Casting on for 5 talented Trinis

Philip Taylor, president and founder of Taylor Mayd Musik (TMM), producer, songwriter and engineer, is in Trinidad with a team in search of up-and-coming artistes from TT.

The team comprises Don Bartholomew, director of the Trini to the World reality show on HBO; Jean Le Phare, head, Urban Department, TMM; and two-time Grammy nominee Robert Venable, head of Pop Rock Department, who also owns Off The Wall Studios.

They are working alongside Romano Francois, head of Resolve Productions, co-producer of Trini to the World, and Ethan Auguste of Thrive International.

Taylor told Newsday their goal is to build new career paths for local artistes outside the local genre, and to give TT artistes a platform both to have visibility and their music heard internationally, and for their records to be sold outside of the Caribbean market.

He explained: “We want to expand the music market down here, the music industry beyond soca genre. But we are not trying to edge out the soca market. We just feel that there is a lot more talent down here, that it’s not just within that genre, and those artistes voices need to be heard.”

He added that locals will have the opportunity to have quality records done by a professional team and with major syndication in the United States and internationally, their music will be taken to another level.”

Explaining the concept of the show, he said: “We are going to pick five artistes from all of TT to go to the US, live together in the same house together and to compete for a two-record deal done by TMM, and distributed by Ingrooves/Universal Music Group (UMG).”

Casting is now going on and some 30 contestants will be selected to showcase one song and do a screen test tomorrow, at VAS Lounge in St Clair.