By Azara Lavia
“The future of Antigua’s music is in good hands.” That’s according to Antiguan soca artist Dennis ‘Menace XL’ Roberts who spoke to Observer as Carnival 2024 drew to a close this week.
The 2019 Groovy Monarch King says he is delighted with the calibre of local music produced by the artistes for this year’s festivities, highlighting that the younger performers in particular did a phenomenal job.
Roberts took to his Facebook page on Thursday pondering a few questions: “I wonder if Antigua & Barbuda can assemble a touring band with some of our artistes to hit the other markets and spread the music culture? I wonder if we can get sponsors for that? Where do we start? I wonder if it would work? Egos?”
He said after experiencing the sweet rhythms and vibrations, and excellent performances, from newcomers this season he is considering whether establishing a touring band composed of local artistes is feasible.
“The origin of the posts came from a wondering mind space where I saw the need for us to be more regional and international,” Roberts told Observer.
“We got a lot of great comments from the patrons this Carnival season, the mode of music, the performances during Soca Monarch, and I felt how can we reach the masses and other areas and show them what talents we have here in Antigua?
“I was just wondering how can we reach other countries and assemble a touring band, harness our ideas together and minimise our egos towards a great frontal approach.
“As I said it is not defined so anybody who has an idea of how we can work and generate revenue in terms of getting bookings at colleges, festivals, fairs, exhibitions, ‘culturamas’, we are just starting a conversation. It only takes a spark to get the fire going.”
This year’s Carnival saw a double triumph for up and coming singer Jaquiel Jacobs, aka ‘Young Vice’, who won the Soca Monarch competition, while his New Gen Band’s catchy hit ‘Gravity Falls’ claimed the Road March title.
Menace congratulated Jacobs on his victory, as well as the other newcomers to the soca arena. He is appealing to anyone who is interested in making his dream of a touring band a reality to reach out to him to start the conversation.
