M1 on a new musical journey

Sherwin Jeremiah prefers not to be called Menace, the sobriquet he used as a member of the now defunct group 3Suns.  Jeremiah now goes by the name M1, chosen to show that he’s on a different path. “M1 signifies a new stage in my life and in my musical career. I like to say ‘a new chapter, a new character.’ It is really about bringing all the different parts of me to life,’ said Jeremiah, who says he has more creative control as a solo act. The 34-year-old from Sangre Grande had quite a busy season this Carnival with his single Big People Ting. The song was written by Jeremiah and produced by Chain Links Production from the Big Blood Studios in Sangre Grande. 

Jeremiah performed the song with Machel Montano and the HD Band and Big People Ting also received a decent amount of airplay. Jeremiah said he set out to write a song that would move young and mature folk alike. “The song is really about a relationship between a man and a woman who are ready to go to the next stage in their relationship and he is merely asking her to trust him. But the way I wrote it, I did not want it to come across vulgar or disrespectful which is why it is referred to as big people ting,” he joked. He said this has been his best since embarking on a solo career three years ago. He described the opportunities to perform alongside Montano for the entire season including at Montano’s concert spectacular Machel Monday, and being chosen a semi-finalist in this year’s Soca Monarch competition “as a huge deal.” “Producers who had forgotten about me are calling my phone now. They want to work with me. I suppose they are seeing now what was always there but they just could not see it then,” said a happy Jeremiah.

He revealed a collaboration with Montano is soon to be released as well as a track with his all-time favourite female soca star Destra Garcia called Honey Love, is also due out soon. Jeremiah hopes to work some day with the Mighty Shadow who he hails as one of the greatest veterans in the business. He told the T&T Guardian working again with his long-time friend Ian “Bunji Garlin” Alvarez, won’t hurt either.

Born to do it
Jeremiah’s love for music started in childhood. He said in primary school, he and a former classmate would sit at the back of the classroom and chant every dancehall hit they knew. Of course, this often got him in trouble as he and his friend disrupted the class. One time, as punishment, Jeremiah was given the task of writing a song for Mother’s Day and performing it at the school’s Mother’s Day concert. With the help of his mother, he wrote the aptly-titled song Mother’s Day and the rest was history. “When I went on to secondary school I kept writing and taking part in small ‘sing off’ competitions. I realised I had a natural knack for it and I stuck with it.” As a part of 3Suns, whose hits included Dat Eh Nuttin (On de Promenade), Kama Sutra and By The Bar, he was the main writer and lead vocalist of the group. He doesn’t however, feel it is more challenging to perform as a soloist. 

“It is not like a big drastic move at all because while I was with the group I always ventured out and did solo projects or collaborated with other artistes, he said. “It isn’t much different except that I now have more creative control, whereas in the group there had to be the input from everyone and if I felt a song needed to be tweaked here and there, it wasn’t really my say.”
The songwriter now known as M1 is working on an album which is due out closer to the year’s end. According to Jeremiah, music lovers can expect a mix of all genres as he is not sticking to just soca music. They can get a taste of what is to come on a single he says will be out by Easter. “I love soca music, but I love music as a whole and I believe a true artiste is versatile and can give the people a world of music from one voice.”