless. I also love it because as a kid growing up ... now I don’t know about anywhere else ... but there was this thing going around for years before I started singing, was that Jamaicans don’t like Trinidadians and Trinidadians don’t like Jamaicans. And that thing used to confused me from our side because the only time soca was ever prominent was for carnival from Ash Wednesday. Especially in that early time music from Jamaica was most played more than any other thing ... in fact if you played soca out of season that time you were considered mad or lame. So, performing in Jamaica and seeing the love is like the stamping out of that talk.

3. How has the carnival season been for you so far?

It’s been crazy and as the carnivals around the world come into play it’s getting crazier. The energy is getting wilder and bigger and I really like seeing that because that’s how it always used to be, but the music got mellow for some time now. Now it’s back off the bpm scale and calories are burning. The power of soca benefits cardio and health ... once you can keep up.

4. Who are some Jamaican acts that you hope to work with one day and why?

I love all the acts from Jamaica elder and new, there’s so much variations existing in one space it’s really amazing and I’ve worked with many from Shaggy, Bounty, Beenie, Aidonia, Kartel, Cherine Anderson, Tarrus, Busy, Toddler, Kutchie, Kiprich, Spice, Jr Gong, Sasco and more ... plus many producers there too. I’d like to continue working with them and some of the new bloods, too, but not in the way like before. Going forward would like to sit and work material together if and when that time comes but I’m in no rush for collabs of any nature right now as I want to focus on building into something stronger for a bit.

5. When not performing or working, what are some activities that you enjoy doing on your downtime?

Firstly, just hanging out with family and close ones, cooking up some food and talking about things not work or music related. I love hiking and extremely long walks and runs essentially with my other half. She’s a serious motivator on and off stage; video games with our daughter and by myself, long TV shows and movie binges, reading and watching National Geographic, Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. I also love collecting alcoholic beverages from around the world and collecting cigars.

aaliyah.cunningham@gleanerjm.com