Punk rock duo Ryan Roberts and Gavin Mendonca are all packed and ready to hit the LocalPalooza stage in Trinidad and Tobago under their band name Keep Your Day Job!.
The concert will be held in the Central Trinidad borough of Chaguanas on July 6 at a beach-front stage with 12 Trinidadian bands and thousands of rock supporters from around the world. KYDJ! will be the only Guyanese local band to attend. But before they leave, they have some moral obligations to fulfil.
After the toy drive charity event in December of 2012, the band thought it wise to give back once again but this time to the many homeless people walking in the streets of Georgetown, and what’s better than giving smiles and food.
On Sunday, June 9 the band used the profits earned to distribute 25 simple meals along with beverages to homeless persons around the Square of the Revolution, Avenue of the Republic, Fogarty’s, Guyana Stores, Main Street, the seawalls and through South Cummingsburg. They shared food and played music as entertainment for an hour to those Ryan described as, “Happy people who were pleased to see us. They greeted us with a smile and in some way looked as if they were waiting for people like us to show up some day.”
This event was a collaborative project with the National Communications Network’s Youth Expressions and will be featured on that show sometime this month. The footage was also included in the music video of the KYDJ! hit
“The Great Rebellion”, which was released in February in celebration of the Berbice Slave rebellion and Mashramani. The video was released earlier this week.
“It can be considered great publicity but it’s not like that. It’s all about helping our own Guyanese, plus the fact is that we Guyanese have one purpose – that is to live in unity and help each other out no matter where we’re from or what we do,” Gavin expressed during a telephone interview with The Scene.
Meanwhile, in T&T the band plans on playing many songs about Guyana. In representing ‘the land of the Jaguar’ the band will be using the Fender ‘Jaguar’ instruments in their performances. Gavin will be playing the Jaguar bass and Ryan the Jaguar guitar.
“I’m pretty grateful for the opportunity and I can’t wait to rock out over there and represent Guyana well,” said Ryan.
The band signed onto Kross Kolor Records earlier this year and was a member of the musical workshop held on Wednesday last. When asked about the duo being part of the event aimed at strengthening the music industry in Guyana, Ryan noted that the primary role of KYDJ! is to be a proud representative of the rock community and increase awareness of the needs of young musicians in Guyana, especially in that particular genre. “To actively be a part of this grand initiative, the band intends on pushing the fact that we are Guyanese musicians, creating Guyanese rock music knowing that rock is a completely unorthodox art form in a place like Guyana.”
He also stated that joining Kross Kolor gives the band the opportunity to work with as many musicians as possible whether through collaborations or featuring them at shows. Kross Kolor will be publishing the band’s first album once it is completed and putting it on the national and international market.
