BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – GARVIN JOHNSON a.k.a. ‘Scrappy’ is a very versatile soca artiste who said that he would love to perform in St. Kitts during the Carnival season.
The 27-year-old artiste, who hails from Montserrat but currently resides in the United Kingdom, not only delivers excellent soca music but also shows versatility by writing his own songs, doing the backup, and creating the instrumentals and beats digitally.
“I started singing from an early age and competed in a number of school competitions then moved on to the big scene in Montserrat by entering the Junior Calypso Monarch where I was crowned king consecutively,” he said.
His accomplishments continued, for in 2005 he became Road March King with ‘Always Home’ and in 2006 he was crowned Soca Monarch King. In 2008 the singer was nominated for the Soca Music Award for Best UK Male Soca Artiste and Calabash Awards Nomination for Best UK Soca Act.
Throughout his career, Johnson has released four albums including ‘Soul Jah’ in 2005, ‘Dreams are Reality in 2006’, ‘Soca is Life’ in 2007 and the most recent Caribbean Dream which was released in January this year.
Johnson told SKNVibes that his recent album features seven tracks but he is currently in studio working on a number of songs for another album to be released later this year, as ‘Caribbean Dream’ was only a teaser of what is to come. This album features tracks including ‘Start to Bounce’, ‘Be Mine’ and ‘Heartbroken’.
Johnson said that he writes standard music about real life situations.
“As life takes its toll you want to reflect on it,” he added.”
“My music is soca with a bit of Montserrat in it. We try to keep it old school and keep all the instruments included; we don’t try to make it too digital, but it is still soca,” he said, noting that “It’s an addition to what is the best music in the world and plus a little bit of Montserrat…you know we are all unique in the West Indies so that’s Montserrat there.”
When asked about shows in which he performed, Johnson said he has participated in a number of shows in Montserrat and usually gets good support when he returns to that island, but he is popularly known in the UK where he has performed in some big shows including Insomnia and Caribbean Connection.
Johnson recently returned from performing at Fire Fete in Toronto and will be heading to Germany in a few weeks for another show.
“I would love to perform in St. Kitts because I heard the carnival there is crazy,” he said excitedly.
