Tano assembles Kes, Coutain, GBM for Heroes Riddim

FROM the San Fernando studio of local hit-making producer Michael “Tano” Montano comes a team of soca stars with one mission: Fill the airwaves with irresistible melodies.

Packed with live instruments and featuring songs by Coutain, Kes and GBM Nutron, the Heroes Riddim already has the population grooving.

The credits include musicians Daniel Ryan (saxophone arrangement), Aaron Blenman (trombone), Charles Randy Williams (trumpet), Joshua Richardson (bass), Rhys Thompson and Modupe Onilu (live percussion) and Kyle Peters (guitar).

It was mixed and mastered by Kasey Phillips of Precision Productions.

New-age vintage sound

Montano told Newsday after watching a documentary about legendary calypso producer Rawlston “Charlie” Charles last year, he was inspired to create more music that “combined the old with the new.”

Charles owned Charlie's Calypso City record store in Brooklyn, US, and was the founder of the label Charlie's Records.

He worked with several local artistes including Ras Shorty I, creator of soca, Lord Nelson, Lord Kitchener, Calypso Rose, The Mighty Sparrow, Superblue and Explainer.

“A lot of those songs from that era were experimenting with disco and calypso, and I love the feel of it,” Montano explained.

“So my intention was just to bring a sound that's familiar but still sounds fresh.”

He recalled that in the documentary, Charles spoke about investing in a bunch of new equipment to improve the quality of mixes and masters in the genre.

“And that really inspired me and reminded me that we, as creatives, have the responsibility to always want to take our music to the next level.”

He started working on the beat that eventually became the Heroes Riddim that same day.

It begins with a superhero-esque brass arrangement that delves into a groovy beat complemented by strings and percussion. There are also synth toms and amapiano log drums.

Coincidentally, prior to even watching that documentary, he had thought about working on something “that sounded like superhero music.

“I think being a creative, you never know when an idea is going to hit.

“I was walking in the Savannah one day listening the intro to Disco Daddy (by Lord Nelson) and thought that it literally felt like a TV show was about to start. I started (narrating) like, ‘Deep in the heart of San Fernando, a team of heroes…’ because it felt like it could work on that beat. It just felt superheroish,” he said while laughing.

The promotional images and cover art complement his concept for the riddim as well. Designed by Jeurel Saunders, they show Montano and the featured artistes on the cover of the 11th edition of the comic series Heroes Riddim. From the layout, fonts and even tidbits like the pricetag of $39.99, it’s as “superheroish” as it gets. The teaser videos leading up to the release also mimicked the introductions to classic comic-related TV shows and films.

Groovy soca jam

The first voice listeners hear on the riddim is Coutain's on Jamtown. He sings, “Darling, put on something sweet, tonight we going and have some fun.”

The track sets the tone with lyrics celebrating soca's power to unite people and have them “dancing until the morning come."

He further explains that the music has the people of Jamtown in their glee.

"Hot and groovy, look what soca do to we. It have we in a jam agai ... Look d bacchanal all around. Welcome to Jamtown, baby.”

He wrote the song along with Tano, Mical Teja and Jeruel Saunders. It features backup vocals by Terri Lyons.

Montano said the artiste actually had a completely different song on the riddim before.

“It didn’t sound bad but we (concluded) that we were not feeling it. And then I think he started to freestyle (on the beat) and he sang, ‘Darling, put on something sweet,’ and I was like, ‘Bro, that’s it!’ Sometimes that first line is all you need.”

Kes’s song Medicine speaks to the healing nature of soca. It "eases his soul" and helps take his mind off the "pressures" of the world.

He sings, “We need a healing…That type of feeling when you need some motivation. This thing could bring down d rain and d thunder.”

He continues, “You see when d soca calling, it give me powers to jam til morning…”

Soca, he proclaims, is his medicine and helps people “throw dem worries down in d gutter.”

It was written by him, Tano and Mical Teja.

As for GBM Nutron’s self-written track Hero, he tells listeners, “Nobody coming here to save you. You got to free yourself when you hear d freedom bell.”

He urges them to enjoy themselves and to fete like a hero.

“As I raise meh hand, I leave d bad vibes on zero…as soon as I reach d dance, I leave meh conduct on zero.”

He said he loves TT and its culture and that the “madness” never stops when soca is playing.

Montano said each song purposely had different elements within the production.

“I just felt like it would have been cool for everybody’s song to have something unique to it.

“(Doing that on a soca riddim) is not very common, probably because it would be considered more work, especially for the engineer who is doing the mixing…But for me, I want each artsite to feel like they’re not limited to one structure. Everyone has something a little different and it makes sense and it worked well.”

He said he is thankful for all the love being shown to the riddim on social media.

"The feedback has been amazing. I feel like it's just been really organically people just loving the riddim –whether it's radio DJs, radio announcers, fellow artistes, the general public....

"Someone did a steelpan cover and mixed Jamtown with Medicine and that made me feel super emotional because when you see people enjoy the melodies that you have written and created, it reminds you: That is what we do it for. That right there, that's when it makes sense."

Track record of bangers

Montano has produced a string of soca hits, including Cocoa Tea, Tack Back, Banga, Jub Jub, and Miracle for Kes, as well as DNA, Tabanca, and Runaway for Mical Teja, and One Piece for GBM Nutron.

His credits also extend to tracks like Mas by Teja and Freetown Collective, Junction by Coutain, and Shake The Place by Machel Montano and Destra Garcia.

Beyond TT, he has worked with international artistes such as Jamaicans Rvssian and Shenseea, Nigerian afrobeats star Rema, and Latin artistes Myke Towers and Blessd.

He also recently co-produced Fling It Up by Machel and Nigerian star Davido, which is climbing the US afrobeats Billboard charts.

When Newsday spoke to Montano last Carnival season, he indicated he hoped to attain a global hit one day. One of his productions, Cocoa Tea by Kes, is working its way up to fulfilling this.

For some time, the track has held number one spots on the US iTunes reggae charts as well as TT’s top 100-most-listened-to songs on Apple Music. Its lyric video on YouTube also gained over six million views in a month.

“I definitely think it has the potential (to become a global hit). The views alone speak for themselves. That’s crazy, crazy numbers."

“I guess we just have to wait and see,” he said. “But I do think that that sound is something that me and Kes are going to continue to work on. And obviously we’ve been experimenting with that style since Jub Jub, Tack Back, and we’re definitely on to something.”

Many often praise what they dub as the “hit-making trio” of him, Mical Teja and Kes.

Montano said both men are amazing at what they do and he is honoured to work with them.

“They respect me and I respect them and there's no ego in the room. When we step in the studio, the music is the boss.

“I was telling Kes (recently), every time we finish writing a song, we have to come right back down to zero. So as much as Cocoa Tea is doing well and we're super happy for that, we have to make the next one.

“Nobody knows what the next song is going to be. Nobody knows the next set of chords I'm going to play or the next rhythm that might inspire me. I have no idea. I just have to be open to receive it from the universe when it comes."