Feature of the Week: ‘De Energizer’ marches on

Lloyd Wayland has always wanted to be an entertainer and as an adolescent he got that chance.

Clad in his primary school uniform as a young boy, he proudly performed for Dame Eugenia Charles on a visit to the Salisbury Primary School.

Decades later, and under the stage name ‘De Energizer’, Wayland gained local recognition with his song ‘Carnival is Colour’ which won him the title of 2009 Road March King.

His road to the 2009 crown started in 2006 when he made his local debut with ‘Free up Dominicans’. But, according to Wayland his contribution to local entertainment surpasses calypso.

More than just a Calypsonian

While his talent in the music arena got him to win a calypso Road March title for the first time, Lloyd has also been a chaperone to several carnival queen contestants.

His claim to fame includes assisting in the preparation of Miss Dominica 1987 Lorna Challenger, Miss Dominica 1988 Levy Beaupierre and Miss Dominica 1995 Darny Wayland. Lloyd, who is from Salisbury, has also organized the Miss West Coast Show which ran for five years.

Meanwhile, he attempted a number of shows to launch his talent to the public. He participated in the Cable and Wireless Star Search in 1996 and beat six other competitors to move to another round, but fell short of making it as a finalist.

“With the little exposure I got in my community I decide to work with people from Portsmouth like the LYO (Labour Youth Organization) and I did African Liberation Day the first time it was ever held in Dominica it was held in Salisbury. It was a success. By me doing all that it gave me the ability to train girls to become beauty queens, to do shows for fathers…even Miss Wob Dwiyet too. By me doing so I decided, you know what? I can do that and more, because helping girls to expose their talent out there I decided I can do it for myself as well. So I decide why not give music a try?…From then I started to do my little music career and that’s what got me so far,” he told Dominica News Online.

Though he has never made it past eliminations, De Energizer never gave up. His prize as 2009 Road March King was EC$2,450.

De Energizer has opened for two big Trinidadian calypsonians Explainer and Sugar Aloes at a local show staged at Krazy Kokonuts. He insists that he has been consistent throughout his performances. He is disappointed with not getting enough exposure as Road March King though.

So far, he has launched four albums with hits like ‘Free up Dominicans’, ‘Sac Farine’, ‘Baby You Lied to Me’, ‘It’s All About You’ and his winning road march song ‘Carnival is Colour’.

“The crown is mine”

His new calypso for the 2010 season is ‘Sexy Girls.’

“I want to put on a good show with respect as well…I want to let Dominicans know in spite I have a song talking about sexy I want them to be aware of the AIDS virus because AIDS is no joke. The last time I sang I said that you have to be very, very cautious with what you do, and I still want to remind them that they have to be very careful whatever they do because I wouldn’t be responsible for their actions even if I’m singing ‘Sexy Girls’, De Energizer said.

While he said ‘Sexy Girls’ was not his best choice, close friends encouraged him to promote the song.

“”When I wrote the song I wrote it with my girlfriend in mind and I was entertaining her and she was like ‘but Lloydie I like it’ … I sat down at the hotel with her, I wrote it, and then two weeks after I recorded it and she said she liked it before she went to Europe last year. From there she said ‘you could use it for carnival.’ But to be quite frank this is not the song I wanted to use I have better material than that but because of my manager she said you’re the Road March King and you should stick to that trend so go with ‘Sexy Girls.’

His manager is Myrtle ‘Lexxus’ Bruno.

It’s a party song, he said – something to listen to when one wants to “free up their head.” The song was produced by Philsbert ‘McGyver’ Carrette. He has been producing all De Energizer’s songs since he took up music as a career.

“I still have more songs I intend to do because I would like to do some music with Tarina [Simon]; and probably, when I go back to Europe, my girlfriend trying to hook me up with some people in Europe to do bigger things and better things because I not gonna stay on one level like Road March King uh, uh. I deserve more than that and I know I can do better than that,” De Energizer said jokingly.

He acknowledges that many other calypsonians have their eyes on his crown and has advised  them to  “back off.” “When I want something nothing cannot stop me. I’ll keep going and going as my name states nothing cannot stop me … I’ll do whatever it takes to keep my crown,” De Energizer pointed out humorously.

Pursuing bigger plans

He anticipates obtaining a sponsor to assist him to further develop his career. He pointed to a lack of funds and support as impediments for him and many other talented local persons.

“When I look at RE TV and I see St. Lucia, Jamaica and all the other Caribbean islands … Look at Rihanna. When I see all of them, and I know Dominica people are ten times better – it’s because we don’t have any help… Somebody needs to look into that and try to help us to further our music.”

The 43-year-old is not only an entertainer, but is involved in real estate and is a baker in his community.

Amongst De Energizer’s other plans are the formation of a village group called Success, where he expects to train the youth in small crops agriculture and poultry farming. His purpose is to get the youths to assume their responsibilities at an early stage and eradicate the social ills that plague the young society.

His wants to be a caretaker for people affected with HIV/AIDS virus and elderly persons.

Look for De Energizer in an upcoming play about chronic non-communicable diseases.

(Edona Jno Baptiste -News Coordinator/Reporter)