Tidal Wave eyes big 2012 splash

The Manzanilla-based band, which stole the hearts of residents and giants in the music industry several years ago, intends to make a big return in 2012 and is currently developing a fresh compilation of music guaranteed to wet the appetites of their fans at home and abroad.

The band’s leader and bass player, Edmund Linton, told Sunday Newsday recently that the compilation will run the gamut of musical expressions.

“We like to think of our music as Caribbean because we don’t want to be pigeon-holed to say we are a soca band, ragga soca band or chutney band. We encompass all,” Linton said during an interview at his home at Eastern Main Road, Manzanilla, which also doubles as Tidal Wave’s rehearsal venue.

Linton is especially excited about the track “Peace, Love and Unity”, a conscious, nation-building tune which is also a commentary about issues plaguing the world — crime, hate, violence and vengeance.

“The song is really about the fact that we have lost touch with ourselves and one another. We need to come back to that,” he said.

The chutney selection “Go Down”, which focusses on a girl who opens a food shop in the countryside, has also caught his fancy.

“It is a lively, suggestive tune which we expect will go down well with fans,” Linton said, laughing.

The band, he said, has also received positive feedback for its J’ouvert offering.

Linton told Sunday Newsday that the band has set its sight on recording about seven songs before Carnival.

“But in the meantime, we are just spending our time making music and at some point, we are going to have a band launch to let Trinidad and Tobago know we are back out,” an elated Linton said, adding that Tidal Wave has also cut back on gigs in an around the Manzanilla neighbourhood to fine tune their music.

Vocalist Ken “Salty” Lindsay, whose performances have been likened to that of veteran entertainer Baron (Timothy Watkins), is also gearing up for the big comeback.

“We ready for them,” Lindsay declared, acknowledging that although Tidal Wave may not be as recognised as many big bands, it still enjoyed a huge following over the years.

Musical director and keyboardist, Damion Preston, a former student of the Toco Composite School, attests to this.

“Someone might think the Tidal Wave is just a small band. But I have learnt that a lot more people knew the band than we thought,” said Preston, a meticulous artiste who makes it his business to study the work of most entertainers.

“People are excited about Tidal Wave’s return because we have been to Toco, Sangre Grande, Mayaro and Guayaguayare over the years.”

Often referred to as a family band due to the close relationship shared by its members, Linton recalled that the seeds of Tidal Wave were sown at North Eastern College in Sangre Grande more than two decades ago.

While he could not remember the precise period in which the band was established, Linton recalled that he and Lindsay, a fellow Manzanillian, and drummer Winston Herry, were all exposed to music at the school, under the guidance of then music teacher John Baptiste.

The Manzanilla Police Youth Club, which nurtured many budding talents in the area at that time, also fuelled their passion for music.

“So somewhere around there in the early 1990s, we decided to form a band because at that time we had been playing all about with other people. So around that time, we started buying equipment,” he said.

Tidal Wave, so called because of the band’s proximity to Manzanilla Beach, subsequently enjoyed much fame.

They were seen then as the ‘new kid on the block’, thrilling audiences with their down-to-earth appeal and ability to move effortlessly from the indigenous soca to rhythm and blues and other genres during performances.

Catching the attention of several influential names in the fraternity, such as the late Puppet Master, Pink Panther (Eric Taylor) and Baron, the band landed gigs at premier shows in the region, as well as at clubs, pubs, weddings and community events on weekends.

Several years after their inception, however, Tidal Wave got a break which significantly altered the band’s profile.

Linton recalled that they had received a contract to perform at a Carnival in Canada for several weeks in 1996.

“The people liked how we sounded and we got exposed to a lot of other artistes,” he beamed.

Back home, though, the expenses associated with staying afloat in the industry proved to be too much for Linton and the other young men, some of whom were just coming into their own and had young children to take care of.

In an attempt to earn a decent living, some members secured work on a cruise ship — a move which provided a greater avenue for them to showcase their diverse talents to international audiences. Outside of the Caribbean, the men performed on cruise ships in Hawaii, Tahiti and Mexico.

“I loved the ship in the sense that it provided a salary. Home was a hussle, big fish eat small fish. We were getting gigs but they were not consistent so we left and did cruise ships for about eight years,” Linton recalled.

The experience, he said, was also an eye-opener.

“When we were at home, we were catching our royal to sell CDs but on the ship there was a ready market. We were also exposed to the styles of other musicians.”

Now, the members reflect with pride on the strides they have made despite the setbacks. These include the affiliations forged with high-profile personalities during the staging of the Ash Wednesday Kooldown (now defunct) and other beach parties along the east coast.

“We were lucky that although we did not have any management, we were in all these big things with names like Traffic, Roy Cape, Shandileer (now disbanded).

So we were always on the verge of breaking out big time. We were on the fringes of becoming the next best thing,” Linton said.

“Now, we are back, but we don’t want to be on the fringes. We know that we have a product that people want to hear, one that is marketable.”

Members are hoping that a Good Samaritan will agree to manage the band Linton said, “That is one of our main priorities. We know that we were lacking that in the past because we have the music. The music was not a problem, then, and it is better now.

“So we are hoping to get somebody who could do some marketing and management for us.

“We think we could make it big not just locally, but regionally and internationally. We have what it takes musically and an understanding of the foreign market.”

Linton said the experience on the cruise ship also thoroughly prepared them for their planned comeback.

“The cruise ship prepared us for what we want to do now. We understand the business more, we understand music more, because when you out on a cruise ship you are working basically everyday playing music,” he said.

Linton said Tidal Wave’s music targets a mature audience “not necessarily in age but in appreciation of music”.

“So when you go through our repertoire you wouldn’t see certain types of songs. We do not stand for violence-induced music and bashing people,” he pointed out.

Although the band has changed singers over the years, its core members have remained in tact.

Members attribute this to their spirit of camaraderie and compromise.

Lindsay attests to the bond shared by members.

“Our membership has never changed as other bands. It is a big thing just for us to be together,” he said.

Linton said band members also always made a point of seeking one another’s opinion on issues.’

“We do everything in consensus,” he said.

“It is not an autocratic business where one person is the leader, because the thing about the band is that we are friends before band members. So if within the band we have disagreements, we try our best to resolve the matter and go back to our friendship.”

TIDAL WAVE BAND MEMBERS

Edmund Linton - band leader/bass player

Ken Lindsay - vocalist

Damion Preston - musical director/ key

board player

Winston Herry - drummer

Paige Joseph - vocalist

Marlon Morrison - guitarist

Brian Balkaran - sound engineer/guitarist

Joseph Williams - vocalist