Liz Montano the force behind the Boss

However, as of May last year, Montano, known to most as Liz, officially retired as manager to her soca star son. But that doesn’t mean she isn’t keeping busy.

Montano tells WMN about her life and retirement during an interview at Boissiere House, Queen’s Park West where “ON STAGE: Machel Montano’s 33-year archive,” an exhibition featuring over 400 artifacts from Machel’s career, is being displayed.

She clarifies that while she retired as his manager, she has not retired from Machel’s business affairs. For example, she says the move gives her the time to concentrate on the exhibition, as well as helping to find financing for the movie, Scandalous, in which Machel is executive producer and lead actor.

She says after two years of consultation, Toronto and Los Angeles-based Dream Machine, led by 31-year-old Che Kothari, will now manage her son. She says she and Machel wanted someone who would bring a fresh perspective, and who was tech savvy so as to take Machel’s music worldwide. She describes Kothari as a guru who had experience in the international music market, and says he is doing a “fantastic job” so that she feels confident in passing the baton to him.

The reason for retiring, Montano reveals, is in the interest of Machel’s career. “I know Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean well. However, now that Machel’s ready to go international, I don’t have that experience so I hired someone who would be able to do it.”
However, all her time doesn’t revolve around Machel’s business.

She uses her new down time to be quiet and think, as well as to become more involved in the lives of her five grandchildren. “I’m in the gym three days per week, I get a massage on Saturdays, I go to church a lot. I’m a very simple person. I don’t want much. I’m not very materialistic. My son has afforded me the opportunity of seeing the world and I still go sometimes. That’s good enough for me,” she says.

Montano began managing Machel’s career part-time while she was a guidance officer at Siparia Junior Secondary School. However, before that, from 1971 to 1976, she taught Science at the primary and Junior Secondary school levels. In 1980, she graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Jamaica and returned to Trinidad and began working as a guidance officer.

In 1983, around the same time Machel shot to fame with the song “Too Young To Soca,” the Montano family moved from Carenage to Siparia. The family included Liz, her husband Winston “Monty” Montano, Machel, and older son Marcus. Within a year, she had brought the neighbourhood children together and formed the band, Panasonic Express.

Montano says she loved being a guidance officer but became disillusioned with the politics. Therefore, in 1989, she accepted the Voluntary Termination of Employment Programme (VTEP) package. “I gave of by best and they didn’t appreciate it so I decided that I’d had enough. I didn’t need to deal with that. I decided that I would manage the young people that I had under my care in Machel’s band.”

Some of these young people included brothers Vincent and Joseph Rivers, Peter Lewis, Darryl Henry, also known as Farmer Nappy, and others who went on to be “quite self-sufficient.” Montano recalls that they met Henry on the first day they
moved to Siparia. He was fighting with some other boys when Monty intervened and told Henry to help move their boxes. Over time, he became part of the family.

“Farmer Nappy lost his mother at a very young age and when she was dying she asked me to take care of him. I guided him, and Machel and Marcus have remained true to him. Nappy is like a third son. Today we are very proud of him.”
Montano notes that, in the beginning, she encouraged Machel in his career but he soon took over making all decisions with the support of the family. “People say I was the driving force but I think I was just doing what I was supposed to do as a mother, and as a manager to ensure that my children succeed,” she says.

Her time-consuming job, however, did not negatively affect her relationship with husband, Monty or son, Marcus. “We were all doing this thing together. At no moment did Marcus feel in any way slighted or disadvantaged because he was part of it. He was the guitarist in the band.”
Montano recalls that Marcus became interested in flying planes and became a pilot with the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard and so could no longer perform with the band. In fact, she says, although Captain Marcus Montano is now a pilot with Caribbean Airlines, he still helps in any way he can, assisting with transportation, dressing rooms, and Machel’s band uses Marcus’ warehouse to rehearse.
“If I knew my two children were going to come out like this I would have made a few more,” she laughs.

According to Montano, the members of their family are close, and she felt fortunate to marry someone who was so similar to her, saying that she and Monty, a petroleum geologist, worked hard and were “very stern” with their children.

Monty is currently involved in Machel’s real estate business and runs Machel’s property in Toco. She says although they live apart, they are not separated and their relationship is still strong.

“We have been married for over 40 years. Our relationship is beyond physical. We are preparing a legacy for our children. We talk on the phone all the time, we visit each other, but everything is now geared towards that goal of preparing a legacy for them,” she explains.
Montano stresses that she and Monty had enough time for themselves when they were younger. Once they had children, however, their focus changed to preparing the boys for adulthood, with their children’s interests always at heart.

“I wouldn’t say I made sacrifices. What I wanted to do for myself was to make sure that my children made a difference in society, and I did what was necessary to accomplish that. My husband and I had enough time for us as individuals and as a young couple. Once we had children I think it was our duty to be involved in their upbringing so that we always share in our children’s experiences.”

She believes the role of parents is to take care of their children and make sure they become good adults. She adds that, although nothing in life is perfect, parenting is the best gift a person could receive and they should embrace it rather than abuse it. She therefore advised parents to teach their children core values, not only by word, but by being a living example.
Now that she also has grandchildren, two of whom live in Trinidad, and three who live in the United States, Montano is content to be a doting grandmother, saying that they always visit and she is very much involved in their lives.

She notes that the older grandchildren are all involved in the family business, whether helping to compile song lyrics, singing background vocals, presenting ideas, or appearing in Machel’s music videos. She describes them as “highly intelligent” noting that Machel’s last daughter, Malaya Journey, placed fourth overall in the country in the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) Examination in 2012. “I was planning on preparing her for the President’s medal before she left (for the United States). She’s that bright,” she says.
She also gushes about her grandson, Nicholas Montano, who is interested in photography and filming, and believed Nicholas’ elder sister, Melanie Montano, who writes poetry and is multi-lingual, would become an activist.

She says Marley Montano, Marcus’ daughter, is a good cook, and is interested in the culinary arts. She attends St Joseph’s Convent and has won several awards at the school. Marcus’ youngest child, and her youngest grandchild, Micha Montano, is still in primary school.
“They have to work as hard as their fathers did. They chose what they want to do, and just as we supported our children, Marcus and Machel are supporting their children,” she says.

Montano also addressed a few rumours about herself and Machel that have survived over the years.

Firstly, she states that Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is not Machel’s godmother, nor does she have a personal relationship with the PM. “My children and I are from Carenage. We went to Siparia when my children were older. I met Mrs Persad-Bissessar because her husband was the doctor in Siparia. I was never, ever in any kind of close relationship with the Prime Minister,” she states emphatically.

She also defends Machel, saying the rumour that he is aggressive and disrespectful towards her is just that, a rumour. However, she notes that as his manager, he was her boss, and that he was “a stern leader”.

“I think Trinidadians are accustomed to people being mediocre and any and everything is good for them. Machel is a perfectionist, he works non-stop and he’s a no-nonsense man. He is a stern leader and I don’t think people appreciate that. They are accustomed to people who are laissez faire, and anything is anything. That is not what or who he is,” she says.

“I think both Marcus and Machel got that from us (their parents). We are no-nonsense, take the initiative, go the extra mile, don’t sleep until it’s done kind of people. We are not satisfied with the ordinary. I’ve always been one to excel in what I do and my husband is the same way – very thorough, logical. It’s just how it has to be.”

Montano adds that rumours are negative, and she doesn’t like to deal with negative things. “Rumours are for people who have nothing to do. I am so busy I don’t think about other people’s business or make judgements about them,” she concluded.