Sidekick Envy

Published:
Sunday, March 29, 2015

In San Fernando our own local music festival took place with an impressive line-up of ten T&T rock bands at the 2015 Skyy Rock Festival on March 21. The festival, which its organisers hope to make an annual show, was a revelation. There was music played that everyone interested in T&T music needs to hear.

The Skyy Rock Festival at Skyview Courtyard featured a line-up of long-standing as well as relatively new bands on the scene, from jointpop and Orange Sky (whose performance I regrettably missed), to more mainstream island-rock bands like 5 Miles to Midnight, viral sensations the Supernormal Band (aka the Tilapia Boys) and newcomers Imaginary Friends, only two years old and fresh on the local rock scene.

Sidekick Envy reminded us all that the point of the evening was to listen to music. The main ingredient seemed to be well-known musician and songwriter Ravi Maharaj (aka Disko Pigg, aka a_phake) jamming out hard on guitar, elevating the song composition past garage band experimentation into songs that have the potential to take Sidekick Envy out of the underground.

The songs were catchy, with really memorable melodies. Their original song, All My Life, is already on local radio rotation. Their vocal delivery at the festival was almost too clean thanks to an incorporation of live mic Auto-Tune that the band uses to provide a studio sounding experience whenever performing live. - Trinidad Guardian Newspaper

1) "Perfect Part of Me"- Andrae Ricardo (up from 4, 1 week at #1, 3 weeks on charts)

2) "All my Life"- Sidekick Envy (drop from 1, spent 5 non consecutive weeks @ #1, 10 weeks on charts)

3) "Mama Don't Cry"- Ras Lett (drop from 2, spent 1 week @ #1, 8 weeks on charts)

4) "Not Turning Back"- Denyse Plummer (new)

5) "Old Time Kaiso"- Native Alfie (new)

6) "Hercules"- Nandelle (new)

7) "Unexpected Love"- Melody DeForge (prod Roger Ryan) (drop from 6, 2 weeks on charts)

Indigenous is an initiative of ACTT to promote local content quotas, aired on Power 102.1FM on Sundays from 8 p.m. Supported by artists, fans, Sunday Mix, More FM 104.7FM, Synergy TV, West Bees Supermarket, & BlinkBmobile.New songs are introduced every week. From these songs text your votes to 687-5576 and/or leave a voicemail, e-mail choices to indigenoustt@gmail.com and join the Indigenous Facebook page for updates, artist interaction and to post videos and songs. - Trinidad Express Newspaper

So just what is Strings then?
Aria on Ariapita Avenue has been so AWESOME as to facilitate a DJ rock party with live performances by local rock bands. This seems to take place roughly twice a month on Thursdays ... yes the Thursday night curse strikes again, I spoke about this issue in a previous blog regarding BPM Thursday.

The roster of performances has featured some of our current top bands such as Orange Sky, Supernormal and Side Kick Envy. Strings is a rock show but it's not your typical TT metal vibe. You would expect the typical mosh pit with head banging, hair flipping all over the place, a crowd throwing horns skyward while screaming at the top of their lungs and some die hards possibly in their 80's somewhere in this fray rockin till they die.

That's not Strings

However it's not a bad thing this event is very ... chill in comparison. It offers a different vibe for the rocker who just is not in to the chaos but loves the music and wants a place to lime that caters to their specific tastes. - R.E.D.M

Sidekick Envy Rocks On
Jun, 19
Sidekick Envy rocks on
By JANELLE DE SOUZA Sunday, June 19 2016
They classify their lyrical style as rude and witty, and their music as “modern, alternative, mainstream rock with romantic melodies.” Their formula? Strong guitar rifts with a memorable melody, and high energy that people could enjoy.
This is what solidified Sidekick Envy as one of the top bands on the local rock music scene even though they are a relatively new band.
Sidekick Envy consists of Logan Tang on lead vocals and guitar, Ravi “Disko Pigg” Maharaj on lead guitar, Matthew “Matt Da-Forth” Mohammed on bass guitar and Stephen Yen Chong on drums.
Despite their on-stage rock demeanour, they are ‘every-day’ people. Tang has his helicopter and aeroplane commercial pilot’s licence, Disko Pigg is a music producer, Matt Da-Forth is a motorcycle technician and Yen Chong is a sales representative.
Tang told Sunday Newsday that he writes the lyrics for the band’s songs while all the members come together to compose the music. He noted that each song has an underlying message touching a wide range of issues, as there are no topics from which they shy away. For example, he said, their song “All My Life” sounds romantic but is really about BDSM (erotic practices of bondage, dominance, submission and sadomasochism), while “Wetman” is a bit of comic relief about men who drive Tiida cars.
“The crowd seems to get a good laugh out of that song,” he added.
Tang said he has been playing guitar since his early teens, and playing in a band was a dream he always wanted to pursue. In 2013, he got together with some friends and formed the band. They immediately started writing original material and began doing live performances in 2014. “We just wanted to see how far we could take it and try to make it in the international industry,” he said.
But the original members could not continue for one reason or the other and so the band now has its new line up.
Tang said he knew Disko Pigg was a talented musician, so when his lead guitarist left, he asked him to join and was elated when he accepted in March 2015. Yen Chong joined in December last year, while Matt Da-Forth joined in April 2016.
“Last year was our biggest year so far. We went from being not so known to being one of the top bands in Trinidad and Tobago.
We played the local Skyy Rock Music Festival last year and I think it was because Skyy Rock had a bigger audience. When we played that show is when people started paying attention to who we were,” she said.
In March of this year, Sidekick Envy also performed at the annual South by Southwest Music Festival, in Austin, Texas after being selected to play along with local bands Joint Pop, Jaundice-I, and 5 Miles to Midnight.
Their next performance will be on July 9, at Space La Nouba in San Fernando, at LYNCHPiN’s fundraiser in aid of LYNCHPiN’s journey to Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany. There, six of the top bands in Trinidad and the Caribbean will be taking the stage in support of LYNCHPiN becoming the first band from the Caribbean to perform at Wacken.
Tang said they try to keep their music as “radio-friendly” as possible but refuse to hold back on creativity. “We want to appeal to the masses. We don’t want to put ourselves in a niche market, but at the same time we are very open to experimenting with new sounds and pushing the envelope in terms of creativity,” he said.
He noted that everyone in the band listens to different genres of music - he enjoys British rock while Disko Pigg likes funk and electronic music. Yen Chong is into Indie bands from the United States while Matt Da-Fourth listens to heavy metal music. “We all come from different musical backgrounds but we all seem to make it work. We don’t try to emulate any band. What the song calls for is what we give it,” he said.
“The main thing for us is to capture an international market, and put TT on the map for something other than soca,” he added.
To that end, the band is planning a US tour in 2017. - Trinidad & Tobago Newsday