CHORUS DREAMS
Marlon Webster looks to make his own
Guyana Chronicle
December 17, 2006
WHEN Marlon Webster says he dreams his choruses, you might think he is joking, or that he means he releases himself to an imaginary place and jots down his lines, or something like that.
But, the guy literally dreams (if dreams are literal at all) the choruses for his songs, wakes up and scribbles on a piece of paper. The verses to complete the song come after.
So, if he tells you it has been his dream to become star, you might want to take him seriously – he’s not using that good old line everyone uses.
“He has the talent, the skill and the look, he just needs the right avenue,” says Jonathan Beepat, his new manager. With Beepat’s push towards establishing his name on the local entertainment scene, the 21-year-old singer sees his musical career headed in the right direction.
A distracting “birth mark” on his lips always gets a question: What’s that?
A Georgetown boy, he remembers singing on the roadside, or the “gap”, for his friends. They used to tell him he can sing, but he never really bothered.
“I took it for granted,” he says. He is not quite sure where his love for music came from. He figures it probably has something to do with the fact that his father, David Webster, was a guitarist in a band. His mother tells him he used to go watch his father perform, but he doesn’t remember.
However, at age 15, things would change. He was working as a stock clerk with Morris Primo, the father of popular Guyanese soca sensation Jomo, known more recently for the “Crazy” sound track with his X2 partner Adrian Dutchin.
Jomo’s family had recognized Marlon’s talent and urged him to give the youngster “a push”. So, when Jomo told him the band Pinnacle was looking for a vocalist, he decided to give it a shot. And so his career took off.
In five-six months, he was performing at various shows. While performing at the Palm Court, Georgetown’s favourite hangout, the band was noticed by David Hooper, the former manager for Barbadian international soca artiste Rupee. Hooper thought the band had the potential to pursue an international career and the group left for Barbados.
However, things did not work out as planned. While some members of the ban returned home, Marlon decided to stay in Barbados. The decision paid off for him. Through Hooper, he was soon opening shows for Krosfyah, Xtatic and others. His first gig was with 4DPeople, when he wowed the crows with Michael Jackson’s “You Rock my World’.
He spent two years in Barbados doing such performances, but decided to come back home to pursue a solo career. He joined the popular Mingles Sound Machine towards meeting his goal.
He took part in the Carib Soca monarch competition twice, but to no avail. He plans to go at it again this February and hopes for better results.
Marlon says his songs are meant for pure enjoyment since that is what soca music is all about.
His only disappointment is that his move to Barbados caused him not to complete high school, but he said a career in music is what he wanted and is aiming for.
He says he would be thrilled to be able to record alongside the famous soca and R&B artistes.
Currently, he has seven singles out and three other songs he did with others.
Soon, Beepat says he will release some of Marlon’s new songs, including Jukie Jam, which according to the singer, is a “whining style, calls for the rotation of the hips”.
The other tracts to be released are Give me It, Rugged and Tough, and Focus on D Back.