Marley Palmer intent on 'spreading positive messages' with his music

LOCAL artiste Marley Palmer is intent on spreading positive messages through his music, as he looks to resume his career in the latter days of the covid19 pandemic.

Palmer, who has done soca and parang soca tunes, has made his name on the local and regional reggae industry for almost a decade with songs like Reap What You Sow, Guide and Protect Me and Get on Board.

His latest track, Live a Good Life, has received lots of views on YouTube.

Palmer spoke with Newsday about his immediate plans and how the lockdown affected him, a person and as an artiste.

Q:What have you been doing lately?

A: “I am all about spreading positive messages to the nation and, in fact, to the world at large. So, I'm just trying to empower as many people as I can, because it’s more than the music for me. Right now, I'm working on ten-track roots-reggae album, or what I call roots-consciousness. The work never stops.

I've been doing videos as well for about a couple of the tracks. (One of the songs is called Jesus Is Coming Soon). It’s more than the music, for me, it’s about spreading that positivity. If you feel it in the atmosphere, the atmosphere (is) different. We're wrestling against powers, not against flesh and blood.

All these children (are) fighting, people don’t consider authority as how things (were) long time. The work is more than just being on stage and making the music. These days, people are a little more suicidal, families in disarray. It's a lot of evil energies roaming the atmosphere. So, from conception, the work never ceases.”

How did the pandemic period/covid19 lockdown affect you, personally and as an artiste?

The pandemic helped create a more close-knit and a closer (bond) with God too. It brought out a lot of strength in many of us. Some of us didn’t know we can do such things, because everything closed down. A person would set up (his/her) own stage, do their own music, set up a live, and you’ll have the realisation that ‘hey, I can do this on my own.’

People have to realise that time is very valuable so you spend more time with loved ones, it (brought) a lot of closeness with families. Some people learned to cook, some people learned to bake, some people learned to fix certain things. It brought out a lot of resilience and a lot of self-reliance, you don’t need to depend on a lot of people to do things. To me, it helped, it made me stronger. It made many people spiritual.

As an artiste...

I just look at things (from) an optimistic point of view. Everything is for a good. It made me better and stronger. That' s how I look at things.

What does the immediate future hold for you as an artiste?

The work never stops. The mission is to spread as much positivity through the whole world, to make everybody a better person through music. We need to always think on that positive level, because negativity usually leads to war and death. Right now, I'm getting together my band. Once that kicks off and music start to spread like wildfire, the dream is to tour all over the world.

I would love to have my own radio station where I can promote as much home-grown music as possible. The future is just to make the place better, just to uplift people’s spirit. Musicians don’t understand the great responsibility that you have. Through the medium of music, you can spread a lot of messages, you can speak on many things. I chose to create an optimistic mood with people, to have their minds buzzing, to have them thinking, because that’s the only way you can win that battle between light and darkness.