Destra Garcia reflects on inner self in gospel album

BACCHANAL time is over, in more ways than one for the Queen of Bacchanal. At least for now.

You may have noticed you did not see Destra Garcia around for Carnival this year, as she did not actively partake in the festival or release any music. That is because she is working on a special project – a gospel album and concert which she hopes will bring joy to her fans and the lovers of gospel music alike.

The concert, Reflections, will take place at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s on April 12. There she will sing covers of some of her favourite gospel songs, 12 of which are on the album. The album has been completed, but is in the mixing and mastering stages and will be released before the end of Lent.

“It’s a different side of me. I’m reflecting on who I am on the inside. The team and I decided to call it Reflections because it felt more authentic in what it was.”

This will not be the first time Destra released gospel music. In 2003, she recorded a gospel song on her first album Red, White and Black – the same album with her hit, It’s Carnival. And on each of her next six albums, she also released a gospel song.

She chose five of those, which she re-mastered, and selected seven more to include on her new album.

Destra told WMN she was “a church-going girl” when she was younger, and the story of her introduction to Carnival was loosely documented in her 2015 song Lucy. She was christened as a Catholic, her father was an ordained reverend and her mother was a deaconess in the Spiritual Baptist faith, and she attended an Anglican primary school.

“I learned from an early age that, although religion is important, it’s not as important as spirituality. And as I got older, I stopped going to church because I questioned which Christian religion was the best religion.

“Because I was exposed to so many of them, I started to realise it’s not really about the religion. It’s about maintaining your spirituality, continuing with your faith and, at the end of the day, when you face challenges, you rely on God.”

She said putting gospel songs on her albums was an attempt to include her fans in her holistic journey. But people, especially DJs, skipped the songs when they played her albums, so she realised including the songs made no sense.

She thought God was telling her she should not mix the two genres, and she should probably just do a gospel album.

“In as much as I pay attention to my soca career, where I would go and record every year and make sure I have a song for the road and a song for the fetes, I think I needed to just stop and focus on that (the gospel album) and give back to God all that he’s given me. He’s blessed me so much in my career.”

LISTEN WHEN GOD SPEAKS

Destra said she often listened to gospel music, as it reaffirmed there was a power higher than her, and that higher power was why she was here. Each song on the album had meaning for her, was a link to how she would have felt at some point in her life and was part of her journey.

She said singing those songs let her emotions out, which felt like a type of freedom.

For example, one of the songs was His Eye on the Sparrow. She said there were many times in her 26-year soca career when she felt discouraged, lost, in conflict within herself, and there were people trying to make her feel unworthy.

“And then I realised that’s not the reason why I sing. ‘I sing because I’m happy. I sing because I’m free. And His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches over me.’

“So little things like that. When you know that there’s a purpose greater than yourself, it’s no longer just about you. It’s no longer about how the world serves you. It’s more about how you could serve the world and what your true purpose here is.

“Not everybody could sing, and there must be a reason why he gave me this voice.”

She said even as she loved singing soca, her fans, performing and touring, she believed her voice was made for a higher purpose. And since God put a song in her heart, she intended to sing it.

Her determination to release the album grew during Carnival 2024. She said none of it – the people, situations, outfit choices, expectations, etc – felt right. She believed God was sending her a message to stay away from Carnival and focus on the album.

“That is how things have been revealed to me my whole life. If I’m not supposed to go somewhere, or associate with someone or there’s a dangerous situation ahead, something would tell me, ‘Don’t go there. Don’t do that. That person just trying to lead you astray from we want to do.’ I don’t always listen to that voice and then something (negative) would happen.”

So last year she released her 16th album, performed at various Carnival events and decided to skip Carnival 2025.

She was still wavering about her decision when her friend and mentor, veteran musician and saxophonist Roy Cape, died in September 2024. She said she became depressed and so started to pray and listen to gospel music more. It solidified her conviction to do the gospel album.

She said she did not think people would notice as she rarely performed at fetes any more, as she mostly worked overseas. But she was wrong. A lot of people noticed and asked about her absence. But, she said nothing. She had been talking about doing a gospel album for the past 15 years but never thought it was the right time or it was not a priority at the time. She felt if she spoke about the album, it would not happen. She only announced it when she lay down the last set of vocals.

She recalled telling her friend Lisa Ghany she was working on the album. Ghany encouraged her to do a concert, started planning it and things began to fall into place. Now, veteran mas designer Brian Mac Farlane is doing the creative design and other people are jumping on board. She figured God was working through them to make what He wanted to happen, happen.

TIME FOR CHANGE

Destra said her soca career gave her fans who loved her, not just her music, and she believed the gospel songs she sang would touch their hearts.

“I don’t know who’s out there that need to hear these songs, because whoever sang the songs in the first place didn’t know that I needed to hear it, or that it would change and impact my life like this, but it did. So when I do these songs, when I put these songs out there, it’s for whoever needs to hear it, whoever God wants these songs to go to.”

She said people who judged this decision did not know her. She pointed out that, even if only for a year, giving up Carnival – the shows, the exposure, getting booked for events abroad for the rest of the year – was not an easy thing to do.

Because of that decision, she did not know what her future looked like. But, she knew she was altered.

She said in recording the album, she had to take a closer walk with God and the experience changed her. She said she was booked for a few events this year and will adhere to her commitments, but there were things she no longer felt comfortable doing.

“I probably look good in the clothes still, but there are some that I probably would not wear again,” she laughed.

“He was always there. I was always listening. I was always doing. But there’s something different when you feel God’s anointing, and you go on a microphone and you sing these songs. And the way that I feel right now, I don’t think I want to lose this feeling.”

Destra said she realised a lot of people did both gospel and secular albums, so at this time, she had no plans to switch genres but she was trusting God to guide her.

“Gospel is so diverse now. There’s so much I want to explore. It’s just like soca. You could sing a groovy soca, you could sing a power soca, you could sing this and that, all kinds of soca.

“In the same way, you can sing all kinds of gospel now, and it’s something I want to explore fully. So this is not the end of me doing gospel. I just don’t know what the future is going to bring.”

She reiterated that her heart had always been in accord with God. And although it was not something new, it will be new to her fans.

“I never anticipated being in a zone to do a gospel concert until, probably, I was very old. So this is new and unexpected, and trust that I’m not doing this on my own. I’m doing this because I was divinely guided to do so.

“I hope people stop trying to figure out if I am going to be a gospel artist, or if I’m going to be a soca artist. If I don’t know, how allyuh go know? God is in charge.”

Reflections will take place at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s on April 12 at 7.30 pm. Tickets are available at Queen’s Hall Box Office or online at queenshalltt.com.