‘Steel Rock’ Still Rocking

Former Amaté Band Members Keep Their Beat.

FOR the past three decades, the name Lambert “Skai” Soomer-James has been synonymous with bringing a unique blend of musical vibes to the people. From his early days with the reggae band, Amaté, Skai’s voice has become a widely-recognized instrument for socially-conscious messages intent on bringing about change.

However, it’s his deep involvement in his latest musical project that suggests that Skai is purposefully setting out to breathe new life into his former Amaté days. With a former Amaté band mate and his son in tow, Skai is picking up his music where he almost left it for good. Music, he tells me, has been his driving force.

“Music has always been a faithful companion to me,” the 60-year-old Rastaman told me during a band rehearsal at his Sans Soucis home this week. “She never lets me down. She’s always been there, whether vocally or lyrically.”

Amaté was formed by Skai and two other members in 1985 in Los Angeles. When Skai returned to Saint Lucia in 1988, the band went through various changes, including rotating band members. The band rode a high wave of popularity during the 1990s with hits like “One World One Voice”, with the song earning them a place in the CBU Song Contest in 1991.

The band was also nominated at the M&C Fine Arts Awards as Most Promising Newcomer in 1992 and Most Outstanding Contribution to Dance Music in 1993 when their debut album, “One World One Voice” was released. Their second album, “Power In The Word”, followed, with the video for the title track winning in the audio-visual category at the 1997 M&C Fine Arts Awards. Other Amaté hits include “Narcissism”, “Crisis” and “Party and Praise”.

Skai is probably the only former member of Amaté still making music. After band member, General Lee Garraway died in 2001, the remaining members tried to pick up the music a few times. But it was just never the same without their fallen soldier. Skai took a deserved hiatus from music and changed professions for a bit until one of Amate’s members, Earl Vincent Lewis, tickled his musical bone again.

“I had pretty much kicked back when it came to music. I became more of a listener. Earl had gone off on the cruise ship for a few spells and a lot of the other members had gone their separate ways. So I settled into my massage business. After returning from one of his stints on the cruise ship, Earl decided that we make some music,” Skai explained.

Around 2010, the duo took up the music vibe again, spending about a year and a half at Earl’s house in Entrepot working on different things and coming up with many ideas. However, the direction seemed to point in a Creole jazz kind of vibe, Skai said, out of which three original songs, “Andent Fess Fanm Pa Ni ValeurAucun”, “MamselleShue” and “Wasin Coco”, came.

One of the lines in Skai’s songs from his album, “Journey”, released a few years ago, goes like this: “Steel Rock run de show.” That’s how the band’s name was born. Steel Rock was now the musical vehicle to continue making their messages heard.

Many elements and influences can be found in Steel Rock’s music, Skai tells me, describing them as “bits and pieces to it, like a bouyon.” But it’s also about Steel Rock continuously evolving by trying different techniques to stay relevant. There’s also the element of poetry that shows up in the band’s musical phrasing.

Given the positive vibes that emanate naturally from Steel Rock, it seemed only fitting that the band would lend its voice to the climate change message in the lead-up to CoP21 last year. Joining other artists, musicians and environmental champions, Steel Rock threw its full support in sustaining the call for environmental reforms, resulting in an agreement being signed in Paris last December.

“We worked some really nice magic during those performances. But I would love to see more work come out of that movement and become part of a new normal insofar as how we relate to our environment. We need to sensitize people in that direction,” Skai explained.

Steel Rock also placed third in last year’s Kweyol Song Competition organized by De Soca-Lypso Revue Calypso Tent performing “Andent Fess Fanm Pa Ni ValeurAucun”.

The band performs regularly at the Rooted Vybz concerts held on the last Saturday of each month at Ocean View Hotel, working alongside reggae artiste Ken Hardy, Black Crayon, RasIzley, LapoKabwit, KosmicRiddim and others.

Being involved with Steel Rock ranks among the best moments steel pannist, Earl Vincent Lewis has enjoyed in his long musical lifetime. His musical roots trace back to being a member of Diamond Steel Orchestra for 19 years and playing with various musicians around Saint Lucia.

Lewis said many of those musicians have served as inspiration to him, including Skai. After touring Europe and other destinations for many years, he returned to Saint Lucia to build a base where he can create his own music.

“I joined the St. Lucia School of Music where I also taught steel pan for a while. I also taught steel pan at the International School and other schools. It was an experience I will never forget.
But Steel Rock is a new creation where we get a chance to promote our Creole traditions. So I think we owe it to ourselves to keep this tradition alive,” Lewis, 40, explained.

Twenty-year-old Joshua Soomer-James aka “Maestro Minim” is Skai’s son and the band’s keyboardist. Managing the technical intricacies of the band – vocals, harmonies and timing – are his thing, he tells me. Keeping up with new trends and experimenting, he said, are just some of the means he uses to ensure that Steel Rock remains more than the average band.

Skai taught the youngster to play keyboards from around age 5. Having lived through his father’s Amaté days, Joshua said the dedication he now puts into music is a direct result of the passion and energies he has seen his father invest in music. Music, he said, is his life.

“When you’re born from the genes of Skai from Amaté, a well-known group in Saint Lucia, music is something you pick up easily,” Joshua tells me. “I used to idolize my father and it felt great seeing Amate’s music videos on television when I was growing up.”

Currently, Steel Rock is working on getting a few gigs at this year’s Saint Lucia Jazz & Arts Festival and negotiations are ongoing. Nothing has been finalized as yet but Skai said the band remains optimistic that they will get the chance to showcase their wealth of talent to the masses. Missing out on Steel Rock’s vibes, he said, is simply, well, missing out.

“Steel Rock is all about conscious fun,” Skai, the band’s percussionist, asserted. “Life is really fun, it’s beautiful. There’s so much in our neck of the woods that we ‘full-joy’.”

With a long and rich musical legacy as Lewis and Skai’s, the sky’s the limit for Steel Rock and the positive vibes the band is churning out.