“Once financially lucrative or relevant we will be there”-Troy Azore
Contrary to some interpretations of an interview with one First Born member Trayon Garrett, another member Troy Azore in clearing the air says ” the group has not split-up we are now under self management instead and no matter what we remain “Forever Inspirational Reaching Souls Teaching Brotherhood, Obedience Righteousness Naturally.”
In an interview to be aired on the Caribbean Music Box programme he said “As individuals we have all taken a decision to make time to deal with our personal and family lives but will find time when required to be the group that the people, our fans want to hear from and see”.
For 13 years he said the group has been entertaining and touring places such as Jamaica, the USA, Barbados and other Caribbean islands and has had little or no time for “our personal lives but based on my knowledge as a member we have not.”
The final decision to remove the group from the management of Vision Sounds was made upon return from the USA in mid of 2008. “Then we made a conscious decision that we will have to find time for our families and this was agreed to by all members of First Born but the group appeared after that at several shows such as the United for Haiti concert at the National Park earlier this year.”
He noted that as a group the members agreed that some members would have a chance to pursue solo careers doing recordings and videos as it is easier to do this “wherever you are as an individual.”
As a group they have produced five albums including Exodus, Confident, Wake up call and Irits as well as a remake of Exodus with five additional songs and countless singles but it did not make economic sense. “We have not benefited financially in any major way so the walk thus far has been more of experience and exposure. We have gained knowledge and wisdom regarding the industry that has helped to inform our decisions about the way forward” Azore said.
What of the other members?
One member Lambert Semple is with his family in Trinidad which had migrated there months earlier. Those in the know would recall that Semple’s first daughter had passed away early last year and as such he wanted to be there for his other baby born while he was performing in America. Reports are that he is still into music solo under the name First Born and like all the other members Azore said “once there is a booking that proves financially lucrative we will come together for public performances”. Further he noted that we are also still very much together pushing our musical career as First Born internationally.
Setting the record straight Azore said Rawlston Richmond (Lead singer of Irits and Black Joint a.k.a junkie is in Linden focusing strongly on creating a foundation for his family taking on his role, as a father should, for his two children.
He is also engaged in some amount of small scale farming but and is still very much involved with the music business working on some singles in addition to others he has already produced. “No matter what single is done it goes as a First Born venture” Azore assures.
Shawn Williams a father of two is in Berbice on a short term basis with his family and is further engaged in promoting music development in that County.
Treyon a father of one is in Georgetown working on his album as was reported and is also working on his land scaping venture under the Vision Sounds Label.
By Mondale Smith
During a television interview Tuesday last the 29 -year-old who is caught between contractual landscaping and his music introduced the video of a recently launched single done with Jamaican artiste ‘King Prof’ under the Vision Sounds label. This is one of about 12 songs which will be featured on his soon to be released solo Album.
Group still functioning void of management- Treyon