Jouvay.com: Terry Arthur Interview

My idea of a good producer is someone who could record someone who has never sung before and after the recording have the person not believing that it was them. That they did such a good job. (Alison Hinds) could already sing. To produce I had to find out where her energy was and where her strengths were and try to channel them and keep her in focus. When I write the songs I more see a crowd of people. I am just using her as the vehicle to put my thoughts out there and she would add her touch to it.

Terry Arthur, 1/1/2003.
Dover,
Christ Church, Barbados.

Terry Arthur is the man behind the music, the lyricist for 96% of Alison Hind's songs, the producer whose fingers have tapped out songs like FALUMA, TRINIDAD, TIC TOC, AYE AYE AYE, JUMP and the list is as endless as the music is good. He's the behind the scenese guy who concentrates on the musical side of things whether it's on stage playing keyboards for SQUARE ONE or in the studio as part of the Monstapiece production team.

Jouvay.com: We are here with Terry Arthur, New Years day 2003. Terry, you are not only the keyboardist for Square One, but you also do alot of the producing of the music, and writing of the songs. What are some of the big hits that you have worked on?

Terry Arthur: In terms of writing or producing?

J: Both.

T: In terms of Writing: Bazodee, co-wrote Togetherness, DJ Ride, Aye Aye Aye. I wrote about 96% of the songs that Alison sung throughout the years. I think the first one we did was Ragamuffin and that was the first song I wrote for her to sing and we won the road march with that.

J: That was on Square One’s first album right?

T: The first album that we did after leaving ICE with Eddy Grant. That was on the For Size album. We are on our own label now. We do our own music and just put it out.

J: That’s interesting. Krosfyah does that, you do that, I know Rupee does that now. How come the switch?

T: Labels, it’s always a problem with labels. I guess you can say they more look after their own interest as opposed to really the artist. When we were on ICE it was all a learning experience and it was good. I don’t have any regrets. I don’t think management would have any regrets. We had too much music and they were only putting out one song on a compilation. So I guess it was time to move. I learnt everything from when I was there.

J: What you mean by everything?

T: In terms of producing, and even writing. That was good. As I said Ragamuffin was the first song I wrote after we left there and that was the song Alison won the road march with. So that started everything.

J: When you say produce. I don’t really understand. What does that mean?

T: Someone would come with a song, they probably just have a melody. They don’t have the music yet or they may just have a sketch of how they want the music to sound. The producer would have to put that together. Well, I guess I could say some producers arrange it. Some producers don’t arrange. They may have people arrange it and they say, “yes, sounds good. Do this or that.” For me I do the producing and the arranging. So I would just put all the parts together, and record the vocal and tell the person how to sing. If they are singing in key with their vibe you just put it together to suit the person. My idea of a good producer is someone who could record someone who has never sung before and after the recording have the person not believing that it was them. That they did such a good job. That’s what we did with Timmy. He’s the one that did the song Courvoisier. He just said he wanted to sing a song and I said ok I know what to do with you. Put him in the booth. Record the tune and that was that.

J: So I want to sing one.

T: Yeah, anybody. I would say anybody. We just have to build the song to suit the person.

J: Is that what you did with Alison?

T: Oh no, well she could already sing. To produce I had to find out where her energy was and where her strengths were and try to channel them and keep her in focus. It was easier for me because I was writing her tunes. I could write with her in mind and whilst I am writing I am producing the song in my head. It was easier for her as opposed to when I started to do stuff for other people. The guys in Trinidad and stuff. But it’s all fun and all different. I would not produce Alison’s sound the way I would produce someone from Trinidad’s song. It’s all to suit the person.

J: Could I put this on record, you and Alison went out right? For a while.

T: 10 years.

J: Wow. So, a lot of those songs came from the heart?

T: Well, I would say no. When I write the songs I more see a crowd of people. I am just using her as the vehicle to put my thoughts out there and she would add her touch to it. I don’t think I ever put too much emotion in terms of me and her into the songs. It’s just she would deliver them and I would write them. Always seeing the crowd. I would always see a big crowd like in Trinidad maybe at Brass Festival. There’s always a massive crowd when I write the tunes.

J: So, where do you get your inspiration from to write them?

T: I don’t think I have an inspiration as such. If I am walking the streets I may hear someone say a certain word, and say yeah that could be a good topic. Or, being that I play music as well I could just put down some music and then say what will I write about today and just put some lyrics to that. It came quite easy to me. And certain songs I would write as a story. Which would be like Bazodee with Alison saying she went to Trinidad and lost her husband.

J: She lost you.

Terry Arthur: As I said it was never about me and her. But people would actually believe it because I wrote it as though it was so real. Even this song Somebody Trick Me is in a story form. Sometimes I write in a story or sometimes I just put lyrics together.

Jouvay.com: Somebody Trick Me is on the Unity album. I love that one. That does happen all the time in a fete. You wukking up and look behind and is a man with one tooth.

T: You don’t know. Everybody coming to get a wine. The main thing that I was trying to push there was that carnival was for everybody from the doctor to the man on the street. Everybody could join in.

J: And it is. So how did you start in the music business?

T: Oh man. From as long as I can remember from five or six I was playing the recorder, not even at school. I got one I don’t even know where I got it from. Like in the house. Then I moved to the Souvenir steel drums. My main instrument is actually the steelpan. So, from the time I was eight or nine I was professional and started to play out for money. I did my first show at nine and from then I have been playing. My dad, he always had music in him. He liked the percussion. I guess it’s in the genes.

J: Your dad is a musician?

T: I would not say he is a musician because he never did it professionally. He knows what to do. He really likes the percussion though.

J: So, you don’t play steelpan often in the band?

T: No. But you see, that’s my main instrument, and I think I can play it well. When I play any instrument I can just visualize the steelpan infront of me. Sometimes I don’t even have to rehearse it on the steelpan. I can rehearse it on the keyboard and I just transfer my knowledge to the steelpan. I can just pick it up anytime and go and play. When we were in LA actually we had to do something for the tourist board.

J: Big up to all the LA folks.

T: Yesss. I had not touched it for a year and a half and I just set it up and played it there.

J: Which pan do you play?

T: The lead, the tenor pan.

J: So, you started out when you were eight or nine. How did you hook up with Square One?

T: Well, me and Anderson and George. George is the keyboard player, Andy is the lead singer. We went to school together at secondary school. Obviously at that time I was a professional. They were just playing in the school band. I was the leader. At times we would sit down at the piano and play parts. We formed a band. At that time I already knew what I wanted to be which was a musician. End of story. I did not know how serious they were. Then I left school and went to work on a ship for about seven years, playing the steelpan and performing. While I was on the ship they started Square One. I did not even know about this band ‘cause I would be away for six months and only come back for a week or two. Then one time I came back and I saw them and I was like wait I know these two guys. And I joined the band. This is my eleventh or twelfth year.

J: So you came in after everyone else was there?

T: Yeah, they were already about four years or five years ahead. I think four years old.

J: How did you start doing the producing?

T: That was really interesting. When we were at ICE, Square One, we used to pay people to produce. Like Kenny Philips. I always had a feeling that we were not doing it the way that it should be done. That was my gut feeling at that time. I believed that in anything you do you have to start from the bottom and come up. So I wanted to go to the street level, to what I would call the grassroots and come up. I think that our music at that time was more appealing to what I would consider the middle class or upper society. And I just knew that in order for it to really hit it had to reach the bottom and come up. The people in the middle and at top would gravitate to it. The first song I actually did was a dub version of You Are Not Alone from Michael Jackson. Then I did a Chirstmas tune. And then a tune for Congaline called Skettel which was a soca tune, but I had not done any cropover songs as yet. Then I wrote Ragamuffin and produced that one. That was my first main song to write and produce from beginning to end. And then Alison won the road march for that and I figured it was a sign that maybe I should continue doing that stuff. It was real interesting because at that point Anderson was the one who sang all of the up tempo tunes and the best tunes. And I remember telling the manager to give somebody else a chance. That’s how we ended up giving Alison Ragamuffin. And she had success with that one and then a whole set of songs after that like Sugar and Faluma and a whole set of songs since then.

J: So, do you find that there are sometimes conflicts with the three different lead singers and deciding who to give the song to?

T: Well not now because Andy writes his own songs, Cecil writes his own songs and Shaka writes his own songs and I would write for Alison or we would get a song from somebody else to give to Alison. It’s just a matter of how many songs we put on the album and who sings how many. But we never really had a problem with it.

J: That’s cool because you all been together for a long time now.

T: Oh yeah, 16 years I think now.

Jouvay.com: What’s Congaline?

Terry Arthur: Congaline was a festival at the end of April we had coming from Dover down to Queenspark. It was just like a street parade, but that was a good festival. Actually now they started to put different acts like reggae acts and bringing bands from, actually we had Lorraine Classon from South Africa. We started to open it to different kinds of music. So now it’s just a music festival. It’s very nice, you can get to see top acts for a very reduced price. We got to see Kassav and those bands for like $15, $20. That used to be a prelude to the cropover festival. I used to call that the, man Congaline had so much energy and so much vibe. The street festival. That was the real people on the street festival. I think it probably got a bit too rough.

J: Too much Ragamuffin.

T: Real ragamuffin in the street. Lil Rick. Oh man, that was his festival. That’s Hypa Dog. Man, he had the biggest bands every year.

J: Really, does he still do it?

T: No no. They don’t have the street parade part of it anymore. They would just have the different nights. They would have reggae night or calypso night or world beat night.

J: They get to make some money off of it.

T: Yeah yeah. In fact it was Spice’s festival. I don’t know if you know them.

J: Yeah, with the congaline song, “Bump and wine bump and wine in de congaline, let your body move to de groove.” That was the first band I saw when I came to Barbados years ago.

T: When Square One was in their early days that was the band. We always emulated them. It was not in a clashing form, we just respected them and liked how they went about their business. Although they would do a cover, it was how they did it. They always had the Spice touch. I miss them. Two bands I think Barbados misses terribly, Spice and Splash band.

J: But I thought Splash performed with Arturo Tappin (Barbados’ premier saxaphone player) last Friday.

T: That was just a reunion show.

J: Did you go? I was actually trying to come in for it, but the flights were full.

T: No, I was not here. Splash band was probably ahead of their time. I know people like reggae and stuff, but if they were together now playing the way they did, they would be the bomb. They were really good man.

J: Really, and they just split up?

T: Yeah, I don’t know. It’s hard to keep the bands together. Spice, I don’t know. Something happened when their management changed and it was never quite the same.

J: But you guys are the only band here with all of the original members still holding it together.

T: Yeah, I’m not quite sure about the Merrymen. I don’t know if they are up as a band or if they come together to do shows. They are quite old too.

J: So, you also produce for folks other than Square One?

T: Oh yeah. Well, I was fortunate enough to do the road march with Trinidad for Naya George and Invasion band. Tic Toc for Doug E Slaughter. Did work for Bunji Garlin. What song? He usually just comes in and does a song on one of our rhythms.

J: He did stuff on the Desperado rhythm for Monstapiece.

T: Right, so all of those tunes we did. Me and Peter. We did all of the music for Monstapiece over the past four years. We did Jump for Rupee. Jump was probably one of the, if not the most successful song we did.

J: Yeah, it won quite a few road marches. And Rupee still uses it as his intro song for every show.

T: That is the biggest tune.

J: So, Monstapiece is Peter Coppin and yourself?

T: I just go in to help him with the music for the last 4 years. The first song that we worked on was DJ Ride. And we realized we were compatible and since then we have just been doing stuff. We won the road march in Grenada, Tallpree…last year.

J: Which song was that?

T: Rags Invasion. We won road march here with Jump and Hypa Dog for Lil Rick. Actually we were fortunate to win three road marches in three different places last year. We won in Trinidad with Trinidad, we won here with Hypa Dog, and then in NY with Trinidad. That was a blessing. It’s so hard to win a road march. When I was younger I wondered if it was possible for someone to come from outside and win a road march in Trinidad because Trinidad is the mecca. You have to be really lucky.

J: I wonder if they know is some Bajan producers doing their song?

T: I mean it wasn’t….I think it was Iwer George who was the executive producer. So, he came and said he wanted us to do this tune and we did it. And from the time it was released it just got extra popular by the end of the carnival.

J: So, Iwer manages his brother?

T: I don’t think so. At that time, he would pay for the tunes, probably write the songs and help them out because that’s his younger brother. He’s the one dealing with the business side. And he wrote the tune too.

J: So, back to Monstapiece, is it just you and Peter?

T: In terms of the music, yes. Monstapiece has done quite well. They have so many songs out there. They are known for the heavy bass and the rhythms. You’d hear a rhythm come out with six or seven guys on it. From Trinidad, Barbados, St. Lucia, all over.

J: So, you helped with the Desperado rhythm?

T: Yeah yeah, anything that comes out of Monstapiece over the last three or four years including reggae tunes we would have done.

J: Really, who did you work with?

T: Last year we worked with Bling Dawg for Square One for Move, with Hawkeye, we had a number of people passing through. They’re always interested when they come to the studio and they hear stuff. They are pretty pleased with the sound and want to jump on the rhythm.

J: How do the artists find you? Do they approach you or do you look at an artist and say I want to do a song for you.

T: Usually they approach us. They probably heard something that we did before and they want that same kind of sound. Or they hear the rhythm already established and say, “I think I have a song for that.” And if there is any room, we might say ok and they’d come and sing.

J: What’s the next move for Square One in terms of music? You think there will be more crossover with reggae and hip-hop?

T: You never know. The thing about music is it’s not good to plan it and say we are going to do this. The music just happens. When it’s time for the guys to write they might get the vibe to do a crossover tune. That’s the way the music takes you. For right now the music is more in the heavy bass, maybe slight sampling. Each song is different. Some songs may be more traditional with the brass and guitars and live bass. When you go to produce sometimes you have no idea how the song is going to come out. It’s only after you start to build it and you get the vibe you realize what direction it’s going in. Alison is going to do an album, but it will be a softer touch to the normal jump and wave.

J: Are you doing any production on that?

T: No, I think Nicholas (Branker) is doing that whole production.

J: Well, is there anything else?

T: No, just for the people to keep enjoying the music from wherever it comes from. You realize now in the Caribbean you can get sweet music from St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Antigua, Grenada, Barbados, Trinidad…

J: Soon Guyana.

T: Yeah, anywhere man. I am sure if you look through Guyana you will find songs. It’s just a matter of accepting and listening because everywhere has their own style of playing calypso. Although Trinidad may be the main place, every island has their own style of calypso. It’s all nice. There’s room for everyone.

J: I think it would be good if, you know how the whole process of developing artistes seems to be successful? I mean somebody needs to look at that and apply it to other countries/islands.

T: On the last count I think we had 35 studios and that was two years ago.

J: This is in Barbados

T: Yes, and this is for a small island. And everyone has their own way to do the tunes. You will have trouble with the production, but they all have nice ideas. When Peter first started he did not have the musical background, but he’s a DJ. And I think he had an edge on everyone else. Right away he knew exactly what the people responded to from being a DJ. So he came in with that edge. Then I decided to help him out on the musical side. And he got so much success in such a short space of time. Then you have guys like Nicholas who is a total musician on keyboard and bass. And then you have Chris, everyone has their own touch.

J: Who’s Chris?

T: Chris is Chris Altman from Slam City. Actually he would be a good guy for you to talk to. He’s one of the main players here in Barbados in terms of bringing out the youngsters here in Barbados.
He would have done Festival, this is Festival for Rupee. Actually me and him are the ones who did Faluma. And I did most of my early hits over at Slam City like Ragamuffin and Aye Aye Aye, and Electricity.

J: So Slam city is a studio?

T: A studio and a label.

J: I think it’s really impressive how all of you guys work together.

T: I think it’s one of the key things. Although it can be considered competitive, the different studios, Chris can call me to work, I’ll go by Peter, Peter can go by Chris. Everybody just has a different vibe and they just add it together.

J: Is there a lot of government support for encouraging soca and stuff?

T: I guess you can say that. I guess the best way to say that is that they don’t hinder you. You see for me I only get involved in the musical side. I don’t get into the business or whatever. From early I just decided I wanted to separate myself from that. And I just do it for fun too. All of these songs that I’ve done I’ve never done it for money. I’ve done it for the love of music. My payment is like when I go to Trinidad or Labour day and see those thousands and thousands of people jumping up to a song I produced or wrote. It’s the most rewarding thing for me.

J: And you’re just back there on the keyboards and no one knows that you are the mind behind it.

T: Yeah, I like to hold it down. I like to stay in the background. I can’t remember the last time I did an interview. I am not one for doing an interview.

J: Well, I am honored.

T: Obviously it’s because I would have met you before.

J: In California. In LA.

T: In LA. JOUVAY.COM. So, I always like to stay in the background and see how people respond to the music. That’s my payment. That’s my reward.

J: You know they respond really well. Now I know who I does be jumping up to.

T: Ahhhh.

Jouvay.com: Well, thanks a lot Terry, Happy New Year!!!

Terry Arthur: Happy New Year!!!

Check out the Square One Website

CDs on the Square One Label

Earlier CDs on Ice Records