Damian Whiskey bridging the gap between old tradition and new blood

In an interview with Newsday, the 32 year old sought to explain the origins of the character which dates back to the days of African slavery in the Western Hemisphere. “The griot is a storyteller from the West coast of Africa. They came to the Caribbean during slavery and while they went to a lot of different countries, in Trinidad there seems to be an extra spark of creativity,” he said. Whiskey explained in the 19th century there were publications produced in England akin to the comic book called the “Penny Dreadful” which embellished and romanticised the Wild West in America. People soon incorporated this aspect of embellishing and romanticising these types of stories into their story telling. With the advent of Carnival at the end of slavery, these stories became focused on exacting revenge on slave owners and battling the hardships of the world and the story tellers began to look more and more like the Midnight Robber known today.

“The art form gets a little knock now and then from religious bodies because it is a little bit too dark but what we come from is ex-slaves who were just freed from slavery. Each one had to be the greatest or the most powerful one so the Midnight Robber’s speech is just one long brag or boast or mockery and the character is the embodiment of fear so that is the whole idea behind the dark , blood, gore and guns,” he explained.

Along with the customary speech, a Midnight Robber’s costume is another way of distinguishing the character. The elements of the costume each portrays these characteristics and historical elements attached to the character, Whiskey pointed out. A Midnight Robber wears a broad brim hat which Whiskey initially thought was influenced by the country’s interaction with Spain but it is actually from Africa. Skulls and bones are usually the depiction of choice on the hat.

Robbers, Whiskey explained, usually walk around with a whistle to announce their presence. Although he could not recall what was used before, he explained policemen whistles were the popular choice as early as the 19th century. “It will alert people that the robber is on his way so make sure and get your money ready because when a robber approaches you and says his speech, talking about gloom and doom, whether you were frightened or not, you are supposed to pay him so he would not inflict on you what he speaks about.”

A Robber wears a shirt and pants in colours like black, red, gold or even white, according to the portrayal. The popular materials used for the costume at present are satin, fringe and braid. This, Whiskey said, started in the 1960s when the masqueraders’ costume preference switched to “pretty mas”. He explained a band during that time used satin in a presentation and it became popular because how beautifully the material moved.

Whiskey, however, prefers the original way of making his costume. “In the beginning, slaves had to use bits and pieces of material stitched on their pants and shredded out to make their costume. So I usually use shredded crocus stitched to a pants for my costume,” he said. His shirt is decorated with skulls and bones in keeping with the Midnight Robber’s motif and Whiskey’s weapon of choice is an old fashioned gun. “The objective of the robber is to steal, rob and maim and kill so he has to carry a weapon whether it be a gun, knife or even a piece of wood,” he explained.The character also has a certain type of walk which he explained came from the type of shoe worn. “The footwear of the robber usually has a skull or some kind of animal or a tombstone on it. So the shoe is so huge, we have to walk like that,” he explained while taking large footsteps to mimic the walk.

Whiskey then explained the importance of the Robber’s cape which he described as the main part of the costume. He said it usually had a depiction of what the costume was actually portraying and the Robber’s name. “If you are so important then your name must be known. So you can talk all you want proclaiming your importance but when you turn and the audience sees your name then they will realise you are talking the truth,” he said.

Whiskey chose his name “The Son of Doom, Darkness and Death” when he first got into the art form at the age of ten. He was attending Belmont Boys Roman Catholic School at the time when well known librarian, poet, artist and playwright, Pearl Eintou Springer, who was in charge of the West Indian Reference Library which was located in Belmont at the time, had a competition.

“I was the teacher’s pet, quiet and nerdy, and my teacher made me take a part in the competition as a Midnight Robber. So I had to practice a speech and make a costume which was created with skulls cut out of copy book pages and a garbage bag which was my cape,” he recalled.

He performed for judges who were well known Midnight Robbers, Andrew “Puggy” Joseph and Brian Honore. Despite his nervousness, he placed second in the competition. “There was a sports bar on the street where I lived which also had a competition that year and my father entered me in it only for me to realise I had to compete against the same judges who presided over my school competition,” he said.

He placed third behind Honore and Joseph who invited him to join his band. “Puggy met my parents gave me a costume and my speeches and that was it,” he said. Although a Robber is not expected to change his name, Whiskey is also known as “Nexus, ruler of the lost world” and last year he portrayed “King Kali, communication killer and media mogul”.

“I found my first name was too harsh on the ear of people not accustomed to robber talk so I chose ‘Nexus’ because I saw myself as bridging the gap between old tradition and new blood, so ‘nexus’ was really what is “next for us”. The second name came from one particular robber who has been behind me for years to play King Kali. So to pay homage to him I did so last year,” he explained.

Although he is unsure which name he will use for this season, he has already decided on the topic of his speech. “I am tentatively thinking about the title, “El Dorado-City of Gold. Golden Fantasy, Eternal Misery” for my topic. We all search for material things be it a house, car, jewelry for some people. Since I am a robber bent on taking your possessions or your life, I am going to show how I gain control of humanity through the material world,” he said adding that the competition for Midnight Robber usually takes place the Wednesday before Carnival Monday and Tuesday.

The competition usually features ten Robbers when, once upon a time, there were bands dedicated to Robber mas. “I read about bands but when I started there were about two. Now they are scarce. Robber mas began dwindling in the 1960s which will match with the advent of fancy mas,” he said. Whiskey further explained that the Robber required a lot more effort to play than the other traditional characters.

“There is a band in Brazil, Arima and one or two pockets and these come about because one particular individual playing Robber mas will go out to a school or youth group and you will see these bands on Carnival Friday but there is no real adult band,” he said. Whiskey therefore intends on starting a company with two other persons passionate about mas to keep the tradition alive.

This year, he will be heading into schools to begin teaching children about Robber mas. “Just like pan, we need to get it into the school curriculum. It is a culture which was replaced and pushed back but it cannot just be brought back to the forefront just so. We need to take it to the schools, even pre-schools so that children could be exposed to it. When they go into primary school then the art form could be incorporated into school projects,” he said.

He said if he is able to do workshops in schools, he may inspire some students to get into the art form and carry it forward in the future. Whiskey said however the uphill battle to re-popularise the Robber also includes a fight to be recognized even within the mas fraternity.

“Our time on stage is hampered by other bands who sometimes bring their music trucks alongside the stage to prepare to go on which drowns us out when we are doing our speeches. It is an art form that is dying but our children cannot appreciate it properly if we cannot portray it effectively. I even had an incident… where some people brought their banner over my head while I was performing on stage. The master of ceremonies had to tell the DJ to shut the music down and reprimand the people from the band so that I could perform,” he said.

Despite this, Whiskey is looking to grow his own breed of robbers and he has begun this task with his own two sons both under the age of ten. The two performed with their father last year and enticed the crowd with their antics.

“The interest is there. I did not give them any long lines but as soon as I handed them the microphone, the crowd only had eyes for them. We performed in Arouca and they asked us to come back on a second time and the response was the same. This goes to show once we get the young people involved, we will get our own space,” Whiskey said.