Helon enters soca arena

Reigning National Calypso Monarch Helon Francis will be singing both calypso in a tent and soca with the band Brass 2 The World next Carnival season.

This was revealed at the launch of the new-look frontline singers for the band at its headquarters in Woodbrook on Thursday.

The 25-year-old Francis spoke to Sunday Newsday about his upcoming venture into the soca for the first time while holding on to his calypso. He said: “With anything, once you put your time and dedication to it, you will sink into it and get it. I think once you understand the capabilities of what you can do, anything you want to do is possible. I think that I am a young person and now is the best time to touch as much music as I can.

“I am a music lover. I love music. I will continue with my calypso because that’s my roots, my foundation and what makes me a musician.”

Asked how he intended to manage singing in a calypso tent and fulfilling band engagements Francis said: “You just have to manage your time well enough and you will have to co-ordinate with the people at the tent as well. But at no time can you allow yourself to stay too still because that could mean losing opportunities that are presented.

“You have a chance as a young person and countless possibilities to do anything you desire. So if you don’t take your opportunities at the time when you should, you can lose them. How do you know if you are not supposed to be the next Brian Lara or the next Dwight Yorke if you don’t try?”

The ambitious Francis, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in performing arts from the University of TT last year, said: “At this point, music is my life. As I left university I went straight into the calypso arena and this year I won calypso monarch. I just want to give music my all and my everything, so I can’t in years to come, once God Spares life, say 'I wish I did this.'”

Francis, Young King of 2016 and calypso monarch runner-up last year says he is excited about the upcoming Carnival season. "I have been anticipating it since the beginning of the year. It’s a thing where you know you have a responsibility and you have to try your best to step forward.

"I try my best not to stray too far from who I am as a person so, despite what I do, I try to put myself in everything. If it is soca I’m doing, I want to put myself there, if it's calypso, same thing. If I decide to play football, I will put myself in it too. I don’t want to take anyone’s style or anyone else’s approach to anything, my approach is my approach and that is how it will be.

"I hope I can always put my messages out there through the things that influence me."

Francis described himself as an upcoming artiste in TT who was continuously reaching for better for himself and the rest of the current generation.

"I have personal goals that I maintain within my mind. I’m a private person and I like to motivate myself so I set goals within myself constantly and I don’t ever stop doing that. It is always another goal."