Christopher Marango is his name but at home they call him Chris. On stage and in the music business they call him C-Tof a nickname that he had developed along the way. Chris comes from the island of Tongoa and Futuna in the small archipelago of Vanuatu known worldwide as one of the happiest place on Earth. Marango was born on the 5th of April 1999 and he started playing music when he was a kid. His mother gave me a small guitar for his birthday. Since then he liked playing music and the main part of instrument which he plays is the bass guitar. He enjoys playing bass guitar because it suits his interest especially when Chris is playing with a band or group.
The influences of Lucky Dube, Bob Marley & The Wailers, Alborosie, and reggae icons got him hooked on the bass sound wave.
So far he has joined two bands building his career as a musician and a performer. The first band was called Year 12 C which was mainly a College band back in 2017 with his colleagues where they performed live at the Music Night celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the birth of Malapoa College which was the school that he went to before living college at the end of 2017. The second band was Modern Roots of which he is affiliated with now.
He is also one of the youngest of the band members at the moment. At 19 years of age he has placed himself at the top of the band by displaying his skills and talent hoping to build a strong career. With Modern Roots around his ambition is to expand his career alongside well talented musicians that he has teamed up with this year 2018. His aim is to record an album with Modern Roots as the first ever band that will be commercialised once it enters the music industry. His vision and future outlook of him joining the band is to become a full time family member of Modern Roots. His dream is to support the band by composing Demo Sound Format (DSF) that will uplift the sound of Modern Roots and contribute in marketing the band to its highest demand.
Besides his short experiences he is very happy to work with the band this year around. He loves making music for money. He believes that Modern Roots is a great band to join because musicians also get their share in the form of allowance whereas he had not been receiving credit for his positive support with the school band that he used to play with. He sees Modern Roots as a top band that prioritises talent through creation as some of its main function developing new and old musicians in the music industry. He sees the band as a centre of learning for both artists and players of instruments alike. With the input of composition that he creates not only helps the band to grow musically but also enables musicians to receive payment which encourages him to stay with the band throughout his career. C Tof sees music as not only a leisure activity as part of entertainment but also as a job that gives him credit for his works.
This elevates him to keep coming to practice and keep producing and achieve recognition. He believes that since members get paid well it motivates them to keep coming and helps them to improve on areas where they are most weak at. This year around 6th May C Tof was a part of the band to witnessed the successful live backing vocal recording of the first Riddim Album ever to be released in Vanuatu. The live recording was a totally new experience for him since he has never been to a recording and had never been part of one before. The recording had gave him new insight on how music is produced in the real world. The works of the enterprise with the band under its label had gave C Tof a sense of ownership in the music that he is currently involved with. Right now C Tof has a long way to go and a long story to tell. So far he has successfully recorded two tracks with Modern Roots label which are ‘Tears of Freedom’ and ‘We Are Champions’. C Tof is young and attentive to lessons and even though he does not speak much he can accomplish a lot when it comes to band participation.
His name is William Tenkon and he was born on the 15th of April 1988. William is from the island of Ambrym. Tenkon uses the name Evans Drumeo as his artistic name. He got the name when he was working with some white men on a music school project.
Evans began drumming when he was 12 years old. During that time he would also play bass guitar switching from both instruments while perfecting his drumming skills. In 2005 Evans decided to pursue his career in drumming and stopped playing bass.
The first band which Evans affiliated with was called Black Ghetto. He was the founder of Black Ghetto and he had composed a lot of songs with the band too. He also played for a band called Konserners for 3 years.
He then joined another band called Young Life which is now called El Professor. After auditioning with the band they accepted him to be a full time member of the band. He also played for a band called Smol Fyah.
Drumeo also joined the band Modern Roots back in 2018 and successfully recorded 2 tracks with the band. Being with Modern Roots Evans says he is able to receive payment in the form of allowance at every practice session which is something he was never able to achieve with the bands that he was playing for. With the other bands they would only receive payments when they are up on stage performing live. But with Modern Roots it is totally different and something which he thinks is good as it would help support him financially as a musician.
With the recordings that he was involved in with Modern Roots Evans is able to continue to develop and perfect his talent and skills on another platform. His composition and contribution towards the band members have significantly given him new insights into what recording is all about.
Evans has also travelled a lot during his career as a drummer. One of his most extensive experience he recalls is when he went to New Caledonia and played for international artists such as Julian Marley, Capleton, Morgan Heritage, and Chuck Fenda. He recalls the moment as a special moment for him as he was to perform in front of those international artists.
He says it is very challenging to perform with international artists like these. The local live shows that Evans has been part of has also motivated him to have the courage to enter big festivals. With small festivals and music nights Evans believes that it has helped him a lot in uplifting his career. Evans wants to continue to develop and continue to build his career. Evans wants to continue to teach people who are interested in drumming. Evans hopes to establish a drumming school so that he is able to share the knowledge and talents that he has to other people. Drumeo wants to thank his family, musicians, and associates for making him to be recognized. Evans wants to encourage people interested in music to make sure to select one type of field that they wish to pursue their career in. It’s easy to have access to everything but in the end it comes down to only one choice. Keep focusing on your dreams and follow your path and it will take you to where your destiny lies. There are music schools out there like Wan Smol Bag which is located right here in the heart of Port Vila that can help develop your career. Evans wants to encourage the youths to give it a try and you may find out that things are working out as expected.
Floky is another guitarist of the band and the music business is something that is totally new to him. His real name is Jojo and he born on 27 June 1998. Jojo is originally from Nugna Island from the Shefa province of which the capital city is located.
Jojo started playing guitar in church. Revelation church is the name of the church that is a community based church situated close to him where his family are members to. Floky looks up to Zjahman as one of his early mentor in bringing and training him.
Modern Roots is the actual first professional band that Floky had affiliated to. Floky has never participated in a live show or been to a recording before and with this band he hopes to achieve great things and continue to build his career far and wide.
Ever since he has joined Modern Roots he says that he is able to recognize his potentials and the skills that he has as a young guitarist.
Floky is now aware of the importance of sound creation and how to create a melody and says it has helped him a lot in becoming more aware of the self-reliance, self-thought lessons that he is going through now. Floky is a name they call him at home and in the community and streets he hails from. To him it’s just a nickname. It does not reflect anything to do or associated with music. They just call him Floky so he likes to use the name as an artist in the music business too. With the upcoming and continuous practice that Floky is going through now and the releases of Modern Roots track coming up and soon to be released in major online retail outlets Floky hopes to continue to work hard with other members to push out more sound out there to fans and audience alike. He wants to make Modern Roots be proud of his contribution and the support that he is giving to the band now. His last words to the youths out there is he has come to learn so far that music is a powerful tool one can use to conquer the moment. You never knew that you would have these kinds of skills and potentials but with music when you continue to strive you will have come to realize many aspects of it. So he encourages young people to get involved in music and stay out of criminal activities as it will only lead them astray. Music is good we must use it wisely.
His name is Lorenzo Taritong but on stage they call him Jaster and that’s his nickname when it comes to doing music. Lorenzo was born on 20 June 2000 and he from Paama island. Jaster is currently a student at Egpauto Secondary school and his favourite subjects are Chemistry, Physics and Computing. Lorenzo is among the youngest member of the band at the moment as a student and a Sound Engineer working to support the band in mixing stages.
His mentor and coach in the studio is Spiritman who is the lead pianist of the band. Jaster describes sound engineering as something which he has come to develop a strong interest in as his studies in physics defines sound as something travelling through air and reaching the ears. Jaster says that sound engineering is some of the hardest thing to grasp in sound and production but it is good to participate as a student to learn practically more about how sound formulates.
Lorenzo says he took his artistic name from a boy who resides in Paama island. So he decided to put his name as Jaster in resemblance to his connection to the boy as a father. Jaster hopes that in the future even if he does not receive a scholarship in sound engineering he hopes to continue to develop and grow in the areas of sound engineering. Being a member of Modern Roots his life is more at easier as a student because he is able to receive allowance just like everyone else. At home it is hard for him to get financial support in terms of allowance since his parents do not have enough to support him. When he is with the band it helps him to have enough money for lunch and other important stuff. Receiving constant flowing allowance helps Jaster to save up and help his parents if they are short on money. Modern Roots not only helps him to learn more about sound engineering but also benefit financially from the allowance that the band members are receiving as part of the support towards the band label. His future plan in his career is to become an IT specialist while at the same time blending it with sound engineering to keep him busy and support the band to continue to grow.
Junior hails from the island of Ambrym and he was born on the 8th of January 1993. On stage Junior calls himself J Wolf because he likes wolves and he developed this name back in 2010. He started playing drums ever since when he was a child. He developed the like of playing drums because when watches live shows his focus is mainly on the drums and the drummer playing it.
J Wold would sometimes skip school when he was in primary. His parents also whipped him because of playing drums and skipping schools. After he left primary J Wolf continued to expand his career by playing for a band in College back in 2008 when he was studying in Matevulu College a government secondary college based on the island of Espiritu Santo the biggest island in the northern part of the archipelago of Vanuatu.
The name of the band was called De Queros which was a name of the boy’s dormitory.
After Junior left college he joined a band named Shanty Town who is composed mainly of boys from his neighbourhood where he called streets. When he joined the band they enjoyed playing music together and they even went on live shows right here at the heart of the capital city Port Vila.
Last year 2018 up to this year 2019 J Wolf had joined a new band called Modern Roots. J Wolf says joining Modern Roots is totally different from the bands he used to play for. He feels happier playing for this band as he sees everyone in the band are really working hard to get the vibes out there and are being more original in the composition especially musically.
He likes playing for Modern Roots because the band plays original songs only and no cover-up songs. His personal views about his career with Modern Roots is that he really likes to play for Modern Roots because the band has really helped in motivating him and helps to continue to support him financially to continue to build his skills. J Wolf has never been to a recording during his career span right from when he started playing drums but he hopes to make it with the band Modern Roots as he has also originally composed some of the drum beats for some of the songs of Modern Roots which is yet to be recorded live. Junior says if he records with the band it would be his first ever achievement after the long wait. J Wolf final words about Modern Roots is that all the songs and the messages the band is trying to put out there is really inspiring and he is very excited to be part of this historical journey. His last thoughts is that he wants to be able to his own part after the band successfully records. His contribution as a drummer is that he hopes to help inspire more young people to like drums and play drums.
His real name is Jason Hopa but on stage they call him Kid Ace. Jason is from Ambrym island hailing from Malampa province. He was born on 31 August 1994. Kid Ace began joining Modern Roots back in 2015. Prior to that Kid Ace was playing as a pianist for a band known as Mystic Yutz when he was yet in college back in 2009. At that time he was doing year 9 and he was the youngest player in the band Mystic Yutz.
Differentiating between Mystic Yutz and Modern Roots Kid Ace says that Mystic Yutz is the starting foundation for his long awaited career. His experience in Mystic Yutz enabled him to move smoothly to Modern Roots. With this new band Kid Ace sees that this band is totally different from the previous band he was affiliated to and the bands that existed already in the Vanuatu Music Industry.
He believes that the band business of Modern Roots is totally unique in its own way as its marketing strategies is totally different where its main platform is to be an online marketing band compared to other bands in Vanuatu.
Kid Ace started playing piano when he was still a young lad performing and playing for his church. Jason loves playing piano because he believes that the melodies composed by him enables him to translate his inner emotions which he cannot express through words and cannot be found in dictionaries has come into reality in the vibes he is creating with the band. He sees piano as an instrument that connects him with his feelings.
Jason came up with his nickname Kid Ace when he first started playing piano. His experience as a pianist pursued him to formulate this nickname and then turned it later into a music business name.
He started small so that is why he put the name Kid. Jason has a strong educational background but does not really share his knowledge with the band but hopes to apply the talent that he possess to support what Modern Roots stand for such as its trademark, motto, slogan, and whatever Modern Roots stands for resembles the Blackman ideologies.
Kid Ace hopes to build a strong legacy with Modern Roots through the productions that are taking place and the recordings that are still yet to come. He looks forward to be part of the team while he still has the chance. He sees Modern Roots as a band that tries to make music for a good cause. He wants to give his best to this band as he had grown up with this band and also shares the same experiences with some of the band members. He has strong connection with the band and looks forward to give his best by being honest in the production.
His vision and future outlook with his career with the band is to travel with the band besides his other commitments such as studies. He believes that that the band has a top management policy and he looks forward in continuing his career with the band in the long run. He sees Modern Roots as a top band that focuses on conscious music to change the way society is. Kid Ace says that people in this modern age are living in ignorance of the reality that is at sight. He believes that the conscious music and message which Modern Roots is producing is the light to a better understanding of the way Vanuatu society is going through in this millennium. To him Modern Roots is like Revolution on the rise once again. He wants to show his gratitude to the output of the sound that he is producing and the management in mentoring him to become a better musician and for being there all the time to back me up and provide the support I need not only in music but financially in my education to help me build my career in music.
Her name is Alyson Kaloran and she is from Tongoa island. Alyson was born on the 31st of March 1993. Kaloran grew up with music. She comes from a family where everyone is involved in music. Her dad taught them to play music including her sisters too. She started singing when she was in grade 4. Alyson says she did not want to sing at first but her dad strongly insisted that she must sing as singing brings healing to the soul.
She later took up responsibilities to become a backing vocalist for her bigger sister and they mostly sang in church.
While singing in church Alyson also joined a band called Shanty Town who were her close relatives. She stayed with Shanty Town for four (4) years and then went on to join another band called Kava Crew. With Kava Crew they were able to do some recordings and sold some CDs.
On stage they call her LadyRudey. She remembers calling herself LadyRudey as she was a loner in school. She has friends but she does not like talking to people because she gets angry quickly. She is also a bully and she tries to keep away from students as much as possible.
Last year 2018 up to this year 2019 LadyRudey had joined Modern Roots as a backing vocalist and continues to sing as a backing vocalist. Alyson says Modern Roots is a very high standard band and it is so advance. After moving on from other bands she says Modern Roots really means business. They train her to build her skills and force her to develop.
They provide allowance to support her financially compared to other bands they do not provide allowance. Alyson says the songs that Modern Roots is producing is really something special because it talks about life and history. She also says that this generation will listen to things that they have never known about as the messages are deep. Alyson says we are living in a modern age and some people do not even know about these things. When people listen to Modern Roots they will become well educated. Kaloran says Modern Roots has helped her a lot in developing her skills and motivated her to continue to sing. She sees Modern Roots as a band that is very advance when it comes to recording. Alyson believes that after the release of Modern Roots people will hear songs that they never heard before locally and internationally. Her last thoughts is that if you listen to the tunes of Modern Roots you will never regret and it will teach you more stuff and you will also like the vibes. Modern Roots is a mixture of old and modern style.
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His real name is Joseph Hokau while on stage they call him Maluzz. He from Paama an island in the northern part of Vanuatu. Hokau was born on 10th of March 1997. At the age of 7 Joseph started playing music as a drummer with his fellow friends in church. Maluzz possessed a strong natural talent right from childhood up to now. Joseph calls himself Maluzz because it is the native dialect of the people of Paama which means ‘Everything is good’. He got this name from one of his grandpa who the people called Maluzz.
Maluzz later joined a group called Vanessa Quai in 2015. The first band that Joseph ever joined commercially was with Vanessa Quai. With Vanessa Quai Joseph managed to do a lot of tours performing live with the band around the pacific. Joseph is not only young but the most talented and experienced drummer in the Vanuatu music industry.
With this band Joseph experienced a successfully career through exposure, tour, and recording. With the album of Vanessa Quai they recorded at Harvest Production which was the studio owned by Vanessa’s dad.
He also joined the most popular band in Vanuatu Naio and helped them recorded an album in 2016. The band really needed a drummer so they decided to recruit Maluzz. Both bands which Joseph joined were experiencing difficulties in recruiting new drummer. With Naio they recorded the album at Tropik Zounds a studio owned by Benson Nako who is one of the leading sound engineer in the Vanuatu music industry.
In the beginning of the year 2018 Joseph started to join the band Modern Roots. He sees this band as a new band that had just started recruiting musicians to help develop their label. Even though Joseph was a young and very professional drummer he decided to give his best to support this new band which was slowly coming to prominence.
After joining this band Joseph had experienced new things which he never did with the previous bands that he was affiliated with.
He says that the band has started a new thing where he could receive allowance during each practice sessions which he never did with other bands. Maluzz sees Modern Roots as a good band because musicians are prioritized as the most important people where they compose and get paid for their support towards the band. Other bands which he had joined never paid them after each practice sessions. With Modern Roots he is able to get payment in the form of allowance for his attendance to each practice sessions.
He sees the music industry in Vanuatu as a business where live shows are the only time when people can make a lot of money. But with the band Modern Roots he is getting paid on a regular basis with every practice sessions that he has been faithfully attending. When performing with bands like Vanessa Quai and Naio Maluzz would play reggae as the main component of the music. But when he joined Modern Roots he began to explore other genre by playing rock, punk, and techno which he never had to opportunity to when he was with other bands. Joseph sees Vanuatu as a culture associated a lot with reggae music.
But with this band he managed to learn new things by recording different genre which he had never had the chance to.
Joseph sees Modern Roots as a family band because all members share the same interest. Playing in the studio with his friends from the same neighbourhood is something Joseph had never experienced before. Recording new tracks with the band is something that always pulls him closer to the band and its members.
Maluzz has high hopes and looks forward to travel with the band once their album is released. As the main drummer in the band Joseph believes that his works and legacy will remain in the band for a very long time. The first track which Joseph managed to record with the band is ‘We Are Champions’ besides other tracks from the Riddim Album of Ezzenne Production called ‘Ignite The Spirit’. Joseph sees himself in the future performing live with the band. He believes he is a member of the band and is part of the team.
With Modern Roots Joseph sees himself as a strong product that can be marketed online.
He says in Vanuatu not many people are willing to promote and market musicians but with this enterprise that the band is affiliated under he is able to being exposed online just like international artists, something of which he had been dreaming for all these years. He likes the idea of Modern Roots promoting artists and musicians alike because he believes that musicians should get promoted just the same as artists do. In Vanuatu he says musicians only back up artists but they never get credit for their works. But with this band it is totally different. He says the way Modern Roots is going will help the music industry in Vanuatu to grow on a big scale. His final words is everything that Modern Roots is doing is very good not only for musicians but all the people who are involved in the music industry. He like the idea of getting promoted by getting paid regular as music is his only profession which he is good at. He looks forward in the release of the album and is ready to travel with the band if they ever have a tour.
Jimson is from Paama island and he was born on the 11th of June 1988. He started playing keyboard when he was young. As a youth Jimson would spend most of his time playing for the church. That is where Jimson developed the interest of playing keyboard.
He later joined a band called family tribe in 2008, in 2011 he moved to another band called Tuo Sound, then later joined a band called Warriors who were youths from a slam in the heart of Port Vila called Manples.
With these bands Warriors was the most successful Jimson ever recalls that became dominant in the music business but later dissolved as the band did not have a successful market after their release.
In March 2018 Jimson joined the band Modern Roots and has been in a successful journey ever since. His affiliation with the band has given him new insights about the music business at large. So far Jimson has recorded some songs with the band and is steadily progressing along with the band composition as more new songs are being composed.
He says after joining Modern Roots he really likes the way the band is going. Jimson likes the ideology of the band, the way the music is being composed, the lyrics and the messages are really captivating, and the members of Modern Roots all share the common believe in music. Jimson is really interested in expanding his career with the band. He composition and support towards the band has given confidence and hope as a keyboardist. Jimson hopes to produce an album with Modern Roots in the upcoming future.
Born on the 5th of November 1998 Menas is from Paama in a village called Wailep. Menas Started playing guitar at the age of 14 and by 2004 he became deeply involved in the guitar business. Menas is a self-thought learner. He learned to play guitar by himself. Menas has a passion for guitar whether it be in a studio, outdoor, in church, or wherever it may be.
Menas uses the name Zjahman as his artistic name. He says the letter Z resembles his father’s name Ezekiel and Jah for God. Zjahman listens a lot to religious music. He learned playing the guitar by listening to those type of music. But the first music that he was acquainted to was the local string music which is the most dominant type of music in Vanuatu.
From there he picked up how to play and then moved on to church music.
He had never performed with a band before. Most of the time he would be playing for the church band group but has never actually went out from the church to expand his career. The church is called Potters House. The only show he remembers playing is at the Zion Fest which is a popular religious festival that takes place annually. He also performed in other church activities such as fundraising programs.
When Zjahman joined Modern Roots back in 2018 he was so overwhelmed and excited to join the band as he had never been given the privilege to join a band before. So far his development through composition and the vibes he is creating for Modern Roots is really captivating.
With the band supporting him Zjahman is able to share what he possesses as a guitarist.
Zjahman sees Modern Roots as a new band and a growing band that will remain for long in the music industry because there is top management within the band itself. He hopes to continue develop the band by sharing his skills and talent that he has in terms of composition. In the future Zjahman hopes to give more of what he has as a guitarist.
Menas says Modern Roots has a bright future and would really love to continue to work for with the band in times ahead. Zjahman wants to thank the manager of the band to help bring him into the band.
He says that there are many youths out there who have the skills and talent but do not have the chance to play in a band. If Modern Roots continues to recruit and help develop young people to play music live with a band it will surely develop the music industry and bring the music business upfront in the media market.