Hours before the start of the New Year Mical Teja (Mical Williams) can already say he is having his best year ever.
The Gonzales, Belmont-born singer/songwriter has sung the 2024 Carnival Road March forerunner in his ubiquitous “DNA” and has penned the most potent fete shaker in Farmer Nappy’s groovy “How Ah Livin”. Add to that the fast growing popularity of his latest release “Runaway”, an ode to the late Explainer’s (Winston Henry) “Lorraine”, and his true influence over the upcoming festival season becomes clear.
“It has definitely been a great year,” a slightly under the weather Mical Teja agreed during a WhatsApp exchange with the Kitcharee on Thursday afternoon.
Nursing a flu, the D All Staz lead singer says he’s thankful for the new experiences and opened doors of the past year.
“I am truly grateful to have been blessed with so many amazing opportunities travelling and performing all over the world. But who knows; the best is yet to come,” Teja quipped.
Over the past five to seven years Teja has been by far the most impressive emerging force in soca music. His microphone has delivered the hits “Birthday” (2019), “Hornin’ First” with bandmate Viking Ding Dong (Andre Houlder) (2020), “Mas” with Freetown Collective, “Dingolay” with Nailah Blackman (2022) and “Hall of Fame” (2023), among others.
Teja’s pen has been equally prolific, birthing the hits “Work Out” by Kes (Kees Dieffenthaller) and Nailah (2017), “We Outside” by Ding Dong (2019), “Mind My Business” by Patrice Roberts (2022) and “Shake the Place” by Machel Montano and Destra Garcia (2023), among others.
Teja maintains he hasn’t “done anything different” to get his long awaited breakthrough in soca and attributes his recent mainstream success as a singer to the public “now fully understanding” him as an artiste.
“I haven’t done anything differently, I’ve just kept on working on my craft and putting my best foot forward. I think people are now getting to fully understand who Mical Teja is and what I’ve contributed to the art form over the years when I was more behind the scenes as a writer and producer. However, now as an artiste it’s a good feeling to be credited for all my hard work, which for me is truly a blessing,” he explained.
Music reflecting everyday life
So what about Mical Teja’s music accounts for its deep emotional connection with audiences all over the planet? He believes it’s the relatable “everyday” themes and his wide appetite for music that exposes him to influences from all genres.
“To be honest, the music I create comes from everyday life. Yes I do listen to old kaiso but I also listen to and enjoy many other genres of music. I believe having a wide variety of musical inspiration to draw from is really important with regard to my creativity,” he admitted.
Working with the vastly experienced musicians in D All Starz has also been an eye opener, Teja revealed. The Trinity College old boy signed on with the band last September and has done several small fetes and corporate events with the Roy Cape founded outfit.
Like most in the region’s music fraternity Teja said he was shocked to learn of the passing of one of D All Starz former frontmen: Antiguan soca star Ricardo Drue. The “Vagbond” singer, 38, was pronounced dead at the Sir Lester Bird Medical Centre in St John’s, Antigua around midday on December 12 after being found unresponsive in his room hours earlier.
“The passing of Ricardo Drue really came as a shock to me, he was such a humble guy and always gave me personal advice on performing anytime he saw me. It made me cherish life more especially with where my career is right now,” Teja said.
Tomorrow D All Starz new look frontline of Teja, Ding Dong and College Boy Jesse (Jesse Stewart) will make their Carnival debut at the season opener Soka in Moka at his alma mater. Teja says the mission ahead remains clear in his mind, “keep making great music”.
“The past 12 months for me has been a roller coaster of emotions. The band experience has been pretty amazing. Learning from such a legendary band is a great thing. And yes most def I’m gonna be ready for New Year’s Day,” Teja concluded.
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