My name is Francesco Emmanuel and I teach classical acoustic guitar. I'm originally from St James. A very busy neighbourhood of rum shops, limers, and the occasional zaboca and mango tief. These days I'm living in Diego Martin, a nice quiet spot.
My immediate family is small. I'd like to have my own family. But a good-hearted woman these days is a rare breed. Too many people on gimmicks. It's as if they watched too many bad episodes of Sex and the City.
I don't own a TV. I listen to music constantly when I'm not practising. Left to me, I'd probably just stay home and play music. I'm a bit boring that way. I am now at the Associate Board of the Royal Schools of Music, London, where I'm doing advanced studies in classical guitar.
I appreciate every band I was in: Warhead; Brothers Grimm; Flipside; Big-Eyed Grieve. My solo stuff; Sonic Revival Project, my last band when I returned home. And all the bands I was in while I lived in Canada: Chlorine Dream, Bound and still, to present day, Kobo Town. I was born and baptised Catholic and still go to church. I'm actually part of the musicians roster at Assumption Parish. That's my weekend gig. Church music taught me how to strum chords in a folk style.
I'll find out if there's an afterlife someday. But I'm in no hurry to know. I have a few favourite bands: the Police, Soundgarden, Tears for Fears, Tool, Meshuggah, King's X, Eric Johnson, Tori Amos. The classical acoustic guitar players I admire most are, for sheer skill, Andres Segovia and John Williams and, for composing, Francisco Tarrega, Heitor Villa-Lobos and Fernando Sor.
I don't go to the cinema much; I've missed many a movie over the years. But I do love movies based on a quest to beat the odds. I've seen Braveheart over 30 times. I've had a few car accidents. The way Trinis drive here it's impossible to not get in an accident.
Every kid wants to be a guitar hero but you can't make a living as a guitarist from live performance in Trinidad, not even if you're in many bands. I'm not even sure if soca musicians survive just playing soca alone during the off-season.
Modern-day soca is a disgrace to what calypso used to be. Lyrically, soca is rubbish. And tempo-wise, it's really aerobic noise. I recently got the 50 Road Marches from 1962 to 2012. The older stuff was so real, and acoustically sound, it had great production value to it, you could hear the vintage sound. Since Super Blue came out with Get Something and Wave, it's just been downhill all the way. I do find Kes and Machel are a cut above the rest, but there is no "art" in our "art form."
I love the sound of pan at Panorama time. But give me an acoustic guitar any day. The best thing about my job is seeing the moment students themselves realise they're progressing. They have such a joy on their face at that point. The worst thing is how many students think the guitar can be learnt quickly. Anything worthwhile takes years of study but sadly, many quit after three months. Who masters anything in three months?
A Trini is a warm-hearted person who loves life and cherishes family and friends. When I came back to Trinidad, I knew, once again I was home. But now I shudder for where we're going, economically, socially and politically. It's like we're on a deliberate crash course and couldn't care less.
I hear those call-in shows, people filled with so much hate. I feel sick when I see even kids litter. People drive as if they intend to kill someone. And our crime is out of control and no one can stop it. We are a sinking ship. Still, I'd rather be on this ship than watch from afar.
Read a longer version of this feature at www.BCRaw.com
