Dave Reid Will Shape Your Memories
Written by Niama Sandy

"I would like to bring fulfillment to people's life. I want to paint a good picture and I am hoping that it will have a good effect on someone just like it has had an effect on me."

With his pen as his paintbrush, Reid is crafting images for listeners everywhere. Mostly recorded by former Coalishun member Ryan Daisley at Shoalin Studios in Oakland, Ca., the album, tentatively titled Memories, will feature 13 tracks including "Waves," "Tuff 2 Top," "Be afrAIDS," "What Is Fete," "50/50 Love," and the tune mashing up radio and television sets all over the Caribbean, "Memories." Also slated to be included on the album are collaborations with Soca sensations Dawg E. Slaughter and Patrick "Mista Vybe" Gordon.

"One of the songs that I am most passionate about is 'Be afrAIDS' because of what's going on today," said Reid.

"Be afrAIDS" warns of the dangers of unprotected sex. "People are just having sex without regard for the consequences. This song is to tell people to take stock of their lives and look at what they're doing sexually," the singer exclaimed.

"50/50 Love," tells the story of two equally yoked mates.

"'50/50 Love' is basically a man talking to a special woman and her speaking back- telling how since he entered her life he has brought nothing but joy."

On "Memories," Reid is instructing the listeners to cherish the memories of failed relationships and to understand you don't have to be lovers to be friends.

The video for "Memories," was produced by E-Zone Entertainment and Milatainment Productions.

"Lisa Wickham, owner of E-Zone Entertainment, is a very good friend of mine. I gave her Memories and a few other songs. She got home and he said he had a good idea for a video for that song. I had never even really though about doing a video. I got my money together and we shot the video in three days in November 2004."

Currently, the video is receiving heavy airplay on MTV Tempo, a cable channel geared toward Caribbean and Latin American audiences. As a result of this exposure there have been many requests for collaborations by producers, and dubplates by disc jockeys from all over the region.

Although it is unclear which song will be used, Reid is in talk to shoot a new video in April 2006 with Wickham and company; and according to Reid, "it's going to be a lot better than 'Memories.'"

Reid has come a long way from sneaking around the pan yard as a child to now flooding MTV Tempo airwaves.

"I used to sneak into the pan yard when no one was looking, play a little bit and go home," said Tobago-born Dave Reid of how he got his start in music.

Although he grew up playing the Steelpan, Reid's musical influences didn't end there.

"Growing I used to hear Soca but I used to really listen to Steel Pulse, Aswad and Jacob Miller. The one Soca artist I listened Shadow he has a very unique style. His music has a lot of breathing room. Most people don't realize it silence is also music; I liked to listen to him a lot for that. I really admire KMC from a lyrical standpoint. He always tells a story, even in "First Experience," every verse was like a new chapter in the story. I also like R. Kelly, that's mainly for his writing. Another musician I love is Sting. Sometimes he doesn't use a lot of words in his songs but he uses them well. It's like poetry. Performance wise- I have to Machel he has such stage presence! From a production standpoint- I always loved Nicholas Branker from Barbados. Almost every song he comes up with makes you want to move."

Spending the better part of his adult life playing the Steel drum, Reid sort of stumbled upon his gift for singing.

"I was in a band called Insomnia. The lead singer Wayne "Lemo" Lemessy left the band and went back to Trinidad to perform with Atlantik. That's when I realized how much singing meant to me. That's when I really realized that I had such a passion for singing. I took it upon my self and formed a band on my own, called Tamarin."

And since then there has been no turning back.