NEW CALYPSO wave-maker Jimmy October is preparing to share his eclectic Caribbean sound with the rest of the world at the celebrated South by Southwest Music Festival (SXSW) in Austin, Texas.The festival, which saw more than 400,000 attendees in 2019, takes place March 11-20.
October said, “I look forward to being able to play my music somewhere else and experience what that feels like. I don’t generally make soca music and I live in Trinidad, but I always choose to do my own thing.”
He will be among a number of Trinidad and Tobago artistes including Kalpee, Nailah Blackman an Freetown Collective to grace the island wave stage – a concept co-founded by international performing artist from Trinidad, Kalpee. This is the first leg of taking the stage to a number of festivals.
[caption id="attachment_944042" align="alignnone" width="711"] October said he couldn't see himself doing anything else but music. Courtesy Jabari David | Creative direction and styling - Yelena Jan[/caption]
The island wave stage is yet to receive confirmation of upcoming festivals for which it has been booked, but its cast is looking forward to stage performances at a number of music festivals this year.
Asked how he feels about performing for an audience of this size for the first time, October said, “This is my first time performing in the US. I don’t have a lot of expectations, but I look forward to the experience and will just allow it to be what it is supposed to be. Sometimes in preparing for things like these we tend to get ourselves so worked up and create all these expectations for what we want it to be – but I don’t want that. I want it to flow freely, while I rehearse and ensure the performance will be as tight as possible.”
This will be the first time performing with a live band in almost two years for the 27-year-old performer from Sangre Grande.
“We have been rehearsing two days a week since February until we leave TT. It will be a 20-minute set which will include two songs that aren’t even out yet."
October said those already familiar with his music can also look forward to a performance of Vacation, which he said seems to be a favourite for many.
After years of deliberate work fuelled by a love for creativity and music, October feels ready to share his TT essence with the world. But where did this musical journey begin? Asked when he started nurturing his gift for music, how he decided this is what he wanted to do, if he had a backup plan and how he feels in this moment after years of hard work, he said, “This has been the one thing I have felt this way about.”
Since childhood he knew this was what he wanted to do and so, he stuck with it, he said. “If you feel like there is something that you don’t feel that way about anything else the way you do about that thing, and it is different from everything else I could have imagined myself doing – it is definitely something I want to spend my time doing. I think it is also part of my purpose.”
He said the easiest way to lose the race is to stop running, but if
