TCD Exclusive - Charli Interview

Meet Charlene Griffith (CHARLI) - The woman in search of the BIG TRUCK DRIVER 

Charli is no new kid on the block, she has been around making music for a very long time. A talented vocalist who can sing almost any genre of music. As founding member of girl group 2Ntrigue along side her sister Kelli, they definitely marked their way as a powerhouse vocal group with sass, style, talent and beauty. Charli has had the opportunity to open for several big acts such as Akon, Whitney Houston, Rod Stewart, Usher, Joe, 112, Jagged Edge, Damien ‘Jr Gong’ Marley, Beres Hammond, to name a few.

Charli is at it again with her brand new single, BIG TRUCK DRIVER for carnival 2013. We sat down with her for this exclusive interview just for you. Get to know Charli below.

Stage Name –   CHARLI

Registered Name – Charlene Griffith

DOB/Age –  15 July  33

Music Genre/s – Soca, Pop, Reggae, R&B, Jazz

When did you start off your musical career? 1995 but really got into it 2002

Who/What inspires you to become a better artist? (Locally and internationally)  

Honestly my vision drives me I see so much more than what is. I am also inspired by artiste who use their fame for good works and who stand for something eg. Singing Sandra, Bunji Garlin, Nina Simone, Alicia Keys, Angelina Jolie etc  I can take a couple pages out of Machel Montano’s book  for Soca though lol

Do you have a loyal support system/fan base? Yes I do and I thank them for believing in the vision

If you had to choose a name for your fans, what would they be called? E.g (Beyoncé – Beehive, Rihanna – Navy,  Lady Gaga – Monsters etc.) Charli- Angels

How have social media Facebook, Twitter and YouTube) help advance your career? Yes I believe it did

Has the use of iTunes, amazon music, ReverbNation and other music websites help boost international recognition? Oh yes it did!

What is your greatest accomplishment as a musician to date?  

The ability to contribute to a new style of music. As a founding member of the duo known as 2Ntrigue, we were recognized as the first to start the fusion of Pop, R&B with Soca/ Ragga Soca which we deemed Island Pop

Do you think the local radio stations give your song/s enough airplay?

Not really but I am hoping that would change

What can we expect from you for Carnival 2013?

Well Carnival 2013 is a new element for me. It’s the first time frontlining  a carnival band “Traffik Plus”. You can expect much energy with a touch of class, a lot of sexiness and sass lol

What are your plans beyond Trinidad Carnival 2013?

I am working on some pieces for a project that will showcase my versatility as an artiste. So  expect to hear and see a bit more of who and what CHARLI is about .  My company ISLANDHOLIKS ENTERTAINMENT will be hosting a bit of Fashion, Entertainment and Lifestyle.  So I will be busy with that as well.

Charli Griffith

Follow Charli on Twitter: @MsCharliG

Are you ready for UWI Fete 2013? Yalla!

Tickets will be available at the UWI Alumni office. UWI St. Augustine UWI Alumni Association (Trinidad and Tobago Chapter)Lime.tt Buzz.tt TriniJungleJuice.com www.TriniBerry.comTriniscene.com puretrinbago.com The U.G.G.L.Y

http://uwifetett.com/

Know the performance schedule... click for large view

Know your map...click for large view

One Fete Streamling LIVE on Triniscene

ONE Fete will be streaming LIVE tonight on Triniscene

Tune in tonight from 10:30PM just follow the link below:

http://triniscene.com/tsv7/stream2/

Carnival Kicks teams up with Indulge Clothing - Boots available in store

Carnival Kicks boots are now available at Indulge Clothing on Tragrarete Road, Woodbrook .

Customers can go in store, try on and buy Carnival Kicks boots locally. Also orders can be placed online at Carnival Kicks website and picked up at Indulge since the website has so much more!

http://www.carnivalkicks.com/

Zante Picante Carnival 2013

Zanté~2013 presents  ★ PICANTE★    ...Exclusive Ultra Premium All Inclusive
Trinidad Carnival Tuesday (5th February, 2013)
The Avenue 'westside'
8:00pm - 2:00am

★Online early bird tickets $500 til January 15th★

http://islandmix.com/events/zante-2013-presents-picante/1038
N.B : (Online Sales ends January 15th 2013 @ 11:59PM)

The ULTIMATE Party is Zanté. Always includes 
★UNLIMITED PREMIUM ALCOHOL
★LATEST MUSIC
★GORGEOUS PEOPLE
★AWESOME VIBE

Zanté... DIFFERENT style...DIFFERENT vibe!!!

Zanté Alliance:

Roxy 775-1359
Toby 708-2156
Chris 785-3900
Daniella 384-7979
Carlos 684-3785
Tyrel 798-7524
Sharon 360-0599
Sherry 484-4425
Duane 689-5722
T'nice 781-3909
Sommer 769-5559
Nikki 325-7177
Lairfair 764-3554

New York:- Pauline 646-919-5946
                   Yana    347-881-5341
                   Jason   646-235-1958

Washington DC:- Warren 202-257-8814

HOTLINE :  70-ZANTÉ (709-2683)
EMAIL :       zanteyuhself@gmail.com
TWITTER:  @zantelife

Komplekshuns Carnival Makeup

click to enlarge

http://www.komplekshuns.com/

ANYA- The FETE Carnival 2013

By all reports the inaugural instalment of Anya Ayoung-Chee's all inclusive fete "ANYA- The FETE" in 2012 was a roaring success, guests raved about the "intimacy" of the venue and having an excellent time. 

ANYA The FETE was also attended by BET's 106 & Park host, Terrence J, Sports Illustrated model, Selita Ebanks, former NBA player, John Salley amongst other celebs. Performances by Machel Montano, Kes and Aaron Fresh rocked the star studded affair.

 This Carnival Anya's Fete is back and many people have been eagerly awaiting more information :

ANYA the FETE "Carnival of Colour" is a Premium All-Inclusive Fete hosted by Project Runway Season 9 Winner, ANYA AYOUNG-CHEE. Part proceeds of this event go to Anya's chosen charity "The TallMan Foundation". You can find out more about the organization here, www.tallmanfoundation.org

Details for ANYA the FETE are as follows:

Date: February 9th, 2013

Time: 4pm till Midnight

Location: St Clair, Trinidad

Ticket Price: $800 TTD/$130 USD

Ticket inquires must be directed to anyathefete@gmail.com

Here are a few photos of last year's ANYA the FETE:

I am Feter - Fantasy Savage Saturday The Saucy Review

Fete : Fantasy Savage, Pier 1, Chaguaramas 
Price: $300.00
Date: January 5th,2013
Photos: http://triniscene.com/tsv7/galleries/?page=display&id=GALBB7657

Location:

Pier 1, the go to location for carnival cooler fetes.  Main stage to the front, directly opposite the entrance. Pier 1 parking lot offered secured parking for $20 and free parking on the road as is the norm.  There was no traffic at 11:30 pm. A lot of cars yes, but moving cars.  There were reports of other people being stuck in traffic for hours but this was not my experience.

Ambiance/Décor:

Fantasy and bmobile banners decorated the venue.  Nothing too fancy, this was after all supposed to be a cooler fete, no bells and whistles necessary. K.I.S.S in full effect.

Bar:

Saw many party goers with ginormous coolers, some of them appeared to have bought the coolers on their way into the fete!  There were 3 bars that I could identify selling chasers and mixed drinks using a chit system.  For anyone without a cooler and wanting to purchase drinks, a cooler fete, featuring Machel is NOT the place you want to go to and have to move, stumble over invisible coolers and lose your spot to buy drinks. Bring your coolers!!! 

Food:

The usual fare of gyros, hamburgers and wings were on sale at the entrance, close to the chit area.  There were 3 vendors with food inside the venue and the usual Pier 1 vendors outside on the street.

 Performances:

We got there just in time to see K-Rich make his way onto the stage.  Singing both his last year and this year’s songs he hyped the crowd up sufficiently, pretending to remove his shirt for the ladies. He came back for his encore to sing his hit Wine Back, driving the ladies mad once again.

K-Rich was followed by a short DJ stint which heralded the entrance of the man himself Machel Montano HD. Machel made his way onto the stage with enough fog to fog up the street outside of Pier 1 for an hour after he started. For his first performance of the season Machel gave a long, solid set including his 2012 offerings and of course his new songs which he seemed to be testing for Soca Monarch and Road March viability. We heard fog up the place about 5 times during that night.  Guest appearances were made by Drupatee and Patrice Roberts along with Farmer Nappy, who shared a moment with Machel where they sang back and forth, accapella-ish songs from as far back as Gyal Farm.  Andrew Lewis, Trinidad’s Olympic sailor joined Machel on stage for a swig or five of 3-Zero rum chased with a wine and jook for the screaming ladies.  Rumor had it that Machel was slated to perform at Tribe ICE that night as well but he proved that rumor false with his extra long set where he indicated that he would be performing at all of Fantasy’s fetes, in their jouvert band and exclusively on the road with Savage on Carnival Monday and Tuesday.  For the first time in a long time I heard people saying that Machel ‘could come off now’ since they were ready to party hard to just the DJ.

Crowd Vibe:

If its one thing Fantasy people love to do is make sure they party and party hard. Fantasy’s crowd is never stush. They arrive ready to party and leave chipping and wining ready for the next wine at the next fete. Pier 1 was packed to capacity with people and coolers and even the people all the way to the back close to the entrance who arrived late were waylaying as if they had been there all night. 

Eye Candy

Fantasy is heaven on earth for women.  Most other places we go to are filled with women and men are in their glee. Well both men and women were in their glee at Fantasy. And if the band on the road is anything like Saturday there will be many carnival tabancas for people to mind come Ash Wednesday.

Bathroom:

Pier 1 bathrooms were used for the night, as well as some regular portable potties close to the entrance. I did not use any so I don’t know how well kept they were throughout the night.

Overall Rating:

I would give Fantasy an 8 out of 10, purely because of the vibe.  I think if this fete had no live performances and no top billed DJs and you and your crew came with your cooler ready to party, you would find a Pier 1 filled with like minded people whose main purpose would be to enjoy their nights to the fullest. 

D'Bandit jumps Carnival Nationz ship to bring Angelz to Callaloo Mas

We take a quick break from Trinidad Carnival to bring you some Caribana news!

This one going an FOG UP DE PLACE!!! ... at least Caribana.

Well it would seem as though things are already heating up in the Toronto arena for Caribana 2013 and since I got the exclusive - I will put all the other rumors to rest.... 

YES a NEW BRAND is hitting the scene for Caribana 2013

YES.. Bandit is behind it (as well as a steaming hot cast of characters)

YES ... it have some of the hottest sections for Caribana to date!!

YES ... the music and service WILL BE ON POINT for this new band (from sources I am told)

and do you want to hear de bacchanal?!?!

YESSSSS ... the band-launch will be ON DE SAME DAY as another stalwart band!! (the former band of BOTH the bandleader and their SIGNATURE designer)

Both departing from their former attachments for a myriad of reasons, this new brand aims to fill a gaping hole in the Toronto mas system it would seem. My question is, why have a launch on the same day? To prove what point? I mean at the end of the day, aren't you mas bands catering to PEOPLE? People who CANNOT be in two places at once?! Sigh... in any event - remember you heard it here FIRST! And from the looks of it there will be many firsts for this fairly new band with well seasoned, EXPERIENCED professionals! I cannot WAIT to see what is in store...

As usual, I will have my eyes and ears locked for more juicy details but for now, prior to TRINIDAD CARNIVAL (let's not forget) - that is all I am going to share at this point.. And ay ay what is this I see... SCORCH on de list too!! But what the hell. Major points for this band! 

As you know - name and brand is everything so why else not have a HEAVENLY EXPERIENCE with ... CARNIVAL ANGELZ (link Carnival Angelz to www.carnivalangelz.com/index.php) 

Look out for this new brand with a BIG BANG when they launch on April 20th, 2013! Who knows maybe de "Sauce" might have to make a cameo for this launch cause I'll have vacation time left!! Now de rumors have been PUT TO REST.. let de bacchanal start

Get Fit for FREE

If you are looking for some free classes to get you in shape for Carnival both Paparazzi Mas and Island People Mas have you covered:

Free Winercise Classes:

Free every Saturday until February 2nd:

Carnival Hunters Update

Carnival Hunters date has now been changed to January 20th please take note!

D.J. Private Ryan Soca Sampler 2013

http://djprivateryanmusic.com/index.php/mixes/view/149

1. Hard Wine – Bunji Garlin

2. I ok – Kes

3. Fete – Konshens

4. Soca Child – Kerwin Dubois

5. Call my name – Destra

6. Differentology – Bunji Garlin

7. Canvas – Bunji Garlin

8. Indian Gyal – Machel & Drupatee

9. FOG – Machel Montano

10. Thief a wine – Kes

11. Life of the party – Machel Montano

12. Permission – Patrice Roberts

13. Feter – Benjai 

14. Wining Queen – Denise Belfon

15. Boost har up – Konshens

16. Crank – Peter Ram

17. The contest – Lil Rick

18. Bruk out – Patrice Roberts

19. Stranger – Farmer nappy

20. Single (Private Ryan edit) – Chucky

21. Partier -5 Star Akil

22. We limin – Shal & Super Jigga TC

23. Prescription – Ravi B

24. 25 – 8 – Lyrikal

25. Savage – Buni Garlin

26. Hold Somebody – Michelle X

27. Manager – Nadia Batson

28. Stages – Bunji Garlin

29. Tobago Love – Shurwayne Winchester

30. We Not Stoppin – Shurwayne Winchester

31. Drunk – Farmer nappy

32. Fireman – Nadia Batson

33. Drinking Rum – Machel Montano

34. Wettin – Kerwin Dubois

35. Fete of the year – Kerwin Dubois

36. Whole day – Devon Matthews & Sean Caruth

37. Come for dat – Kes

38. She Ready (Private Ryan edit) – Machel Montano

39. No Lie – Machel Montano

40. Leh Go – Blaxx

41. Wine up ting – Iwer George

42. Whistle & Horn – Cassi

43. Whole day – Ms Alysha

44. Come Down – Erphaan Alves

45. X Rated – Mr Renzo

46. Socialising – Kes

47. Wickedest Wine – Shal Marshall

48. Waistline Energy – Lil Rick

49. Back it up – Kerwin Dubois

50. Doh mind my business – Machel Montano

51. Doh Bother We – Lil Rick & Benjai

52. Disgustin – Kes & Kerwin Dubois

Still Looking for Boots? Bootloose!

http://www.bootloose.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bootloose/396025393777847

Get In Shape for Carnival

https://www.facebook.com/events/547542591924574/

Carnival Hunters

My Team Events is hosting Carnival Hunters on Sunday 6th January, 2013 at the Queen's Park Savannah. The first-time event targeted toward the many stakeholders involved in ‘The Greatest Show on Earth'. 

It is intended to be a fun, enjoyable, health-conscious, team building experience, all with the aim of raising funds for charity. 

This unique and exciting event encompasses a Scavenger Hunt, Health and Wellness Expo and a Cultural Festival with up to $20,000.00 to be raised for charity and $10,000.00 to be won. 

 You can visit the event facebook page https://www.facebook.com/CarnivalHuntersTT and event page https://www.facebook.com/events/270912396364351/ for more details

Savage Saturday - Fantasy Carnival Cooler Fete

Looks like this will be my FIRST Fete of the Carnival 2013 Season, Fantasy Carnival Savage Saturday! Check out the event page for more details and link a committee member for tickets:

https://www.facebook.com/events/139191929564247/

GLITZZ A Carnival Makeup Experience

Christmas is over now for CARNIVAL 2K13...Presenting "GLITZZ A Carnival Makeup Experience" Carnival Monday and Tuesday Morning makeup services of your choice Airbrush or Regular Application, great breakfast, gifts for the road, and a Professional photographer to snap you and your friends before you hit the road ALL IN ONE PLACE...

Great Vibes, Great Energy to get you PUMPED and and Bunji would say "Ready for the Road"....

For more information and bookings email enmodett@gmail.com

click for large view

https://www.facebook.com/pages/En-MODe-by-Shevon/138266856234277?fref=ts

Dem Bago Boyz Panorama Semis Package

Price also includes your PAN TICKET plus a T Shirt in addition to drinks and eats; check out the flyer for more details!

click for large view 

RED ANTS Jouvert 2013: Tight & Bright

ALL INCLUSIVE JOUVERT EXPERIENCE:

Early Ants $480 B4 19th Jan. 2013

Late Ants $500

FREE DRINKS: Scotch, Rum,Vodka

Heineken, Carib, Stag, Carib Pilsner, Chasers

Breakfast

DJ'S

Fluorescent Paint & Cocoa

T-Shirt & Cup

Glow Sticks, Glow Shades, Glow Bracelets

Tight Security

Tassa

Water Truck

Medics

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Red-Ants-Drunky-Munky/159954267380746

info@redantscarnival.com

Insomnia 2013