University of Trinidad and Tobago student immerses herself in parang music

Kaya Weekes juggles work, studies and a number of other things that she loves doing. But around Christmas time, there is one activity that takes priority.

The 24-year-old told WMN, from the start of the parang season in September, until early January every year, parang takes precedence over all other non-work and -school related activities.

“I have a scheduling app on my phone that I use to keep track of everything I do. If there are clashes, I prioritise the more important ones…

“I know about most of my parang gigs in advance, and during the Christmas season I always prioritise parang,” she said with a laugh.

But this love relationship she has developed and nurtured with the musical artform did not happen overnight. Weekes practically grew up on stage learning all she could about the genre of music that is synonymous with Christmas in TT.

“I have been doing parang since I was three years old. My mother, Paula, was always into parang and she started bringing me and my sister along. My sister stopped but I continued."

The first band she joined was the Santa Cruz-based Azucar, playing the toc toc – a skill she taught herself because the timing came natrually.

“And since then I never stopped playing; I just found a love for it.”

When she was ten, after leaving Azucar, she started playing the maracas (chac chac) with the band Solo Para Ti after being taught by one of her mother's friends. And even though she was not fluent in Spanish, she also sang.

“I don’t really speak Spanish, but I understand it.”

Even at school, the D’Abadie resident wasted no time in marking her territory on the parang scene, first as a member of the Arima Girls RC contingent that entered the National Junior Parang Competition in the primary schools category, then as the lead singer of her alma mater, Arima North Secondary in the secondary schools category in 2012 and 2013.

In 2015 she joined and started playing the maracas with her third band, Alma Caribena, balancing gigs with both bands until she left Solo Para Ti in 2023. Her gigs with Alma Caribena, though, is not exclusive to Christmas time and parang.

"We play at any event, at any time of the year, and not just parang music."

She enjoys being the youngest member of the band and being "spoilt" by the other members.

"Even though I'm an adult they all treat me as though I'm ten years old, which is around the age I would have been when they met me."

Her voice cracked as she made special mention of Abdon "Abbi" Ramdass, one of the long-standing members of the band at whose home the band members met to practise. Abbi died earlier this month, days before a gig.

"Abbi was the sweetest person I've ever known and he treated me like his daughter. He was a great musician, a mentor and I loved him dearly. I will continue to play music in his honour and celebrate his life like he would have wanted."

Weekes said although she appreciates traditional parang, she finds contemporary parang and the way in which it evolved much more appealing because of the many ways in which the sounds and styles can be manipulated with technology. But, she said, the work of those who created a path for young people who, for whatever reason, have taken up the challenge to keep the artform alive should never be set aside or be under-appreciated.

“I’m currently studying a history of parang on my own for my own edification.

“I appreciate my mom because she got me into loving parang. I love the style of the late Daisy Voisin, the Queen of Parang. And even though I lean more towards contemporary parang, I still enjoy traditional parang.”

And as she continues to learn and develop in the parang arena, the final-year University of TT student can hold her own on the stage in other areas as well. Her major in the performing arts allows her to see the bigger performance picture and appreciate the opportunities the theatre world has to offer. But even before she entered the performing arts at tertiary level, she was already in the game.

“I did the theory exam in music and I used to play the piano and pan. I’ve played the tenor pan in Panorama with Arima All Stars.

“I started dancing from the age of nine with the Malick Folk Performing Company. We danced for Best Village, at the Junior Soca Monarch competition and at the International Soca Monarch competition.”

Weekes, a former model, also started exploring hip hop dancing at the Xtreme Dance Academy, and has since then tried other forms of dance.

“I also like the bele, Afrobeats, and contemporary and modern dances.”

At the end of it all, though, she has no desire to go into acting or dancing on a professional level. Instead, her dream is to teach everything she has absorbed to children.

“I would love to be a dance teacher and to teach acting.

“I don’t have a reason as to why I don’t want to act, I just know it’s not a calling.

“I’ve just always had a love for teaching kids to act and dance, and I’d love to open an academy for acting and dancing…

“And, of course, to teach kids about the parang world.”

But for now, she works as a bartender to support herself until she completes her studies. And when she has the time, she gets in as much of the outdoors as she can.

“I like outdoor activities – the beach, ATV riding, travel.

“I read lot of true stories. I just started Many Lives, Many Masters," a true story of a prominent psychiatrist, Dr Brian Weiss, one of his young patients, and the past-life therapy that changed both their lives.