Ace wants to be Carnival King

Damian “Ace” Oliverie was once a member of 3Suns, the popular ragga soca band known for hits such as Carnival Darling, Dat Eh Nuttin and Hot Gyal.

The trio met in Northeastern College, Sangre Grande, realised they had a mutual affection for music and 3Suns was born out of that.

After disbanding in 2011, his band mates, Sherwin “M1” Jeremiah and Olufemi “Crym” Williams pursued solo careers while he took some time to reassess. He studied instrumentation at Automation Technical College, Broome Street, San Fernando.

When the group disbanded it was not easy for Ace.

“It was an emotional time as well because with these guys, we literally lived like brothers. We shared everything. Give one another advice. Pull each other up. Moving on from that was kind of an emotional kind of ride but at the end of the day we have to do what we have to do.”

From 2011 to 2018, he released some singles to remind TT that he “was still doing his thing” but decided to return “head-on” to music in 2019.

For Carnival 2020, Ace has three offerings called Born Ah King, Robot and Show Off.

Born Ah King was written by Ace and Arnold “Black Star” Noel and is a “positive uplifting song” telling people not to give up, Ace said in a phone interview with Newsday. It was produced by Barataria production company, District Six and released on November 18.

The Sangre Grande resident’s second track, Robot, was done collaboratively with Jamaican dancehall artiste, Serani and produced by Chain Linxxx Productions, Sangre Grande. Ace described it as a vibesy, uptempo dance song. It was released on December 13.

His third song, Show Off, is featured on the Pan Jam Rhythm and was done with a new artiste called Femi Baptiste. He said this song will be released in the coming weeks.

While he did music full-time with 3Suns, he now works as a process plant operator with Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA).

But music was always his first love and so he decided to return to it.

Admittedly, the transition to being a solo artiste has not been easy, as he was used to teamwork and team effort.

The 3Suns was known for its fusion, a sound influenced by the international genres they listened to and the storytelling of TT’s indigenous music.

While this will factor into the music Ace develops, he is seeking to grow and develop his own sound.

His mission will be to represent TT on international stages and next to music’s greats.

He puts no limits on his music, he hopes to go as far as he could push it, Ace said.

He added he knows a lot of people on the music scene internationally and hopes to rekindle those relationships.

He plans to be in some of the leading shows for Carnival 2020.