Pannist Derron Ellies plays from the heart

THE vibrant energy of Panorama performances captured Derron Ellies’s heart as a child. His eyes were glued to the TV at his Manzanilla home as he swayed to the rhythms and melodies played on the national instrument. He knew he would someday be part of the magic he once watched in awe.

Ellies told Sunday Newsday his love of music actually began with singing. He was always singing around the house and his father noticed this and took him to a music teacher.

“She did some checks and realised I had perfect pitch…And (later on) I would sing with church choirs, school choirs, that sort of thing…”

But around age eight, the then Cunapo (St Francis) RC Primary School student got hooked on Panorama.

“I was watching all the bands on TV and I looked at how happy they were, and I looked at how happy the crowds were, and I immediately said, ‘This is something I could get into.’”

He soon joined the Manzanilla Police Youth Club where he got the opportunity to begin learning how to play the steelpan.

His first stint was on the triple cello.

“And that was great. I loved it.

“It was fun to strum along and sometimes do some chords and some lines in between. And then I got to the point where I could even play an entire song on it.”

That song was In This Together by Luciano, Louie Culture and Terror Fabulous.

When he moved to Queen’s Royal College, he joined their scout band.

He took the opportunity to play all the types of steelpans but eventually settled on the tenor.

“I loved hearing how some of the people I looked up to (play the tenor) and I told myself, ‘I have to get to that point one day,’ so I stuck with it. I loved playing the melodies.”

Through this, he got to participate in the TT Music Festival in the steelpan solo category.

“I did that twice and both times were enjoyable. But I remember being very nervous. It wasn’t easy on the stage at all but I did it.”

He added, “Seeing my peers and parents in the crowd helped a lot.”

He came second the first time around with a rendition of Turkish March, and third the next year with Eric McAllister’s The Call of Steel.

When he left secondary school, he said he got his “first taste of touring” with a steelband.

He was in the band Los Tocadores and performed in New York City.

“We were doing parang and people’s reaction – there's nothing like it.”

He has also performed in England, China, India, the United Arab Emirates, Jamaica, St Maarten, Aruba and Martinique.

Ellies also did a certificate in music at UWI, St Augustine.

But it was in 2004 that he got to see the joy on Panorama attendees’ faces first-hand. And he got to be one of the people spreading that joy.

“The joy that people get out of listening and watching us perform is amplified in me by being able to actually perform it for them. I wouldn't exchange that for anything.”

His first senior conventional Panorama band was Pamberi Steel Orchestra and he has also played with the Fascinators Pan Symphony, among others.

One of his greatest moments was getting the chance to work under the late, legendary steelpan composer Ken “Professor” Phillmore.

“That was with the Sound Specialists of Laventille.

“That man was a genius. The joy and the love that he had for his music always trickled down to the players and the management of the team that he was working with. And we happened to win the section as a small band.”

Another achievement was being featured in US-based TT rapper Nicki Minaj’s music video for Pound The Alarm.

“In that video, I was playing the percussive harmonic instrument, which was the electronic version of the pan.

“I remember being shocked when I was contacted thinking, ‘How did this happen?’ I was mind-blown but grateful.”

The video has 295 million views on YouTube.

He played that same instrument during JW and Blaze’s 2010 Soca Monarch-winning performance of Palance.

Other local acts he has performed with include David Rudder, The Mighty Shadow, The Mighty Sparrow, Black Stalin, Kes, Denise Belfon, Terri Lyons and Sekon Sta.

He said he has also played for many international diplomats and leaders.

“Playing music for people is a beautiful thing, you know?”

Asked what’s next, he said he hopes to continue to evoke joy through music.