Leach on to solo soca bandwagon

Soca artiste Damien Leach has one request for Carnival 2004 and it’s directed to the ladies: “Hug Me Up” — “my heart is yearning, my eyes are crying” or so the words to his soca ballad tell his story. Leach has taken time out from the Tobago band Six Squared  to explore his talents as a solo artist. You may have seen the Buccoo, Tobago native backed up by Ajala’s  Kwystun Lab Rats  at several events including the Coca Cola Youth Fest. How do you set him apart from all the other soca artistes bearing the dread-locks and tailored wear? Well, listen out for when he hits the notes to the lyrics “Whoy, hey, hey!” Semi-enticing some would say!

It’s groovy! Actually, the song sets the mood for lovers, he said. “It’s for that special someone you never get to tell them how you feel about them and when you do it’s that intimate moment when you hug them.” His second offering for the season, which also has potential lasting power after Carnival is the upbeat “Olay Olay” — “which speaks about what soca music does to you, the feeling it gives.” Leach penned the words to both compositions while production was done by Alan Brizan. The 22-year-old has shared the stage for more than five years with bandmembers Darren Thomas and Orion Gordon of Six Squared. The trio enjoyed a measure of success after producing a string of hits that snapped up the Tobago Soca Monarch from the inception of the competition. “In the first year of the Soca Monarch we won it with our debut song ‘Free Your Mind’ of 2000 and
the two years after that,” said Leach.

Their successive Tobago Soca Monarch titles were “I’ll Be There,” 2001 and “J’ouvert Experience,” 2002. Other compositions over the years included “Party Soldiers,” “Mudyard Jam” and “Intoxicated” produced by Tobago’s Alvin “Ballat” Moore/Blackberry Studios. Leach is also a member of the Signal Hill Alumni Choir. As a matter of fact, he was drafted into the soca/folk/jazz choir based on his unique vocals nurtured while a member of the Signal Hill Senior Comprehensive School choir. His family is quite musically-oriented, and when his elder sister first joined the senior choir, he followed suit. “She more or less set the stage for me. My brother is into entertainment, so is my uncle and my father played the pan and always encouraged us along this path. I played the pan for about eight years with Our Boys Steel Orchestra from Calder Hall.” While he is grateful for the exposure of his new music, to date, he said that this year has been his “hardest”. “I’m on my own, the band isn’t with me and you find that you have to re-introduce yourself into the system. People know Six Squared, now they have to get to know Damien coming out of Tobago and I have to prove my ability that I could do it.”

The entertainer, who is also a building and civil engineer technician, expressed how difficult it was for artistes coming out of Tobago to have an impact on the Trinidad audience. He told People: “(Soca) artistes in Tobago have a lot of talent, but it is so very hard to leave Tobago to come to Trinidad to do music. Some artistes are ignorant about what events there are in Trinidad and where they can make inroads. There are few shows to perform in Tobago. “Financially, it’s a strain, since in order to make an impact you have to be here (Trinidad) all the time and these artistes have their families home in Tobago. “My wish is for Tobago artistes to get a showcase where they can display their talent and be more exposed to the Trinidad scene.” His immediate goal, however, is “just for everybody to know who I am.”