Meet Jimmy October.

Even though Trinidad and Tobago is mainly known for soca music a lot of local artistes are trying to break the mold and do something different. One of those artiste goes by the name of Jimmy October. Jimmy Is a member of the local music group overdose music and has recently dropped a new ep entitled Vacation. It's a five track ep that was released in September 2017. Jimmy and his friends within the overdose music group are working hard to show what they have to offer and I can say that what they are doing is really impressive. Jimmy is just one of our local artiste trying to show the world what we as a nation have to offer and I wish him and all the others all the best. I got the opportunity to interview Jimmy and find out more about him and what he does and I hope you guys really enjoy this article. I also have a few more articles that I'm working on so stay tuned guys. If you guys have anybody else you want me to interview and make an article about them let me know on instagram @ricardobarasa.

1. What got you into music?

Music is my first love. I've always been into music. It's what I know, It's who I am. It's my therapy.

2. What excites you the most when creating new music?

I'm in love with art, just to think that I can walk into a room with some friends and create these pieces that are gonna allow me to connect with people is beautiful.

3. What steps do you take when creating new music?

Steps? Not sure if I can a calculated response for that. It's all energy for me, it depends on what I'm feeling. Sometimes I might just cancel sessions because I might be confused as to what I'm feeling. Sometimes I might just want to talk for an hour before I start because I may be lacking inspiration. When I feel like there's something for me to pull from I'll go in.

4. What skills/personal attributes are most important to being successful?

Success has a lot to do with PLANNING and EXECUTION. The execution part is where we fall short most times. Sometimes all it takes is imagination to plan, but execution....That takes a level of DISCIPLINE that we're afraid of because there's so many distractions to pull us away from our work. When I'm working on a project I try my best to FOCUS on that. SACRIFICE = SUCCESS.

5. What are some typical mistakes you see people making when pursuing a career in music?

Usually I'll take this opportunity to list out a bunch of mistakes and talk about what I'm doing as opposed to what other people aren't doing and all that. But you know what? This time I'll skin that and say this. Whatever career you're pursuing, work hard and give your everything.

6. What is the importance of the connections you make? How do you utilize them?

Building relationships with the people you create with is way more valuable than you think. It's not just about getting close to someone to see how they're gonna help you. The person you think might be able to help you the least might actually be able to push that album you're gonna drop in 6 months to ears that are gonna help take your career to the next level. You never know. It doesn't matter you it is. I just try my best to be as real as possible with the people I connect with.

7. I know you recently worked with Steve Aoki, how did you get in contact with him?

Steve heard about me from Bad Royale and just asked them for my contact information and just texted me one day saying he wanted to work on some music. Of course I was down for that. We got the chance to perform together already too. Steve is a great guy man. It was surely a pleasure being on his new album.

8. How do you get people to take you seriously as a musician?

I don't think I have the perfect formula for that, I just do what I do you know? I make my music and then build a world around it. The way I think is best for me, every song, every project, whatever it is. I think they deserve to exist in their own space so that's how it's done. It's all from different angles, the writing, the production, the visuals, the brand. I take my art seriously, shouldn't the audience take me seriously too?

9. Where do you see yourself in the next five years?

I always say to people that I think I know what the end goal is for me. It's easy to say "I want to be legendary" and work towards that but what if I was just sent here to inspire someone else to be a legend? To inspire someone else to finish what I started? What if that's how the thread unfolds in 50 years? I guess I can't question things like that, that's God's work. As far as trying to see ahead in particular, that's something I did a lot when I was younger. It's kinda like wishing and I think we wish so much sometimes we don't work because we think it's just going to appear. So I don't know if I'm at a place right now where I can say where I see myself in the next five years, that's just not the place I'm at today while I'm writing this to you. Instead I want to say this, for the next five years I want to work with more people that feels music the way I feel music. I really want to write more songs for other artistes and help them tell the stories they wanna tell. I want to keep improving as a creator. As cliche as this sounds, I want to be a better me.

10. What advice would you give to younger individuals that also want to start creating their own music?

When talking to young individuals I always like to ensure how young I am, my 23rd birthday was a couple weeks ago but yep back to the point haha. There is so much power in the youth. I'm not even talking bout myself but all of these kids that are 15 and 18 years old and wise beyond their years, they amaze me everyday. For instance, my photographer, this 19 year old is picking up a camera and helping me express how I feel and how my music feels through visuals even before the listener hears a sound. That's just amazing to me and he's only doing it because he believes in that true expression, that rawness. That's what I'll tell future musicians to do. Find something(s) to believe in and tell the world about it through your music. If you, your team, your producer or whoever else doesn't believe then the world probably wouldn't believe either. YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE! You believe in love? Good, tell me about your experience with love. You believe in fighting through struggles? Then help me believe in that. It's as easy as that. The hard part is usually understanding that it takes time to develop your craft. Everyday you have to try to work at getting better. So yep to upcoming creators reading this, Go create now <3