Pan inspires Lost Boy Jay to upgrade music skills

VISHANNA PHAGOO

Jamil "Lost Boy Jay" Thornton Daillie who was inspired by the pan which was taught to him by Salmon Cupid, a Trinidadian teaching in Toronto, brought his deejaying skills to downtown Port of Spain for the Sounds of the Underground (SOTU) Nights house music event.

"The steelpan was one of the first percussive instruments that showed me how music can make people move and dance. Cupid was one of the first instructors that inspired me to make music. From there I went on to the guitar pan, getting better at reading music and later joining the school’s classical and jazz bands."

One of his best friends, Brandon Hubah, introduced him to house music and to SOTU Nights team.

SOTU Nights, started in 2017, promote monthly events that are house-music centric and aimed at introducing other DJs to downtown Port of Spain.

Speaking to Newsday, Daillie, 27, gave the origin of his stage name which has two reasons; feeling disconnected from others, but ultimately finding his way, and the movie, The Lost Boys.

"I really enjoyed playing instruments, but was not huge into reading traditional sheet music. I understood the value sheet music had foundationally, but I wanted to produce and play my own music. I grew up in the era of computers and digital audio workstations, which helped me realise I could make music digitally. It really brought my experiences full circle."

A lot of his inspirations, though, are drawn from hip-hop and R&B.

"I started producing music for a lot of emerging Toronto and American artists that I would connect with through Facebook and SoundCloud. After years of producing for independent artists, I stepped into my own solo career recording trap soul music, which led to me even opening for the likes of Migos during an after party in Toronto. At the start of last year, I discovered a new love towards house music through one of my best friends, Hubah."

With his inspiration being hip-hop and R&B, he has been bringing the two genres together and creating his own unique sound which can be heard on SoundCloud under his mix, Could Be Wrong, where he sampled Brandy's I Wanna Be Down. As for his production style, he said that is inspired by American rappers Travis Scott and Kanye West, R&B duo Majid Jordan and DJ Premier, who are American recording artistes.

"Their beat switch-ups, use of samples from the most obscure places, and expression they brought to their music helped shape my approach to music production. When I look at house music, I’m gravitating towards the likes of Michael Bibi, Kerri Chandler and Denis Ferrer who are all DJs.
I’m huge on New Wave from 1980-1990 to soul music from the 60s."

Daillie spoke of some of his challenges he overcame while establishing his career.

"The number one challenge would be doubt from people I was surrounded by. But this was almost a motivation to just prove to myself that I could do what I set my mind to as long as I put in the hours. I have never doubted myself. It may have taken some time, but I always told people, even from the fifth grade that I would make it. Whether it was music, or something else that excited me, that I would be great at it. It felt like I was working what looked like dead-end-jobs to me that were not the most fulfilling. I found that I was just holding these jobs to pay for essentials, dates with my girlfriend and just show people I’m capable of having a job, but it was not what I wanted for myself. I found that when I put that passion into music, you could see a better product and an improvement in my mood and energy."

He also had some words of encouragement: "I truly believe that you have to put in the work and believe in yourself. Your life could change in one day. The hard work, learning and belief go hand-in-hand. You can’t just manifest or vision board grand ideas. You have to actualise. The universe is not going to come your way solely based on belief. You need to be someone who knows how to bring in the right people, know when to ask for help, but also take initiative. My father may not have been the best dad, but one thing I took away was his entrepreneurial mindset. He was not one to have blinders on. This man would be up hustling until 5 am or 6 am then drive me to school. but there were selective values I paid attention to."

SOTU Nights is commonly hosted at Euphoria Lounge, but this time, it was held at Fuzion Nightlife, Cascade, on June 30 from 11 pm-7 am.