*In an exclusive interview with EURweb associate Marie Moore, Soca Superstar Machel Montano, talked music and his debut in the movie “Bazodee.”
Whether performing with Rihanna, Micki Minaj or opening for Drake at the Ovo Festival, Montano’s mission is to globalize Soca music.
Long known as one of the most important ingredients in the success of Soca music Montano—dubbed the King of Soca—let us know what it was like to venture down a different road.
How is it being king?
[Laughs] Hard work.
With so much success in the field of music, was there any trepidation starring in a film?
Well, I sometimes doubt myself. I definitely thought that this was going to be challenging because I don’t like to act much. My philosophy always is ‘don’t pretend, try to be as real as possible.’ I always had this fear of pretending or acting, or if I would be able to do it at all. But the director said to me, ‘Look, Machel, don’t really worry about taking an acting lesson. You’re a musician and it’s going to come naturally,’ and you know, it actually turned out that way.
We decided to shoot this movie about carnival during the real carnival so that was a challenge. After the shoot I would go home tired and have to wait up [early] and go to the sets. That, and the pressure of sinking myself into the part and always being prepared caused the fear to disappear after a couple of days.
Did you have any artistic license being that this was your first film?
We did improvise some of the routines to make sure things flowed smoothly because you can write something in the script, and when you get to the actual setup, you may need to add to it to make it authentic. So we had that freedom. The relationship with the crew and the cast was wonderful.
Can you talk about ‘Bazodee’?
The word Bazodee means crazy in love, and it’s about being crazy in love. The crazy part is when people cross the racial, and cross the cultural lines, when they blend, when people do things that are not expected. This is the lesson of Bazodee. Soca music can make you crazy in love. Carnival can get you so crazy in love that you overlook racial challenges and anything that would separate us.
This is about unity and love. That’s the whole trend of Soca music. Soca music is created by a mix of African and east Indian drums and it’s the soundtrack of carnival when people come together bringing an energy of unity and an energy of togetherness, which is ultimately an energy of celebration.
There’s a line in the film that says, ‘There are over 800,000 women on this island and you choose the one with the biggest rock.’ Is that you?
[Laughs] I just want to say that I always choose the best. No, I would actually be the one who would want to stay away from the ones with the rocks on their fingers. But let’s just say love knows no boundaries.
Syndicated Entertainment journalist Marie Moore reports on film and TV from her New York City base. Contact her at [email protected]
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