Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine October 2017 | Page 673

Caribbean Culture Around the World - Errol H. Renaud. Singer, Songwriter/Musician, Sydney Australia

Born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago,
Errol grew up in St. James and Cocorite,
attending the Mucurapo Boys Roman
Catholic and St James Secondary schools.
Upon completion of school, he joined the
community performing group, Ujamaa. “I have
always wanted to be a performer, a singer, write
songs, record and earn a living. I pursued until I
succeeded.” he said.
His first overseas tour was in 1973 to the
Cayman Islands with Ujamaa’s troupe, then
in 1975, the Amral Trinidad Cavaliers wanted
a showman so they flew him to Australia to
join the band which was already touring but
needed something different on stage. Errol’s
performance was the limbo dance which was
well received. With the Cavaliers, he toured
Papua New Guinea, The Solomons, Germany,
Austria and Montreal, Canada. The Cavaliers
touring lasted about 2 years. Errol then went
to South East Asia and toured with Calypso
Vibration and T&T Heatwave as a singer and bass
pan player. They played gigs and shows in Hong
Kong, Thailand, Macau, Taiwan, India and Sri
Lanka.
Errol moved to Sydney, Australia in 1980. After
a short spell with a band called Un Tabu he
formed his own bands, Creole, T - Vibes and
Caribbean Soul, touring Singapore, Malaysia ,
New Zealand, Fiji, New Caledonia, Japan, The
Sultanate of Oman, Egypt, China and Cuba.
He continued with gigs Australia-wide and
also cruise ships performances out of Sydney,
Australia.
Errol’s band was the first to present soca music,
reggae music and the sound of the steelpan to
audiences in parts of Australia, the Asian and
Pacific regions. He has been a true pioneer for
the Caribbean and its music. In some of the
places he has toured, audiences had never
felt Caribbean rythmns and they had no prior
knowledge of the steel pan, had never heard of
or seen a steel pan and it was this instrument
that intrigued people the most. Many could
not believe that such beautiful sounds came
from such a simple looking instrument. While
performing in some places in China, up-country
Taiwan and Thailand where people had never
seen a black person face to face they were
intrigued, not only with the music but also with
the performers, asking to touch their hair and
take photogaphs of and with them. They truly
loved the Caribbean rythmns and Errol and
his team are to be commended for presenting
Carribbean music and culture to many parts of
the Australian, Asian and Pacific region.
Errol explained, “Caribbean music is a genre
that is widely accepted in Sydney. It’s not a
commercially successful-type genre but it is well
loved by those who have embraced it.”
Errol leads his seven-piece band with his
son, Jarrol Renaud as the bass player and
musical director. They play mainly Caribbean
music. Reggae is the most well known of all
Caribbean music so there is a lot of Reggae
in their performances. He also loves to play
soca representing his Trinidad and Tobago
roots but most of their music is a fusion of