I want to put Trinidad and Tobago on the map
Michael Mondezie
Dax Cartar always stands out on every stage he graces.
The eccentric electric rock guitarist first shone alongside Nigel Rojas in roots rock band Orange Sky, before propelling his name into mainstream spaces as one third of his family band: The Cartars.
Dax further underlined his star power when he shook the earth with a memorable guitar solo at the Sunset Jazz concert in 2019 at O2 Park, Chaguaramas. Playing with Carl “Beaver” Henderson’s all-star band, the rocker dove into The Eagles “Hotel California” and surfaced with an unforgettable display of finger work that left that crowd howling.
Those are the very type of iconic moments the Port of Spain-born hopes to recreate as he now embarks on a solo career.
“I’ve been slowly building my ability to play year after year. During Covid I absorbed a lot of musical knowledge and I feel more ready, more mature and it now makes me feel a solo career is inevitable,” Dax told the Kitcharee during a light-hearted exchange on Friday afternoon. The eldest Cartar musician celebrated his birthday with a debut solo concert at Dalai Lama, One Woodbrook Place, Port of Spain. Dax says he was “testing the waters”.
“It was a prelude as to what’s going to happen. That was the first child of many shows. There is a market of people who wanna hear guitar solos and I want to put Trinidad on the map,” he continued.
A huge fan of musical instrumentation Dax confessed to borrowing a lot of musical ideas from the pan. He lists the iconic Len “Boogsie” Sharpe, Liam Teague, Derron Ellis and Johann Chuckaree among his wide range of musical influences.
“I listen to a lot of pan musicians to borrow inspiration. You would hear these guys doing fantastic licks, my good friend Derron Ellis, Boogsie, Chuckaree, a lot of the greatest things I’ve heard musically is from our pan men,” he started explaining, pausing to momentarily gather his thoughts.
“I also borrow a lot of inspiration from old school calypso, like (the late) Shadow (Winston Bailey). His music is based very strongly on blues and you begin to see how it’s all connected. A lot of music for me comes from classical and blues origins. And within that understanding I’m feelin like my own style is starting to finally form and this is just the tip of the iceberg,” he added.
Cartars jammin’ still
Dax assured fans that despite his solo ambitions he will continue to appear with The Cartars, Orange Sky and his rock and roll band Hail the Hatter. He pointed to legendary American rock guitarist Steve Vai and British-born guitar icon Slash (Saul Hudson) as examples he hopes to follow. Both Vai and Slash led successful solo careers aside from their respective band commitments with White Snakes and Guns N’ Roses.
“I started listening to myself a lot, whether old gigs or on a phone recording. I listened to those errors and got obsessed with polishing them out. Now I’m on another level, but there is still so much more to improve on, the sky is the limit.
“I’ve also been studying a lot of improv on blues and jazz to get inspiration on how to improvise like these men. Now I can genuinely land anywhere in the world and be able to execute on any genre. It took a whole lot of work to get to that level of comfort. Relentless practice sometimes till six in the morning. Anyone who listens to me rehearse will be sick of the amount of times I will play one part over and over,” he laughed.
The hard work was made easier by the generous support he has received from all his bandmates, Dax said.
“The support has been immense, especially from my family band and Nigel himself. He always told me he was fully supportive of my every move and he has backed that up,” Dax said.
The ultimate dream, Dax says, is to assemble a super group of musicians and create hits.
“I want to be in a band with guys better than me so I can learn. So, we can write some good hits, whether with my family, Sky or some other group. I want to write original pieces that can touch people on a global scale
To get there is not just music I’m working on. Its also myself, physically and mentally, to become the complete package. Ultimately, personal development is the goal,” Dax concluded with an audible smile.
