Musical duo aiming to break all barriers

Although soca as a musical genre rarely produces international success stories, Claydon ‘Dymez’ Roache and Elrico ‘daPixel’ Hunte say they intend to break all barriers.

When SEARCHLIGHT sat down with the duo behind popular 2016 soca songs ‘Malice’, ‘Wuk him out’ and ‘Taliban’ Monday, they said they have seen an improvement in the quality of their work and they intend to keep pressing forward.{{more}}

“We see ourselves heading to break barriers, regionally and internationally because of the quality of music… we just keep bettering and that’s the intention, to break barriers,” said Roache.

Hunte however, encouraged young artists to believe in themselves and better their craft despite the negative response they may encounter.

“The cliché everybody uses is ‘believe in yourself’ because it’s actually true, if anybody ever tell you anything, ever tell you otherwise, you just work on yourself, you don’t try to pull down anyone else, just keep working on you,” he added.

The duo began their music careers while students at the St. Vincent Grammar School where, initially, they were part of a four-member group, then called ‘Intaception Boys’.

The other members — Jaeson Bowens and Michad Fraser later dropped out. While intact, Intaception Boys entered and won a Fisherman’s Day competition in 2005 that acted as further motivation for Roache and Hunte.

“I have a passion for producing because I love music in that way. Ever since then, I’ve been producing Soca, Dancehall, Hip Hop, R&B and a wide variety of genres,” Hunte told SEARCHLIGHT.

He further mentioned that he is also a writer, singer and graphic designer who has so far worked along with Raeon ‘Maddzart’ Primus and Gary ‘Icon’ John.

Hunte said he also has worked alongside producers Alex ‘Kubiyashi’ Barnwell and Shemuel ‘Stamina Smurf’ Thomas and is looking forward to doing more work with them.

Another one of Hunte’s collaborations includes production work on ‘I don’t fete with you’, a song that has been creating some buzz across SVG, performed by another upcoming musical duo called Prime Time.

Hunte and Roache are also apart of Island Shak Entertainment, which they describe as a “musical powerhouse” that does Graphic Designing, Photography, Videography, Production, and Writing and are currently working on Artist development.

Island Shak members include: Ezhorne ‘Cymbal’ Alexander, Neri ‘MXG’ James, Romain David, Shadique Gill, Kurtne ‘Fresh Kydd’ Patterson, Claydon ‘Dymez’ Roache & Elrico ‘daPixel’ Hunte.

Dymez and daPixel first entered mainstream soca last year with their single ‘Ben Up’, which was followed by their summer their released ‘Ditch’.

The duo disclosed that they struggled with radio in the early stages of their career, “but at the same time you have to stand back and realize that back then the level or works wasn’t as good as now,” Roache added.

He also stated that they still experience a little difficulty and some bias but would continue to improve their work.

On Sunday, the duo released a Youtube music video for their 2016 soca release ‘Wuk him out’.

“So far it is getting good feedback and I am liking the vibes so far,” Roache commented.

The music video is an Island Shak production, shot in St Vincent and the Grenadines. It was shot by Romain David and Neri James and edited by Roache, Hunte, Shadique, Romain David and Cymbal Alexander.

The duo can be contacted by Dymez784 or Countdapixelz on Soundcloud, Facebook, Instagram, Gmail and Twitter or Islandshakent@gmail.com. (AS)