Interview with ToineRCT

1) What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today? 

• From a very young age; I remember my mother playing quality music while she’s cooking and cleaning. Once I learned the lyrics I would be singing along and after joining the choir in primary school, I would always be selected to solo on the radio or TV so I decided to go forward with it. 

  If I hadn’t been singing, I would have been heavily immersed in sports. Along with singing, I used to play basketball and cricket representing Barbados but along that time I was in the Barbados National Boys Choir and I had to make the decision.

2) What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

• In my off time I’m consumed with the restaurant we just opened and to see the level of satisfaction after the customers are given what they want; I try to relate the same satisfaction when consumers listen to my music.

3) How long have you been making music?

• Creating; I’ve been making music since 2012.

4) Where are you based and how did that influence your music?

• I live and am based in Barbados. Being our culture is based on spouge, soca and dancehall, I find myself gravitating towards more rhythmic and paced pieces of music.

5) Tell me about your most memorable shows, if you haven’t played live what is your vision for a live show?

• My most memorable performance was at an event a friend held for his birthday in 2013. When I came on and did my set; the amount of crowd response I received and the amount of people that were singing my songs really etched it in my memory. Didn’t know I was reaching so much people until then.

6) What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?

• I’d play at any venue. Being localized to Barbados, it limits the venues to play at.

7) If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

• I can definitely see Burna Boy, Kalonji, Jahshii; anyone of the same vibrant genres I touch.

8) What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into making music and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

• I would always tell people getting into music to put out as much as you can. People like to see consistency over what you would deem as “good music”. Taste is perceptive so what you might think isn’t good enough might be the best thing someone hears.

9) Of your songs which one means the most to you and why? 

• I have a personal track I released entitled ‘Letters To Tac’ that is about one of my close childhood friends that died when we finished secondary school. He saved me from drowning while we were in school and all the memories with him are funny. That song always hits home.

10) Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

• My favorite songs to play are:

  • Body Is A Mood

  • Need Your Help

  • Falling In Love

  • Price I Got To Pay

• The ones that get requested the most are ‘Need Your Help’ and ‘Price I Got To Pay’

11)What is your creative process, and what inspires you to write your music?

• It would all start with making a beat, sometimes it would be an old instrumental that I have and when I listen again it hits me. The lyrics tend to flow out and I just write and orchestrate from there. 

  Other times I would have an idea based on an experience I remember and I would seek to create a suiting beat to accompany the lyrics and experience.

12) Do you have messages that you like to get across in your music, if so please tell me about them?

• The messages I like to convey in my music are:

  • Praise God

  • Be real

  • Stand up for what you believe in

  • Look out for family in every way

  • Be careful

13) What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?

• For the future I want to put out as much content as I possibly can for the studio I have, The Mothership, so people can hear the masterpieces that we are working on. 

  I’m putting out a compilation album for the studio that we have had a number of complications getting together. The project is to showcase what I’m working with and to further expose my craft along with everyone else that is involved. We’re gearing up to put it out on the 16th of December, just before the holidays.

14) How can your fans best keep up to date with you, any socials you want people to check out?

• I am more active on my Instagram which is:

  @toinerct.gaviria 

  I am working on getting more involved on the Facebook and Twitter etc.