The dual-island Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago has a rich and vibrant history of calypso and soca music, but what happens when your love for live sound goes beyond island traditions and into global, mainstream touring?
For engineer Marlon John and childhood friend Sean Sturge, now global sales at Clair, forging a career in pro audio wasn’t an obvious path. However, when Marlon’s brother joined a touring band, things became a little clearer…
John began: “My brother was a drummer, and I was at their rehearsals when a band member began painting a picture of their lives; how they go to shows and travel the world – and get paid at the same time! I was sold on the idea, and I began helping them in technical roles, learning on the job. That worked out for me, because in Trinidad back then, we didn’t have formal schooling for music technology or sound engineering. I was self-taught and eventually was able to become their FOH engineer. I really liked being involved in the audio side of the band. You have to do something that you love, right? Well, I fell in love with engineering quickly.”
John did eventually undertake some formal education when he moved to the US, a six-month training course in Ohio, going over the basics of live sound. However, he also found inspiration closer to home.
“In Trinidad, we all looked up to [legendary studio mixer] Frank Agarrat. Whenever he came back, he was the guy we would shadow, watching what he was doing, asking him all the questions we could,” he said.
Agarrat’s success was the perfect encouragement for the island’s budding audio talent; he founded Europe’s first black-owned recording studio, The Coach House, in London’s Stamford Hill, and his work on ‘Electric Avenue’, Eddy Grant’s 1982 hit single denoting political unrest, really put him on the map.
Trinidad’s sound sensations didn’t stop there; living on the same street, Marlon made a friend for life in Sean Sturge. Formerly a systems engineer, Sturge became a monitor engineer for artists including Drake, Beyonce and Nicki Minaj – a gig he would later recommend Marlon for.
He continued: “Sean always says I’m responsible for him getting into pro audio, but we’ve always been able to share ideas and how we can better them; we’ve always pushed each other to get where we need to be. Something I learned from him is that ‘less is more.’ And for that reason, my console preference is always a DiGiCo, the flexibility of their consoles has really allowed my workflow to be simplified. Even though I started mixing FOH, I felt more at home as a monitor engineer. I find that you need to be paying attention all the time with monitors, you need to be focused because you never know on a day-to-day basis what frame of mind your artist will be in. When they come to do their show, the pressure comes from trying to figure out what that person needs to hear, and delivering that for them in real time. I always say monitor engineers are paid to interpret something personal for someone they often don’t know, so you must be thinking about what the artist would need to hear to perform at their very best.”
This skill only comes with experience, and in Marlon’s case, working with fellow Trinidadian, hip hop icon Nicki Minaj, allows him to lean into an additional bit of cultural expertise: “On our island, we mix with a feeling, a vibe, and then we interpret with technology. Trinidadians understand each other because we typically hear things differently. We bring what we call ‘island value’ to the mix.”
John also has a word of advice for the next gen: “No matter where you’re from in the world, how small your island may be, you’ve got to believe in yourself. If you want it, you can attain it, so keep learning, stay current, look at how technology is designed and what you can do with it… there is so much information out there now. And of course, when you do make it, never forget that you don’t work for yourself; you work for the artist. So as my friend Sean would say: leave your ego at the door!”
