Born to a mother who was an award-winning music teacher, Petronilla Deterville, and to a father, George Deterville, who fancied himself a singer; 24-year-old Johann Deterville has been raised by music.
“It’s part of my DNA you know. I’m sure if you did a test, you would get musical notes in there,” he said with a warm laugh.
He’s gone from being a wobbly 5-year-old piano player at The ‘St. Lucia School of Music’ to being a student at ‘The Centre for Arts and Technology’ in Halifax and the go-to keyboard player for St. Lucian star rapper, Kayo(featured in this issue).
Tell Dazzle Magazine about your upbringing.
I grew up in Anse la Raye but my parents worked in Castries. I went to the RC Boys School but as a toddler I lived with my aunt in Anse la Raye. I remember spending a lot of time going to the bay side, because I loved to swim. We played a lot of cricket and soccer but I didn’t get to spend too much time on the road because my family was very strict. Once it got dark I had to hurry inside.
I grew up in a very musical family; my mom started teaching music when she was just 15. My dad wasn’t a great singer (haha) but he always enjoyed singing. I grew up attending choir rehearsals with my mom, and eventually started singing with her choir for a while (way in the back), both in church and at festivals. Eventually I got into playing the piano. My mom just put me down in front of a piano and I loved the sound. I wasn’t a natural, but I just knew I loved it. At the age of 5, my mom enrolled me with ‘The St. Lucia School of Music’ and I would say my musical journey started from there. I fell in love with the instrument and never turned my back on it.
How did you get the name Yogi?
Oh boy, it’s one of those school names you know. One of my friends from school just thought it would be funny to call me “Yogi” when I specifically said my name was “Johann”. I’m assuming he thought it was spelt with “Yo” as opposed to “Jo”, so I guess it kind of stuck with me.
Tell us about your mother’s influence on you growing up.
Man! My mom pushed me a lot, though sometimes I didn’t want to go to classes. She would make sure that I did, so I am grateful for that. If it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t have acquired this skill. Every time I think about it, I realise that it was such a good decision I made to continue on with music and piano, and I know that my mom really wanted me to do it. Today, I feel like I am continuing her legacy, she has done a lot for her community and country so I can’t let all her hard work go to waste, I’ve got plans! Thanks Mom.
One of Johann’s darkest moments would come when his beloved mother suddenly died from meningitis. Tell us about that moment, how did it affect you?
It was in 2010, and I was going to school in Jamaica at the time. I got a call from my dad who said she was in the hospital. Immediately I prepared for the worst. Then he called a few hours later and told me she died and that I should come home. It’s weird… but I cried for maybe 10 minutes then I stopped. I felt fine… I felt like my mom was telling me, “Ok I’m good now, you don’t have to worry, just keep doing your thing.” I took it really positively. I felt like now I have someone above looking out for me, you know. That itself motivates me every day, making her proud.
Johann’s mother died doing what she loved most… teaching music. She was helping a group of kids at the cultural centre with a musical production and wanted to drive them home. Despite not feeling well, she waited for hours until they were done rehearsing. That was a Friday. On Saturday she still wasn’t feeling well but didn’t bother with the doctor. By the next day, she couldn’t move her entire left side and was rushed to hospital, where she died.
Everything happens for a reason. She was the one who pushed me to go to school in Jamaica. One day she just said, “you’re going”. Within two weeks I was off! If I had decided not to go, I think her death would have destroyed me but knowing that I am doing something she would have been proud of, keeps me going.”
How did you make the move from ‘The Edna Manley College of Visual and Performing Arts’ in Jamaica to going to school at ‘The Centre for Arts and Technology’ in Halifax?
Well I was enrolled in a great jazz and music performance programme in Jamaica but I didn’t feel it was what I really wanted to do. My love has always been in the studio so I decided to find an audio engineering school. My brother was already studying at Saint Mary’s in Halifax, and plus Kayo kept saying to me that I should come up and play keys for him.
Now you are basically Kayo’s go-to guy. How did that relationship happen?
It’s funny because Kayo never wanted my beats. I always tease him about that. He and my older brother were friends and I started sending him my stuff over msn when I was 16. Looking back, they were obviously not up to standard. My first production, the beat was named ‘Equinox’ (don’t ask why). At the time, I thought it was the bomb! I wouldn’t want to hear it now. My first recording was done with a computer mic and my brother Nathan, who was rapping on that Equinox beat. My brothers have always been supportive of my music, thanks guys.
So Kayo and I only started working in 2010 while I was still in school in Jamaica. He said that he needed someone to mix and master some tracks for him. So, he sent me a little test firstand was shocked at what I sent back. I did this thing literally in my bedroom with cheap equipment and they loved it! What I did was better than what the pro in Canada had done for them. So I felt like a king! At that point I realised, hey my stuff is actually good and that’s when I started focussing on it career wise.
How did your dad feel about you moving away from classical piano towards producing in studio?
He said, “do whatever you want, I will support you,” and that is so important. I see a lot of kids in Saint Lucia give up on their dreams because their family doesn’t support them. Saint Lucia is full of talent and I see so many kids getting into music; their parents don’t show up for rehearsals or shows because they think it’s not important. They have no idea how that affects the kid. They may not say it, but it hurts.
With family support and a fierce drive to succeed, Johann got hired by Kayo to fully mix and master his mixtape in 2010. Johann also had the chance to produce a song for him called ‘Different’ which made it onto the mixtape. Johann, tell Dazzle about that.
That was a big deal for me. We came home to Saint Lucia during Christmas and Kayo came to my home studio in Anse la Raye. We were actually meeting for the first time. We recorded and produced everything from scratch – all in one night. It was Christmas Eve. When we were done, I remember we rushed down to ‘The Wave’ radio station and convinced them to play one of the tracks we did on the radio. That was called ‘Take Me Home’.
Johann has been in Halifax a little over a year now and says the most exciting thing he’s done so far is work on Kayo’s first official album, (to be released under Universal) and be part of a tour with Kayo and rapper, Xhibit. Johann, what has that been like?
That was December of last year. It was just a weekend tour but it was like living out my dream. I always used to dream of flying off somewhere to perform at a show. We went to Newfoundland which is a pretty small place, so people were freaking out and asking for my autograph. I was like, “Wow, I’m only Yogi.” It was amazing though, everyone was asking for pictures, it was a wonderful feeling. I felt like a star.
You have said that working on Kayo’s album has been priceless in terms of everything that you have been able to learn and accomplish in such a short space of time…
I jumped over a lot of heads because of Kayo. As soon as I landed in Canada I was working with veteran artistes – going on tour with Snoop Dogg, Xhibit and Classified. Sometimes in the studio, I just sit back and look around me and think, “wow, you did good Yogi”.
Describe a typical studio session with Kayo?
Whenever we get into the studio we have no idea what we are going to do. Kayo will tell me what kind of vibe he is going for with a song, whether it’s smooth or up-tempo. I will just start playing chord progressions, that’s where my musical knowledge comes in. Once I have one progression down, stuff just comes to mind, it just comes naturally. In terms of inspiration, I feel like music just pours out of me. You can really feel the emotion in my music but I don’t draw on my emotions for inspiration. For example, I cannot make a beat if I am not in a good mood. I can’t draw from anger or pain the way other artists do. I have tried but I just end up getting frustrated. All I know is that I get completely lost in the sounds. This guy once said to me, “hey you need to stop making those ugly faces when you’re playing on stage”. I said, “it’s the music man”; I don’t care what I look like.
Who is the biggest influence in your musical career and why?
That’s easy! I think Kanye West is a genius when it comes to making hip-hop music. He is extremely creative and his choice of rhythmic patterns is what always gets me. Sometimes for inspiration I will visit YouTube and just search: “Kanye West in studio”. “Good Life” is one of my favourite records from Kanye!
Music is forever changing. How do you keep up?
Having a background in classical music makes it very easy for me to adjust, and I would say classical music made it possible for a lot of other genres to develop. Also, I listen to all types of music. I mostly keep my ears open for reoccurring patterns in the music, and try to figure out, what really puts that musical piece in its genre. Take dub step for example, it really is the wobble and crazy manipulation of noise oscillators that defines it. In other words, it’s the stuff that sounds like Transformers fighting – that’s dubstep!
What are your plans for the future?
When I am done with school, I want to honour my mom’s work with children in music back home in Saint Lucia. Every weekend she would give free music lessons, and I used to help her. I want to teach music theory through technology. My dream is to see recording arts as a CXC programme.
