Culture &Arts corner …No honour in stealing another man’s musical identity to make a profit

Jun 20, 2016 News

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– Keyboardist Don Profitt

By: Kiana Wilburg
Most local audiences know Don Profitt as the amazingly talented keyboardist from Albertown who has an unwavering passion for music and his country. His passion for writing music is still very much alive as it was when he first found his love for it at age seven.
The 63-year-old, who comes from a family with a rich musical background, has enjoyed a commendable musical career spanning over 40 years. He still recalls some of his memorable days as being part of the team at the Guyana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) for about eight to ten years, where he produced and managed talent shows. He later spent some years touring North America with several successful shows under his belt.
Profitt was recently in Guyana for the Golden Jubilee celebrations and before returning to the United States, he sat down with Kaieteur News to share his thoughts on Guyana’s musical evolution and the nation’s struggle to find a placement beyond its shores.
Kaieteur News (KN): What is your take on the evolution of Guyana’s music and those involved in the art form?
Don Profitt (DP):  I would say that the musicians now are obsessed with making money and not great music. Most have this ‘get rich quick’ mentality and that is all fine, but they need to take some time to educate themselves on the history of our music. They need to learn about those who preceded them and try to be part of the change in developing a Guyanese sound; a sound that is unique to our land. You can always tell when it’s a Trinidadian singing, or a Bajan singing or a Jamaican and I see in some cases we have artistes who try to emulate or copy the Jamaicans and their style and I don’t think it’s fair to copy the culture of another and use it to make a profit. There is no honour in that as a musician.

KN: Who in our history do you think our budding artistes can look to for direction in capturing the “the Guyanese sound” you speak of?
DP: There are several. Some include; Combo 7, Yoruba singers, The Dominators, Tom Charles and the Syncopaters, City Players, Syd and the Slickers, Rhythmaires, E.C Connection, Compton Hodge, Johnny Braff, etc. I understand the need to be creative and so forth but there is nothing original in trying to sound like what is already out there. This only cheapens the result of your work and efforts.
KN: Do you think the systems for supporting the growth of music and musicians here have deteriorated?
DP: I would say they have been neglected. Many of our artistes and musicians, like me, have found it difficult to make a thriving career here. We have been forced to seek other markets whether regionally or internationally to make a living from doing what we love. We seek other markets and other pastures to access opportunities to polish our talents and to get our work produced at a better quality because the reality is that there is no music industry in Guyana and the system is so neglected it is like a slow poison for most artistes before they even get their feet off of the ground.
KN: Are you optimistic that the new players in the relevant offices will make music a priority and create an encouraging environment for musicians and artistes alike?
DP: I don’t like being a pessimist, but I don’t think so. For me, little things or little steps are an indication of how you will approach bigger things. Now if there is a lack of creativity, vision and careful planning for the Jubilee celebrations, then what really can we expect them to do when it comes to forging a proper music industry in Guyana? It is almost like dreaming the impossible dream. The planning alone that went into the Golden Jubilee Celebrations is just a small indication of how seriously they are going to take music and the development of cultural arts here. The failures and mistakes of the events leading up the 50th Independence tell a great story of how much this administration wants to change the lax systems and how serious they are towards bringing about a change in the way we host events here, in the way we support our artistes at these events and how we create opportunities for their development. For instance, in Barbados, you can get a loan from a bank to do music and the Government supports that loan and you can take that to record a song and do tours and half of the profits go back to the loan. If you fall short then the Government supports that loan. That does not happen in Guyana and it also goes to show that you never put a politician in charge of culture. I know it’s a tough job but I don’t think they have a clue of where they are and where they want to go.
KN: How do you think the Government can play its part in supporting and building a strong music industry in Guyana?
DP: Well first let me make it clear that building a strong industry would require not only effort on the part of the Government but also the musicians and all those involved in the sector in some shape or form. But to answer your question, the Government can play a part in trying to ensure that Copyright legislation is in full force. They can also do their part by creating opportunities for musicians and artistes to be groomed locally and assist them in accessing training programmes regionally and internationally. By doing this, we would help to improve the standards for the sector and even the caliber of persons we have leading it. Also, we need to have more platforms locally for our artistes to have a chance to grow and make an actual living off of what they are doing. We can’t only remember our musicians when we have national events. That is just not acceptable.

 

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