Songwriter, producer Bjorn dreams big — Sets sight on Grammy

DESPITE the challenges and setbacks he has endured, 29-year-old songwriter and producer Bjorn “The KVG” Graham continues to push forward.

And much like the lyrical comparison in Ian “Bunji Garlin” Alvarez’s 2024 hit Carnival Contract – co-produced by Graham – he has dreams “bigger than humpback whale.”

Graham was raised in San Juan and attended the Rosary Boys’ RC Primary School and Fatima College, Port of Spain. He said his childhood was fun, as his family “did the best they could have done” to ensure he was cared for. He told Sunday Newsday he always had an eye for art and creating things.

“Sometimes I would dismantle a car and reassemble the motors onto a totally different thing and make a remote-controlled boat…I used to do craft, I used to draw a lot. This was my introduction to creativity on a whole.”

But in addition, he had an ear for another form of art – music. “My mom told me that when I was a baby, I used to always hum along to the melodies coming across on the radio.”

He recalled volunteering to sing his primary school song at Sunday school in church at age six. “Dry so, out of nowhere, I volunteered,” he said, laughing. “And apparently I sang it real good.”

It was during his secondary-school years that he really began getting into music. He entered school calypso and soca competitions with original songs, often placing in the top three and even winning one year.

He credited his love for local genres of music to his father, who would take him to calypso tents and shows, or have the music “blasting in his car.”

Like a few other local producers, Graham entered the music industry, professionally, in TT as an artiste. His very first release, Big Shot, was released in 2013 and produced by reigning Road March and Young King Mical Teja Williams. He also released another song, Hazel.

He explained the name KVG stood for the Keishon and Vanz Generation of Music – a music group he formed with his friend in secondary school. He felt like keeping it, so he did.

He first extended his songwriting skills to collaborating with others in 2015, when he and a team decided to remix EDM trio Major Lazer and DJ Snake’s hit single Lean On.

Their version was called Wine On, with vocals by Pauliana Padmore. “We released this like a week before Carnival and I heard it played (on the road) with Bliss and Tribe – that was crazy!”

In 2017, he began to explore production with fellow producer Kyle “Badjohn Republic” Phillips. They released the Nostalgia Riddim with Blaxx, Kurt Allen and Chuck Gordon. Although it “didn’t get the altitude (he) hoped for,” he believed it was a great effort.

He has since produced songs like Savannah and One Wish by Neil “Iwer” George, Stage Gone Bad by George and Kees Dieffenthaller, Socavivor by Rikki Jai, the 2021 One Link Riddim, and the 2024 Carnival Contract Riddim, among others.

Stage Gone Bad holds a special place in his heart, and not just because it won both the International Power Soca Monarch and Road March titles in 2020.

Having lost his mother in 2018 and his father in 2019, he said he regularly expressed his frustration by making music and having intense studio sessions. “Everything I was feeling at that time, I just channelled it all into there,” he said.

He also lost his sister in 2023, during the height of the work that went into putting out the Carnival Contract riddim. Admittedly, he had to take a break, but when he returned, it was as if he had never left. Once again, making music was an outlet for him.

He describes his sound as grand and orchestral. “It’s meant to be very impactful and I think I consider songs with an orchestral feel to be divine or have a godly feel to it. When you hear a KVG production, you must hear live instruments.”

He also enjoys parang and extempo when it comes to local genres, though in addition he produces pop and funk.

He recalled going to an extempo show once and getting to challenge veteran calyppsonian and master of extempo Winston “Gypsy” Peters with a verse. “Then Gypsy responded and that was the end of that,” he said. Praising the reigning extempo king, he said it was a great experience.

As for parang, he released Pumpkinvine in 2021, which he produced with Gideon Bishop. It was on the La Familia Riddim, which also featured Crazy, Sergio and Calypso Nite.

On the possibility of returning to being a performing artiste, he said it is something he has given thought to recently. If he does, he thinks he will stick to parang.

He thanked his family for continually supporting him and pushing him to fulfil his dreams. “All of them had an impact on my life and my career. Even though none of them were artiste themselves, they pushed me to do what I love.”

Like many in the music industry, he hopes to one day make it to the Grammy Awards.