By John Denny Observer Reporter
(Paradise Estate, Nevis) ” In the music business all his life, producer Colin Tyson has been operating Wildcat Studio for 10 years. The studio is also a bit of a museum with a range of equipment from turntables and one of the first Moog synthesizers to banks of modern mixing equipment. He also has a wall of vinyl records. “I look at the vinyl as a history of recorded music,” said Mr. Tyson. “It is a lot of work, but I take one of these old records and re-master it by taking out the hiss and the pops and enhancing it. I can take one of these and make it sound like a new CD.” While he may re-master an old album or cassette tape in his rare spare time, his real focus is producing new recordings for aspiring artists. “My job as a producer is to translate the artist’s idea into a finished product,” said Mr. Tyson. “Everyone has an idea of what they want their music to sound like. They may want a live sound or a certain edge or maybe orchestration. I record them doing their thing and then after they leave, I go to work.” Mr. Tyson is hoping his business will attract international artists. Wildcat Studio Ltd is more than just a studio. In addition to the recording area, there is Nevislife Boutique that carries a number of ladies fashions and accessories. He also has a number of apartments visiting artists can stay in while they are working on their recording. “I want to have a nice, relaxing environment so they could work at their pace or leisure and wouldn’t have to worry about going somewhere else to spend a night,” he said. The property has spacious well designed self-catering apartments.” Each apartment has a lounge area, bathroom with shower and double bedroom. Additional facilities include a fully equipped communal kitchen, entertainment area, movie screen, television and wireless internet. While he would like to see more business from overseas, Tyson said there is a huge reservoir of talent right here in the Federation. Mr. Tyson arrived on Nevis just two weeks before Hurricane Georges struck in September 1998. He went to work right away producing seven albums for local artists in a few short weeks, just in time for Culturama. The first album was Millennium Culture by Family Man Levi. He was also involved in albums by Meeko, Wildfire, Ken Pemberton, All Stars Steel Band and Babatunji Moore to name a few. “A lot of my business has been calypsonians in the past, but my spectrum is much broader than that,” said Mr. Tyson. “I have done a lot of local artists that have a wide range of musical styles. There is a lot of gospel and inspirational, the local string bands and there are many individuals who bring their own flavor of music. I like doing all of it.” Government sponsorship would be a way to get more recognition for the local musical talent, he said. “The problem here is there are no artist development funds available,” said Mr. Tyson. “There is so much talent here and it is easy to be recognized on a small island, but the challenge is to be recognized out in the real world. All the local artists are on such a tight budget, many can’t afford what it takes to get their music produced or distributed to larger audience. I think this country could really benefit by investing in this local resource. We could turn our music into a viable export.”
