Many of us could only wish to hold a note that could rival the likes of Whitney Houston or Mariah Carey, or to have powerhouse vocals like Aretha Franklin or Celine Dion.
In fact, for some the dream is to simply be able to hold a note. But for Aisha Butcher, it’s not a wish. She can!
There is no doubt about it: Aisha can sing.
Her most recent performance of Hold You In A Song with Jamal Slocombe at the official designation of the Cultural Ambassadors at the Wildey Gymnasium has left her name on the tips of everyone’s tongue, suggesting that she’s one to watch.
In an interview with EASY at the serene grounds at Gun Hill Signal Station in St George, Aisha reflected on that night.
“Being able to perform it for Alison and all the persons who would have seen her perform it back in the day, then for us young people to come and do it and have it at such a high standard and hearing the great reviews – that made me feel really good. I also had lots of fun on stage. It wasn’t a competition where I know people were marking me so I was able to let go and put everything into the song. It was really amazing,” she recalled.
Be that as it may, this young songbird isn’t as in love with the stage as one would expect. She loves music and the art form, yes, but being up front and centre and on stage is not what really excites her.
“Going on stage with a set list and just performing with a band for an audience is not me. For me as an artist I want to put something into it and for it to have meaning. They are some people that just love to be on stage. I have not reached that point as yet,” she said.
You might remember the 23-year-old as Mandisa, a former Junior Monarch queen. She won in 2011, just her second time in competition, with her song My Advice. The year before that, she placed second with Apple Next To The Tree.
“I would always watch Junior Monarch on TV but I never knew that much about it. I just decided to enter it. When I came second that year I was most shocked. So I told myself, ‘Maybe this is something I could do’. I didn’t want to go back the next year but I was pushed to do it and thankfully I did because that year I won,” she said.
However, Aisha admitted that the experience wasn’t as magical as she expected. She was not prepared for all that came along with being an entertainer and achieving success. And the reality of it was probably what caused her to shun the spotlight even more.
“There was a lot of drama behind the scenes that I wasn’t about. I would always say you spend the least amount of time on stage. You spend the majority of your time off stage so you have to deal with all the drama and so on and I really wasn’t about it. I’m not a person who likes drama or anything like that.”
“Since I was doing well, a lot of expectations came that I really was not ready for. Persons were always asking what tent I was going in, what I was going to be doing next, who was writing for me and so on. I was totally unprepared for that,” she explained.
Although she had some reservations about it, Aisha decided to enter the Pic-O-De-Crop competition in 2012 and continued to do well on the Crop Over scene.
“I still went along and did it because the guy I was working with at the time Kevin Moore, made it easy. I made it to the semi-finals of Pic-O-De-Crop. So three years of doing so well back to back, I still wasn’t ready for the pressure,” she said.
Following that, Aisha finally decided to call it quits where competition was concerned, at least for the time being.
“I started to reflect a lot and think about why I was doing it. Then I realised I love music, I love singing but in terms of competition it’s not really for me. The moment I get off stage I’m relieved and glad it’s over. Competition was never for me and putting myself in it continuously made me come apart from what was important and that was focusing on the music and what’s next and how you make money from it. I had to do a lot a lot of reflecting,” Aisha admitted.
These days, she’s focused on the business side of the entertainment industry. In fact, she’s hoping to make a career out of it.
“I’m now doing a bachelor’s degree in arts entertainment management at Barbados Community College (BCC). I want to be a full-on arts manager. Management is my new thing. I’m one of the managers of the 1688 Orchestra. The business side of it is what I’m interested in. I find a lot of artists focus on the arts side, which is cool, but if you want to make a living from it you have to understand the business side,” she stressed.
Also high on her career to-do list is mentoring. She said she hopes to be the one to guide younger calypsonians in the right direction.
“I write a bit for Junior Monarch. I do a bit of mentoring now. The persons we write for are in Junior Monarch so it starts out as just writing a song but then you still need to teach them the do’s and don’ts. I would really love to go full on mentoring in the future. A lot of people often tell you what you’re doing wrong but never give you the advice on how to do it right, and I want to be someone to change that,” the former Alleyne School student said.
As for singing, she’s still not sure what she will do at this juncture in her life.
“In terms of singing I want to try the Sweet Soca but for me it is not something I want to do just because. I want to be able to know I’m putting my all. If I just half do it and get a small result I won’t be the most pleased. Right now I’m focused on school. So I can’t say when next you’ll see me on a competition stage. But just singing, whoever calls I’ll do it,” Aisha said.
She added, “I want to be able to do more writing. I’m a perfectionist so I always want to better myself where that is concerned.”
And while she makes up her mind with regard to returning to the competition stage, she is closely watching her musical idol Lil Rick and trying to learn as much as she can, even if from just observing.
“I look up to Lil Rick. Lil Rick the artist, the deejay and the radio announcer. I just think he is really amazing in every element. He does it all and he’s humble about it,” she said with a sparkle in her eye.
For Aisha, “As long as I’m doing what makes me happy and I’m content, then I would be good.” (DB)
