BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – FIFTY-SEVEN-YEAR-OLD Walston Shield coming under his stage name ‘Starshield’ said that being a part of the Calypso arena was not only a once in a lifetime opportunity, but a great experience as he travelled the world as a performer.
In Part Two of our exclusive interview with this Calypso legend, Starshield said that although his parents were both musicians, the support from the two were not as encouraging as he would have expected.
”My dad would give me a few advice here and there but my mother didn’t really support the whole idea. I used to have to hide and do it or I would have had to beg her to go to the shows and compete,” the artiste said.
Starshield said that his mother was of the view that he was too young to venture into the music industry and, as such, many times she was not in favour for him to participate in competitions.
“My father, on the other hand, shared the same view but understood my passion for music and supported me.”
Starshield said that as a young Calypsonian, listening to the lyrics and music of more professional monarchs sparked an idea to leave the junior level and try out for the senior category of the competition.
“I thought to myself, ‘By hearing all of these senior calypsonians, I was better than them and could do the same thing.’ So, I entered and I made it to the Finals in my first attempt, but I met a lot of great calypsonians.”
Starshield said that that decision was also fueled by the fact that he was not getting the exposure he expected at the junior level.
“They weren’t playing our music as juniors as much as they did with the senior people, so I thought most our material were going to waste,” he explained.
Starshield’s aspiration for Calypso music
When asked about his reason for the name, the veteran said that as a child he considered himself a star, so he merged his last name with the word and came up with Starshield.
The Sandy Pointer said that most of the aspirations came from listening to a number of calypsonians on the radio, such as Short Shirt and The Mighty Sparrow.
“I always listened to the best and I always wanted to do it in that level, so I aimed for that standard.”
Starshield explained that the interesting part about being a calypsonian was that working with other bands was not an easy.
“It was difficult because it was long hours and the bands weren’t really that patient. I had a lot of problems with bands. It reached to a point whereby soon as they saw me they were liked turned off, because my music was always complicated and they took a while to understand it.”
His tours around the world
As a musician and a calypsonian, Starshield had many opportunities to tour around the Caribbean and travelling as far as Europe and North America.
“I did work with Black Stalin, Scronta, Lord Funny and Lord Duke, just to name a few. I have seen most of the coastal States in the USA. I toured England, Holland, Turkey, Greece and the Caribbean.”
Starshield also won the Calypso King of Prestige Title in New York City back in 1983.
Where is he now?
Starshield now operates a one man band called Star Konnekshun and he plays at gigs around the Federation and on the regional platform.
This is just Part Two our exclusive interview with Calypso Legend Walston ‘Starshield’ Shield.
In our final chapter, Starshield will give advice to young aspiring calypsonians and talk about his children finding love for music.
Editor-in-Chief’s Note: SKNVibes solicits suggestions from the public in identifying other individuals who have made significant contributions to the Calypso art form in St. Kitts and Nevis. Feel free to email us at newsroom@sknvibes.com or call us at (869) 466-9242 or (869) 662-3901 and pass on the relevant information.
