Viren Neel has been on the local music scene since teenhood days. Those days not that far behind him as he continues in his career, donning a nostalgic brand of tones, sounds and melodies reminiscent of a modern day Bob Dylan, Neil Young or Cat Stevens. The lead song of his debut EP ‘Sunset Lane’ now boasting a 60k+ views, landing him an unlikely distribution deal with MonkMusic — The record label, artiste services & music distribution company of Caribbean music icon Machel Montano, and follow ups like ‘Runaway Lovers’ and local concerts inviting enamored crowds, success is in his purview. Now he ponders the FUTURE of his ‘niche’ lustrous ‘indie’ sounds in a Caribbean music
landscape…
Dancehall, Soca and Calypso and Reggae, overshadowing the smaller genres of ‘indie’ performers like such as Viren & his peers in terms of popularity. This ‘niche’ space of lesser knowns have found their community of admirers: “I wouldn’t say hippie… but I also wouldn’t not say hippie”.
I Call It The Art-Adjacent Community
“I am uncharted territory”. A catfish in a vibrant and saturated Siamese aquarium – Viren’s unique success has effectively thrown him in tank with flashier and trendier Carnival sounds. Bringing an old soul into a corporate fete, record Labels would take a risk in these uncharted territories
Viren’s Testimony:
“There is no given that my songs will do well, and they’re not connected with the right people at the DSPs (streaming platforms) who would oversee my music; creating obstacles in the arena of network, touring and playlisting.
The privilege of having a distribution team (Monk Music) as opposed to an online distributor like Distrokid is that you can leverage their network. Monk and Shayegan’s network in this case. Not only would your work pass around in their circles and it would expose you to more important people in the industry, it also positions you to have a higher chance of getting on editorial Spotify playlists and collaborating with other artists that can increase your listenership and streams. The reason for the former is because distributors work day-to-day with the streaming platforms e.g. Spotify and Apple to pitch artists’ songs for playlisting and relationships are developed between both parties.
This puts me in a warmer position with Spotify editors because there is a preexisting relationship. When I have a song to distribute through Monk/Shayegan, I deal with one of Dana’s workers and I send over my song and all the associated assets e.g. Song artwork, lyrics, description of song and pitch and the song itself [and then they liaise with the DSPs (streaming platforms) to upload it.”
Viren’s Advice to Musicians
Strategic collaborations within and out of the Caribbean help to expand my base. Partner withother distributors and labels to have more out of the Caribbean releases and leverage them to schedule touring circuits in and out of the Caribbean. Emphasize on touring outside of the Caribbean being outside of the diaspora hot spots e.g. Queens NY or Miami, FL to maximize new listenership.
Viren on what the local industry needs more of:
“Support from within the industry from artists with larger bases. Grants and sponsorships to work on shows and music videos. While it’s not crucial in this day and age- consistent radio play is always good, and that’s something that we don’t get now, unless we go through payola- at least for the most part. Collaboration opportunities with other artists as well. Also, more opportunities for shows like opening for artists etc…
Because even though I may not be the right fit … Monk and Shayegan see these upcoming Alt genres like indie rock as a viable lane to prioritize in the FUTURE. They have noticed that a lot of the young people have been listening to this music and its shows have been bringing in considerable sums of people and they need to tend to it.”
While the broader conversation on building infrastructure for non-soca artists in Trinidad & Tobago lingers in the background. The indie scene continues to find more minute ways to flourish:
Viren is set to perform at one of the most frequent platforms for artists with his ‘art-adjacent’ palatability, Indie Valley, debuting live versions of his songs from his newest EP ‘Five River Rock’
