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Brass 2 The World has been working, since its debut, to return live music to the streets of Trinidad and Tobago’s Carnival, but during the lockdown it banded together for another reason, to help one of its lead vocalists, Heaven “Snakey” Charles, rebuild his family’s home after it was gutted by fire.
The band’s leader Burt Marcellin said, “In the lockdown we wanted to do a recording for the season. We were saying, ‘We know they are not going to have no parties and stuff and let us not concentrate on a power song. Let us do a song of hope for people who probably lose their businesses or loved ones or things like that.'”
The band then came up with its 2022 release, Tutafani, which in Swahili roughly translates to, We can Make it. All of the band’s 11 musicians contributed to the song's development with it being written by Snakey.
“However, after we finished putting down the tracks. Snakey said he wanted to put in a piece at the start of the song.”
Marcellin said Snakey put in a line which says, “Out of the ashes, there will be victory.”
Snakey received a call, approximately 15 minutes after recording that line in January, saying his family’s home at Orange Field Road, Carapichaima was on fire.
[caption id="attachment_944807" align="alignnone" width="720"] Fire engulfs the family home of musician Heaven "Snakey" Charles at Orange Field Road, Carapichaima.[/caption]
“It is a home where he grew up. So he rushed out of there to see what was going on. The house was burnt,” Marcellin said.
Since then – every Saturday – the band has been hosting small fundraisers, along with his family, to help them rebuild their home.
There is a mini mart in Charlieville, Chaguanas, where barbecues are sold on Saturdays by the family.
“We all try contributing through friends, through sponsors and stuff like that.”
The band has also contributed material to the rebuilding of the home.
Snakey’s apartment built on the family property at Orange Field Road in Carapichaima was not touched by the fire. But the family home in which he grew up, and where his father and sisters still live, was destroyed by the fire.
“For now, the barbecue thing is going and the purchasing of material, step by step. As the Carnival is finished, we will sit down again and see what the next step is. How we can lift it to go to the next level,” Marcellin said.
Brass 2 the World said it is also in further discussion with the family to see what more it can do.
But more than assisting its lead vocalist, the band is also preparing itself to do more projects as the entertainment world reopens and the pandemic wanes.
Marcellin said the band plans to host events throughout the year which would lead to funds for the family.
One of its upcoming projects is a Las Vegas-styled show.
Marcellin also does set design and has a company called Marcellin's Creations. Using this, he has put a team together and created a show which “should be produced and streamlined somewhere around mid-year, this year,” he said.
That has been the band’s main focus for 2022.
When the band first played live music on the road it did so with popular medium-sized band, K2K in 2017.
“Us and Etienne Charles, we were on the road. Then after that we wanted to do our own thing.”
Brass 2 The World has since evolved and developed its own Monday mas band called Blow Mano Blow. It is in memory of Marcellin's father, Mano Marcellin. His father died in 2017.
“It represents his legacy and was ready to bring back live music so musicians could also contribute – like in the past – to live music on the streets,” he added.
He said four to five years ago it was only DJs and musicians who got left out of Carnival.
There is a large population that wants the live music and after playing on the road with K2K in 2017, the band was then contracted for Montreal’s Carifiesta, a carnival-type event in Canada.
Since then the band has been contracted by a number of organisation’s globally to participate in music events and other carnival-type events. During the lockdown, when the band was unable to rehearse, it used Zoom meetings to keep the unit together, he said.
Even if TT is unable to have a street parade come 2023 the band will look to gigs outside of TT where it will be able to perform, Marcellin said.
“There are offers outside of TT that we will do. There are other things we will plan,” he said.
 
[caption id="attachment_944813" align="alignnone" width="762"] Heaven "Snakey" Charles lead vocalist of Brass 2 The World.[/caption]
Now that local covid19 restrictions are also being relaxed, local venues have also been calling for the band to perform but he wants to ensure that those fall within the covid19 regulations.
As the sector slowly begins to churn again, the band has a committee set up to create ideas and strategies that allows it to perform.
He said when the pandemic first started a lot of musicians were going to arranger and producer Kenny Phillips’ virtual shows.
“It was one of the few platforms where you could have gone and get an income,” Marcellin said.
Marcellin said Phillips hosted a band festival month and that was the only way some musicians made an income during the pandemic. He said many people tried platforms like that and people had to develop their creativity into finances.
The pandemic has brought the virtual technology into full use and musicians were also able to use the virtual platform, send their music out globally and yield results from it. This is something the band has also been able to use.
The band recently did a live recording in St Joseph – during the Taste of Carnival – to be streamed live and it drew a physical audience.
This demonstrated to Marcellin and his bandmates that people are indeed hungry for live entertainment once again.
He is confident that Carnival 2023 – in some of the ways TT knew it – is going to be back. So he advised musicians, in the little downtime that might be left, to perfect their craft and be ready for when the entertainment sector fully reopens.
[caption id="attachment_944804" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Brass 2 The World is banding together to help fellow musician Heaven "Snakey" Charles to rebuild family home.[/caption]
“Musicians are hungry to come outside there. So when the things opens back up it, it will be even better. The audience is starved for it.”
“When the thing opens back up, it will be strong again. It will be strong, it will be better and it will be bigger,” he said.
 
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