Performing for a mixed audience can be difficult, but one man has been doing just that and has spent the last two decades singing for hours, thrilling audiences around the country.
He is Andrew Dundas, popularly know as ‘Supercat,’ who told The Scene recently that his liking for music goes way back to his school days. His love for music has seen him travel to all the entertainment spots Guyana has to offer with his one man band.
He explained during an interview with The Scene recently, that the concept behind a one-man band varies, with the structure of the band being the main factor. As the name suggests, the band is expected to have one member, who plays an instrument and sings at the same time.
In most cases that instrument is a keyboard into which various forms of music are programmed while the entertainer only has to rely on his knowledge of the lyrics of the songs.
In reality Supercat’s band is not strictly a one-man band, as it is made up of two persons. He is the lead man performing the songs and he is backed up by a keyboard man, Calistro, from the Indigenous Calibro band. The latter has been in the band for years and he is substituted when he is unavailable.
Recounting his entry into the music field, Supercat said that he started to follow music when he was attending school in the Buxton area. When he entered secondary school, he said, he began to concentrate on the lyrics as well as performing on stage.
During this time in the late 1970s and ’80s, he and three school mates – who he noted were popularly known by their stage names – ‘Pine Tart,’ ‘Papa Nero’ and ‘Bad Man’ – collaborated as a ‘tinning cup’ band along the roadsides of Buxton, and while the others had names, he did not.
During that period, a Jamaican artiste, ‘Supercat,’ was known in all corners of the Caribbean for his chart-topping reggae hits and according to him, he thought of the name ‘Super Andrews’ as a suitable moniker, but the other band members thought he should be known as ‘Supercat.’
As time went by, Supercat said he soon had his sights set on entering a band, and in the late 1980s he joined the Mischievous Guys string band, where he performed alongside the likes of Delma Lynch and Michelle ‘Big Red’ King.
However, “he had to move on,” he said, and started performing gigs with the GDF Frontline Band as well as the Guyana Police Force band before deciding to go solo in 2002. During this time, he noted the crime wave was at its peak and he soon joined up with another local maestro on the music scene named ‘Boy Blue.’
It was while working with the latter that he decided to take on the music of the day. The performer told The Scene his rendition of Elephant Man’s ‘Bad man ah bad man’ (a remake of R Kelly’s ‘I am a River’), saw his name being requested at entertainment spots along the East Coast and in Georgetown.
Today his music is heard not only on the coastland, because promoters started to ferry him to various parts of the country including Kwakwani, Port Kaituma, Mabaruma, Mahdia, Orealla and Lethem, among others, as persons began “to like his music.” He has played in Trinidad and Tobago as well as Barbados at the request of locals.
Supercat said that he “must show gratitude” to Mahdia businessman Roger Hinds, who he noted provided him with the necessary tools to make his music when he went solo. He recalled Hinds commending him for the music he played at a function in the area but recognized that he and his band were in need of “better” equipment and made provisions for him in terms of instruments.
He said that since then, he has been upgrading his equipment which comprises keyboards, drum sets and guitars, although the former is mostly used since the music has to be programmed before performances. As regards preparations, the singer and his keyboard man spend hours programming various genres of music, including reggae, calypso, oldies and dancehall hits before a show.
Supercat‘s performances see him singing for hours at various locations, and while he moves from one location to another, his family and consideration for his fans were always in his thoughts. And regarding the financial rewards, the singer noted that his focus was to “play quality music when it is needed to please the crowds,” and the rewards came after.
The musician is already booked for the reminder of 2010 as he is slated to perform on almost each weekend this August into September .He is also due to perform on December 18 and 24 in Bartica, and at the moment plans are in full swing for a much anticipated ‘Buxton Reunion’ during this holiday period.
This event is being held to commemorate, “a time of peace and tranquility in the East Coast village” the musician said, adding that several overseas based Guyanese from the area were expected to attend the cultural and historical calendar of events which culminates this weekend.
For Supercat there could be no better way to bring the curtains down on 2010 and welcome 2011.
(alvasolomon@hotmail.com)
