Sunday 01/24/2010 3:38:10am Name: Web Admin E-Mail: Comments: Plea for help Felix Chaudhary Sunday, January 24, 2010 Musically speaking, 2009 was an interesting year for Fiji. Tadra Kahani, High Schools Music Festival, Vodafone MIC show, TFL's Young Musos Acclaim, the Hibiscus Festival, Miss South Pacific Paegant and the Rescue Mission Concert all showed us what an amazing array of talent we have available in this country. Sadly, a lot of this budding talent will never see the light of day because music, as an industry, is fighting to stay alive. Surprisingly, for recording artists who compose and record original English songs, the fight is with all our local radio stations bar one brave little station based in Lautoka - Mix FM. While all our major radio stations have literally turned their backs on local recording artists - Richard Lucas, Irshad Ali and his team at Mix FM have continued doing what they do best- show-casing local original English music on their programs. The reason given by our major broadcasters are "there's nothing good enough" and "it's not what our listeners want to hear". I beg to differ. There is an amazing number of locally composed English songs that would rival some of the trash that we are forced to listen to on a daily basis on mainstream radio. Danny Costello's new release Light Up The World was in contention as the theme song for the 2010 soccer World Cup. He was in contention on the world stage - but not good enough for local radio. The album of the same name features radio friendly hits but FM96 and FBCL have never aired these songs on any of their shows. Another album released in December last year that rates a mention is Rosiloa's (formerly Black Rose) Ancient Pulse. The album has a number of new-wave, Euro-reggae English songs like Caught In The Middle, Tropical Root Juice and Under Pacific Skies which also features Pacific music star O-Shen. A budding new artist, Alexia Rae Costello, blossomed into a recording star when she released her debut album In My Heart in December last year. She was only 16 when she wrote, composed and recorded. William Waqanibaravi released his debut album - The BigWilz Project late last year. Lorna, one of the singles off his album, haunted Bula FM's top 5 at 5 for close to three months. Bula FM is a Fijian station and the fact that his song was hitting the charts was perplexing because Lorna is an English reggae tune. "I tried to get it played on the English stations but I was told that they don't play local English music because it's not good enough," BigWilz said. In fact BigWilz got stonewalled at FM96 and FBCL when he attempted to get his music played on the English stations. Questions sent two weeks ago to the two radio stations remain unanswered. Perhaps the silence is a resounding answer to the stations' appreciation of local talent. Local artists can not be compared to music superstars from the USA and beyond - technologically speaking. The world's biggest stars have access to the best music producers of their genre and outrageous recording budgets that we can only dream about. Despite these setbacks, local recording artists continue to surprise and amaze us with original music that is comparable to anything the western world has to offer. All our local musicians need is a shot. Our two major radio stations need to take a cue from Mix FM and let the listeners decide whether homegrown original music is on par with overseas artists or not. All the music festivals, music programs at schools and singing competitions will come to nothing, if, at the end of the day - the music will not be heard. Budding talent will fade in the twinkling of an eye if we fail to address this issue immediately. We need to give our musically gifted children an avenue for them to express themselves or else the music will surely die. FROM: http://fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=138242

Friday 10/09/2009 4:32:10am Name: Web Admin E-Mail: Comments: Little hip hop boy BY: Ruby Taylor-Newton With the upcoming Dance Invasion competition a hot topic among the teens and youths in Suva today, a two-year-old boy is the centre of attention during Convic Crew's practice sessions at their hideout in Nabua. Little Eroni Cama is a bright-eyed, slim built toddler who loves to play, chatter and get up to mischief like other kids his age. He loves chips, ice-cream, soft drinks and crunchy snacks too. But there's one thing that sets this little guy apart from other toddlers he's got the moves hip hop moves that is! Just like the Convic Crew led by his tata lailai Semi when they practice outside on the lawn in the afternoons. Tiny as he may be, Eroni steals the show in his cute, childish way imitating the crew's moves as fast as his little legs and arms can move. Eroni impresses with his toddler version of hip hop, B-boy, pop and lock and krumping, which makes his mum Lanieta laugh with delight every time. Dad is Josevata Gonetoko, elder brother of Convic Crew's leader Semi. The family is originally from Totoya in Lau. Eroni has a younger brother Isireli Dausiga. "Oh! Every time they (Convic Crew) practice, he will come out and practice with them," Lanieta says. "He likes hip hop music, and watching groovy dance moves on TV and DVD." It's no wonder Eroni's uncle's dance influence has rubbed off on him Eroni spends most of his time in uncle Semi's bedroom watching intently and copying krumping actions on an almost daily basis. And the toddler is so confident of his new found abilities, he even throws himself in with the crew for a group shot when the Fiji Times Kaila! crew stopped by for an interview and pictures last week. On several occasions, his mum Lavinia has caught her toddler in the house imitating the moves of the bigger boys as soon as the music comes on. "I just leave him to it he loves it and we feel proud of him," she said. When Eroni's not hanging out with the big boys, he's sitting quietly in front of the TV watching his other favourite past time gospel musical Cidermont Kids, listening to the radio or dancing to tunes on his father's mobile phone. Lanieta said she noticed her son's interest in dancing when he was only nine months old. "He just loves to dance in the backyard at home," she says. And anyone thinking he would run inside the house and hide like a typical child when the neighbours stand around to watch the open air routine, is in for a surprise. "No, no, no, he's not shy one bit - he just rips it," his mum laughs. From: http://fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=131155

Thursday 06/04/2009 11:54:34am Name: Hip Hop Samples E-Mail: web@hiphopsamplez.com Comments: nice site! www.hiphopsamplez.com Hip hop samples for producers. Compatible with Propellerhead Reason, Acid Pro, Fruity Loops FL Studio, MPC, Logic and many more!

Thursday 05/07/2009 3:52:00am Name: Web Admin E-Mail: Comments: LIKE FATHER LIKE SON By Sheetal Singh Thursday, May 07, 2009 BEING the youngest radio announcer in the country, Monish Sharma says he wants to follow in the footsteps of his father. Monish, 15, said he was inspired to join radio after seeing his father Manoj Sharma who is a former announcer and radio stringer. Monish's father is the operational mind behind the Western Division's very own radio station Radio Paschim 103.2FM, which is based in Ba. A Form Five student at AD Patel College, Monish spends most of his weekends and evenings talking to listeners on air. "Being a radio jockey (RJ) is amazing because I interact with so many people through one medium," he said. "I want to follow in the footsteps of my father. He used to be a teacher and later became part of a radio station. I want to do the same." Monish is passionate about music and is a disc jockey at weekends at private functions when he is not studying or hosting a talk show. The Sharma family members are all involved in one way or another with the radio station. The youngest son, Mohit, is a part-time RJ, collecting music for the station or helping out making commercials for programs. Despite being a RJ, Monish's mother described him as shy and quiet in nature. "I mind my own when I am not on air and do my school work or help around the house but when I am on air this totally different person inside me comes out which is exciting," he said. When asked what was the most exciting and amazing point of being an announcer, Monish said his fans. "I have a lot of people who listen in to my programs which are evening shows on Friday and Saturday while on Sunday I host the 8-midnight show. "The response from people is the best appreciation an announcer can get and members of my audience are very loyal and I appreciate their love for the radio station. "I want to join the teaching profession because my father was a teacher before he joined radio. Radio is also part of my life now so I will continue with announcing as it is also a passion for me." Not believing in 'all talk and no action' Monish also helps out with community work as a member of the Satya Sai organisation. Last year, the teenager was awarded the outstanding student of the year award by the organisation. Monish also learns to play the naaj a popular Indian percussion instrument used in the classical, popular and religious music of the Indian subcontinent in Hindustani classical music. The Ba kid's hobbies include reading, meeting people, announcing and listening to music. He enjoys his mother's cooking especially duck curry with roti while Coke is his favourite drink. FROM: http://fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=120866

Friday 01/16/2009 5:27:01am Name: Web Admin E-Mail: Comments: Rocking Roland By Geraldine Panapasa Friday, January 16, 2009 Roland Williams Singing has always been part and parcel of life growing up for Roland Williams. The 18-year-old is the youngest band member and lead singer for popular band, One2Eight. In a short time, the teen has built a big fan base. Simply because of his rocking vocals and his charming stage presence. Born and bred in Suva, Roland is originally from Vanuadina, Tokatoka in Tailevu. His mother is of African-American and Lauan descent. "I remember my mum telling me that when I was younger and when we used to meet her friends in town that I would always ask her if her friends knew that I could sing," he shared. "I'd actually sing for them in town while on the streets. It's something I have always loved. At church I would stand up and sing but I never liked music to accompany my singing." Aside from his exceptional voice, the former Marist Brothers High School student is also a talented rugby player. So much so that he has secured a a partial rugby scholarship to West Auckland's Kelston Boys High where he will undertake his foundation studies. "I'm very excited about going to New Zealand because I've always wanted to go overseas since Form Three but the dates kept changing but now I've got the chance to go and I know there are big opportunities to do a lot of stuff there," he said. "In high school, my music teacher was my cousin William Vatubua. "Whenever there's a special occasion at school, they would ask us to sing a few numbers. We'd get a couple of boys together, get a guitar and we would sing. In class, I could get scolded everyday for singing in class." Roland joined the popular band One2Eight by chance. His cousin William, a member of the band, went on a road trip and he was asked to fill in. He played his first gig with the band at the World Youth Day at Sukuna Park in 2005. The band was impressed and offered him full membership. He took it. "Being the youngest in the band, they are always looking out for me," he said. "It's nice...like having older brothers looking out for you. It's also given me a new perspective on life, especially as Pacific Islanders," he said. "We tend to view ourselves as inferior compared to other people but being in the group has changed my perspective to see that we can do the same thing they can do and even at times we can do much better." He singles out American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder as the artist who inspires him. He hopes to one day reach that level of greatness in music. He's hopeful his sojourn to Aotearoa will help catapult him in the right direction. "Anything can happen," he rightly said. Roland will be performing tomorrow night at the Fiji Flood Appeal relief fundraiser in O'Reilly's Bar in Suva. He was scheduled to fly to New Zealand earlier but he opted to stay and pitch in at the worthy cause. * The Fiji Flood Appeal will feature live performance by One2Eight tomorrow. The cover charge is $5 and all proceeds collected from the appeal will be matched by the Fiji Water Foundation. FROM: http://fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=111762

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