Romain Virgo :"I am trying to be one of the artists who's gonna keep up reggae music."

Do you feel like you live in a dream right now?

Aaah… Jah know….  Dream… It feels like a dream but, at the same time, I know it's a real thing.  So I keep focused and keep steady so I never get too confused.  I try and keep things normal.

What you are living now, is it what you had dreamt about a few years back?

Yes it was always a part of my dreams to reach far in the music and travel the world and perform for the people.  But I wasn't expecting to be touring so early in my career.  I was always saying like "Hopefully, in five years from now…".  But it's just been three years I've been doing original music now and to be in Europe, singing for so many people, and the people singing the songs along, that's amazing…

This tour in Europe, is it your first trip outside of Jamaica?

I've been to the US twice this year.  The first time was a short promo tour for the album with 5 dates.  And then I toured for one month, back to the US, with Capleton, Munga, Kulcha Knox, Jah Thiunder… It was wicked.  Most of the places I went for the first time, people were seeing me for the first time, people hearing the songs live for the first time… But I noticed people already knew the songs!

How was the combination with the David House Band?

The vibe was just perfect.  It was just like listening to the CD : the music was perfect and they played it just the way I wanted it.  The music was improving every night and the people were loving it.

I hope for next year to do the festivals in the summer.  I'm looking forward to coming back in Europe to play with a live band and with backing vocals.

Do you know the European music scene and backing bands?

Yes a bit.  I was in Spain earlier this year for the Rototom Festival.  And there was a European band that was backing me and I have to give them credits: it was good.  At first I was a bit worried :"Jah know, how dem guys are going to play my music?"  But they played the music right, even though it was a little bit faster than I wanted but it worked out well and people liked it.

It was unbelievable to go to Europe for the first time and sing for people of different cultures and different languages but still the people were singing the songs line for line!

Your breakthrough was in a music contest in Jamaica…

Yes it was in a contest called Rising Stars.    It's similar to American Idol, or X Factor.  I entered in 2007 and the competition went on for 6 months, with a performance every Sunday night and the results every Friday night.  I just turned out to be the youngest contestant to win this competition.  It got everyone excited, the whole family and the entire country.  Anywhere I would go, everyone was saying "Yes Romain, you're gonna win.".  Confidence and support were there.  It was so tremendous to see the people's reactions.

Did you do a lot of competitions of this kind?

Not really.  The only other competition I took part in was a Choir Competition in 2006.  By then I was a lead singer for my college's choir.  We ended up second of that contest.  So people motivated me to enter the Rising Starts.  Which I did in 2006 but didn't go thru… till I tried again in 2007.

Have you recorded songs before that competition?

Yes… (Laugh…)… Well some likkle recordings, it wasn't anything big or in a professional studio.  As becoming an artist was part of my dreams, I gave it a try still…

But from the contest, Donovan Germain was the first big producer I had chance to record with.  My first big song with him was "Cyann Sleep".  Then I did "The Rain Is Falling" for Vikings Productions.  Then later on "Who Feels It Knows It", "Love Doctor"….

Such labels as Penthouse are really looking for young singer's voices?

I am glad that I am one of the persons who has had a chance to work with Germain.  As I said before, you'll hardly find any young artists doing the kind of music I am doing.  You know that's something that's part of me.  It's not that I am trying to do it, it's just a natural feeling.  And people love it so it's great!

Who have been your inspirations in the music?

Alton Ellis, Beres Hammond, Dennis Brown, John Holt… And then a lot of soul music : Percy Sledge, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, James Brown, Michael Jackson, … These are some of the artists I listened to…. It's quite far from what most of the youths in Jamaica are listening nowadays.   

But I believe that we have to keep our culture and that we can't lose what we are known for.  I am trying my best to be one of the artists who's gonna keep up reggae music and who will give the people that type of music they've know as originally from Jamaica.

VP records have also been enthusiastic about your music.  We know they're looking for reggae singers and signed Tarrus Riley, Duane Stephenson,….

Definitely.  Donovan Germain and VP Records are close because they've been working together over the years.  That made the link between me and VP even easier.  Since they mentioned the idea of me doing an album, it was very easy because I was already working with Donovan Germain and he knows most of the people at VP Records.  It took a bit of time still before we finally agreed on the album but it finally paid off.

One of your most deep songs, according to me, is "Who Feels It Knows It".  How did you come to write this song?

I was born in a community where the living was not easy at all. It wasn't pure misery but poverty was there.  I grew up in a one-bedroom house and we were five of us to sleep in there: me, my Mum, and my Grand Mother, my brother and my little sister… Not knowing where the next meal would come from.

So when the time came to write a song like this, it didn't take too much of thinking because it's something you've already been thru.  It's just for you to put the pen to the paper and write melodies for the song.  I had the idea to do the song two or three weeks before I got the riddim from Donovan Germain.  When I got it; I said this riddim is perfect for the song.  So I just finished it fast.

So you come from the countryside?

Yes I come from a place called Stepney, in the parish of Saint Ann, which is one mile away from Nine Miles where Bob Marley was born.  It is a peaceful community where everybody loves and cares for each other.  Poor, but as I said, there's much love amongst people and as children we used to enjoy ourselves. 

And we never let poverty make us not want to be what we want to be.  Especially my mother, she's the kind of person who always encouraged me to go out there and just do my best.  And it has paid off.

Coming up from a poor family, was it easy for you to follow up your education?

I remember the times when I have only one pair of shoes to go to school and took extra care for this single pair of shoes. 

And then some days there was no lunch money.  The advantage I had is that the school was within a walking distance from home: something like 15-20 minutes.  So we would go to school and walk back home for lunch.  Our uncle had a farm so he was the one who supported us with some grown provision from his farm.  After lunch we'd run back to school.

You are still following school?

I am going to college now.  I am attending Edna Manley College of Visual and Performing Arts.  I am doing a Bachelor's Degree in Performance, with a major in voice and a minor in keyboards.  Edna Manley College was the college I wanted to go for a long time.  Luckily I won the Rising Stars competition and the money I won there allowed me to pay the tuition fees and everything like that.  Otherwise it wouldn't have been possible. It was a real blessing for me…

How do you manage between schooling and touring?

I sometimes have to take time off.…  There was the tour in the US with Capleton so I was off for one month.  Then there was a Caribbean tour we had to do and I had to take two weeks.  Now I'm out for a month again for this European trip.  That's almost three months out of school!  So the exams I was supposed to do now, I have to reschedule them in January of February.  It's difficult but I believe in myself and there are some people around me who also do.  The teachers work along with my management team to make sure everything works out fine.

So when you're back in JA, you're going back to your books?

Yes, there's no time to waste… When I get back I have to get straight back to it.  But it doesn't matter how long it takes, I know I will finish school.  Even if it takes a bit longer…  It's hard : right know I probably won't remember anything I did earlier this year with the music and the touring and all of this…

But it's good to do both at the same time : schooling and touring are really complementary for me.