Good Vibes Only T&T

JABARRI SUPERVILLE

From soca to jazz, from pop to reggae; this group can do it all. Founded in 2014, Good Vibes Only T&T is a musical group that is all about freedom of musical expression. Comprised of musicians and singers, the group is looking forward to making big waves on the local scene.

Speaking with Newsday yesterday, the group’s head of marketing, Samuel Thomas Jr., said the group was founded in the University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine Campus. “It was founded by myself, Alexander Mack and Jerome Gonzales. The group is a music movement and it was created because there was basically no space for us in UWI to practice or express our music,” Thomas Jr. said. He said the group had to use the university’s Civil Engineering Building and other classrooms to practice. He added that the group currently has four core members as well as 50 general members and they are expanding their brand to become an entertainment label.

He said, “We have other people who just come in when we have informal jam sessions. A jam session is when the group comes together, we pick a song and we cover it; it can either be impromptu or we pick the song beforehand.” Thomas Jr., who sings and plays the piano, among other instruments, believes music is very important to this country’s youth population.

He added that Good Vibes Only intends to change the way young people in T&T view local talent. “It needs to change,” he said, “You have to go away and make it first then come back to Trinidad, then you get recognised or you get a lot of traffic.” He also said the group wants to encourage a variation in different genres of music in this country.

Unfortunately, about a month ago, the group’s Facebook page, which contained 60 music videos and garnered over 2,000 likes, was removed. Thomas Jr. believes the page’s removal “discouraged” some of the group’s members. He said the group was building a momentum and they were severely set back when their page was deleted. He said social media is a foundation for any artiste to get their stuff out there. He added that it will be a challenge to get back the following they once had, but he is “up for the challenge.”

Thomas Jr. said the public can expect original music from the group soon. Though they have plans to collaborate, they will most likely be releasing solo music first.

He stressed the need for local artistes to release quality work and only then will they receive the public’s respect. “We don’t have enough expertise here on videography and production. You have to do quality work to get recognition,” he said.

According to Thomas Jr., Good Vibes Only would love to collaborate with soca star Machel Montano and anybody who is “feeling” their style and willing to collaborate with them.