Desire
interviewsofrecordingartists.com
With the force of a Hurricane moving inwards from the Caribbean towards the North American shores, the red hot Barbados rock band Desire, is currently riding atop the crest of a gigantic wave of popularity.
The momentum started building around the quartet when they first joined forces in December of 1998 and has since steadily rose up around them. First on the beautiful island of Barbados, then over next three years, throughout the Caribbean region.
Now surfing high upon that crest of popularity , Desire is landing on the North America shores this summer.
The Desire lineup consists of, lead singer Adam Atkinson; guitarist Brian Marshall; drummer Lance Howell and bass player JJ Poulter.
The group is scheduled to begun working on recording sessions for their next album at private studio in an undisclosed North American location. And the group will take breaks to perform at several select, high profile functions.
How has Desire managed to succeed breaking their own unique rock sound, coming from a region, which for decades has been associated primarily with reggae and calypso music?
Because Desire has created their own unique style of Caribbean/rock fusion.
As far back as 1999 they were forging their own Caribbean/rock sound and over time, they have grown as songwriters and as musicians, who showcase their talents most brightly, within the realm of live performance.
Their music is the result of the collective vision of individuals who comprise a
tight musical ensemble, one which has successful created rock music that ventures into new territory.
Desire established a master plan right from their inception. And then, carried their plan through to the letter. In creating their own Caribbean/rock fusion, Desire has become a rock group with a sound that finds their roots within a new realm of musical diversity.
In December of 1998, four friends, Adam Atkinson, Lance Howell, Brian Marshall
and JJ Poulter, who resided in the beautiful Caribbean island of Barbados, West Indies, set out to create a unique musical style that reflected the rich cultural heritage of their beloved island home.
With the four musicians all being British, yet living most of their lives in the island paradise, what began during those early songwriting sessions in December of 1998, eventually lead to the group performing around the island at the many local nightclubs frequented by tourists. Thus, on many a night, Desire performed to audiences comprised of people who were literally from all over the globe.
"The audiences we've played to since we first began performing, come from completely different ethnic backgrounds," says Adam Atkinson. "In Barbados, due to the tourism, we frequently perform for Americans, Canadians, English, Germans, Scandinavians, as well as the people of Barbados. So we quickly discovered our music appealed to people on an international level just by playing in the nightclubs and at events in Barbados."
Since the four friends, while British, all grew up on the island, they were exposed to a rich cacophony of musical styles. By listening to Calypso, Rock, Soca, Reggae, Pop, Latin, Zouk, Soul, Funk & R&B, their sound inevitably would evolve into a complex and rhythmically sophisticated music. Desire's music soon became wildly popular among the Barbados locals, as well as the thousands of tourists from around the globe who visit the island yearly.
It was at that point when, almost as if on cue, the group members together and individually began to hear the same question time after time. That's when Desire knew they were onto something that was bigger then they'd ever imagined would be possible to happen within a relatively brief span of time.
"'People were coming up to us and saying,' Your band and music is great!," says Atkinson,"' but this is weird, because, why haven't I heard of you guys already back in my home country? Your music deserves to be heard all around the world.'"
And for over a year, all four members of Desire, either in the nightclubs, after yet another one of their high energy performances, or simply whenever they were walking down the street, once they were recognized, each continued to receive this same reaction from people who had seen their performances.
"We started seeing people who were tourists on vacation, or students on break from college," Brian Marshall says," throughout our day or in the venues at night, telling us they were really getting into our music and live shows. Gradually the realization started to dawn on us that, given time, all the while performing as often as possible, something bigger then we could imagine with our music, could quite possibly happen."
It wasn't long until Desire was the hottest act on the island of Barbados and in May 1999 Desire's first single, "Sun in The Summertime", scorched onto the local charts and became the highest charting debut single of any local band in the charts' history.
Then Desire found themselves, the only rock group out of the Caribbean, who were writing and performing music that had a truly international, even global appeal. And, at high profile events throughout the Caribbean, Desire was winning significant music competitions and getting high profile international publicity.
They were making a name for themselves in a big way.
Why? What makes this rock quartet different from any other in the world of rock, regardless of the geographic location they call their home?
Because as the listener quickly discovers once they venture into the mix of the music on "Shine", Desire's second EP following their debut EP, "Out Of The Blue", no one else sounds quite like them. There is one and only one Desire and their sound is unique to the world of rock.
Another aspect lies within the commitment the rock quartet has, in that each member remains firm on their group vision. "Staying ahead of the curve", and not following trends or fads. They are creating sounds that comprise music for the New Millennium.
Desire is about art without boundaries and rock music filled with possibilities. Perhaps that's why they have no peers within the Caribbean, who appeal to such a broad audience and have such a loyal and rapidly growing following.
And that is certainly why their music is vital to the North American rock and pop music scene.
While Desire's aspirations to break into the North American rock scene might seem lofty at first mention, their music speaks volumes as to why their goal is readily achievable. From the brilliant, ethereal first notes of, "Shine", Desire's current EP, it's obvious that the quartet is venturing into areas outside the realm of what, until now, has been considered the traditional boundaries of rock music.
As one delves deeper into the music on "Shine", the listener quickly comes to the realization that, until now, no other rock group has so effectively reflected the multi-cultural sounds of the Caribbean and still managed to frame their music within the rock genre.
The four members Atkinson, Howell, Marshall and Poulter, each have their own musical influences which range from alternative rock, calypso, reggae and '70's to '80's pop.
On "Shine'" the group vividly displays their primary strength, by blending powerful rock melodies with daring flourishes of sonic power. Add "extreme guitar wizardry" by Marshall, their electric guitar guru, plus Atkinson's dynamic, sexually charged vocals, along with energy they each tap into from their Barbados roots and the listener encounters a sound wholly unlike anything the world of western rock music has produced before.
"I've been asked many times to sum up what it is musically that Desire does best," says Poulter. "It's not that easy to define in one word. It's quite different, quite raw and energetic, It's authentic, real, genuine modern rock fusion. Even to the point of being actually a post-modern form of rock music fusion. It's different exotic influences, meshed together with something that audiences can relate to. I think, once the people in North America give our music a serious listen, then our music is going to prick up people's attention. Then after that, we have to just do strong shows while we're in the United States. So that just kind of seals the deal. We're not any good at pretending at all. What we are offering is genuine and authentic."
Why pretend? After all, there are the groups who, not only create albums which become landmarks, they build musical legacies. Groups who hold dear their
own unique creative vision and see it through to success and eventually become
a part of rock history.
Soon North America will discover that Desire, is such a band. And they deserve the title of "recording artists", because they stand ready to transform the rock music genre, by leaving their own fingerprints on the art form as a whole. And thusly, taking the rock genre into a new era, one in which the protean aspects of the genre are respected, built upon and acknowledged, while being fashioned into an entirely new sound.
So this summer and fall, the Barbados rock group, Desire is the one group to follow closely. They're beginning work recording their next project, in a secluded North American studio.
They're beginning a recording project in Falls Church, Virginia working with red hot hip-hop record producer Richard Younglord. (Credits include Bad Boy Entertainment and Sean Combs, DMX and Wyclef Jean.) The resulting material is such a significant musical project that JJ Poulter feels the sound waves created from the sessions will continue to fuel the wave which will sweep the global rock genre into a new period of "redefinition"./
JJ Poulter feels the sound waves created from the sessions will continue to fuel the wave which will sweep the global rock genre into a new period of "redefinition".
"This is going to be music by a guitar band with a twist," Poulter says," except there will be a very modern, energetic influence just creeping through the music. It's going to be the ultimate fusion in the one area of music that's left. Where we have yet to fuse the worlds of black music with calypso, reggae hip-hop and dance, into guitar rock. We want to make music that is with it and has a very contemporary feel"
Their new material will also include some "free style" songs that are going to rock the North American musical scene.
"We're known for going with these atmospheric sounds," says guitarist Brian Marshall," you can expect more of that from the next sessions but with a new edge to the music. It will certainly be interesting once the material is completed."
The band's name Desire, is deeply symbolic, because they have a fire burning within their collective belly to create their own unique sound. One that won't be satiated soon.
"The time feels right," Adam Atkinson, says. "the kind of reaction Desire is getting is telling us that. People don't want imitators, they want people who live the music they create. And that's the one thing that we have in our corner, we're authentic.
We're not pretending to be from the Caribbean, we are from the Caribbean, we live here. Once people can appreciate that they are getting something that is musically authentic, then it's up to us to prove that live."
End.
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