From Trinidad to Country: Addis Luv's Musical Journey

Transcript

Meeting Addis Love

Speaker 1 0:00

You got it we're live . Hello everybody , and welcome back to another edition of Skip Happens . And tonight I've got something really special . I'm already loving this guy . His name is Addis Love . He's a powerhouse vocalist whose journey began in Trinidad and Tobago and is now lighting up country radio with his new single here . Let me give you a little taste of this . Uh-oh , wait , maybe I need to start it over again . I don't know .

Speaker 2 0:28

From the top , baby From the top , I don't know what happened here .

Speaker 1 0:32

Let me just try this again .

Speaker 3 0:37

Well , we'll just let this play and we'll go back to this .

Speaker 1 0:40

That's Addis .

Speaker 3 0:40

Listen , feels like I've been licking food all night long had a thumping like a kick drum and my money's all gone . Somebody pass me time and all . I got hit by a good time .

Speaker 1 0:56

That's what it's called . It's called Hit by a Good Time . From carnival crowds to 50,000 to Lincoln Center . Addis is bringing his heart , soul and world . It's time from carnival crowds to 50,000 to Lincoln Center . Addis is bringing his heart , soul and world-class energy to country music . Check that out . It's time to dive in Addis Love . How are you , my friend ?

Speaker 2 1:14

Hey , Skip , Thank you very much for having me . First of all , I am too blessed to be stressed and I'm too anointed to be disappointed . God , I love that .

Speaker 1 1:23

Too blessed to be stressed . You know that's going to be my Facebook post tonight , so nobody knows that .

Speaker 2 1:26

There you go , you can borrow it , but you can give it back next week .

Speaker 3 1:30

Yeah , Send it to me in mail . Alright , I'll send you my mailing address , okay , yeah , yeah , I'll send it back to you .

Speaker 1 1:38

I'll give you credit for that . And when I post it tonight , too blessed to be stressed .

Speaker 2 1:43

And when I posted tonight , too blessed to be stressed and too anointed to be disappointed .

Speaker 1 1:46

And too anointed to be disappointed .

Speaker 2 1:49

You can use that to speak after .

Speaker 1 1:51

I love it . Addis , love man , you're cool . Where are you right now ? Where are you ? Because I mean we talk about you know , you've been in Trinidad and Tobago and I think I was going to do this a couple of weeks ago and then I tried to reschedule and then you were there and I wasn't here and now we're together .

Speaker 2 2:12

But as a matter of fact , I just got back from thailand . I was out there for like two weeks , um , thailand and bali , and you know I got back a couple days ago and you know I say you know what , I gotta get back for the skip happens show . I cannot miss it .

Speaker 3 2:22

No it's I'm back , I'm back , I'm back .

Speaker 1 2:26

I love it I love it .

Speaker 2 2:27

I'm in Orlando right now , home base .

Speaker 1 2:30

So you live right in Orlando . You're going to be pretty close to Disney .

Speaker 2 2:34

Very close , Very very close Walking distance .

Speaker 1 2:37

Yeah .

Speaker 2 2:38

Mickey Land .

Speaker 1 2:41

Yeah , mickey Land , that's right , you must love Mickey Land .

Speaker 2 2:45

Oh my gosh , I work in the parks too . Sometimes I do shows over there as well too .

Speaker 1 2:49

Yeah , that's what I was going to ask you about being there working in the parks . You're entertaining people from all around the world because we all know so many , whether it's Disneyland or Disney World , they take in those parks . That's cool . Yes , they do , they love it . So how did you get involved in ? I mean , you work in the parks . That's one thing . It takes a lot . It takes a lot to do that . But now you're . You know I really don't know much about your background , maybe you can enlighten us a little bit . But you know you're putting out a country song . It's a fun country song and hopefully , hopefully , it'll re-cue here in a minute so we can play the whole thing .

Speaker 2 3:30

Tell us how did you get involved doing that ? I started off skipping in Trinidad and Tobago that's where I was born way back Started doing Calypso music because Trinidad and Tobago is known for Calypso

Calypso Roots to Country Roads

Speaker 2 3:41

and steel drums . That's where the steel drums come from .

Speaker 1 3:43

The steel drums and I don't know if you ever heard calypso music ?

Speaker 2 3:46

oh , yeah , uh , from harry bella fonte , roman coca-cola . So that's calypso . So I started off with a singing that as a young kid growing up in trinidad , and I entered some of the competitions over there and I won , you know , the junior calypso monarch , the young king , and different , uh , different competitions and I , you know , the Junior Calypso Monarch , the Young King , and different competitions . And I started , you know , getting my stardom from then and started like , performing different shows , doing recordings and all that . And then I left Trinidad and I , you know , come up to the United States and wanted to do some different stuff .

Speaker 2 4:21

I started working with some different prominent bands over here doing reggae , calypso , r&b , jazz , top 40 , you name it . I was doing it like I was getting calls every day hey , I need a fill for a Latin band , I have a gig for this . Hey , I need a fill for a reggae band . Hey , I need a fill for a Caribbean band . So my genres were so tight and I could have fit in any way , but I have never , never , ever tried um , country music . And one time I was performing in this place in palm beach and , uh , this guy walked up to me and he's like are you really singing or is that , uh , you just like miming ? I'm like , yeah , I'm really singing . You see , you are amazing . Would you like to do country music ? I'm like , uh , yeah , sure , you know it's . It's something I wanted to do .

Speaker 2 5:08

And you know , we got together for a year and we started writing . He started writing stuff and I started recording a whole bunch of music . And , you know , later on , after like a year ago , we started . He's like you know what , we're gonna put this out . We're gonna get together . They formed a company . And here here we are today , you know , doing . We're going to put this out . We're going to get together . They formed a company . And here we are today , you know , doing some country music . Wow .

Speaker 1 5:27

They say you know , you're a powerhouse vocalist and that comes from quotes , because I got that off . I was kind of doing a little bit of research . But that's pretty cool just to be called a powerhouse vocalist . Yeah , which man that's's powerful . But uh , you know what was it like growing up in trinidad and tobago and tobago you say tobago , tobago and uh , trinidad , it's trinidad and tobago .

Speaker 2 5:53

It's like , uh , yeah , it's , it's , it's . I mean , it's paradise , man , you're in the islands , you know , you know , you , you the , the wind , the , the atmosphere , the people , the warmth of the people , the warmth of the ocean , the food , oh , my goodness , whenever you get a chance to go down to Trinidad and Tobago and we host the most recognized and the first carnival in the world , the best carnival , the mother of carnivals in the world , in Trinidad and Tobago .

Speaker 1 6:25

Yeah , and do you go back for that every ?

Speaker 2 6:27

year . Are you there ? They call me every year . I go back for that . Every year I perform in different concerts and then I do the grand finale on the floats on the streets where they go from like 8 o'clock in the morning all the way to like 10 at night , performing on the floats , going all through the town , downtown , port of spain , and you got the plumes , you got the people in costumes behind you just gonna ask about that , with all the the headgear and all that yeah , yeah , it's amazing wow now you still call that home obviously yes , definitely , definitely .

Speaker 2 6:59

I call it home , I go back , you know , every time , as a matter of fact , there's a jazz show going down , happening down there next month , and I'm going to go back for that as well . Wow .

Speaker 1 7:08

That's cool , was there , you know ? Let me , let me ask you , addis , what's been the biggest cultural or creative adjustment since you actually , you know , you're kind of you're living in the United States now as well , so what's that adjustment , or what was the biggest for you ?

Speaker 2 7:27

I mean the biggest adjustment was really family , missing family and having to acclimate to like the different weathers and stuff . You know , I mean , to me it was kind of hard because for anybody who leaves their natives and their hometown it's going to take a little while for them to acclimate to this new place that they're going to have to call home , you know , away from home . Yeah , so I mean that was a thing really .

Speaker 1 7:54

Did you get much of pushback when you said you know , I want to do a country song ? And you approached certain people to do that country song and they're like why would you want to do that when you do this ?

Speaker 2 8:08

Did you get some pushback ? Yes , I did . As a matter of fact , when I told my wife I was gonna , you know , I'm gonna do some , I'm gonna switch into country , and she's like , are you sure ? But you've never done country before . I'm like , yeah , I mean , you know , I'm a , I'm a tenor , I can , I can , you know , I can switch , I can do that . And she was kind of worried because worried because I'm more of an R&B singer . That's where they get the power voice from , the powerhouse from , and I'm accustomed to doing Motown Top 40 , r&b and I hate that you can do it all .

Speaker 2 8:36

Yeah , that's where my voice is really comfortable . And she's like are you sure , honey , Are you sure you want to do this ?

Speaker 1 8:48

I'm like listen , man , everything in my life is a challenge and I'm up for it , but a challenge is good at us right , I mean we all look at challenges . Every day . It's a challenge , but we stand up to it and we make it happen , it makes us better .

Speaker 2 9:00

Exactly you know what I told her and she found it was very funny .

Life in Trinidad and Cultural Adjustments

Speaker 2 9:27

I said let me tell you something , honey , just in case you don't know , I already won . She's like what do you mean ? I said I already won . I said you know what ? I was fighting against 50 billion sperms . I was swimming against these sperms .

Speaker 1 9:35

They were behind me and I was the one to break through the egg , so I already made it , you did it , I break it down and she smiled and she's like you know what , honey , you're right , you're right , you're right .

Speaker 2 9:41

I got to remember that too . That's pretty awesome , but it's true , though , when you think about it . Skip , you made it , you were the one who broke , broke , broke through , I did , you left .

Speaker 1 9:52

You left that 50 million sprungs behind you and you came first and you , you , you burst it off , dude , you and I , brother , we made it , we made it we already win it . We see people every day that have made it . So , yes , yes , you know what I mean . You know what's mean you know what .

Speaker 2 10:05

People need to be reminded of this , because some there's a lot of of people who thinks that they're nothing , they're nobody . I always tell people there's no , nobody , you are somebody , you know . So the self-esteem is so low and they figure that you know , I'm , you know I'm better off dead and I'm you know things like that . So I try to remind people off dead and I'm you know things like that . So I try to remind people all the time . But listen , you're more than you think you are , you know . So I love that . It's just , it's just , that's just it , it's just it .

Speaker 1 10:35

And do you ? It looks like you've always had that attitude , which is great . It's great . But you know you're working at these parks and you know you're seeing these families and probably a lot of those families couldn't even afford to go but they're going and they're taking the kids and you're giving them something to look forward to and to smile .

Speaker 3 10:55

Yes .

Speaker 1 10:55

Wow , dude , I love that , I love that . Let's talk about the song that you got out . Let me see if it'll come up for a second here , because I hit the wrong button in the beginning . But don't tell anybody that is why we call this Skip Happens . I'm just saying because I just get a little crazy , here we go . Let's see , here it is .

Speaker 2 11:14

There we go .

Speaker 3 11:20

Well , my boxer shorts were hanging from my ceiling fan . Yeah , I got Five different nightclubs . Stand on my right hand Feels like I've been Licking food papers All night long . My head is thumping Like a kick drum and my money's all gone . Somebody pass me Time to know I got hit by the good time Right between the eyes .

Speaker 1 11:51

I love that . So there you go . You get a good taste of what that's all about . It's called hit by a good time and I got to tell you I got some driving ahead of me tomorrow Going to head South . I think , if you don't mind , I'm going to take that and I'm going to be playing it on the way down , just because it makes me feel good right there . It's one of those songs that are going to turn up Addis . How does that track reflect where ? You're artistically right now , where you're at .

Speaker 2 12:17

Well , you know that track , I mean , people go crazy for it . You know it's like a nowadays thing that happens . Well , I shouldn't say nowadays , but it's something that happens to most people . You know , you go out , you want to have a good time . You get home you can't remember what happened last night . You see , you know who drove me home , what happened , who was that girl , or you are in different scenarios .

Speaker 2 12:43

You wake up with a stranger in your bed and you're like , wow , last night I probably got hit by a good time last night , you know . So there's so many different scenarios , but it kind of resonates to a lot of people like you know , yeah , yeah , you know what . I remember I got hit by a good time one time in my life , or two times in my life , you know . So the song is like a real story Must have been a good time . Yeah , that's all I'm saying .

Speaker 1 13:10

Yeah , what's you know ? You've Lincoln Center to Carnival , which is , you know , the big event , in front of 50,000 people . What's your mindset before you walk out on stage and you got 50,000 people in front of you , what's your mindset like ?

Speaker 2 13:29

You know what it brings such a sense of joy and happiness . And I wouldn't say that I'm nervous . I'm probably nervous to get out there and perform , but not nervous to the fact that , oh my God , it's 50,000 people . What am I going to do , you know ? It's just , it's a different kind of , it's a high that I can't explain , you know .

Speaker 1 13:55

Is it like an oh wow moment ? It's got to be an oh wow moment .

Speaker 2 13:59

It's like a oh oh , oh , oh , wow , moment , yeah , yeah . Look at me , look at me . Look at me . I'm the little kid from the block who they said can't you know ? Yeah , and what are you doing ? Why are you making all ?

Speaker 2 14:12

that noise and everything goes back . It just flies back to me . Every time like I go to perform and I see all these people that I'm performing to , it always comes back to me that I hear that voice all the time in my head saying what do you think you're doing ? You can't sing . Stop making noise , stop doing these things . And these things used to happen to me when I was younger Some of my siblings , my family , my friends . You're always singing , you're always making noise , shut the hell up . And stuff like that . So when I go in from these crowds I just smile to myself and say , wow , look at that kid from the block who they taught can't and won't .

Speaker 1 14:48

And now I will you know , and you can feel it . You can feel it when you have 50,000 people , and the reason I'm saying that is I know this is about you , it's not about me , but I did a show I was with being with the radio station , and then we walk out and we do what they call the Presents . It was a Laney Wilson show and we walked out onto stage and I looked out and there was just there were 57,000 people there at this one event , I'm not kidding At least 55,000 . And when you look out that's why I asked you this when you look out and all you can see are heads and you can walk on heads as far as you can see , our heads , and you can walk on heads as far as you can see . Yes , it's just an oh wow moment where you don't know what to say at first you just look and go holy crap , yes .

Speaker 2 15:33

And then after that it just electrifies yes , oh , you feel like adrenaline that's going straight through your veins . You're like , oh , I'm ready to go , you know yeah , so , yeah .

Speaker 1 15:43

So is this the first attempt to country Hit by Good Time ?

Speaker 2 15:51

It's the first attempt . Actually , it's the second single that we released .

Speaker 3 15:55

Okay , it's another one .

Speaker 2 15:56

Yeah , yeah , but the first attempt to country music .

Speaker 1 16:02

I got you .

Speaker 2 16:02

Yes , it is yeah .

Speaker 1 16:03

I got you Very cool . Now , I mean mean , obviously you've been doing this for a while and you're doing a great job at it . You're a hell of a performer , entertainer . People are loving you um , but you know , do you think you're going to do more of this ? The country side of things , of course

Hit by a Good Time

Speaker 1 16:18

of course .

Speaker 2 16:19

Of course we have skip . We have over 40 songs already recorded , so we are like choosing the album . You know , we , we decided we're not going to release the album . We're going to release all the singles every every year , every every three months or so , whatever we we a couple of weeks or whatever . We release a single . As a matter of fact , we have another one coming out in a couple of weeks . It's called Born to Roam . You're going to love this one , skip when you hear this one . So we decided to release all the singles and then , when we do , then we bring out the album .

Speaker 1 16:56

All right , but you said you got like 40 singles but you're not going to put all 40 on it .

Speaker 2 17:01

No , we got like 40 songs to choose from .

Speaker 1 17:03

Oh , I got you . You're going to pick , pick and choose maybe 16 or 17 for the album .

Speaker 2 17:08

Yes , and we were like you know what , according to how things are going , let's do this one , let's do that one , like the one that's coming out next , is called Born to Rome . It's more patriotic to you know , talking about . You know I've traveled all over the world and you know there's no place like home . You know I was born to Rome , but the USA is my home , you know .

Speaker 1 17:29

Oh my God , I don't want to let it out of the box . No , no . That's a good start , though . I like that You're going to love it .

Speaker 2 17:35

You're going to love it .

Speaker 1 17:36

And do you have a name ?

Speaker 2 17:41

Do you have a name for the album yet ? We're kind of tossing and turning with different stuff , but we let you know when it comes out .

Speaker 1 17:54

When you perform for brands like you got universal studios , you have disney , uh , do those gigs differ from your own shows ?

Speaker 2 18:06

they're more or less because , um , sometimes they they put me with different , like different people doing different stuff , like they would have a . They'll have me work with a like a latin band and I would do some like some latin music with them , and then they call me and say , okay , we wouldn't , because they know , they know of my talent , so they can switch me around and put me in different places and they'll have me work with like a reggae band doing like um different stuff , like above mali tribute and stuff like that , and I'll be doing that to a different , you know different , crowd , a different side of the park or you know stuff like that . So it's not yet have I been called to do a country , you know a country um segment , because you know they never at that time they never knew that I was doing country music . So this is like new to them now . So you never know . I mean know there's , there's always concert series over there , so you know you never know what could happen .

Speaker 1 19:01

Yeah , I , you know . I mean , I don't mean this in a bad way at all , but I'd be if I was to come up to you . I would never think that , okay , this is the dude that's singing country .

Speaker 3 19:09

I'm just saying .

Speaker 1 19:09

I would expect you know some Caribbean carnival music what have you , Especially when you hear me talk right , but no , you're doing really well . I love it . I love it , dude , I've got the Syracuse accent . You obviously have the Caribbean accent . That's what I call it , you know , trying to think of man . How often do you get back home ?

Speaker 2 19:30

You know pretty often , pretty often , Now that I'm back from Thailand , I'll probably be home for a little while , until maybe next month . Early next month I'll go down to Trinidad and I'll do the jazz show and come back and I'll be home base for a little bit .

Speaker 1 19:44

Okay , so I mean , when you talk about home base , you're talking about Orlando .

Speaker 2 19:48

That's your home base now , yeah . And how hot was it today . You know what ? It was kind of cool today . It was kind of like in the 80s . You know it was a nice breeze yeah it was kind of like island life over here .

Speaker 1 20:02

I have to ask I love that , so you fit right in . That's cool . That's cool . I would love that People think I'm nuts . But you know , at my age I'm tired of snow , I'm tired of cold temperatures , I'm tired of , you know , everything that goes along with that .

Speaker 3 20:15

But however , this is my home , so it is what it is , but yeah , do you ?

Speaker 1 20:21

um , you know , if you were to give one piece of advice to another artist trying to break into the country scene from outside the united states , what would you tell them ? Because you had to do it you know what skip ?

Speaker 2 20:35

I'll tell them that , um , the sky's the limit . You know you . You have so many opportunities built into you . You know you just have to tap into them . And and and and . You know , let them out , because a lot of people believe that you know , I have to be from nashville , I have to be from united states , so I have to be from . You know different places to be this or to be that . You know you . You already there . You just have to tap in and and and and make it happen because it's it's within you you know .

Speaker 2 21:11

So

Performing at Disney and Theme Parks

Speaker 2 21:12

I would tell anybody who's coming up from any , any , any part of the world , any genre , anything like that .

Speaker 1 21:17

It's , it's already there , just tap into it and and bring it up do you have one favorite , though , although you're doing country now , but is there one that , if you could do any over the other ? Is there any one that you would pick ? Favorite artists ? Well , favorite artists , music genre or anything , yeah , yeah .

Speaker 2 21:38

Well , you know what R&B , R&B , r&b , that's , that's my , that's my thing , I love it . And followed by gospel music . You know , it's just , I just have the , the tone , the voice for it . You know , you do , that's like some of my faves . You know what's the oh go ahead ?

Speaker 3 21:57

No , I was going to ask it .

Speaker 2 22:02

You go first .

Speaker 1 22:03

No , you go first .

Speaker 2 22:05

Well , you know , I was going to say now that I tried country , you know , and I realized that it comes so easy Because everybody's asking me . So you sure you've never done country before . I'm like this is my first time . But you know , I've just studied it and say you know what I can do this ? This is not as hard as they think it is .

Speaker 1 22:23

you know , tell me something crazy about the life of Addis Love . Tell me what's your day like , what I mean ? Something that's nuts .

Speaker 2 22:35

You know what ? Right now I am doing this interview with you . Right now . Yes , you will not believe me , but I'm telling you , I swear to God , swear to God . I am sitting in my car , I can see that . Right and I'm sitting in the parking lot of a movie theater Now . Addis Love loves movies , so as soon as I'm done , there's this movie that I got to see and I'm going to watch that movie .

Speaker 3 23:07

So you're going to go into the theater .

Speaker 1 23:09

Look at you .

Speaker 2 23:10

I'm going to go into the theater . So I told my wife she's like where are you going ? I thought you had a Zoom . I said a zoom . I said you know what ? I gotta see this movie , honey . But you know what , if it means I gotta sit in my car , talk to skip and as soon as I'm done I'm just gonna get out and go to the movie theater because it starts at 9 9 15 .

Speaker 1 23:28

Oh , is that ? So you're giving me like I'm looking at my watch right now at us ?

Speaker 2 23:32

no , no , no , no , you do , you do your thing Do your thing .

Speaker 1 23:35

I think that's awesome though .

Speaker 2 23:38

I love movies . That's one of my faves too , and I would love for one day that one of my songs be featured in a movie or I get a part of something that's part of me too .

Speaker 1 23:53

I could see that happening , because who you are and what you do , both with Disney and Universal or all that , come on . We see a lot of those movies and they have that music . Exactly , I'm trying to think my son watches all the Disney movies . You hear that music . I could see you doing that . It'd be a nice little cash cow for you .

Speaker 2 24:17

Yes , I could see me too doing that Exactly .

Speaker 1 24:21

Well , you get the talent and it's worth a lot , you know .

Speaker 2 24:26

We have endless , you know , we have endless talents and we , as human beings we have . We don't know what we got until we tap in and we realize that you know what ? Oh my God , I didn't even realize that I can do this . And when you really study yourself , there's no can't you know there's , just figure it out , it's there , it's already there , it's already instilled in you .

Speaker 1 24:53

I hope people are listening to this , because what you're saying means so much .

Speaker 3 24:57

I figured it out .

Speaker 1 24:58

Yeah , I think you've got it figured out . Man , I think you do , I think you've got it down .

Speaker 2 25:03

Yes .

Speaker 1 25:03

Yeah , so you're at the parks and you're doing this . How often do you do that ? Is it every week , every month ?

Speaker 2 25:12

Actually , month , um , actually . So if I want to make a trip to disney , when can I see you ? Well , you know what , sometimes they move me around a lot . You know the movie , you know , sometimes I'll be in a magic kingdom , I'll be in a animal kingdom , um , uh , disney springs , um , you know . So it's different . Yeah , yeah , yeah , different places . I've been ep , epcot , so it depends , but I don't have a set schedule where I'm there every Monday or every Wednesday . Ah , okay , I got you , I got you how many ?

Speaker 1 25:43

There must be . A whole slew of performers , though , like yourself , that go through Disney . I mean , it's such a big operation , but everybody's talented . You wouldn't be there if you weren't talented .

Speaker 2 25:53

Yes , talented , you wouldn't be there if you weren't talented .

Speaker 3 25:56

yes , and that's why you don't have like one day gotcha same day makes sense , you know , I mean , there's so many different artists , dancers you know performance , performance , you know performance .

Speaker 1 26:04

Yeah , so it's , it's , it's crazy so , uh , the album that we were talking about a few minutes ago , uh , you ? Got 40 different tracks to pick from and you'll . Whatever comes to that will be on the album , annie , did you ? Maybe you already said it and I apologize if I missed it .

Speaker 2 26:19

Oh , that's fine .

Speaker 1 26:20

But is there a release date on that ? Do you have a goal ? Do you have a date set that you want it done by a certain time ?

Speaker 2 26:26

You know what ? We're just taking things stride by stride . It's just like we're trying everything you know . Skip how everything has changed now with social media oh , we know that you know , and hey , attention is the biggest currency right now .

Speaker 2 26:43

You should , as you know , you gotta have those likes , you gotta have those , you know those , those um streams and all that . So we just trying some doing something different , going a different route with it . You know , everybody comes out with an album and hit the album , bam , and you know , you hear the albums out , and then some songs get like bypass and like , oh , I didn't hear this one , oh , maybe I should try this one , you know , so people don't really get a chance to listen to the album because they have all these songs in front of them and they , you know , but when you get when you , when you release a single and then another single and then another single , they ain't got nothing to do but listen , they have to listen that's a great idea .

Speaker 1 27:22

I love that .

Speaker 2 27:23

Like you mentioned before , yeah , and then everything is out now , the debut album , you know . Yeah , bam , bam , bam bam .

Speaker 1 27:32

Have you ever been to the Northeast ?

Speaker 2 27:36

To the Northeast .

Speaker 1 27:38

You know , for example , this podcast . I'm based in Syracuse , I run the country station here in town and all that . Syracuse , New York . I don't know , have you ever been this far north ?

Speaker 2 27:49

I don't think I've ever been to Syracuse , but you know what You'd be cold . Syrac circus was one of my um . It was once it . It was on the radio tour that I was going to do , but there was grassroots I think grassroots had it there one time maybe yeah , they're leaving it for because I did the the um , the south , so when they , when they , when they change it around , I'm going to do like a different part . No , they're probably going to add up there .

Speaker 2 28:17

Yeah , no , exactly they're getting ready to give me some more dates to do a different leg .

Speaker 1 28:22

That'll be cool , I'll have to keep my eyes and ears open .

Speaker 2 28:26

You never know , man hey request it .

Speaker 1 28:28

I will . Well , I know Nancy , I know the whole gang .

Speaker 2 28:30

I need to have Alice Love in Syracuse , I would love that man .

Speaker 1 28:35

I'd love that you requested it . I'll be there , man , I promise you know one thing with me and one thing with what I do . We do very well as a radio station , but me as the program director and the afternoon guy , I firmly believe very highly in the independent artist and what you're doing . And you know you're pretty much doing this out of your own pocket . You're making it work . You have somebody doing some of the media for you

Movies, Ice Bars and Orlando Life

Speaker 1 29:00

, for example grassroots , who , by the way , are the best . I'm just saying that they are the best .

Speaker 1 29:08

They are musicians and they are radio people , so they know how to do it . They know I mean . There's other companies too .

Speaker 2 29:19

And I have friends that work for the other companies , but still they are one of the best .

Speaker 1 29:22

So , yes , you're , you're right , you're right and you're , you're in good hands with them . Um , if you could collaborate with any I'm sure a lot of people ask you this question . I don't like asking the same question and others do , but I'm going to for this one If you could collaborate with anybody , anybody , country , r&b , hip-hop , anything is there anybody that you would say you know what ? I want to do this with you , or I wish you know what I love ?

Speaker 2 29:48

the voice of Jelly Roll . He's got an amazing spiritual very much you know big voice , you know yep , yep . And then we have um , um , um , chris tapleton yep , he's got that voice soul , soul , soul , and you hear it , yes , you hear it , you hear it you hear it with a new song he has out with Miranda right now .

Speaker 1 30:17

Yes , you can hear the soul .

Speaker 2 30:19

You can hear the soul . Yeah , so these are guys . I mean , if you look at some of the stuff I've done on YouTube and all that we did over some what we call mashup Instead of mashups , we call them mashup because they came from Nashville .

Speaker 3 30:35

Okay , and I did over .

Speaker 2 30:36

I did over . Tennessee whiskey had a slow style .

Speaker 1 30:42

Amazing . Definitely I get off tonight and yeah , I got .

Speaker 2 30:47

I did over a whole lot , a lot of different stuff , some mashups , amazing , and the Tennessee whiskey was one of my favorite songs . I had the ability to just relax and just do it my way and just let it flow .

Speaker 1 31:06

Is there any other way than your way ? Is what I'm saying , I guess . Is there you doing it your way ?

Speaker 2 31:12

Do it my way . Like Sinatra said my way , Exactly when I was growing up , when I was in recording studios in Trinidad and different places . Some people would want you to .

Speaker 2 31:21

I have this song but I want you to sing it this way . I want you to do this and I want you to do that , I want you to do that . And then when I'm done , I'm like , okay , you know what this song's sound like me . He said I don't get it , but you sang it . I said , yeah , but you know , it's just a song with no soul . And he couldn't get it . And I told him I said listen , there's no part of me in this song because you want me to sing it like a bud , do this , do that , sing that , sing it this way , do that ? You know , sing it .

Speaker 2 31:54

You know , and I can't even relax and do like put some of my vibe , my feelings , my mood , my you know my experience , my everything into that song . So when I go into the studio and they give me the song , they tell me just feel it , just do what you feel , Sing what you feel . And that's what we like it . We take it . If we don't like it , we tell you , change it . You know , like that and that it makes everything comes out so beautiful yeah , I don't know why you'd want to do it any other way .

Speaker 1 32:27

This is you . This is addis love . It's not the guy behind the board telling you to do it , or your producer telling you to do it a different way . Yeah , then you're doing what he wants . You've got to be at his love .

Speaker 1 32:38

I'm correct by saying that , yes , yes , wow see , this is the stuff that you're telling me here tonight , and skip happens is , uh , it's no , I mean , we laugh about it because skip happens , but um , it's so true . And I hope that there's musicians that that watch this and listen to this and hear your advice . You know , as a musician and recording , that you know what makes it so good is you are you be yourself . Either you're going to make it or you're not . But give it a shot .

Speaker 2 33:11

Yep .

Speaker 1 33:12

Love it .

Speaker 2 33:13

Love it , yep .

Speaker 1 33:14

What do you do for fun ?

Speaker 2 33:18

Well , as I said , the movies , the movies are my favorite . You know , if I'm not hanging out with my kid or you know , just doing some , going to the movies and just chilling , just sitting back and listening to some music , you know , stuff like that , just taking it easy .

Speaker 1 33:36

Yeah , what is there ? Obviously , we know Orlando for Disney and all the Disney parks and all that and Universal , but what else is there to do in Orlando ? You have the water parks , right ? You ?

Speaker 2 33:50

have huge . There's an ice bar over here .

Speaker 1 33:54

Ice bar . I've heard of an ice bar . I've heard of an ice bar . I've never been to one .

Speaker 2 33:57

You got it . Listen , man you . It can be 100 degrees outside in Orlando , okay , when ? You get to this ice bar . Before you walk in , they give you a jacket . I'm talking about a jacket that you wear for minus in winter .

Speaker 2 34:17

It's got to feel good . You tell yourself I don't need this jacket . Yes , you do . You got to put that jacket on , get into the ice bar . When you go into the ice bar , it automatically feels like you are in the Arctic . It's like it just hits you like bam . You have to experience this . Skip , I'm experience this . No , I read about this .

Speaker 1 34:39

I've never seen it . I read about it .

Speaker 2 34:42

When you get there , you think like you're in the North pole . You're like what the hell just happened ? It just hits you , bam . You walk in , you set up , you know , you see that coming out of your mouth , you go , you go to the bar . Now the bar is made of ice . Wow , the cups that they give you is made of ice .

Speaker 1 35:00

So do you have like gloves on ?

Speaker 2 35:03

You get the gloves too , okay , okay . So you get the glove , you get the jacket , so it goes over you . It kind of keeps you . You feel , no , don't get me wrong your nose , your ears , everything you feel like I want to fall out . But you know the the jacket and the gloves and it kind of keeps you sane right , and it's a long coat , so it's kind of like go down by it sounds so cool but anyways , you get to the bar , the bar , the bar top is ice , like real ice I'm talking about .

Speaker 2 35:29

You can chip it off with it , with ice pick . Then they hand you this glass that's made of ice . What do you drink ? What do you want to drink ? You get your drink , you put it in your , your glass of ice that's made of ice , yeah and then it , you know it's . It's like beastly cold now because it's in this jar of ice . You know you sip your drink , you have fun , the dj is playing some music , you're hanging out , you're doing your thing . You know you can take pictures .

Speaker 2 35:56

There's ice sculptures and all that oh my god , it's so good when you listen , man , when you get out of there , it's , it's almost like you were in a different dimension and you came from one world to the next . That's the experience that I had . I'm like what the hell is this ? This is like amazing you .

Speaker 1 36:13

You know I did and Edis , I did read about that but obviously never have experienced it but it sounds pretty cool . You know , like I said , we always think about Orlando . You know Disney , universal and Epcot or whatever , but I don't mean it in a bad way , of course it's . It's a lot of fun Been there , done that , but to hear something different , you know , you see the water parks , but this is kind of cool .

Speaker 2 36:37

It's cool , yeah , and they've got so many different things you know over here , because there's gator land . I mean you go in there and there's hundreds of thousands of gators . There's albino . I never knew they had an albino gator .

Speaker 1 36:53

Like an all-white alligator .

Speaker 2 36:55

All-white alligator there's like I mean , you know people , as you say , people think of Orlando oh . Orlando . I've done it already . They've got the rides , they've got . Yeah , that's it . What else can you do ? Right , but there's so many hidden stuff , so many hidden things to do over here .

Speaker 1 37:10

Have you ever lived anywhere else besides Orlando and , of course , your home , home , but still .

Speaker 2 37:17

Well , when I moved out from Trinidad , I went straight to LA . I lived in LA for a little bit Okay .

Speaker 2 37:22

In Orange County and I was working out there . I had a couple gigs like working different bands and then I got the opportunity to come to Florida . I really wanted to come to Florida and then a guy reached out to me and asked me if I wanted to come over here and work . And I took the opportunity and I never left . I never left Florida . So I was in downtown Miami . I was there for we're talking about back in 1995 .

Speaker 2 37:53

That's how long I've been out here and I worked down in Miami . I do the chain up after Miami , come up to Fort Lauderdale , boca Raton , and I keep going up , up up until I get to Orlando . So I keep heading north .

Speaker 3 38:09

You're not north enough though . Yeah , I'm not north enough .

Speaker 1 38:12

You got a little ways to go before you hit upstate .

Speaker 2 38:14

New .

Speaker 1 38:14

York . I know , though , you got a little ways to go before you hit upstate New York , have you ? Have you , because you know everything you do and so talented and the entertainment value . Have you performed on the cruise ships at all ?

Speaker 2 38:26

um , yes and no , because , um , there's

The Story Behind "Addis Love"

Speaker 2 38:30

a I I went on with a promoter one time but she had like a special show on the cruise . Um , as a matter of fact , last last , uh , maybe a couple of months ago my wife and I we went on a cruise , but I didn't go to perform and we were just hanging out and they had this thing called um the cruise , a factor , or something like that .

Speaker 2 38:57

Okay , and just for you know kicks and giggles . You know , my wife , why don't you just go out and do a song ? I'm like but honey , we on vacation . And then why , why do you want ? She said just do it for me , please . You know when your wife gives you that wink , wink , yeah , I know you cannot say no exactly so I'm like , all right , you know what , let me just go do a song .

Speaker 2 39:16

And I went on there and I did like a little frank sinatra song , did it my way , and they were so surprised like oh my god , you know who are you man . You like you did this , so , like you're custom doing this , I'm like , well , really , you know . I'm saying they say you know what , we're having a um , a competition tomorrow , but and you're already in the finals , I'm like what ? So they had the , the cruise factor , whatever they call it . And I'm I'm like , I'm telling , I'm like , listen , I can't do this . These are people who you know they're doing it probably for the first time .

Speaker 2 39:48

I'm doing this all my life right like's , like no , just go , just go and just go with it , have fun with it , go with it , have fun with it . So I went on and obviously I came first and they , you know , they gave me a statue of the ship and you know bragging rights and all that stuff .

Speaker 1 40:03

No , but I get you , I get you .

Speaker 2 40:05

But I never really like performed for a cruise line .

Speaker 1 40:07

Yeah , yeah , yeah , yeah . So in five years , where are we going to see Addis Love ?

Speaker 2 40:15

In five years , addis Love is going to be the talk of the town , I mean .

Speaker 3 40:19

I love that idea .

Speaker 2 40:24

Hey , addis Love is going to be hitting boots all over , or they're going to be hearing Addis Love . Wherever you go , the music is going to take you by surprise . It's an addis love party . Yeah , yeah , that's love , it's gonna be sharing love .

Speaker 1 40:36

Yep , sharing love . I love that , addis . So if somebody wants to jump on and , uh , you know you got the new single as we were talking about that , uh , where can they get the new single ? Uh , and we're gonna keep an eye out for the rest of the music , uh , let's , where can we get that ? First of all , all all the different socials all the different socials .

Speaker 2 40:53

You can check out my website . I just lovecom . I'm on all social media . I just love music . I mean basically all platforms .

Speaker 1 41:02

I love it , I love it , I love it , so we can get it there . Now , who does your socials ? Are you doing it or do you have the team do it ?

Speaker 2 41:10

The team is doing it right now , but I'm answering . I'm actually answering my stuff myself . So if you send a message hey , I just love it , I enjoy your music , I love it I will answer you . It's not a bud .

Speaker 1 41:26

It's not like anybody else doing it so you're going to say that is a very important connection where you respond if they like you .

Speaker 3 41:39

I think they're expecting to hear back If you don't write back or whatever they're going to be like well , screw him . He didn't even care what I said and I want to hear from them .

Speaker 2 41:44

I want to know what's going on , what you think , what you like . You know what you don't like . It doesn't matter . Even if you don't like something , I still want to hear from you . And how do you handle negativity if you do get some ?

Speaker 2 42:04

Well you know , a box of crayons doesn't just have blue or red or pink or white , and everybody's not going to like red , everybody's not going to like red , or everybody's not going to like blue or pink . So expect people not to not everybody to like the same thing . And I listen and I tell people like one time a guy told me he said hey , I like the music , but I don't think your voice is fit for that song . And I responded , responded , I said hey , thank you very much and I really appreciate your honesty . You know and that goes a long way that you're being honest and and but let me know , you know , you know what you think about I should do or what you think , um , I would sound better with . And you know you . You give people the air and you know just to hear what they say .

Speaker 1 42:51

It doesn't mean that you have to take everything you get , but at least you listen to what people have to say and give them that time , by the time we get done talking we're going to have a whole book here on Ed's love quotes because I'm just loving the way you're thinking . We look back over the last couple of weeks and you know life has been difficult , there's been challenges and we stand up to the challenges but still , you know you've got that positive attitude . You know it doesn't matter what you believe in , what you don't believe in , it matters that you've got a positive attitude .

Speaker 2 43:27

Yes , that's the most important thing . Throughout my life . It's been . You know it's . I don't have a choice , kim . I'm not even supposed to be here .

Speaker 1 43:37

Well , you made it remember .

Speaker 2 43:39

Yeah , but you know it goes deeper than that . I know my positivity is it would never , that light would never out , it never died because it go you know , let me give you a little story right very quickly , okay , when , when my my grandmother , um , she was from a little island down in the west indies called um saint vincent . I don't know if you know that I have no , I've heard of it .

Speaker 2 44:02

Yes , absolutely right , yeah and back in the day , when she was um coming to trinidad , you know they didn't have planes and all that yet . So she took , she was going to take a boat to get over there . And this is before she had my mother , right , we're talking way back then . It was before I was born . And one day she , you know , she woke up late and she , she hustled and she took her luggage and all that and she , you know , got to the docks . When she got there the boat already left and she sat on the docks and she cried . I was like , oh my God , this was the last boat and the next one is not going to come until maybe a couple of months . And you know , she went back home . And then they came over the radio , that boat that left for Trinidad it never got there .

Speaker 1 44:50

Oh my .

Speaker 2 44:50

God . Lost at sea , lost at sea , lost at sea , so she would have been on that boat .

Speaker 1 44:56

So I oh my god .

Speaker 2 44:57

So you see what I'm talking about yeah , I know exactly my mother wouldn't have been born I wouldn't be talking to you ? You wouldn't have been talking to me . Yeah , so tell me if I don't have a purpose here you .

Speaker 1 45:08

You do 100% More than most even know .

Speaker 2 45:12

Let me go a little further now . So here's my mother-in-law , pregnant with me , and she worked at this place where in Trinidad , a garment factory where they make stuff she was a seamstress and her lunch break right outside , and there's this little market and this guy that sells spices and all that . His name was Addis . So Addis used to sell all these spices and Addis was a blind man . So my mother , you know she would probably I don't know she'd wear a special perfume or whatever . So she'd come by and Addis is like oh , catherine , that's my mother's name , oh Catherine , how are you ? And she said I'm fine , addis , how are you doing ? I said , hey , I'm here . So he said to her congratulations , by the way . And she's like what do you mean ? She said what . She said you're pregnant . And she looked at him with like , like surprise that . But how would you know ? You're blind . And she said you know , I may be blind , but it doesn't mean I can't see . He's telling her that . And then he went on further saying by the way , you're having a boy , aren't you ? And then she's more surprised and she said to her you know what ? Take care of that boy . He's going to be special , more than surprised and she said to her you know what , take care of that boy , he's going to be special .

Speaker 2 46:33

So she went back to work and she's like baffled , like what the hell just happened , right ? And that time she was searching for names and all that and she was like you know what ? I'm just gonna call roger addis . You know , addis , I'm gonna give . I put addis as his middle name . So when we were doing this record and we're doing this thing and I told him , I said you know what ? I don't want to use my government name , right ? I want to use my middle name , addis , and I want to be called Addis . And I'm just fulfilled and full of love . I want to be called Addis Love . And we're going to go with Addis Love L-U-V . And that's how Addis Love was born . Dude , I love that Wow .

Speaker 2 47:11

With a lot of meaning behind it , a lot of meaning behind it . So it means a lot to me , you know .

Speaker 1 47:16

Wow , yeah , that's an oh wow .

Speaker 2 47:20

That's my story and I'm sticking with it .

Speaker 1 47:22

I got that phrase down .

Speaker 2 47:23

All right .

Speaker 1 47:23

Skip happens baby .

Speaker 2 47:24

Skip happens baby .

Speaker 1 47:26

Addis Love . Yeah , if you're watching this whether it's live now or you watch the replay of it looking for the music , you can go to Addis Love . Is it AddisLovecom ? And if you drop him a message I'm sure he's going to respond to you . If you're making a trip to some of the theme parks , make sure you take a look . You never know he could be working he could be working .

Speaker 2 47:49

could be working you could be working Could be working .

Speaker 1 47:53

I love it . Addis , I want to say thank you . I know you got to get into the movie .

Speaker 3 47:57

I got time I got time .

Speaker 1 47:59

Still , I want to say thank you for doing this , thank you for touching base . It's such an honor to talk with you .

Speaker 2 48:06

Thank you very much . I hope to see you soon in person .

Speaker 1 48:10

Yeah , no , I do . I go to Nashville every year for the Country Radio Seminar . I don't know if anybody's talked to you about that .

Speaker 2 48:16

Yes , they told me about it .

Speaker 1 48:17

They told me about it , we're looking forward to go over there . That's a really good event and if you're going to do anything country , you definitely should be at that Country Radio Seminar . Yes , it's cool , and you know , you get to meet everybody , even people like me . Yeah , there you go . It's crazy , man , I'll buy you one , I'll buy you one . I don't know if you drink or not , but I'd buy you one .

Speaker 2 48:39

You know when you're in Nashville , you got to have a Bushwhacker .

Speaker 1 48:43

You ever heard of the .

Speaker 2 48:46

Bushwhackers .

Speaker 1 48:47

All right , I'll remember that I'll buy one too . We'll go both ways . There you go , addis love . It's been an honor having you on Skip Happens tonight . What an amazing chat with Addis . It's his story , here's energy . He's got the new single Hit by a Good Time . Check it out , proving country music is alive and evolving Right there as you can see . This is so cool . You can stream or request the song . I'll watch for his debut album . And don't forget to subscribe to Skip Happens on YouTube or your favorite podcast app

Closing Thoughts and Upcoming Plans

Speaker 1 49:20

Until next time . I want you to keep it country . Thanks for watching Add us love . Stay right there . We're going to say goodnight because I do want to talk to you for a second . Oh , what just happened that night ? Because I do want to talk to you first . Oh , what just happened . That was kind of weird . My camera's doing funny things .

Speaker 2 49:33

You got the flowers in your fingers .

Speaker 1 49:35

Yeah , I know , no , watch , Dude , watch , hang on , I'll point up it goes up . Watch this , I'll go down . It goes down .

Speaker 2 49:45

Okay .

Speaker 1 49:46

I don't know if I do this .

Speaker 2 49:48

That doesn't happen with me , man . See now , if I do this . No , that doesn't happen with me , man Skip .

Speaker 1 49:51

See now , if I go like this oh , so you got that . I don't know what it is , but I have it .

Speaker 2 49:57

Stabilizer thing there . Yeah , okay .

Speaker 1 49:59

Yeah , yeah , yeah , it's a gimbal .

Speaker 2 50:01

Next time we do an interview , I'll be ready for you , Skip .

Speaker 1 50:03

Yeah , you better be , you better be .

Speaker 2 50:06

I'm going to be ready for you next time .

Speaker 1 50:07

Oh , my God , and I hope there is a next time at his love . I really this is an honor speaking with you and hopefully it all went well . I want you to stay right there . We're going to say good night to everybody . Thank you for watching , don't forget to check out at us , don't forget to check out . Skip happens and until next time , keep it country , my friends , and thanks for watching .