For this special edition in observance of Saint Lucia’s 35th Independence Anniversary, Dazzle magazine features Courtney ‘Curty’ Louis – Saint Lucia’s hottest hit-music producer.
“All that I aim for, I work hard to accomplish and even more,” neatly expresses the sentiments of this accomplished song-writer, ace-producer and business entrepreneur.
What endears Curty to most people is his sublime humility and charm. This Saint Lucian is earmarked for stardom and continues to make his country proud with the production of several hit numbers spun locally, regionally and globally.
Curty attended the Canon Laurie Anglican School, St. Mary’s College, and the Barbados Community College before concentrating on developing his musical skills. He did a course in sound engineering but dropped out of college, confident that “School wasn’t where I wanted to be, I wanted to pursue it on my own.”
Curty’s first connection with a Saint Lucian artiste was with Ninja Dan, the two of them pioneers in the “growth of soca music in Saint Lucia.” Since then he has worked with other local artistes including Ricky T, Mongstar, Alpha, Ambi, Superman HD, Q-Pid, Scady Dot P, Selecta Twis and Marie-Anne.
Curty has also collaborated with regional artistes such as Machel Montano, Shurwayne Winchester, KMC and Naya George from Trinidad, Ce’Cile, Beenie Man and Christopher Martin from Jamaica, and Tall Pree and Mr. Killa from Grenada. He also worked with Tabia from Saint Vincent with whom he produced and wrote ‘Boom Boom Boom’ – one of his biggest singles to date that won awards in Bermuda and Saint Vincent.
His list of awards is quite extensive and spans across the region. In addition to the titles in Saint Vincent and Bermuda, he also won a Road March title in Trinidad for his work on the Machel Montano song ‘Jumbie,’ as well as the Power, Road March and titles in Grenada for the songs ‘Spice Isle Rock’ and ‘Warriors’ produced in collaboration with Mr Killa. Back home in Saint Lucia, Curty has won three Power Soca Monarch titles, one Groovy title and one Road March title. He is also the winner of three Copyright of Trinidad and Tobago (COTT) awards and the Saint Lucian Producer of the Year award which he won in 2008.
During the 2011, 2012 and 2013 carnival seasons Curty released more music than every other Saint Lucian producer. He also scored the most songs in the Groovy and Power Soca Monarch finals.
In 2012, after the release of 40 songs, he would end the year with his first Power Soca Monarch title since ‘Happy Birthday Carnival’ in 2006. Superman HD captured the title with ‘Born to Mash Up,’ a song produced by Curty and co-written with Hollice “Mr. Killa” Mapp and Kwency “Superman HD” Griffith.
Currently working on material for Saint Lucia Carnival 2014, Curty sat down with Dazzle after another hard day’s work, to take us on a trek into his musical world.
Dazzle: What motivated you to get into the music industry and the show bizz scene?
Courtney: I always liked music and used to imitate a favourite artiste of mine back in the day when I wanted to become a singer. While living in Barbados I hanged out with my cousin who was involved in promoting events. He was part of the Lil Rick management crew and I used to go along with them to the studio where I met producer Peter Toppin and decided to get into production to do my own thing.
Dazzle: What’s the name of your company and what type of business do you conduct?
Courtney: My production company is called Dutch Productions. I also have a music label named ‘Stratosphere Muzic’ which consists primarily of 12 core persons. We inspire each other, creating a vibe built on ‘team work.’
Dazzle: You push and develop many young Saint Lucian artistes. Is this your company’s business model or does it just come naturally?
Courtney: It comes naturally because long before I established the companies I was already doing that, as an artiste and producer. I feel the label has helped to enhance and expand that vibe I started with Dutch Productions.
Dazzle: You are known for producing Saint Lucian Soca anthems. How did you conceptualize Glo Ko Ko in 2011, Saint Lucia We Love in 2012 and Nationality in 2013?
Courtney: It dates back to my early years when I was based in Trinidad & Tobago. I was like the Lucian out there trying to carry the flag. Being away from home, I guess you appreciate your local music more and teaming up with Mongstar who is equally patriotic, helps create these kind of songs. The concepts for each of the songs you mentioned were a collaborative effort. For instance, Mongstar was singing and writing Glo Ko Ko when I told him let’s make a story out of the song. So we sat down to work it out, just like other songs that I produced with other artistes. When we’re at work in the studio you come up with a hook and then take it from there. I believe every song has a story to tell and I encourage every artiste I work with to write and tell that story with me.
Dazzle: Did you have a goal in mind when you started off?
Courtney: I like to analyse myself. I always evaluate and pose challenges to myself. Everything I aim for, I want to always accomplish and more and I thank God for my success thus far. For instance, I first wanted to be a deejay and then realised I wanted to be a singer; then a producer and then later realised that I wanted to have my own record label. I wasn’t the best DJ or singer but found my place in song-writing and production. So who knows where the wind will blow next?
Dazzle: How successful have those songs been locally and internationally?
Courtney: They have opened a lot of doors. Where I used to be three years ago and where I am now is a huge leap. For example, to be honest, three years ago I used to be interested in participating in T&T carnival and my ambitions have gone beyond that now; it is not even on my mind right now. I want our music, as in Saint Lucian music, to be heard and played throughout and out of this world.
Dazzle: What are some of the strong guiding principles that have enabled you to propel your career?
Courtney: To put God first and keep faith, trusting and having confidence in the Most High. I always believe in being humble, like you are never ‘too big’ to learn or listen to others. One needs to learn how to accept criticism too even though it’s hard because the work we do is so personal.
Dazzle: Besides Soca, what other musical genres do you produce?
Courtney: Reggae … I had a great collaboration with Ce’Cile and on her last reggae album a couple of the tracks were produced by me. I’ve gotten to like Soca music more now. It’s like it grew on me. I like a lot of techno, a lot of pop, dancehall, reggae and the like. And I also like a lot of rock music. So I experimented and fused it with Soca and I developed my own Soca vibe. I always liked Zouk also but Soca grew on me.
Dazzle: What has been your biggest achievement thus far?
Courtney: The birth of my fifteen-year old daughter, Shayler, who resides in the USA. She is my only child and she could sing. She was born in Saint Lucia but is now a US citizen.
Dazzle: What is your ultimate goal both as an artiste and as a person?
Courtney: My ultimate goal is to take my label Stratosphere Muzic, which means out of this world, to higher heights.
Dazzle: What other services do you offer and what other companies have you worked with?
Courtney: I produce jingles for the corporate sector and have worked with LIME, Digicel and other businesses. LIME was formerly Cable & Wireless and when they were officially rebranded, I did their theme song for the region in collaboration with top regional artistes like Beenie Man, Edwin Yearwood, Denise Belfond and Ninja Dan from Saint Lucia.
I have also produced several other jingles for LIME and Digicel, KFC and Orange Media. I also did the recent LIME jingle featuring Coaks and Anglasia and the folk group, the Secret Band. I also did the Digicel Carnival promotion and the Digicel Xmas promotion.
I did the H2O ‘Sa Se Glo’ promotion and have worked with Bryden & Partners and Peter & Company. I have also done carnival jingles for the Carnival Stakeholders Committee and produced last year’s Saint Lucia Carnival theme song.
Dazzle: What advice would you give to young entrepreneurs in the music industry?
Courtney: As I said earlier, you need to be humble and open to criticism; stay grounded, stay focused on your goal because distractions tend to lead to a lot of frustration and stagnation. I keep stressing being humble because it is so important not to get caught up in your own hype or success and most importantly, put God in everything that you do.
