The Rupununi Music and Arts Festival kicked off yesterday and will run until tomorrow with the small savannah village of Annai hosting several international performers, including the American alternative rock band Filligar.
“Today, in the continuing effort to build cultural bridges between our two great countries, I am delighted to be here to introduce a great band named Filligar,” US Ambassador Brent Hardt said at the US Embassy on Thursday.
The ambassador called the embassy’s involvement in the Rupununi Music Festival a furtherance of cultural exchanges and cooperation between the two countries, he expressed that the band had been selected by the US State Department as cultural ambassadors,
representing “American people and their cultural values” and the “best of the US arts”.
The band includes guitarist and lead vocalist, Johnny Matthias who attended Dartmouth College, majoring in History and participating in the Cords Voice Ensemble before graduating. Pete Matthias, who serves as the band’s drummer is also a graduate of Dartmouth College. While attending the college he participated in the World Music Percussion Ensemble and the Contemporary Music Lab but went on to complete his education at the University of Oxford where he studied History.
Casey Gibson, a classically-trained pianist, has been playing the instrument since he was a child. He has a minor in Music History, Theory and Ethnomusicology at Hamilton College and a major in Economics. Bassist Teddy Matthias, also graduated from Dartmouth College and was with the Dartmouth College Gospel Piano which was invited to perform at the recent inauguration of President Barack Obama. Teddy was even a featured soloist in the choir’s performance at New York City’s Lincoln Centre.
Asked how the band plans on connecting with the Guyanese audience since rock is not such a popular genre here, Teddy explained that rock music originated from the expressions of Blues which was fairly common in the Caribbean and birthed many genres, including reggae. He went on to say: “We’re here to learn, we’re here to share and exchange. We’re students of music.”
Pete explained that the band was built without formal managers and to this day does not have a producer. Band members compose their own songs. “It is a passion, it still remains a passion and now it is also a profession,” he said. Johnny noted that the composition of the music is a collaborative effort of all the members, their talents and expressions. “All our work is original with our own minds, we come together with the different styles and talents and put them together,” he said.
When Ambassador Hardt asked the origin of the name Filligar, Johnny revealed that the name of the band was inspired by the name of their goldfish which their sister named from the mispronunciation of Disney character Figaro. Although the band was formed some 13 years ago, the name was chosen about 6 years ago.
Asked by a reporter how they stay grounded as opposed to artists like Justin Bieber whose unorthodox behaviour is always in the media and Fantasia who rose to fame and then was dropped like a hot bun, Teddy expressed that it is not only “good” but necessary to have an education to fall back on because music is something that is very hard to start on. It is strenuous and time consuming and not always successful and glamorous. He said that they always encourage other musicians to secure an academic degree because it is tough in music.
Casey stated that their values and lessons in music keep them grounded.
“It is hard starting off but if you have something to share then share it,” Johnny said. He recalled one of the band’s first performances where there was practically no audience. “Don’t take a stage or an audience for granted. It is very easy to be discouraged but we stuck to it.”
“Awesome” is how Pete said he felt about going to the interior of Guyana to perform at the Rupununi Music Festival. “Awesome was our first reaction because there are some places in the world that are worth exploring and this is one.”
The Scene had asked about the influence and impact they have as Cultural Ambassadors and how they really plan on taking this role to the people of Guyana. Pete responded that it is an honour to have been selected to represent the American people and he is excited to know more about Guyana. “You can’t depend on the news stories you read and those stuff – you got to come out and experience it for yourself and we’re here,” he said.
Filligar’s last record, ‘Hexagon’ was named Best New Music by the American Songwriter Magazine. Its previous album, ‘The Nerve’ was nominated Best Rock Album at the 2012 Independent Music Awards. Some of Filligar’s hit songs include “Knock Yourself Out”, “Dark Horse”, and “New Local”.
The band will remain in Guyana until February 20 to celebrate the 2014 Mashramani Season, performing live at an open, public concert at the National Cultural Centre on February 18 at 19:30 hrs. The band will engage in a series of musical and artistic exchanges in the city including workshops at the National Music School.
