FABRICE ROUZIER reflects on CARIMI "RELOADED"! (READ)

[kompamagazine]

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*KOMPA MAGAZINE: The word on the street is that RICHARD CAVE is moving up as the lead singer for the "reloaded" CARIMI. What are your thoughts on that? Good or bad move? Any advice?
FABRICE ROUZIER: "I am very confident that Richard can do it. He has both the talent and the charisma to do it. I think that he knows what the business is like for better or for worse. I trust that he will start this new venture with new and better terms so that he can try and do the difficult job of sharing his life between his family time and the music scene. From a business stand point, i think it is a good move because even with Carimi's "departure", no band has been able to fill the void and it makes them still relevant and absolutely bankable in "promoters" eyes in the Haitian community and in the markets that they reached."

*KOMPA MAGAZINE: Those who say that MICKAEL was the man in terms of the UPTEMPO numbers...how does Carimi go about covering that void? Change the music style to fit Richard and Carlo (NOT known as uptempo singers); or take the chance and have them JUMP in that territory?
FABRICE ROUZIER: "I am, by no means, discounting Mickael's talent, but nobody starts out as an uptempo or downtempo singer. I actually think that Mickael became the lead singer for Carimi because he was not tending to an instrument. Having said that, they need to reinvent themselves and only they will know what that new product will be. Fortunately, they have a huge fan base, but unfortunately that fan base can be very stubborn and only wish for CARIMI 7.0."

*KOMPA MAGAZINE: Stubborn in what sense? Resisting the change you mean?
FABRICE ROUZIER: "Yeah. It's the story of every band with a following. Fans of Earth Wind and Fire only care about " September" "Lets Groove" etc, fans of Tabou still want " Mabouya" " NY City" etc...just like Carimi fans will want to hear " Chagrin Criminel", "Bang Bang" and not care much for newer tracks....Nostalgia is the big seller these days in any given market."

*KOMPA MAGAZINE: How would you as a man who has been through and survived major changes with your band Mizik Mizik....go about this NEW CARIMI "Reloaded"? What changes would you make for a safer and brighter future?
FABRICE ROUZIER: "The challenges are multiple. A new band in the HMI is facing so many hurdles these days, but there are also opportunities. Konpa is on the decline for numerous internal and external reasons and the audience for the genre is declining. To attract new followers, you must attract them with familiar sounding tracks. I would advise any new band to pattern themselves after DJs and become pseudo cover bands. Reduce the number of performers on stage, play your original tracks but also cover pop, rnb, rap reggae and latin tracks. These two suggestions are just for starter....But i would go from there..."

KM!

[KingDave]

In other words, he approves of 5lan.