Carnival 2016 season has been good to Erphaan Alves. His success hasn’t come by chance—he has sharpened his focus on his music style and brand, and has also used social media to advantage. His work with Sekon Sta and Preedy on the Festival Medley shows that though at times artistes may have to compete against each other, the love of the music is what drives them.
His other songs, Body On Fire and Cyah Shut Down, are doing well. But it is his hit song Intentions that has really reinforced his position as a soca artiste with staying power.
“I’ve been paying more attention to the approach of my releases and my sound. In the earlier years, I would just go in the studio, vibes a song, and once I like it, release it. But now I’m really focusing on a product that can represent me as an artiste and my brand. I’ve created a very distinct sound now because I’ve been working on the musicality of it. So ...when people hear one of my song, they can really spot the difference. When I write songs for people, they are still able to discern where it came from. So even though music is this natural vibe, I’m focused on building that specific style,” said Alves.
He believes his song writing is the key to taking his music to the next level.
“I want to connect with people a lot more, so my song ideas now are more relatable to party goers. The idea behind the song was inspired by what a guy would go to a party to do. He might not dance with all the girls—but if it’s one thing, he will be watching them. I built the story around a guy in a fete admiring the body movements of a woman dancing in the crowd. He is trying to build the confidence to approach her to dance. Little does he know that she is actually waiting for him to dance. So it’s a real thing that people can definitely relate to,” said Alves.
His Vlogs were pointed marketing tools that continue to create buzz for his music. They were also an opportunity to present himself in a different way to fans. The Vlogs feature studio shots, candid interviews with members of the creative team behind the music, and also scenes of Alves “wilding out” and just being himself.
“Obviously the Vlog was made to push the song, but I’m always an artiste who likes to feed the audience with much more than music. I want them to see my life, the ups and downs—it’s a chance for people to see the real me, not only as an artiste,” said Alves.
He has realised that most soca lovers outside of T&T shop for their favourite soca tracks on YouTube, so they are able to find all the songs from their favourite artistes. This might have not been the case where they were totally reliant on listening only to urban radio stations.
While things are going well for the singer, he believes more can be done to promote soca music outside of Carnival.
“It’s hard to believe that an urban genre like soca is locked in a zone—it seems to be trapped in the Carnival zone. There is no other place in the world where this occurs. That’s the biggest problem I think right now. To eradicate it, I think we need to find more ways to release music outside of the season, which is kind of hard when you look at it.
“When T&T Carnival is over, you have to think about the other carnivals around the world. It’s difficult to do the two at the same time. A dancehall artiste, for instance, has no season, in terms of tunes going local and abroad at the same time. A soca artiste, however, has to work out a magic as to how he’s going to push it here while promoting it outside there,” said Alves.
His post-Carnival season is hectic and he has performed at various venues across Europe, North America and South America. However, he believes that he has to make a greater effort to work more within the Caribbean.
“I really want to work on building my name in the islands because between 2012 and now, I think I’ve fallen behind in terms of my presence there. So, though I’m always in Barbados and St Lucia, I want to make the full route. I know the songs are playing but I want to spread more love, and do more collaborations, and continue reaching audiences,” said Alves.