GARY CARDINEZ Monday, November 20 2006

At the age of 17, Shurwayne Winchester took out all of his saving from the bank in Tobago, all $1,500, to travel to Trinidad where he wanted to audition for Calypso Spektakula as a singer.

When he landed in Trinidad he met Arthur Marcial who heard his demo tape and was impressed. Marcial offered Shurwayne a chance to sing in a band but he (Shurwayne) insisted he wanted to be at Spektakula.

Shurwayne’s story was revealed when I caught up with him at Forth Williams, St James during a video shoot for his hit song “Don’t Stop” and over a three-hour period I was able to get a long awaited interview with the reigning Soca Monarch. “Spektakula blanked me and I joined Traffik as a back ground vocalist, Eddie and Eric were the lead singers at that time,” said Shurwayne. Since joining Traffik there was no turning back for the tall, lanky sweet-voiced singer from Scarborough, Tobago.

To understand the drive and determination for success you have to go back to Shurwayne’s childhood days in Tobago. He is the last of five boys, Derrick, Lyndon and Shurwayne are the names he called pausing to explain, “unfortunately two brothers died.”

“We grew up very poor in Tobago but what we had was a sound family bond, actually my family is my biggest asset. I consider myself to be the luckiest individual in the world. My parents sacrificed so much for us and to this day my brothers are very protective of me.”

A somewhat relaxed Shurwayne said, “I went to Signal Hill Primary, Tobago Institute of Education and Elizabeth College. I started singing at age ten in Signal Hill and entered most calypso competitions as a means of income to help my family. Competitions like Heritage Festival and Stars of Tomorrow. My winnings also helped to pay for my schooling.

“It was back then I made a promise to my mother Linda that we will never go through this kind of poverty again.”

Today, Shurwayne is thanking God that he made good on his promise to his mother and they don’t have to struggle like they did back then.

He says it all started with his first song” Get Out of My Dream” which was written by Marlon Suckett and produced by Devon George. “That song gave me visibility — it put a face to the voice, after that came “Wine Down” a song I wrote. But it took two Bajans, Michael Agard and Darren Grant to really explore my potential.

Shurwayne continued, “They told me my voice was too good not to be singing all the time. They financed my first album Under My Spell which produced songs like ‘Wine Down,’ ‘Splash’ and ‘Someday.’ By then I was making strides in Traffik, but the band did covers of other people songs. I then decided to produce an album on my own and after spending over $80,000 Press Play was completed. This album produced songs like ‘Front,’ ‘Take Your Time’ and ‘Baby Love’.”

All this time Shurwayne was growing in stature performing throughout Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean and North America. But the album was not bringing back the returns he expected.

Despite the poor sales on his cd Shurwayne continued, another $80,000 but this time he got his first major breakthrough, “Look The Band Coming,” a song produced by Neil Bernard won him the Road March title and he placed second in the Soca Monarch competition

This took him to a different level, now he was doing international performances as a solo artiste. “I was living out of a suitcase but I did not mind because that’s how I make a living,” he intoned. Since that victory Shurwayne went on to take the Road March title for a second time with “Dead or Alive,” again working with Neil Bernard. He also took the second place in the Soca Monarch competition.

Among all the excitement Shurwayne says he sometimes gets lonely and misses his family back in Tobago.

“Sometimes I pick up the phone and call just to hear their voices. We are not promised tomorrow so I don’t take anything for granted. It costs nothing to say I love you or give someone (especially family) a hug,” says Shurwayne.

The Aquarian born singer does not see himself as a star and remains humble saying, “I would one day hope to get married and have a family. I am all about family, I see it as a foundation necessary for success.”

And success he has been having; this year has been Shurwayne’s biggest to date in his career. His songs “Don’t Stop” and “Can’t Wait” won him the Groovy Soca Monarch and Soca Monarch titles respectively placing him in the history books of Trinidad Carnival.

At the recently held COTT Awards Shurwayne also won Song of the Year with “Dead or Alive” and Songwriter of the Year.

Shurwayne admits that “Don’t Stop” is his biggest song to date saying, “People all over the world are singing it and whenever I go to perform that’s all they want to hear.

“One of the strangest encounters I ever had was in St Lucia, the people at the concert told me to sing “Don’t Stop” alone. I felt they were joking but they were serious and I ended up singing “Don’t Stop” about 12 times.”

Explaining how he does his songs Shurwayne said, “I don’t ever sit down to write a hit song, as a matter of fact I don’t know what a hit song is, sometimes it’s all inspiration from God sometimes it depends on the producer, the lyrics and the mood of the people.

“I write what I feel and react to my environment, and when a producer and artiste can come together with a chemistry it all works out.”

Shurwayne says very often he reminds himself of, “Where I came from and the gold chain around my neck is a constant reminder. But all the fame and glory does not spell monetary gains. To do a video for one of my songs I have to spend about $300,000.

“As soon as I get money I re-invest it in my projects so I can better myself. My performances, the little I get from album sales and sponsorship all go towards making Shurwayne a better artiste.”

Touching on his 2007 album, Shurwayne says, “This one is going to be different, many changes have taken place and it will be reflected in the songs.”

There will be at least ten songs on the upcoming album and Shurwayne has been working with producers Carl Beaver Henderson, Pelham Goddard, Mark Abouhamad and Brent Pharoah of New York.

Already Shurwayne is ruling the airwaves with the first release from the album, a Spanish influenced song called “Allequa” produced by hitmaker Shawn Noel the same man behind the smash hit “Don’t Stop.”