We all know the singers of this year’s popular soca songs and even those of the past but there is, sometimes, a less popular face behind some of these and that is the face of the songwriter.
Emmanuel Rudder is one of the faces behind some of Trinidad and Tobago’s popular songs. In his 15 years in the industry, he penned songs for some of TT's and the region’s most visible performers including Machel Montano, Kes, Taurus Riley, Aaron Duncan, Patrice Roberts, Lyrikal, Farmer Nappy and Olatunji.
But Rudder believes in the age of streaming and evolving technologies, songwriters need to be more visible and the industry needs to welcome new songwriters.
“Since I was small, I always had a way with words and putting them together in different combinations,” he said in a phone interview with Newsday.
Like many writers, he started with poetry. At 16, he wrote his first song.
“Officially, in 2010, I went in studio and had people recording my work.”
Becoming a songwriter was not easy for Rudder given that the industry was a closed one and people were only allowed in through recommendations.
Singer/songwriter Rondelle Mishima was his friend and he helped to get him into the business of songwriting by recommending him to a popular artiste. That artiste brought him into the studio.
He first worked with popular soca recording duo known as Madmen Productions – Johann Seaton and the late Ricardo Rameshwar.
At that time the production duo was working with Kes and he was “thrown into the fire” and did a couple of songs with Kes including the Olympic song, We are conquerors.
“It was baptism by fire.”
To him, the close-door policy in the songwriting industry needs to change.
“Someone has to hear your work or you have to get recommended by someone.
“Obviously, with the recommendation, you have to be working on your craft prior. So when you get the opportunity you can make good on it.”
It was also a hard industry to get in and stay in for a lengthy period of time or to work with artistes and contort/ mould songs for unique individuals.
All artistes were very different and that is usually a challenge for songwriters.
[caption id="attachment_1065526" align="alignnone" width="768"] Emmanuel Rudder says writers can no longer have an air of mystique about them in the social media era. -[/caption]
“Prior to getting the connections and exposure, you would be writing songs on how you feel and how you think it should go. But when you shift over and you get the opportunity to write for others…
“Yes they might come to you for your idea, skill and talent but they would want to shape it in a way that is still very much them and not all your ideas and how you might put it together might work for them."
In the business, both singer and songwriter must have equal say in a song.
If songwriters are too firm on how they want the song to go, they might not get the record cut, he said.
Rudder added that many creative people often took a backseat to the performers of their work.
“The designer, most time, don’t get
