A young, dynamic Saint Lucian artist is carving out a name for himself in the music scene – locally, regionally, and beyond.
Saveion is a songwriter and recording artist who has distinguished his craft by penning songs for big-name stars such as Beenie Man, Shurwayne Winchester, Teddyson ‘TJ’ John, Ricky T, and Mr. Killa, amongst others.
For someone who was originally a little doubtful about his musical potential, Saveion has come a long way to riding the waves with some top stars. He made his debut as a recording artist about five to six years ago and has not looked back since, as he pushes ahead with the goal of getting to the top of the music industry.
A graduate of the Leon Hess Comprehensive Secondary School (LHCSS), he later moved on to pursue studies in Computer Systems Engineering at Sir Arthur Lewis Community College (SALCC).
“My strategy has always been to find my passion where that journey took me…and I eventually came to music at one point and it felt right,” declares Saveion.
“Ever since, I’ve tapped into different aspects of music; whether playing instruments or writing music,” he adds. “Or just mixing music…whatever it is, I just delve into it more. Basically, I am a creator.”
But what motivated Saveion to explore music in its entirety?
As a young music enthusiast, he was mostly inspired by his mother, an avid music fan, who kept video compilations of dancehall artists such as Beenie Man. Saveion says “It was always captivating to me, and from then on, I got into it.”
His musical journey began while in Form IV at LHCSS and was solidified upon his introduction to ‘Free Style Fridays’.
A friend of Saveion’s who had participated in the sessions urged him to get involved. Soon afterwards, he made an attempt at recording and was able to sing out a verse since he had done some poetry writing at school.
“From here, I started my amateur studio and recording.”
Saveion admits that his first attempt at songwriting from conception to production was a bit challenging. Although he was a bit doubtful about writing that first song, he received some positive feedback from his friends after the song was released.
He initially got some airplay for his songs, with some criticism, but he acknowledges, “It was a learning lesson for me to get my songs sounding as best as they could. And then from that first song, I went on to write more music and more people in the industry became aware of my writing skill.”
Saveion recalls that his earliest contact person was Nicole David, and then he linked up with producers such as Leebo and Curty, “and people got more interested in my song writing to the point where Curty introduced me to Mr. Killa from Grenada. The first regional song that I wrote was for Mr. Killa.”
He was subsequently introduced to Shurwayne Winchester and Christopher Martin for whom he also wrote a song. “And from there, I just kept growing and then ventured outside of Saint Lucia to network. When I returned home, I made connections with more artists, like Michael Robinson.”
With the amplified pulse of music vibes flowing through his veins, Saveion says, “I had just been writing in the background and soon along came Teddyson John (TJ). I also wrote music for Ricky T and we won a Road March; and then on to the Soca Monarch title where Ricky T and Superman HD won with the tune ‘Perfect Storm’.
Saveion went on to partner with TJ for the release of the song ‘Vent’ and then later on, to release ‘Crème de La Crème’. He has also done collaborations with regional artists such as Kes, and recently, Skinny Fabulous.
He has released several songs over the past three years, “But then I took a break from writing songs for others in order to focus on my craft because something amazing happened to me along the way.” Saveion explains. “As a recording artist, I released a self-written song and started to debut my music as Saveion in 2016.”
About 2017 to 2018, he wrote a song called ‘Perfect Body’ but felt that the song was not “totally up to par and so I did some Snippets on Instagram and an international artist called Nicky B contacted me.”
He said Nicky B was impressed with the song and showed interest in creating a songwriting team. He later collaborated with Nicky B as a member of the team.
After a video shoot for the song was completed, Saveion says, “It was like steps of being surprised each time”. The evolution of the song included shooting the music video in Saint Lucia and getting it aired on BET. Moving on, Saveion got introduced to Nicky B’s record label and met with some top influential people in the music industry. “And that’s the point I’m at right now,” he says.
Saveion took Dazzle Magazine further into the inner circle of his work and the motivating factors that helped him make the ‘big break’ and bridge the gap between him and some big-name stars.
What was the development process like for Saveion, and meeting people who helped motivate him and develop his artistic talents?
Quite coincidentally around that time, Saveion met with Yohann “Yogi” Deterville, a top ranked Saint Lucian music producer who informed him about his studio.
He credits DJ Scady Dot P as the one “who was pushing my music the most at that time.” Scady was also instrumental in giving constructive feedback and advising Saveion on the need to improve the quality of his tracks.
He linked up with Yogi and before long, Saveion visited Yogi’s Studio 9, situated at Anse La Raye.
“That‘s where my actual artistic development began; at that specific point…and it was the first time that I recorded in a studio with Yogi,” he explains.
He also got to hook up with other influential people on the local entertainment scene, such as Rankin Morgan, Irvine “Smokes” Springer, “and they were the ‘heavy hitters’ in the game, as producers at the time. They also recorded a few songs with me as well”.
He adds, “All this helped to build my character because people were actually reaching out to me professionally and that played an instrumental role in my career.”
What is Saveion’s favourite song amongst all the tunes that he has written?
“My favourite song would have to be ‘Crème de la Crème’ by Teddyson John, as it was supposed to be my song,” he says. “We were going through some demos that I had and I was supposed to have released that song before the ‘Perfect Body’”.
However, he recalls, “But he (TJ) really liked that song ‘Crème de la Crème’ because the melody makes it different. So we had to change it up to suit him.”
Saveion says at the time he was into experimenting with a fusion of Dennery Segment and pop music “to try to make it up more as a cross-over vibe, and then I got the beat for the song and that was the inspiration behind it.”
He has no regrets about “giving up” the song to TJ since he says it did very well as the first cross-over of that kind infusing Dennery Segment with a bit of Groovy Soca, “and that kind of vibe added to it.”
How far has Saveion’s talent taken him and what has been the biggest high- light in his career, so far?
“In terms of my song writing, right now I’m actually submitting music to record labels and artists that I never even dreamed of working with, and never thought possible,” he declares. “But I guess my talent has brought me into different circles and networking, which is a great tool.”With his sights set on reaching higher heights, Saveion asserts, “In terms of writing for international artists like Nicky B,just being featured on songs that would be submitted for Grammy Awards has taken me from exploring the local market to entering the regional scene and now I am just getting my feet wet in the international market.”
What keeps Saveion motivated with such passion for his craft?
“What keeps me motivated is us having a thriving music industry in Saint Lucia and the development of it. And if I can contribute to it, no matter how small my contribution is, I will always want to see Saint Lucia develop have a functioning music industry. I am inspired to just achieve that goal which I set for myself when I was younger although it’s testing,” he declared.
“ Success is slowing coming to fruition because a few of my goals have already checked off and so I just keep dreaming big.”
What is the notion behind Saveion’s rebranding of his music project?
“I remember going by the name of ‘Blue’ when I was younger, but what I have realized is that with the development of technology and all these platforms and search engines, people want things at their fingertips right away,” he explains.
Saveion took on a whole new approach to rebranding his name and material from ditching the original name ‘Blue’ that he found was so common on the web to Saveion.
And how does Saveion describe himself?
“I’d say ‘creative’…that would branch off into so many other things to make me just a creative person,” he says.
Being thrust into the spotlight in collaboration with a fellow countryman, he recalls, “When we penned ‘Vent’ and I saw the reaction (because that was my first time working with Teddyson), I was really in doubt because this is TJ and he trusts me to write a song with him.” Saveion admits he was a bit doubtful when he took up that project, “but when I saw the reaction to Vent and people singing it word for word, traveling across the world or in a fete somewhere, I was like – Yow I was a part of this!”
He adds, “Just the impact that it had on Saint Lucia, and regionally raised the volume for my craft.”
What are Saveion’s aspirations for the future?
“Moving forward, I see myself creating more content for diverse channels…for artists and just to diversify myself musically; not only being an artist but being an executive as part of a label, or finding ways to give back. I always want to give back; I always want to help create.”
“So, I think for me it is transitioning into an executive role after I accomplish all my goals as an artist.”
Is Saveion currently working on any passionate projects?
“Definitely. I’m always working. I just did a few features on some very important albums…for some well-known world-renowned artists,” he says. “I’m actually in the process of shooting three music videos which will be released very soon. We just wrapped up two, so we’re missing one and I’m working on a mix-tape and an album which will be released at some point.”
This industrious and versatile artist declares, “I’m always working and with all the downtime during the pandemic, I’ve been writing a lot. And I’m very excited to share my craft with the rest of the world.”
What is the latest deal that Saveion has going on with FRUTA Tropical Fruit Beverages?
Saveion has been the face for commercial entities, such as Just 4 Fun Carnival Band when he served as a brand ambassador a couple of years ago.
And now, he says, “I am the face and the brand ambassador for FRUTA.”
He added that FRUTA is trying to introduce the brand to the international market, and after his BET promotion, the parent company of the beverage brand decided that “it was a good idea to collaborate our brands since we are heading in the same direction. They contacted me and proposed a partnership with me as the brand’s Brand Ambassador.”
Saveion’s advice to other budding artists is, “Don’t jump onto any trend. Try to find yourself as a creative person; stay authentic and just diversify your craft and keep in tune with regional and international markets. Familiarise yourself with the songs and try to match the songs, not mimic them …and enhance your craft to make it sound worthy of being on these markets as well. Because you want to get your craft into the highest places.”
fun Fact
Mac or Windows?
Definitely Mac
Funniest thing that happened to you during a performance?
I was introducing a song but somehow, I was hyping up the wrong song. So when the DJ played the actual song, I was kind of stuck andeveryone was like – Yeah, this is not the song. So that was funny, but I recovered from that quickly.
Favourite fruit?
My favourite fruit would have to be grapes.
Most memorable childhood memory? Pertaining to music, it would have to be just watching all these tapes of dancehall artists, likeShabba Ranks. Just watching them perform on stage and being captivated by the performances.
